move. I smoothed the sheet that covered her.
Trying not to disturb her—although if I was right she might be beyond being disturbed— I got to my feet and slid around the curtain to the other side of the room. Kelly lay there, her face swollen and her eyes shut. Was she asleep already?
“Kelly?” I said.
Her eyes flickered open and took a moment to focus on me. “You!” she said.
I grinned and reached for her hand. “Yeah. Me. How’re you doing?”
She pulled her hand back and tucked it under the covers. “I’ve been better. You come to apologize?”
That threw me. Apologize? I wasn’t sure what she meant, but right now it didn’t matter. “If you want me to,” I said.
“And you think that’s going to make things all better?”
This conversation wasn’t going anything like I’d expected. “What do you mean?”
She started to sit up, winced, and lay back down again. “You really think you can do this to me and come in and apologize and everything’s gonna be all right again?”
“What?”
“My dad’ll be looking for you and whoever else was part of this. You just better hope you get locked up before he finds you.”
Chapter 5
M Y H EAD S PINNING W ITH Q UESTIONS I had no way to answer, I hurried out of room, barely glancing at the old woman, whose motionless form seemed definitely smaller than before.
I didn’t want to run into anyone, especially any of the bikers. I dashed down the stairs instead of taking the elevator and found a door marked “Emergency Exit Only. Alarm Will Sound.”
The hell with the alarm. As far as I was concerned, this was an emergency.
I shoved the door open and left the hospital.
The alarm sounded. Loudly.
The door slammed behind me. I was in a parking lot on the side of the hospital. Breaking into a run would only draw more unwanted attention, so I suppressed the urge and walked quickly through the parking lot, crossed the street, and plunged into dark alley between two tall buildings. I pressed myself up against the wall.
Stupid thing for me to do, set off an alarm.
Trying to keep in the shadows, I peered out of the alley back toward the emergency exit door. The alarm continued to shrill.
An elderly security guard, his radio grasped firmly in his hand, approached the door from the outside. No urgency showed in his step. He looked around the parking lot, then took out a big key and unlocked the door. He stepped inside, letting it shut behind him. A few seconds later, he came out again and pushed the door closed, tugging on it to make sure it wouldn’t open from the outside. He lifted the radio to his mouth, but I was too far away to hear what he said. The alarm quieted. Then he strolled back in the direction from which he had come.
I leaned back against the dirty brick wall of the alley and tried to think. What made Kelly blame me for the attack? She had to realize I wasn’t there . Did she have a head injury that was messing with her mind? Some kind of traumatic brain injury?
Or was I the one with the problem? That was a scary thought. I couldn’t have had some kind of blackout and done something horrible that I didn’t remember, could I? I didn’t use drugs or alcohol so it couldn’t be a blackout caused by either of them. Was I losing my mind?
Montgomery had cut me loose. He’d based that on something. I had no idea how long it would take for DNA tests to come back from the forensics lab, but a few hours on a weekend seemed much too fast. Hadn’t he said Kelly had told them the attacker wasn’t me?
The throaty roar of accelerating motorcycles reached me, and two bikes swept around the corner and past me, their headlights glaring off the damp asphalt. I couldn’t make out much as they passed the alley entrance, but I could see one was Old Buckles’ trike. The women were on the backs, Li’l Mama behind Funky Joe and Black Rose with Old Buckles. I choked on the exhaust fumes. Or was it grief?
Was Kelly invoking the old outlaw biker rule
Trying not to disturb her—although if I was right she might be beyond being disturbed— I got to my feet and slid around the curtain to the other side of the room. Kelly lay there, her face swollen and her eyes shut. Was she asleep already?
“Kelly?” I said.
Her eyes flickered open and took a moment to focus on me. “You!” she said.
I grinned and reached for her hand. “Yeah. Me. How’re you doing?”
She pulled her hand back and tucked it under the covers. “I’ve been better. You come to apologize?”
That threw me. Apologize? I wasn’t sure what she meant, but right now it didn’t matter. “If you want me to,” I said.
“And you think that’s going to make things all better?”
This conversation wasn’t going anything like I’d expected. “What do you mean?”
She started to sit up, winced, and lay back down again. “You really think you can do this to me and come in and apologize and everything’s gonna be all right again?”
“What?”
“My dad’ll be looking for you and whoever else was part of this. You just better hope you get locked up before he finds you.”
Chapter 5
M Y H EAD S PINNING W ITH Q UESTIONS I had no way to answer, I hurried out of room, barely glancing at the old woman, whose motionless form seemed definitely smaller than before.
I didn’t want to run into anyone, especially any of the bikers. I dashed down the stairs instead of taking the elevator and found a door marked “Emergency Exit Only. Alarm Will Sound.”
The hell with the alarm. As far as I was concerned, this was an emergency.
I shoved the door open and left the hospital.
The alarm sounded. Loudly.
The door slammed behind me. I was in a parking lot on the side of the hospital. Breaking into a run would only draw more unwanted attention, so I suppressed the urge and walked quickly through the parking lot, crossed the street, and plunged into dark alley between two tall buildings. I pressed myself up against the wall.
Stupid thing for me to do, set off an alarm.
Trying to keep in the shadows, I peered out of the alley back toward the emergency exit door. The alarm continued to shrill.
An elderly security guard, his radio grasped firmly in his hand, approached the door from the outside. No urgency showed in his step. He looked around the parking lot, then took out a big key and unlocked the door. He stepped inside, letting it shut behind him. A few seconds later, he came out again and pushed the door closed, tugging on it to make sure it wouldn’t open from the outside. He lifted the radio to his mouth, but I was too far away to hear what he said. The alarm quieted. Then he strolled back in the direction from which he had come.
I leaned back against the dirty brick wall of the alley and tried to think. What made Kelly blame me for the attack? She had to realize I wasn’t there . Did she have a head injury that was messing with her mind? Some kind of traumatic brain injury?
Or was I the one with the problem? That was a scary thought. I couldn’t have had some kind of blackout and done something horrible that I didn’t remember, could I? I didn’t use drugs or alcohol so it couldn’t be a blackout caused by either of them. Was I losing my mind?
Montgomery had cut me loose. He’d based that on something. I had no idea how long it would take for DNA tests to come back from the forensics lab, but a few hours on a weekend seemed much too fast. Hadn’t he said Kelly had told them the attacker wasn’t me?
The throaty roar of accelerating motorcycles reached me, and two bikes swept around the corner and past me, their headlights glaring off the damp asphalt. I couldn’t make out much as they passed the alley entrance, but I could see one was Old Buckles’ trike. The women were on the backs, Li’l Mama behind Funky Joe and Black Rose with Old Buckles. I choked on the exhaust fumes. Or was it grief?
Was Kelly invoking the old outlaw biker rule
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