(And then there’s Maude).
And then there’s….
That old compromising,
enterprising,
anything but tranquilizing!
Right on Maude!”
The old funky little song almost brought a smile to Edmund’s face. Becauseanything but tranquilizingwas right on about his Maude too.
Then he caught himself.HisMaude? When did he get a Maude? She wasn’thisanything!
But then why was he even thinking about that girl? And why did he bother to pull out his phone and pull her up online if she wasn’t anything to him?
Because that was exactly what he did last night too. He looked her up. First as Maudetta Drayton, which didn’t produce any hits. And then as Maude Drayton, which did. At least it did at the Dillon Post-Dispatch. According to their website, she was an “ace” reporter who had been working for the Post since she graduated high school.In her eleventh year, it stated,she was fast becoming one of our better reporters.
Edmund remembered thinking that after eleven years and she still wasn’t even the best at that nothing, country-ass newspaper didn’t bode well for her career.
And then he remembered something else. She spoke of working for that paper in the past tense. Which meant she was no longer employed there. Why? And where was she working now? And what was her true relationship with his drama queen sister since his sister was fired from that paper after just one year? He had so many questions and so little answers because that newspaper website apparently didn’t bother to update their staff profile page. The last update appeared to be nearly six months ago.
But eleven years working at that paper plus eighteen years old presumably when she got out of high school would put her age at around twenty-nine years old. Which was still much younger than he was. She was pushing thirty, but he was forty-two. But at least she was in the range.
In the range? In the range for what, he presently asked himself as they made their way to the guard booth. He wasn’t looking for another lady in his life! The ones he had were handfuls as it were. Especially now that many of them were turning forty or just past forty and wanted a ring on their well-manicured fingers. And he wasn’t biting. He never was going to bite in that direction he didn’t care who it was. But they didn’t believe him when he told them then. Teri and Shannon, as two recent examples, would tell them to believe him now.
The guard opened the gate to let the Rolls Royce through, and then he stepped out and leaned into Wyatt’s open window. “Good morning, sir,” the guard said to Edmund. “How’s your friend doing?”
Edmund, who rarely conversed with any of the guards, looked at him strangely. “What friend?”
“The one that came to your house last night.”
“Teri?”
“Not Miss Lowry, no sir. The younger lady. The one that was attacked last night.”
When Edmund heard those words his heart nearly fell through his gut.Maude?Attacked? He even leaned forward in his seat. “What attack? What are you talking about, young man?”
“She was attacked last night. Right outside this gate. An Uber driver drove up and heard somebody scream in those woods over there. When he got out with his flashlight and yelled if anybody was back there, he heard the sound of somebody running away. When he went back there, he saw a lady on the ground unconscious. He called 911. They said it was your friend. That she was dropped off at your house last night.”
Edmund’s heart was pounding. “Where is she now?”
“They took her to your hospital last night, sir. To Saint Catherine’s.”
“Go!” Edmund said with fire on his tongue and Wyatt, his now-baffled driver, sped away.
“I thought you knew!” the guard yelled after them, but they were already gone.
And cool, calm, collective Edmund, more terrified than he could have ever imagined himself being, was calling the hospital to check on her status even as they were speeding to get there.
Wyatt and Don glanced at each other. They’d never seen their boss care so profoundly about anyone or anything in all the years they worked for him. Who on earth was this girl, they wondered, that would have him so peculiarly unhinged?
This was one lady they had to meet.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The elevator doors opened onto the fourth floor and Edmund hurried off and made his way, without breaking his stride, past the nurses station. The nurses spoke to him, including the nurse supervisor, but he ignored them all. He headed straight for Maude’s room.
