Unseen. Nancy Bush

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СКАЧАТЬ than a gofer. He’d meant for it to be short term. He’d had bigger plans. Law school. A master’s program. Something far away from his widowed mother, whose grip on reality loosened after Dylan’s death. But Will hadn’t been able to leave either her or Laurelton. Years went by, and he ended up staying way longer than he would have ever credited.

      He also ended up in a relationship with Dylan’s ex-girlfriend, Shari, which was detrimental to both of them. It only took six months for Will to realize it was a huge mistake; it took eight years to convince Shari of the same. To this day she sometimes showed up unexpectedly at his small, ranch-style house on the outskirts of Laurelton, to throw a scene and collapse into racking sobs. Neither Shari nor his mother had moved past Dylan’s death. For years, Will had unknowingly enabled their behavior. These days, he avoided Shari at all costs, and his mom’s descent into dementia had necessitated hiring a live-in caretaker for her. In some ways it felt to Will like he was slowly waking from a long sleep. He liked his job but he was itching to move on.

      He needed something to happen. Something.

      His cell buzzed and he glanced at the LCD: Barb Gillette, his partner, a transfer from Clackamas County. Will grimaced as he answered. She had a thing for him. He knew it; she didn’t try to hide it. And yes, they’d even spent a few nights out together, though not recently. It was a fine balance for Will as he wanted to keep their working relationship on an even keel, while Barb constantly fought to take it to another level.

      It was all probably going to come to a head. Some ugly, future, unavoidable scene. Ah, well.

      “Tanninger,” he answered shortly.

      “Hey, handsome. What’s the verdict? She the mad pedophile-rammer?”

      “Maybe.”

      “Don’t tell me. She stares at you with big doe eyes and swears she’s innocent.”

      He grunted.

      “Seriously, do you think she did it?” Barb asked.

      “Too early to tell. Definitely a lot of signs point to that direction, but she doesn’t remember the accident.”

      “Convenient.”

      Will thought about Gemma LaPorte and wondered. There was a lot more going on with her than she was letting him see. He finished his call with Barb, clicked off, then pulled a small notebook from his pocket. Flipping it open, he entered the gray-and-green-striped ER waiting room, with its club chairs backed against the walls and nestled in front of the windows to the parking lot. Billy Mendes was the EMT who had seen Gemma LaPorte walk unaided into the ER area. Will had left word that he wanted to speak to anyone who might have witnessed that inauspicious event and Billy had finally gotten the message and let the hospital know.

      “I”m looking for Billy Mendes,” Will said to a rather doubtful looking aide holding a clipboard. “He’s an EMT who has information for the sheriff’s department.”

      “Oh.” She chewed on her lip, furrowed her brow and gazed down at her clipboard. “I don’t think he’s here.”

      “I was just told he was waiting for me.”

      “Really? Huh…” She glanced behind her to an officious-looking woman in hospital garb. “Lorraine, is Billy still here?”

      “He left.”

      “Um…there’s a policeman…er…sheriff’s guy here for him…?”

      Lorraine looked up. Her hair was dyed black and her lipstick was orange. She looked like every nightmare school-nurse depicted in film and television. “Well, he left. He’s got a job, you know. Crash at the four corners. Bicycler involved.” She sniffed, as if they were all just asking to be run down by motorists.

      “Uh…okay…” The girl gave Will a look from the top of her eyes. “Do you wanna wait?”

      “I’ll be back.”

      Will fought back his annoyance. He’d been trying to connect with Mendes for several days, but they’d been unable to meet for one reason or another. A multiple-car accident was certainly a good enough reason. Will was just anxious to get some solid information on the woman in 434 who may, or may not, be some kind of killing avenger.

      He retraced his steps, taking the stairs toward her room. Passing by it, he hazarded a glance inside but the lights were dimmed. He imagined she was sleeping.

      He headed on toward the end of the hall, took another flight of stairs to the top floor, then walked the hallway directly above Gemma’s room. Outside the bank of windows facing north was a wall of black cloud. Rain was about to return and deluge them after a few days’ respite. Maybe it would finally penetrate the packed earth that was hard as stone, a result of a parched summer and dry early fall.

      He came to a closed door with an empty chair outside. Ralph Smithson had been sent over by the sheriff’s department to guard Edward Letton, but he apparently wasn’t taking his job seriously, which was no surprise. Will knew the guy well and was sure Smithson felt playing babysitter wasn’t up to his level of expertise. Smithson was big and loud and could complain like it was an Olympic sport. He would consider keeping watch over Letton to be beneath him, yet he wouldn’t be happy with a job that required him to expend any energy either. He was one of those guys that needed to be shit-canned like yesterday, but he toadied up to Sheriff Nunce on a regular basis, so Will was stuck with him for now. And Laurelton General was outside the city limits and therefore the county’s problem, so good old Ralph was going to have to suck it up and play bodyguard.

      Except he was missing in action from his post.

      Silently cursing the man, Will placed a palm against the light oak door and pushed, taking a few quiet steps inside the room. Letton lay beneath the glow of a light attached to the headboard of his bed. His right leg had been broken in three places and he was skinned up like he’d been scraped over a cheese grater. But it was the injury to his skull that had placed him in a coma. Smithson probably figured there was no way the guy was leaving this place on his own power and had decided to check out the lunchroom. Nevertheless, Will didn’t plan on leaving till the guard returned.

      Seven minutes later Ralph came hustling down the hall carrying a tray. He’d raided both the cafeteria and some vending machines, as he balanced a heaping helping of some kind of stroganoff with mystery meat, and several bright, plastic bags of Fritos, Doritos, and other Lay’s and Ruffles products.

      He jerked as if caught in a nefarious act upon seeing Will. “What’re you doing here?”

      “Looking for you,” Will said mildly. “What’s the status on our patient?”

      Ralph hesitated, quickly reviewing his options. Will could practically read the questions running behind his bullish forehead: Should I play it safe? Be contrite? Come up with an excuse? Should I bluff my way out? In the end he regarded Will balefully, choosing to go on the attack. “Do I look like a doctor?” he sneered. “The fucker ain’t no patient. He’s a fucking pedophile.”

      “I’d ask you where you’ve been but it would be a redundant question.”

      “Yeah?” Ralph’s jaw clenched pugnaciously.

      “I’d just like you to stick by the door.”

      “That’s what I’m doin’, Kemosabe.”

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