Deadly Dozen: 12 Mysteries/Thrillers

by Diane Capri

  “Nope. He had a balaclava on. I have my suspicions, though.” Lorne handed the wrapped gun to Katy.

  Katy pulled back the handkerchief and had a peek at it. Shaking her head, she said, “Someone meant business. Who do you think it was?”

  “Are you kidding me? Gibson, of course. It has to be.”

  Katy’s face was full of uncertainty. “You think? The last we saw of him, he was walking away with his parents.”

  Lorne felt like pummelling the side of Katy’s head. “Think about it, Katy—the threatening email and phone call. All right, I get your point, but it needn’t have necessarily been him. He could’ve paid someone to attack me.”

  “I’m not so sure. Did the attacker say anything to make you think that? It might have just been an attempted mugging.”

  Lorne bit the inside of her cheek, trying to suppress her anger. “He used my name. He knew I used to work with the Met. I was definitely his intended target.”

  Katy gave an embarrassed shrug. “Oh! Will you be okay to get home? I better get this off to the lab to see if we can get any prints from it.”

  “I’ll be fine. Any chance you can rush things through? We need to get this idiot locked up ASAP.”

  Katy opened her passenger door and deposited the gun on the seat. “I’ll see what I can do. I can’t make any promises, though. Be in touch soon,” she added as she jumped in the driver’s side. She waited until Lorne was settled in her own car before she drove off.

  Lorne made the journey home on autopilot while her mind raced about what Gibson had done, if indeed the attacker had been him.

  Lorne entered the lounge, gave Tony a quick kiss on the forehead, and collapsed on the sofa next to him.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Lorne debated long and hard whether she should tell him about the incident in the car park or not before she answered. “Long day, that’s all.”

  “I know when you’re lying, hon. I may be under the weather, but my stupidity level hasn’t risen. Besides, you promised to bring in a take-away, and I can’t smell any food.”

  Lorne leapt out of the chair. “Damn! I knew I’d forgotten something.”

  Tony reached up and grabbed her hand. “Lorne, you’re worrying me. I don’t care about dinner. What’s wrong?”

  She knew it would be pointless keeping the truth from him. Because of his training, her husband was the type who resembled a dog digging for a damn bone if they didn’t get the answer they were looking for. “After we came out of court, I said goodbye to the others, and…”

  He tugged her back down next to him. “And?”

  “I let my guard down, and someone attacked me from behind.”

  “What? Who?”

  “Don’t go getting worked up, Tony. I don’t know who. He had a gun and tried to force me up on to the wall of the car park. I think his intention was to make me jump.”

  “Shit!” He threw the quilt back and staggered to his feet.

  “What are you doing?” Lorne asked.

  “I’m getting dressed. Then I’m going to drive over to that coward Gibson’s house and see what he has to say for himself.”

  Lorne wasn’t surprised that Tony had come to the same conclusion as she had. She stood up and gripped the top of his arms. “And what good will that do? I have no proof it was him. The attacker wore a balaclava, Tony. Katy’s taken the gun back to dust for prints. Let’s see what the results are first, huh?”

  She touched the side of his face; his skin still felt clammy. “My hero. Always keen to jump to my defence, even if you’re at death’s door.”

  He leaned forward, and they shared a lingering kiss before he came up gasping for breath. “You know I’d never let anyone hurt you, love.”

  “I know that, sweetie. I’ll just go see how Dad is, and then I’ll nip out again for the fish and chips.” She turned to walk out the door.

  “If anything happened to you… I’d be finished.”

  She stopped and smiled reassuringly. “I doubt that. Besides, nothing is going to happen to me, so stop fretting.”

  “Forget the take-away, too. An omelette will suffice for me.”

  “I’ll see how Dad is and then decide.”

  She went down the hallway to her father’s room. His eyes were firmly closed, and his bare arms were outside the quilt, resting on the bed beside him. His pyjama jacket had been taken off and was lying on the floor next to the bed.

  She didn’t like the look of him. Perspiration dotted his forehead, and his skin was ashen. “Dad?” She approached the bed.

