Elsie had no master plan in mind, beyond heading back to Barton Memorial. She could talk to the security guard, to the floor nurses. Get a feel for the motivation behind Mandy’s sudden departure.
A cold rain began to fall; she turned on her windshield wipers, then reached for the phone. She just took her eyes off the road for a second, to push the contact for Ashlock’s cell phone.
He picked up on the first ring. “Where you at, Elsie? I’m hungry.”
“Mandy bailed. Walked out of the hospital.”
“What? Did someone come for her?”
She didn’t answer. In the beam of her headlights, she saw a ghostly figure, standing on the wet pavement in a flapping gown, her arm extended, thumb up.
“Well, I’ll be damned. I think I’ve got her.” She cut off the call.
Elsie veered to the side of the road and hit the brake. She reached over to open the passenger door. Mandy slid inside without pausing to check out the interior.
Once in the passenger seat, Mandy said, “Shit, the floorboard’s all wet.” Then she looked over at Elsie. “It’s you again? No fucking way. I’m not believing this.”
Mandy reached for the door handle, but Elsie moved faster, hitting the master lock button with her left hand.
In a cajoling voice, she said, “Mandy, it’s a pretty nasty night to be out in your stocking feet.”
Mandy slid down in the car seat. “My feet was drier out there.”
“Sorry about that. Hey, you hungry?”
“No.”
“I’ve got a Big Mac.”
Elsie glanced over. Mandy didn’t reply, but she didn’t say no either. The smell emanating from the hot McDonald’s bag on the console filled the car.
Mandy cut her eyes at the bag. At length, she said, “My mouth’s too messed up. I don’t think I can eat a Big Mac.”
Elsie nodded, her eyes on the road. “Got a Quarter Pounder with cheese in there, too. That might work better. And there’s fries.”
A long moment of silence was broken when Mandy said, “I guess I could eat fries.” She pulled the paper bag off the console and onto her lap.
“What did they feed you at the hospital?” Elsie kept her voice deliberately casual.
Mandy’s head snapped to face her. “I’m not going back there.”
“I didn’t say you were.” Elsie had reached the turn that would take them back to Barton Memorial. She drove in the opposite direction.
“They give me Jell-O. Some soup that was like water,” Mandy said, speaking around a mouthful of fries.
“I can see why you wanted to break out. Sounds like they were trying to starve you.”
Mandy chewed. After a moment, Elsie said, “Why’d you leave, Mandy?”
“I need to get back. And I didn’t like that cop.”
“Ashlock?” Elsie’s kneejerk reaction was to launch into a defense of Detective Ashlock. She was, after all, an expert on his good qualities.
But she paused, and said, “What don’t you like about him?”
“Too fucking nosy,” Mandy said without hesitation. She pulled out the cardboard box that held the Quarter Pounder. “I can have this?”
“Sure.”
Elsie braked at a four-way stop. She glanced over at Mandy, watching her open her mouth carefully, nibbling at the burger’s edge with her front teeth.
Elsie drove through the intersection. They were entering the oldest part of town. Her car bumped over a set of railroad tracks.
“Are we getting close to the highway? I can thumb a ride on the highway.”
Mandy leaned forward to peer through the windshield. The street they were traveling was poorly lit. Vacant buildings and empty storefronts faced the tracks. A single streetlight illuminated the corner where an ancient brick hotel sat. Elsie pulled the car to the curb in front of the hotel.
Mandy’s voice was sharp. “Take me to the highway.”
Elsie sighed. She turned off the ignition. “I’ve done some stupid things in my day. But I’m not crazy enough to dump a near-naked girl onto the highway in the rain.”
Mandy was staring at the old hotel, shaking her head. “Is this the police station? I’m not going there. Ain’t gonna do it.”
“No, Mandy. This is a place for you to sleep. You don’t want to go back to the hospital, don’t want to talk to the police; I heard you. But you need a place to stay.”
The brickwork of the building’s exterior held a sign with a name chiseled in stone: Barton Hotel.
“Is this a hotel? I don’t have any money.”
Elsie shifted in her seat and faced the girl. “It won’t cost anything. It’s a shelter.”
Mandy laughed, a mocking noise. “Oh that’s fucking great. A homeless shelter. Just when I thought shit couldn’t get any worse.”
The door of the building opened. A woman whose gray hair hung over her shoulder in a long braid peered out. “Elsie?” she called.
Elsie pushed the button to roll the passenger window down. “Hey, June.”
The gray-haired woman ran to the car, huddling her shoulders against the rain. She leaned her head into the passenger window and said, “I thought it was your car. Who do we have here?”
“This is Mandy. She needs a place to stay. Some clothes, too.”
When the gray-haired woman extended a hand to touch Mandy’s shoulder, the girl winced and pulled back.
June dropped her hand. Examining Mandy with an expert eye, she clucked her tongue and said, “You poor lamb. Let’s get you inside, get you into some dry clothes.”
Mandy turned to Elsie with a suspicious look. “What the fuck is this?”
But Elsie didn’t answer. She was busy texting Ashlock: Dropping Mandy off at BWC of the O. See U soon.
June was trying without success to open the passenger door, but it remained locked. “Elsie. Open the door. We’re getting soaked.”
Elsie punched the button and held her breath. If Mandy ran away when she was out of the car, Elsie had no right or authority to stop her.
But June’s calm spirit appeared to work its magic. Mandy followed her inside. Elsie sighed out with relief. Mandy was in good hands at the Battered Women’s Center of the Ozarks.