Read Online MULTIPLE MOTIVES (The Kate Huntington mystery series Book 1) by Kassandra Lamb - Free Book Online Page B

gonna be all right, Eddie.
    She imagined him saying, in his soft baritone, Well of course you are, my love. She smiled to herself.
    The smile faded as she turned the corner onto her block. The street was clogged with emergency vehicles and bystanders. The latter were staring in the direction of her house.
    Heart pounding, she parked haphazardly, jumped out of the car and raced toward the crowd. She elbowed her way through it without bothering to excuse herself.
    A cop stepped in front of her, his hand in the air, palm out.
    “I live here,” she said breathlessly.
    He let her go and turned to hold back the surge of neighbors craning to witness the next scene in the unfolding drama.
    At the bottom of the steps, Kate looked up at the half dozen people on her porch and froze. In the middle of the group was her sister, strapped to a gurney, her head covered in blood.
    Kate reeled, grabbing for the railing. “Is she okay?” she cried out.
    One of the paramedics glanced up without answering.
    “I’m her sister,” she managed to push past the lump in her throat.
    The paramedic glanced up again from the bandage he was wrapping around Mary’s head. “She’s unconscious, but she’s breathing. Gotta get her to the hospital. Docs will be able to tell you more.” His eyes dropped back to the task of securing the bandage.
    “Comin’ through, lady.” His partner, who looked like a football linebacker, started down the steps backwards, lifting up his end of the gurney to keep the patient as level as possible.
    Kate jumped back and collided with another cop. He tried to block her way as she started toward the ambulance. “We got some questions, ma’am.”
    “I have to go with my sister.” She dodged past him.
    The ambulance ride to the hospital was the scariest eight minutes of Kate’s life. The siren screamed outside. Equipment beeped inside. Mary lay pale and still. The paramedic looked bored. Kate wasn’t sure how to interpret that.
    At the hospital, she was stopped by a firm but friendly hand on her arm as she tried to follow the gurney into the treatment room. A nurse, about Mary’s height with café au lait skin, gave her a sympathetic smile. “You can’t go in there. She’s in good hands. Come with me, please. I need to get some information.”
    Kate turned to comply and almost collided with the same young cop, who’d apparently followed the ambulance to the hospital. “Still got those questions, ma’am.”
    “In a minute.” Kate stepped around him and went to the ER counter. The nurse asked Kate about Mary’s identity, health history, marital status and insurance. Kate answered as best she could.
    The nurse nodded at the chairs. “Have a seat. The doctor will be out to tell you how she’s doing as soon as he can.” Her voice was gentle.
    Kate glanced at the no-cell-phones sign on the wall and headed for the door. The cop stepped in front of her but she brushed past him, her fingers already punching Rob’s number into her phone.
    It went to voicemail. “Something’s happened to my sister. We’re at GBMC, in the ER. Cops have questions. Please come.” She heard the shakiness in her voice and took a deep breath as she disconnected.
    Gotta get the voice a lot calmer than that .
    She punched in her sister’s home number in California, and got voicemail again. “Pete, there’s been an accident.”
    Better, not quite normal but not borderline hysterical either.
    “Mary’s going to be okay,” she lied. “We’re at GBMC, uh, Greater Baltimore Medical Center on Charles Street. The doctors are taking a look at her. Let’s see, I can’t leave my cell phone on inside there and I don’t know the number of the ER nurses’ station, but you can call information in Baltimore for it. Call when you get this and I should know more by then. Bye.”
    She disconnected and let out her breath. Turning around, she jumped. The cop was standing right behind her.
    “You gotta stop doing that. I know, I know,