  When her father didn’t respond, she shook him gently. He groaned, but his eyes didn’t open.

  “Dad,” she repeated, more loudly. He didn’t respond.

  She went to the hallway and called the doctor on her mobile. “Please hurry, Doctor. I’m deeply concerned about him.”

  “Settle down, Lorne. I’m sure it’s nothing, Sam’s heart is strong. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  Tony came out of the lounge. “Shit! He was fine about half an hour ago, Lorne.”

  “I’m not blaming you, Tony. He looks really rough. The doc’s on his way. I want him to take a look at you while he’s here too; no arguments. We don’t know what we’re dealing with here.”

  “I can see where you’re coming from. Maybe we should have had some kind of shots before we started up this place.”

  “You think he—you’ve both—picked up a disease from the dogs?” Lorne asked devastated. If that was the case she’d put her whole family at an unnecessary risk.

  “Who knows? We take in strays; half the time we don’t know what they’ve been exposed to.”

  Lorne shook her head. “I don’t think so, Tony. The vet always gives them a clean bill of health, remember? No, I’m sure the dogs aren’t connected with this. Before we jump to conclusions, let’s see what the doc has to say, eh?” She went through to the kitchen to make a coffee while they waited for the doctor to arrive.

  His ten minutes turned out to be almost twenty. Lorne paced the kitchen floor, running a frantic hand through her hair.

  She heard the doctor’s car crunch its way up the gravel driveway and yanked the kitchen door open. “Oh, thank heavens.”

  “Sorry, there was an accident up the road. A lorry had spilt its load, and I had to take a detour,” Doctor Darwin apologised, rushing into the house with his medical bag in his right hand. The doctor followed Lorne through to her father’s room.

  “Both Tony and Dad have been bad the last few days. I’ve been in court all day. I had every intention of ringing you, but something came up, and it completely went out of my mind. When I got home, I checked on Dad, and he seemed a lot worse,” she explained, watching as the doctor checked her father’s blood pressure and pulse.

  “Sam. Can you hear me?” the doctor asked as he placed a hand on her father’s forehead. Her father let out a moan.

  With his examination over, the doctor motioned for Lorne to join him out in the hallway. Tony who had been lingering by the door backed up a little to give them room.

  “What is it?” Lorne asked anxiously.

  “I don’t want to worry you, but your father has a rash. I hope I’m wrong, but I think we could be looking at a case of meningitis, Lorne.”

  “Oh my God.” All her strength seemed to have been sapped out of her, and she collapsed against the wall.

  Tony rushed to her side. “What does that mean exactly, Doc?”

  “There are several different types of meningitis. Let’s get him to hospital and see which type we’re dealing with. I’ll ring for an ambulance. Can you gather a few things for him? You know, the usual for a few days’ stay.” The doctor turned, and with his mobile attached to his ear, he walked through the kitchen and out to his car to finish the call.

  “Lorne, now don’t start panicking. Sam’s in safe hands.”

  “Easier said than done. I should’ve thought about calling the doc earlier. I’ve been so distracted lately.” She smashed h
er clenched fists against her thighs.

  Tony held out his arms, and she walked into them. He smoothed a hand down her hair and kissed her forehead with gentle kisses. How had she ever managed without him?

  The doctor reappeared and walked past them to check on her father. “The ambulance is on its way. Can you tell me what Sam’s symptoms have been over the past few days?”

  “He’s been a bit sniffly, off his food, complaining of a headache. I just thought it was a slight cold or some bug he’d caught. We even thought of the possibility that he’d picked up something from the dogs.”

  The doctor shook his head briskly. “Highly unlikely that would be the case. Treated with caution, meningitis isn’t contagious, but close contact should be avoided at all times. It’s doubtful either of you will catch it. That’s why we need to get him into hospital.”

  She looked over her shoulder, at Tony resting against the doorframe. “That’s reassuring, because Tony has been feeling a bit rough for a day or two also.”

  “I think I’ll check you out all the same, Tony. Any problems with the leg? An infection, maybe?” The doctor motioned for Tony to sit in her father’s easy chair next to the bed.

