by Shelly Knox
She scooched back on the bed, leaning back on her stack of pillows propped up against the headboard. She picked up one of his pillows and tossed it at him. Tazzie barked, thinking it was a game. Piper was just pissed.
“I can’t believe you won’t tell me who the suspect is!” Before Jaxson could answer, her phone rang and she picked it up from the nightstand and glanced at the telephone number. Not recognizing it, she hit the Disconnect button and tossed it back on the nightstand.
“Who was that?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t recognize the number. Probably a telemarketer. And don’t change the subject.”
Her phone rang again and when she noticed that it appeared to be the same telephone number, she retrieved her phone.
“Same caller?”
“Yeah.” She answered the phone on the fourth ring. “Piper Morgan, may I help you?”
“Yes, Ms. Morgan. This is Officer Yates of the Plano Police Department.”
“Officer Yates, how can I help you?”
“Ma’am, I’m calling to ask you if you have a sister, Keri Morgan-Allen?”
“Yes. What’s this about?” Piper stood and began to pace between the beds and the credenza that held the television. Tazzie followed her.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry to inform you that your sister has been in an accident. She is at the Plano Regional Hospital. It would be to your best interest to get here as soon as possible. Are you in Plano?”
Her grip on her phone tightened as her whole body tensed. She’d never made up with her sister. “I’ll be there in less than fifteen minutes. Where is she exactly?”
“She’s in the emergency room, ma’am.”
“Is the baby okay? Is she still alive?”
“I’m not a doctor, ma’am. Just hurry.”
Piper clicked off the telephone, set it on the credenza, and then picked up her clothing from the foot of the bed. “Jax, get dressed. You have to get me to the Plano Regional Hospital. Keri’s been in an accident.” He was already slipping on his jeans when she asked him to get dressed, but she was in such a state of shock she was moving by rote.
Once they were both clothed, Jaxson guided her to the SUV. Her face, a mask of pain and anguish, barely flinched, as if every nerve were paralyzed by Botox injections.
As they arrived at the vehicle, she turned to face him and clenched a portion of his shirt in both of her small fists. “Tazzie. I need Tazz. Where is she?”
“We decided to leave her in the room because it’s not a good idea to bring her to the hospital emergency room. But if you still want me to get her, I will. They can’t turn you away; she’s a service dog.”
“No, no. Let her rest.”
“I’ll have your back tonight. I promise. Whatever it is.”
She couldn’t get a word out, so she nodded as she slipped inside the vehicle.
He helped buckle her in, closed the door, and then raced to the driver’s side. After starting the car, he put the SUV in gear and raced to the hospital.
She knew that the Plano Regional Hospital had the only trauma center in the area. Knowing that weighed heavily on her mind. Her mind turned over the fight they’d had and how they had never made up. Had never spoken. Had never even exchanged a text or email.
In less than ten minutes, Jax pulled up to the emergency room entrance and barely had the words, “I’ll meet you inside,” out of his mouth before she jumped out of the SUV and headed for the emergency room doors.
Chapter 63
Piper ran to the double doors leading to the emergency room. As she stepped on the big, black, rubber mat with the words “Emergency Room” in red and white letters, the barrier slid open automatically. Lots of sick people filled the chairs and stood in the corners. Sniffles, moaning, vomiting, and snoring were all that she could hear. Foul, sour odors mixed with antiseptic scents. The roar of voices washed over her as she neared the registration desk.
She moved toward the counter as fast as her legs would take her. Once there, she said, “I need help. My sister was brought into the ER tonight. Her name is…”
“You’ll have to wait your turn,” the clerk said as she handed a couple of printed forms to the man in front of her. The clerk stared at him and then pointed to several x’s on the pages. “Please sign next to these yellow marks. This is the consent form you went over with your wife’s doctor. If you have any questions, we can notify him again for you.”
“Listen,” Piper yelled. “My sister Keri Morgan-Allen was brought into your ER and I want to know what is wrong with her and I want to know now!”
