AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Lead the way.”
They slipped through the door without drawing the guard’s notice and walked as rapidly and as silently as they could. Rye continued looking over his shoulder, checking the fire stairs door they had just come through. His ears were attuned for the ping that would signal the arrival of the elevator.
They rounded a corner at an intersection of hallways. The emergency exit was at the far end of one. He and Brynn jogged toward it. Brynn punched in the code on the keypad, and a lock released with a loud metallic click. No alarm blared when Rye depressed the metal bar and pushed open the heavy door.
He ushered Brynn out ahead of him and, after one last look behind him, followed her. He waited only long enough to hear the reassuring click of the door relocking, then grabbed her hand and took off in a dead run.
8:18 p.m.
Abby emerged from Violet’s room with her arms full of bedding, but drew up short in fright. A tall man was standing just beyond the door. “Mercy, you startled me.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to.”
“Can I help you? Only family is allowed—”
“Oh, I know. The guard said. But I’m Dr. Lambert’s driver tonight. He didn’t want to get out of the car in the rain, so he sent me in to see if Dr. O’Neal was here. He needs to consult with her about a patient. Sure enough, when I asked the guard, he told me she came in not long ago.”
“She was here. You just missed her.”
“By how much?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t meet them in the elevator.”
“Them?”
“I guess he was her date. They were on their way to a party. If it’s an emergency, I can call her and tell her to come back. I have her number.”
“That’s the problem. Dr. Lambert has been calling her phone for over an hour. He thinks it must be on the fritz.” He held up a slip of paper with a telephone number handwritten on it. “Is this the number you have for her?”
She pulled her phone from the pocket of her tunic and accessed her contacts. “That’s it.”
“Do you by chance have another?”
“Only the number of her answering service.”
“Dr. Lambert tried that. They struck out reaching her, too. Her phone’s battery must’ve run completely dry.” He started backing away and gave her a smile. “Sorry about scaring you.”
Until he turned and started walking away, Abby hadn’t noticed a second man waiting at the elevator. He wasn’t a heart-stopper like the one she’d talked with. He had shifty eyes and looked ill-kempt even in his dark chauffeur’s uniform. She thought this face looked battered, too, but that could have been a trick of the lighting.
Abby couldn’t fathom why Dr. Lambert would need two drivers.
Then again, knowing Dr. Lambert, she figured he needed one for himself and another for his ego.
8:22 p.m.
The hospital complex was a sprawling campus. The concrete arteries connecting the various buildings were lighted like the Vegas strip. The rain helped to blur the lights, but it also kept the sidewalks free of other pedestrians, making Rye and Brynn that much more conspicuous. They covered a lot of ground in a short span of time, but not so much that Rye relaxed his vigil.
He kept them moving at a clip while staying on the lookout for the black Mercedes. He didn’t know positively that Goliad and Timmy were on their trail. But if they weren’t already, they or someone of their ilk in the Hunts’ employ would be soon. The first place they’d look for Brynn would be where she would have expected to find Violet.
Spotting a taxi leaving one of the main buildings, Rye said, “I’ll flag it down. Don’t dawdle.” He dropped Brynn’s hand and took off in a sprint. When she caught up to him, he was holding open the back door; they scrambled in.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
“Just drive,” Rye said. “She needs a minute. Got some bad news about her cousin.”
“Any particular direction?”
“Just drive.”