  He took Tony’s blood pressure and checked his pulse, and he didn’t look particularly disturbed by his findings. Then he knelt on the floor and rolled up Tony’s pyjama trousers and studied his injured leg. Tony winced when the doctor felt his stump.

  “Yep, I think it’s a little infected. I’ll give you a course of antibiotics; that should clear it up in no time at all.”

  “Well, that’s a relief.” Lorne ruffled Tony’s hair. “Sorry, I mean it’s bad enough, but at least it’s not something more serious.” Her gaze drifted over to her father, and she blinked away the mistiness that briefly clouded her vision.

  She heard a siren in the distance and sprinted around the room, gathering her father’s essentials together. She searched the bottom of his wardrobe, pulled out his overnight bag, and shoved everything in it.

  Soon her unconscious father was placed in a wheelchair and wheeled out to the ambulance. “I’ll give you a call from the hospital,” she called back to Tony as she clambered in the back and sat in the chair nearest to her father’s head. “Damn, will you ring Jade for me?”

  #

  After several hours of tests, the conclusion was that her father did indeed have viral meningitis. There was little the hospital could do for him as far as medication was concerned, for antibiotics wouldn’t help fight the disease. Her father would need to stay in hospital for a few days of bed rest where his progress would be monitored. That was a relief to Lorne, once she realised her workload had just multiplied, what with having two invalids on her hands.

  Her distraught sister had arrived and was sitting by their father’s bed, holding his hand.

  She left Jade and went to the entrance of the hospital to get some fresh air and make some calls on her mobile. “Tony. Just a quick one. Dad’s going to be okay. It is what the doc thought.”

  “Shit! But he’s going to get through it, right?”

  “It needs to run its course. He’s going to stay in hospital for a few days. Look, I’ll stay here for a few hours with Jade, in case he wakes up and wonders where he is.”

  “No problem. Give Jade a hug for me. Try to grab something to eat from the machine or the canteen. You’ll need to keep your strength up. Love you.”

  “I’ll get us both a sandwich, if I get the chance. See you later. Love you, too.”

  The second call, she dreaded making. “Fiona? It’s Lorne. Did you get home all right?”

  “Hi, Lorne. Yeah, we did, thanks. You?” Fiona sounded distracted, and pans rattled in the background, as if Lorne had disturbed their dinner preparations.

  “Ah, that’s why I’m ringing. I’m at the hospital—”

  “What? Why? What’s happened?” The background noise instantly stopped, and Fiona gave her full attention.

  “When I got home, my dad was really ill. The doctor called the ambulance, and he was admitted to hospital, straight away.”

  “Oh, no. Sorry to hear that. Nothing too serious, I hope?”

  While she was talking Lorne glanced around the car park. One car in particular caught her eye—a black Range Rover. The tinted windows obscured her view of the driver. The car was inching back and forwards, as if to tease her. Lorne started to approach it, but it sped off when she was within two feet of the back door. “Damn,” she said under her breath before she replied to Fiona’s question. “Serious enough. Viral meningitis. Not sure how to say this, but I’m not going to be able to be in court tomorrow with you guys.”

  She heard Fiona suck in a breath. “Hey, that’s completely understandable. Family comes first, Lorne. I’ll tell the other girls. We’ll be there to support Ami, anyway. Thanks for letting me know. Hope your dad gets better soon.”

  “Thanks. I’ll try to ring tomorrow, either during the day or in the evening, to see how things went.” She looked over at the entrance and saw the same car going backwards and forwards a few times. She pressed the end call button on her phone, then placed yet another call. “Katy, it’s me.”

  “Christ, what’s wrong now? Hang on; let me get my shoes on while we talk.”

  “Don’t bother. I’m at the hospital.” She quickly added, “I’m all right. Dad’s ill, though. Look, that’s not why I’m ringing. I’m in the car park at the hospital, and I keep seeing this strange car. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the driver was keeping an eye on me. Of course, after what happened earlier, there’s a possibility I’m being more than a little bit paranoid.”

  “Crap! Did you manage to take note of the plate number?”