A hand touched her shoulder. She startled and swirled around. Seeing Jaxson, she turned back to the clerk. But before she could say a word, he whispered into her ear. “Calm down, sunshine. Remember, you catch more bees with honey than vinegar and that’s never truer than it is in Texas.”
He was right. She took several deep breaths, letting each out slowly and as she did, she noticed every person was turned toward her. The roar of voices had ceased. An older nurse dressed all in white and with a gray cap of curls walked toward her.
Piper waited until the nurse was close enough to hear without yelling. Then she said, “I am so sorry. I’m just worried.”
“Of course you are, dear. Follow me.”
Jaxson took Piper’s hand and they followed the nurse through the ER doors and then to a little conference room.
The elderly nurse opened the door and motioned for them to enter. “If you will have a seat for just a few minutes in this room, I am going to personally find your sister’s physician and tell him you are waiting for him. One of us will be back here within five minutes or less, I promise.” She turned and exited the small room, closing the door behind her.
“I’m scared. We’re in the little room with the door closed. That’s never a good thing.”
“I know, sweetness. I sat in a few after they found you, sometimes every day, depending on your condition. So, it doesn’t mean she’s gone. You didn’t die and I must have been in a little room like this at least six times.”
She tried to give him a smile, but it waned. She couldn’t smile until she knew how Keri and the baby were. Now she knew how Keri and Jax had reacted when she was the one in the ER being cared for by a number of medical personnel. She’d never really placed herself in their shoes. Tonight forced her to consider their feelings. Their anguish. Their suffering. She hadn’t been the only one Samuel had tortured. He had inflicted pain on her loved ones, too. She needed to be more forgiving of their actions during that time.
A knock on the door brought her out of her reverie. A young man in a lab coat that swallowed him entered the small room. The kid couldn’t be old enough to shave and Piper had to wonder what the hell he was doing in here.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“I want to talk to you about your sister, Keri Morgan-Allen? We tried to get a hold of her husband, but we haven’t been able to. Frankly, we need an answer fairly quickly.”
“An answer to what? How bad is my sister hurt?”
“I’m sorry, hasn’t the doctor been in here yet?”
“No. You’re the first to speak to us.”
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and tapped the edge of his folder with the palm of his hand. “I should come back.” He retreated so quickly, he bumped into an older gentleman on his way out. This man had the distinguishing appearance and age of a physician. His stethoscope hung around his neck and he wore a light-blue shirt with a navy tie patterned with medical insignias. His black hair had thin strands of gray throughout. He pulled a chair from the table and sat and then placed his electronic tablet on the tabletop.
“I’m Dr. Sullivan. I’m sorry to tell you this, but your sister is on life support. She’s sustained a fatal brain injury.”
“What are you talking about? What happened to my sister?”
“Didn’t the police officer explain it to you?”
“No! She said she wasn’t a doctor and
to hurry.”
Jaxson squeezed her hand and then wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He whispered, “Calm down, honey. Don’t get so worked up.”
She took several deep breaths and let them out slowly. This rage was a new emotion that she had not experienced in a very long time and she didn’t like it. She took two more slow, deep breaths and then exhaled. The doctor was mumbling about something, but she hadn’t heard a word.
She held up a hand, trying to halt him from speaking. “I’m sorry. I’m anxious about my sister and niece and no one has told me anything. Please, what happened?”
The doctor leaned back in his chair and first glanced from Piper and then to Jaxson. “I don’t know anything about your niece, but your sister was attacked. The perpetrator raped her and hit her over the head with something. When the EMTs brought her into the emergency room, they were bagging her. In other words, breathing for her. We did a brain function test, a CAT scan, blood work. She’s brain-dead.”
“Wait, what? Someone cut the baby out of my sister?”
The physician’s brows furrowed, and he stared at both of them as though they were nuts. “No. Your sister isn’t pregnant.”
