Read Online No Good Deed by Lynn Hightower - Free Book Online

specks of blood on the couch. Toe smear in the mud from a ‘big guy’ and that’s official, from Mickey. A lot of mud on the carpet but most of that was from the cops and the ambulance crew.’
    â€˜She say anything?’
    â€˜Sonofabitch, sonofabitch, sonofabitch.’
    Sam scratched his cheek. ‘Doctor says she’s sedated and in shock and he wants her vitals to stabilize before we talk to her.’
    â€˜Who’s the doctor? Not Maiden, I hope.’
    â€˜No, some new guy I don’t know. Gillane.’
    â€˜What kind of a name is that?’
    â€˜Where are you going?’
    â€˜After the doctor, Sam. Let’s get on with this.’
    Sonora headed for the desk, looked around for a familiar face. Why couldn’t her bud Gracie be on duty? If she had to be working, so should everyone else.
    The woman behind the desk wore blue polyester, shapeless, comfortable, and she did not look up from the computer.
    Sonora flashed her ID. ‘Excuse me?’
    â€˜One minute.’
    â€˜I don’t have one minute.’ Sonora headed for the ER, pushed through the swing doors. She heard voices, Sam’s mumble. Who was he talking to now? The man could make friends with anyone, anywhere.
    She started looking into cubicles, twitching white curtains, trying not to rattle the plastic border at the top, which was impossible. Got a glimpse of a woman, highly pregnant. God, that made her stomach hurt. One who looked like a heart attack, a lot of doctors. She kept moving.
    Found Donna Delaney sitting up on a metal table that was likely passed off as a bed, with a mattress not much thicker than a thumb. All for three hundred dollars a day. Delaney was huddled in a backless blue print gown, looking dopey and bewildered. Waiting to be admitted? Waiting to be released? Waiting.
    Sonora pushed the curtain gently and Donna Delaney gasped and looked up.
    Whatever they’d used to sedate her wasn’t working too well.
    She looked bad. Chalk white. Sonora had not realized the woman was sun-freckled, but the brown marks stood out like leopard spots against her pallor.
    Her hair was still tied back, but it looked slept on and tangled. An IV line was draped across her bruised wrist, connecting her to a metal pole and a plastic bag that was running on empty. Her legs were thin and well muscled. Covered with goose bumps.
    Sonora moved in closely, quiet and soft. ‘Ms Delaney?’
    The woman stared, eyes dark-shadowed like a corpse’s. Her pupils were huge. Her hand was bandaged hugely, but the blood-flecked gauze did not disguise the space between her fingers.
    â€˜Ms Delaney, I’m Detective Blair, we met yesterday afternoon. Do you remember meeting me?’
    Delaney stared. Shivered. ‘Have you found her?’
    The voice was flat, hard.
    â€˜Joelle’s still missing.’
    â€˜The horse. Have you found the bloody horse?’
    â€˜No.’ Sonora wondered again if the horse was insured – for a large sum of money. Maybe she was in foal to a valuable stallion. Sonora was out of her area here.
    Delaney put her head in her hands, jarred the bandage. Pulled her hands away and stared at the gap between her fingers.
    â€˜Ms Delaney, I’d like to ask you some questions.’
    The woman’s teeth were chattering. ‘You’ve got to find her.’
    Sonora had the distinct feeling they were still talking about the horse. ‘You want a blanket, Donna? Are you cold?’ Sonora knew her way around enough to find the linen closet. She could be there and back in minutes.
    â€˜Two blankets.’
    Sonora nodded, felt the first stir of rapport. She might actually get something out of this woman.
    â€˜Two blankets,’ she said. In exchange for some answers.
    The linen closet had just been filled – the blankets were fresh out of the dryer, still warm. Sonora bundled two up, touched a corner to her cheek. They ought to use fabric softener. She