  “Yep.” She gave Katy the number and watched the car come to a standstill outside the hospital gates again. “The bastard drove off when I walked up to the car, but he’s sitting at the gates now, taunting me.”

  “I’ll ring the station get them to check who it belongs to. I’ll also see if I can get a patrol car over there to scare him off. Ring back in five minutes or so.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” Lorne said, focusing on the car once more.

  A few minutes later, her phone jangled the CSI theme tune. She answered it. “Hi. What did you find out?”

  “You won’t be surprised when you hear who the vehicle is registered to. You know what? I’ve had it with Gibson. I’m going to ring the prosecutor and see what he makes of this harassment.”

  “Thanks, Katy. You’re a treasure. The girls are going it alone tomorrow; I hope they’ll be okay.”

  “Okay, I get the message. I’ll have a word with Roberts in the morning, see if I can grab an hour or so off.”

  “Katy, have I told you lately how wonderful you are?”

  “Hmm… Let’s see how things work out before you start heaping praise on me. Take care. Give your father a kiss from me.”

  They both hung up. Lorne glanced over at the gates to see the Range Rover drive off. A second or two later, a police car drove by, going in the same direction.

  Nice to see my contacts are still capable of making a difference.

  Lorne and Jade stayed with their unconscious father for another two hours before the nurse ordered them to go home. “We’ll call you if your father wakes up. Go home and get some rest, yourselves. You both look done in.”

  Lorne smiled and nodded at the pretty brunette nurse who had been put in charge of her dad. “I feel it. Not sure about Jade. You’ll ring us as soon as he wakes up?”

  “Of course. Don’t worry; he’s in good hands. Leave your number at reception on your way out, if you would.”

  After leaving her number, Lorne stepped out into the chilly night air and walked Jade to her car. Her sister had barely said two words to her since arriving at the hospital, and she couldn’t help wondering if Jade wasn’t blaming her for her father’s illness.

  Lorne decided it wasn’t the time to have it out with her. She waved her sister off and sought out her own vehi
cle, scanning all around her, alert and ready for a possible attack.

  On the drive home, her stomach groaned, crying out for the meal she had missed. She stopped at the local chip shop and then rushed home to share the fish supper with Tony. Neither of them had much of an appetite, and they both picked at the meal.

  Halfway through their dinner, the house phone rang. Lorne answered it. “Hello?” she asked anxiously, expecting the call to be from the hospital.

  “Lorne, how lovely to hear your voice.”

  She wracked her brain, trying to figure out where she had heard the familiar voice before. Then she remembered what Tony had said earlier in the day, and it dawned on her who the mystery caller had to be. “Carol. How have you been? Long time, no hear.”

  “Ah, you remembered. I’m as well as can be expected, I suppose. I dropped by earlier and chatted with your husband. Nice man—so much better than your last one. Not that I met him, of course. But I can tell you two are much better suited.”

  Lorne chuckled, and Tony frowned at her. She mouthed at him, “I’ll tell you later.”

  She turned her attention back to Carol, “Tony said you were after another dog. It’s so sad when we lose a beloved pet.”

  “Yes, my Totty was the love of my life. I thought this time I would give a homeless dog a new home rather than buy a pedigree. Imagine my surprise when I saw your name on the advert in the local paper. Umm… I was sorry to read about your partner a few years back, Lorne. I know he and I never saw eye to eye, but I could tell his heart was in the right place. I read his aura, you know. It was ninety percent good. He idolised you. I think that’s why he acted the way he did towards me—he was trying to protect you.”

  Unexpected tears threatened to spill, and Lorne coughed to clear the lump that had formed in her throat. “I still miss him today, Carol.”

  “There’s no need, dear. He’s watching over you every hour of the day.”

  “That’s good to know. Listen, I’ve had a hectic day. Why don’t you call by and see me tomorrow? I’ll be here all day.”

  “That’d be lovely. I’ll pick up a couple of sumptuous cakes from the baker’s up the road and be there about eleven. I didn’t think you’d be able to go to court, with your father so ill. He’ll be all right, dear. It’s God’s way of telling him to slow down. I need to have a chat with you about the case you’re working on, anyway.”