5

Adam’s phone rang again as he pulled into the Carrington Memorial Hospital parking lot. This time it was Gabe. He didn’t bother saying hello. “What?”

“Leigh called Ryan. She’s with Sabrina.”

Terror warred with gratitude. He was relieved Leigh was taking care of Sabrina. But the uncertainty of what had happened to her was killing him. “Did she say what happened?” He parked his car in a spot reserved for law enforcement and jogged inside.

“Still don’t know. They’re taking her back for a CT scan. Leigh didn’t give us any details. Just said Pete had come in with her and . . .”

Adam’s chest tightened. “And what?”

“Leigh said Sabrina had been hit on the head and knocked out.”

A primordial rage bubbled in Adam’s limbs.

“Ryan’s talking to Pete right now. We’re on our way to Sabrina’s house. Keep us informed about her condition.”

“Okay.”

The automatic doors opened, and the antiseptic air of the emergency department waiting area assaulted Adam’s senses. He went straight to the front desk.

The security guard looked him over. “Are you Investigator Campbell?”

“Yes.”

He pushed a button and then waved Adam through. “Pete told me you were headed this way. I’d recommend you check with Miss Edna before you go wandering around.”

“Thanks,” he said.

Everyone—nurses, doctors, housekeeping staff—everyone deferred to Miss Edna. She ran the emergency department, and no one dared tell her otherwise.

Miss Edna had also taught Adam’s Sunday school class when he was in fifth grade. She was simultaneously the meanest and kindest person he’d ever known.

He approached her desk and paused.

She didn’t even look up from the paperwork she was searching through. “I see you standing there, Adam Campbell,” she said. “Pete’s waiting on you in room 4. Down the hall to the right.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t you worry, baby,” she called after him. “She’s going to be okay.”

He stopped and returned to the desk. Miss Edna gazed at him over her reading glasses. He reached a hand across the desk and she squeezed it.

“Thank you, Miss Edna.”

She sandwiched his hand between both of hers and gave him a nod. “Be nice to that boy. He’s a wreck.”

She must have been referring to Pete.

“I will, Miss Edna.”

“Now, go on.”

She released his hand and he fought the desire to run down the hall. Room 4 was only a few steps away. When he walked inside, Pete jumped to his feet.

“Adam, I’m sorry. I didn’t know she was going to go for a run, and I—”

“Pete,” Adam said, “did you hit her on the head?”

Shock crossed Pete’s face. “Of course not. I would never—”

“Then this isn’t your fault. You can’t take the blame for something you didn’t do.” Pete’s shoulders slumped. “Now slow down and take me through it from the beginning.”

Pete blew out a long breath. “I did what you asked. I stopped by every half hour. I even walked around her little house each time. Never saw a thing. Then my phone rang, and it was Sabrina. Except when I answered it, all I could hear was a scuffling sound. I called her name, but she didn’t respond.”

He paced around the small room. “I was two minutes away, so I hit the siren and raced over there. I banged on the door. She didn’t answer, so I . . . I tried the door. It wasn’t locked, so I let myself in.” Pete’s eyes pled for understanding.

“Good,” Adam said. “Exactly what I would have done.”

“But she wasn’t there. Her car was still there, but she was gone. I had no idea where she might be. I called for backup and took off down the driveway toward the big house. And that’s when I saw her. About half a mile down.”

Pete ran his hands over his shaved head. “She was on the ground. I ran to her. There was blood. I thought it was a lot, but Leigh says head wounds bleed a lot and it’s not as bad as it looked. I called for an ambulance. Checked to be sure she was breathing. But I was afraid to move her. I felt like a jerk leaving her on the ground, but the ambulance was only three minutes out, so I covered her with my jacket.”

He pulled a notebook from his pocket. “I looked for footprints or any sign of someone being there. The driveway is paved, but I took pictures of some muddy prints, pretty big. I’m guessing a man, size eleven or twelve. The footprints disappeared into the woods. I took pictures of everything and sent them to Gabe. He’s getting forensics out there.”

He glanced at his notes again. “I didn’t see anything that could have been used to hit Sabrina,” he said. “I don’t know if they used a stick or a rock or a . . . a fist.”

Adam tried not to picture any of those options.

“Anyway.” Pete flipped his notebook closed. “The ambulance arrived, and the paramedics did the whole neck brace thing. When they started moving her around, she woke up. She was confused but not anything I wouldn’t expect after what had happened. She was answering questions and stuff. The backup I’d called for had gotten there by then. I told them to secure the scene, and I followed the ambulance here.”