“She’s very pregnant.”
“No, she isn’t. An exam proved she’d never been pregnant. Plus, she has an IUD.”
Piper could only stare at him as if he were an alien.
Jaxson stepped in. “Are you going to take her off the machines?”
“We were hoping you might be up to donating her organs. She’s young and healthy and could save lives.”
Piper finally found her voice. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!”
Jaxson said, “Piper, get it together. You have to make this decision.”
“But Jax—he said she was never pregnant. Why? Why would she fake being pregnant?”
“We’ll figure that out.” He tightened his grip around her shoulders.
She wished she’d insisted they brought Tazz now. She wasn’t sure she could make it through this without her.
“You obviously need more time to make this decision.” He stood and picked up his electronic device.
“Wait. I want to donate all of her organs that you can use. At least she will save others.”
Jaxson cut in. “Piper, wait. Her husband is the one who will need to make that decision. Not you.”
“Right. I’ll find him so you can get started.”
“Thank you. I’ll send the organ donation coordinator in so he can help you get the necessary permissions.” The doctor exited the room without another word.
Chapter 64
Piper sat next to Keri’s bed in a private room in the emergency room. She’d counted the dark-gray and silver square tiles in this room from side to side. The room had one hundred fifty dark tiles and one hundred fifty silver tiles. She’d wanted to ask Jax to go get Tazz, but she didn’t want to be alone at the hospital. He’d only stepped out to get her a cup of coffee.
The overpowering antiseptic scents churned her insides, which were already wrenched tight as a vise. The intense force made her wonder what was worse: not feeling anything or living through this pain again. She held Keri’s hand as the machines breathed for her. The only noise that could be heard above the whoosh whoosh of that machine was the constant beeping of the heart monitor. Didn’t that mean Keri was still alive? She seemed alive. Piper wanted Keri to hear her and she didn’t know whether she could.
The door opened and Jax stepped back inside. He didn’t have her coffee. He slipped his phone back into his pocket.
“What happened to the coffee?”
He pulled a chair next to hers and sat.
“Now what’s happened?”
“Either the Plano police aren’t telling me if they have a lead, or they don’t know. It’s still being investigated. All they know is a single mother pulled into a rest stop on I-35. She had two toddlers and so she wanted one of the two family restrooms the facility had. Both doors said out of order. So, she tried one and found Keri’s body.” Jaxson took her hand and caressed the top of it.
“I don’t understand what’s going on. This must be a nightmare. I owe you and Keri an apology. I never imagined the pain and turmoil the two of you went through when I was injured.”
“Don’t think of that now.” He pulled a bottle of water out of his jacket pocket and opened the cap for her. “Sorry I couldn’t get the coffee.”
She didn’t comment.
“What are you thinking? You have those three straight vertical lines between your eyebrows. You always have those when you’re overthinking things.”
She shook her head and her gaze fell to her hands that she’d wrung until the joints throbbed.
“Come on, sunshine. You’re not alone anymore. I’m here, but you need to share. Even if you just want me to listen and not try to fix it, that’s what I’ll do.”
“Why would she fake her pregnancy?” Piper paused. Tears cascaded down her cheeks. “We never made up. I called her several times, but she never called me back. The last words I said to Keri were that I never wanted to see her again. And now I won’t.”
“I know you don’t want to hear this right now, but it was Keri’s actions that caused the fight, not yours. And how many times did you call her and she didn’t call back? This isn’t on you, Piper. You should not feel guilty about something she caused.”
“I know you’re right. I’m going to try Jack again. You weren’t able to get him, yet, were you?”
“No. Does her husband have your phone number, so he will recognize the number when it rings? It’s late—he could be ignoring it.”
“I don’t see Jack doing that with a baby due in less than a month.” She caught herself. “I guess it’s going to take a minute to realize I’ll never have that niece I’ve been planning on. I wonder if Jack knows Keri wasn’t pregnant.” Piper pulled her phone from her pocket, clicked on his phone number and heard the tones as it connected the call.
