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“I expected as much.” Ryan was already gathering up what he needed. “Okay, I’m going to set Gecko up now. I’ll put him in sleep mode to save power. I left one of my tools behind to justify a return trip across the grounds. I’ll make a quick stop in the garden. After I’m done, I’m pulling the van out of the main parking lot and holing up in the wooded alcove diagonally across the street from the facility. Meet me there, and you can hop on in, and take in the performance with me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Krissy. You need me here.
I’m so sorry I have to leave you alone.
It’s just for a little while. Today’s just an exception. It’s an emergency.
I’m worried. I’ve seen things on the news. Maybe they’re true. Maybe they’re not. I have to find out. But if they are, then photographs are being shown around. To doctors. Drugstores. They haven’t reached here.
But have they reached Sunny Gardens? Have they put the pieces together? I have to know. If they’re figuring things out, we’ll have to go.
We’ll find somewhere safe.
No one will find us. I won’t let them.
You belong with me.
Nothing and no one will take you away.
The construction crew was in full swing when Ryan climbed out of the van. He was still wearing his company work shirt, and he was carrying a toolbox. Gecko was tucked safely at the bottom of that box.
With all that was going on—cranes lifting building supplies, backhoes traveling back and forth across the construction site, and dozens of workmen, hammering, drilling and calling out to each other—Ryan was pretty sure he wouldn’t be noticed even without a disguise. But he wasn’t taking any chances. Looking like a harried serviceman, he stalked over to the requisite garden and squatted down, opening his toolbox and removing various tools.
Linda Turner was sitting ten feet away from him. It took all his control not to look her in the eye and demand to know where Krissy was. But that would destroy their entire plan and kill any chance of pulling things off without being found out and arrested. Not to mention that he had no idea if Linda was coherent enough to even know where Krissy was.
So he kept up the charade.
“Ma’am,” he greeted her when she turned her head his way.
“Hello.” She gazed at him with a vague expression in her eyes, and without the slightest hint of wondering who he was or what he was doing there.
“I won’t disturb you,” he provided, nonetheless. “I’ve got a few wires to check out here. Then I’ll be out of your way.”
“My daughter will be here later,” she replied, as if she either knew Ryan or thought she should. “It’s so noisy here, it’s hard for us to talk. That’s why she comes in the afternoon, when all those builders are going away. I hope you’ll be finished by then.”
“No problem. I’ll be long gone.”
Ryan squatted down, making sure his back was facing the main building and his side was blocking Linda’s view. Then, he began rummaging through his toolbox, flinging tools to the ground in increased agitation. To any onlooker, it would seem as if he were trying to fix something but to no avail.
Amid his flurry of activity, he pulled out the top tray of his toolbox with one hand and grabbed Gecko with the other. Quickly, he turned the little critter on, and placed him just inside the raised, circular bed of shrubs surrounding the garden.
With a few muttered curses, he tossed his tools back into the box, snapped the clasp, rose and turned to Linda.
“I can’t find the tool I need. So I’ll be heading back to the main building. Enjoy your visit with your daughter.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “Thank you.”
With that, Ryan strode back to the building, a look of sheer irritation on his face.
He marched inside and straight to the head nurse’s station.
Jeri Koehler was back at her post.
“Hello.” She looked puzzled. “I thought you’d left.”
“I did. I was halfway down the drive when I realized I’d left my tone generator somewhere in here. Would it be a big problem if I looked for it?”