He leaned against the wall. “By the time I got inside, Leigh was with her. She told me she was going to stay with Sabrina every second. I think Leigh may technically be off work now, but she went with Sabrina for the CT scan. Before they went to radiology, she came by and said Sabrina was awake and talking and I could wait in here.”

Pete closed his eyes. “I seriously thought she was dead. When I saw her on the ground . . . I don’t know if I could have lived with myself.”

Adam clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll tell you what Sabrina told me yesterday.”

Pete looked at him with interest.

“You can’t hold yourself responsible for what happened when you weren’t around. You did a great job.”

“Thanks. I still haven’t figured out how she called me though. She didn’t have her phone, although her little wireless earbuds were lying on the ground near her.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Adam said. “You can hang around if you want, but if you’re ready to head back and get things written up so you can get some sleep, that’s fine with me. I’ll keep you informed.”

Pete blinked hard a few times. “Leigh said it wouldn’t be long. I think I’ll wait a few more minutes, if that’s okay.”

“Absolutely,” Adam said.

His phone rang. “It’s Ryan,” he said to Pete, then swiped the screen. “Hello.”

“Hey,” Ryan said. “What’s the story on this house out here at Sabrina’s place?”

“It belonged to her dad,” Adam said. “Technically it belongs to her now, I guess. Why?”

“I want to go through the house and look for any signs that someone’s been in there. It would have been a great place to hide if the attacker was trapped inside the gate,” Ryan said.

“I’m sure she’d be fine with that,” Adam said.

“Fine with what?”

Adam whipped around. Sabrina smiled at him from a wheelchair. He forced himself not to run to her as a transporter pushed her into the room, then she and Leigh helped Sabrina onto the bed.

Adam held back until she was settled. Then he reached for her hand. “Hi,” he said.

“Hi.” She frowned. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like I have a terminal disease. It’s just a mild concussion.”

Adam bit back the things he wanted to say. There was no need to point out how much danger she’d been in and probably still was.

“Excuse me, Dr. Fleming.” Leigh’s tone carried a mixture of exasperation, annoyance, and worry. “You took a serious blow to the head this morning. You passed out. You can’t take this lightly. No, you don’t have a terminal disease, but the people who care about you have been worried sick, and while we’re relieved you’re okay, we’re still very concerned for your safety. You’re going to have to deal with us hovering for a while because that’s what friends do. Got it?”

Sabrina’s mouth had fallen open as Leigh spoke.

Pete studied the latex glove boxes on the wall like they were the most fascinating things he’d ever seen. His red face was the only indication he’d heard Leigh’s speech.

For his part, Adam couldn’t win by disagreeing with Leigh or antagonizing Sabrina, so he chose the safest path. He squeezed Sabrina’s hand. “I can’t argue with you or with Leigh. You aren’t dying, so we don’t need to be ridiculous about this. But you came awfully close to it this morning, so you’re going to have to give us room to be worrywarts for a while. Okay?”

“Fair enough.” Reluctance laced her words. “What happens now?”

Adam deferred to Leigh.

“As soon as Dr. Sloan gives you the okay, you’ll be free to go home, although I think it’s safe to say no one will want you staying by yourself for a while.”

Sabrina’s brow furrowed. “Can I go back to work? I have a lot to do on this case.”

Leigh scrunched up her entire face and glared at Sabrina. There was no real heat behind it, but Sabrina looked worried.

Leigh pointed to her own face. “You see this? This is my ‘You’re killing me’ look. Memorize it. It means I don’t like what you’re suggesting, but I know you’re going to do it anyway. It doesn’t mean I don’t like you, so don’t look at me like I’m being mean to you.”

Sabrina’s expression cleared as Leigh spoke. “So I can go to work?”

“I’ll talk to Dr. Sloan,” Leigh said. “No promises.”

Adam’s phone rang. He ignored it. It rang again. “Oh no,” he said as he grabbed it. “Sorry, Ryan. I forgot you were there.”

Ryan laughed. “No problem. Can you ask Sabrina about getting into the house?”

“Let me put you on speaker,” Adam said. “Go ahead.”

“Hey, everyone,” Ryan called out.

Everyone gathered in the small room replied, “Hey.”

“Sabrina?” Ryan said.

“Yes,” she said.

“Is there any chance we could get into the house? We need to check for any signs of intruders.”

Sabrina’s face paled. “Of course. There’s a set of keys to both the main house and the guest house behind it. They’re on the key ring in my house. I assume you’ve already been in there.”

“We have,” Ryan said. “Nothing looks out of place to me, but you’ll have to check it carefully to be sure. There’s no rush on that, of course.”