The phone rang once and a woman said, “Jack Allen’s phone. Who am I speaking with?”
Piper put the phone on speaker and flagged Jaxson to pay attention. “That’s what I’d like to know,” Piper responded. “Who is this?”
“I’m Officer Laymance of the Austin Police Department. Now, who am I speaking with?”
“I’m Jack’s sister-in-law. Are you notifying him about his wife, my sister?”
“No. What happened to his wife?”
“She was attacked tonight and is brain-dead. We need his permission to donate her organs. Wait…”
Jaxson held up a hand to stop Piper. “This is Texas Ranger Jaxson Wyatt. Could you give me a summary of the situation, Officer Laymance?”
“Yes, sir. Mr. Allen never showed up or called into work today. By the end of the day, several co-workers were worried, so they called the Austin police and asked us to do a wellness check. When we knocked and rang the doorbell, no one answered. So, we did a perimeter search and the backdoor glass was broken and the door ajar. We entered and found Mr. Allen deceased. The coroner hasn’t provided a report yet. However, there appears to be a gunshot wound to the head.”
Piper clasped her hand over her mouth to keep the monstrous sob building in her throat from escaping.
“He was murdered?”
“I honestly couldn’t say, sir. We’ll have to wait for the coroner’s report. Now, may I ask what happened to Mrs. Allen?”
“A perp attacked Keri Morgan-Allen. When she was found, she barely had a pulse and her breathing stopped while the paramedics were working on her. By the time she arrived at the medical center and the trauma team examined her, she was brain-dead. The Plano police department is in charge of her case. I’m Piper Morgan’s boyfriend. I’m not involved in the case.”
“Piper Morgan is Keri Morgan-Allen’s ….”
“Sister,” he provided. “Thank you for the information. You have Piper’s cell phone number—please call if you have any new information.”
With the farewells o
ut of the way, he clicked the End button and handed her phone back to her. He placed his arm around her waist.
Piper could barely hold it together. Her sister and brother-in-law were murdered? This wasn’t possible. Could Samuel have escaped prison and is getting payback?
Chapter 65
“Jon, thanks for meeting me here.” Jaxson patted Jon on his shoulder and pointed to a table in the hospital cafeteria that already had two large coffees and several pastries, including a cinnamon bun, a bear claw, and a chocolate croissant. The scent of sausage and bacon and hot coffee flooded his mouth with saliva. He didn’t even remember the last time he and Piper had a meal.
“You went all out—you must really need me.” Jon pointed to his bribery bundle. He didn’t hesitate to grab the huge cinnamon pastry with icing so thick it had built a moat of frosting all around it. He took a scandalous bite and moaned in pleasure. When he could speak again, he said, “This is to die for. Did the hospital cafeteria make this?”
Jaxson took a sip of his coffee and shook his head. “I do need you. And no, I heard the hospital contracts with that local bakery on Main Street. Remember, we went there for breakfast and lunch the first day we were here?” Jaxson selected the chocolate croissant.
“You mean the day you ditched me for Piper. Yeah, I remember that.”
“Come on. You heard about Piper’s sister, right?”
“Yeah, tough break. How’s my nemesis holding up, anyway?”
“She’s not your nemesis. And not good. Piper tried for hours to get Keri’s husband on his cell phone, and when someone finally answered, it was an officer from the Austin police department. It looks like someone shot Keri’s husband in the head. The Austin police have the case, and I told them what I know about Piper’s sister. Don’t you think it’s a little strange they both end up murdered on the same day?” He took a bite of the croissant he had been playing with, but it tasted bland—as bland as his coffee. He might be hungry, but he couldn’t eat. He just wanted to be with Piper right now, not handling police business or chitchatting with Jon. If he had to admit it, he was worried Piper was next on the list. He wouldn’t lose her again.