“Oh, she thinks she’s ready to go back to work,” Leigh said. There were chuckles all around.

“I’ll leave that to the medical professionals,” Ryan said. “Is there a security system at the house, Sabrina?”

“There is,” she said. “A really good one. My dad was at high risk for wandering. The gates, fences, doors, everything is all monitored. I can’t figure out how anyone could have gotten in without setting it off.”

“All the more reason for us to check it out,” Ryan said.

Sabrina gave him the code, and before he disconnected the call, Ryan promised to keep her informed.

“Pete,” Sabrina said. “You have to quit looking at me that way. I’m fine. But I have to ask . . . how did you know to come looking for me?”

Pete gave Sabrina a halfhearted smile. She could see how much effort it took for him to do it. “You called me,” he said.

“I did what? When?” She hadn’t called Pete. Not on purpose, anyway.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through. “The call came in at 6:23 a.m. I answered the phone, but all I could hear was a rustling sound and what I thought was you grunting. I called your name several times, and when you didn’t answer, I was afraid something was wrong. I was hoping you’d butt-dialed me and it was no big deal, but I didn’t want to risk it.”

Sabrina processed Pete’s version of the events. How had she called him?

“Sabrina?” Concern saturated Adam’s voice. “Can you tell us what you remember?”

She started at the beginning. Top down. Just like a computer program. It would help if her head didn’t feel like someone was taking a jackhammer to it, but she could figure this out. “I got up and got ready to go for a run.”

Adam raised his hand and she nodded at him. “Do you run every morning?”

“Weather permitting,” she said. “I don’t care to run in the rain.”

Adam raised his hand again. Pete snickered. “Do you carry your phone, or is it in your pocket?”

Her pocket . . . She patted her right thigh. “My phone’s gone. He took my phone.”

Pete’s eyes widened.

“Let’s go back a little.” Adam spoke through clenched teeth. “I’m assuming by the way you’re patting your leg that you put your phone in your pocket before you ran?”

Sabrina focused on retracing her steps. “Yes. I got up. Got dressed. Picked a playlist. Put the phone in my pocket. Put in my wireless earbuds. Left the house. Went down the driveway. My earbuds died about five minutes into my run, but I didn’t bother taking them out.”

How much farther had she run? Where had the guy come from that she didn’t see him?

“They were on the ground near you,” Pete said. “I assumed they fell out when you—”

“It was a man,” she said. “I don’t know where he came from. He was just there. I thought I’d run into him. But now I’m not sure. Maybe he ran into me.”

Adam tilted his head as if he was considering her comment. “If he’d been waiting for you, he could have popped up right as you ran by him.”

“I guess.” Sabrina leaned back against the pillows. “Ugh. I wasn’t paying attention. I should have been more on guard.”

“You were out for a jog on gated private property,” Pete said. “Hardly a reason to expect someone to attack you.”

Sabrina wasn’t sure she believed him, but it was nice of him to say that. “Thanks, Pete.”

“Are you sure it was a man?” Leigh asked.

Sabrina considered her question. “Yes,” she said. “When I ran into him, I grabbed his arms. He was hairy. And his arms were thick, but not like fat thick. He was solid muscle. He was at least a foot taller than me. His hands were . . . huge.”

“We won’t completely rule out a woman.” Adam nodded toward Leigh. “But it’s more likely the attacker was a man.”

“Agreed,” Leigh said.

“Now, where were we?” Adam ticked off items on his fingers. “You ran into the attacker . . .”

“Yes. It was like hitting a wall. I reached out with my hands, to catch myself.” Sabrina stretched out her arms. “But when I grabbed his arms, he threw me to the ground. I wasn’t sure if I could outrun him, but I thought if I could get him on the ground I’d have a better chance. I tried to get up . . .”

Why was it hard to remember the details? “I’m not sure what happened. I think I tried to kick his legs? Maybe? Or grab them? I think I pushed him away from me, but that’s the last thing I can remember.”

“It’s okay,” Leigh said. “Your brain is protecting itself. Don’t fight it. You might remember more details over the next few days. Or you might not. It’s okay either way.”

“No, it isn’t.” Sabrina closed her eyes. None of this was okay. The phrase “pounding headache” had never made more sense to her than it did in this moment. Her right leg . . . “Oh.”

She sat up fast. Too fast. Searing pain scorched its way through her skull and she caught her breath at the intensity of it.

Adam’s hand on her back and arm sent a shiver through her. “Are you okay?” His words came low, right at her ear.

“What is it?” Leigh asked.

“My leg. My phone. That’s how I called Pete.”

Leigh, Adam, and Pete all made eye contact with one another, but not with her. What wasn’t clear about this?

“My leg is killing me,” she said. She pulled the hospital gown away from her right thigh, revealing a rectangular-shaped bruise already forming. “I fell on my phone. I’d put Pete’s number in last night, and when I fell I must have leg-dialed him. With my earbuds dead, the Bluetooth would have been off, so Pete would have been able to hear, but it would have been through the material of my pants, so it would have been muffled.”

Now they all nodded in understanding. “Makes sense,” Pete said.

“And if you were only two minutes out, in the cool morning air, the sound of the siren would have reached the attacker in advance of you,” Adam said to Pete. “You may have saved her life.”

Pete’s face flushed. “I would have liked to have saved her a headache.” His words were gruff, but his smile was more natural now. “So the attacker hears the siren, takes Sabrina’s phone, and rabbits,” Pete said. “The property is fenced. How did he disappear?”

“My guess is however he got in. When we check the perimeter, we’ll find out how he did it.” Adam narrowed his eyes at Sabrina. “But until then, I don’t think you should stay in your house alone.”

He said it nicely, but there was an undercurrent she didn’t recognize in Adam’s voice. Either he was mad, which she didn’t think was accurate, or he was not going to be easily dissuaded. But was he suggesting what she thought he was suggesting? “Well, my house isn’t big enough for two people, and I’m not staying in my father’s house by myself or with anybody else,” Sabrina said.

“I’m not suggesting you should.” Adam’s tone was conciliatory. “But—”

“I can go to a hotel. Or I can sleep at my lab. It’s secure. I have a sofa in my office.”

“You can’t sleep in your office. Come stay with me!” Leigh’s excitement was impossible to miss. “It will be awesome. Like old times. You guys can all come over tonight, and I’ll cook. You’ll solve the case.”

A sleepover at Leigh’s? Sabrina couldn’t quite picture it, but it did sound better than a hotel. And it was way better than sleeping in her lab. That sofa was awful.

“What do you think?” Adam looked so hopeful that she wasn’t sure she could have said no to anything he asked her to do.

“Sure. Why not? But I need to go to my house and pack.”

“I’ll come with you,” Adam said.

“Excellent,” Leigh said. “Now that we’ve got it all figured out, I think Pete here needs to crash.” Her mouth stretched into a huge yawn. “For that matter, so do I.”

Heat flooded through Sabrina’s entire system. “Oh no! You’ve both been up all night and I’m yammering. Pete, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I think you should go get some sleep.”

He nodded. “I will, but I’m going to call you later to check on you.”

“Sounds good.”

Adam shook Pete’s hand. “I can’t thank you enough.” Adam’s voice sounded a little funny and Pete didn’t say anything. He just nodded. It was like he and Adam were having some conversation without words.

When they were done, Pete stepped to the side of her bed and gave her hand an awkward pat. “Don’t do anything crazy today,” he said.

Leigh followed him to the door. “I’m going to go spring you,” she said to Sabrina. “Be back in a sec.”

Sabrina watched the door close, then she turned to Adam. “Leigh’s been so wonderful. I’m so glad she was here. The ED was deserted when I came in, but I’m sure Leigh helped move things along. The doctor was in my room within a few minutes and then they whisked me off to radiology. She said I was lucky to be in here on a Monday morning and not a Saturday morning.”

Adam gave her a weak grin. She got the feeling he wouldn’t have minded if things had gone a little slower.

“What can I do to help today? Besides taking you home. Are you supposed to drive? Should I take you to your lab?”

Sabrina studied Adam’s face, looking for any clue that he was joking. “You aren’t going to give me grief about going to work?”

He sat on the edge of the bed. “Would it do any good?”

“No. But I’m surprised you aren’t trying.”

“I know you too well.” He laughed. “You aren’t going to go home or go to Leigh’s and take a nap. It’s not in your nature. Not only are you itching to start working on the evidence we recovered from Lisa Palmer’s house, but my guess is your brain is already working overtime on who attacked you, how they got in, what they wanted, and why they took your phone.”

He was good. And somehow the idea of being known so well wasn’t terrifying as long as it was Adam who was doing the knowing.

“Well, in that case . . .”

Juan was an idiot.

Sabrina Fleming was still alive.

How could that blockhead have messed this up? He outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds. She was alone. It was dark.

The plan had been foolproof.

Until the fool proved him wrong.

And then Juan took her phone. Why?

He didn’t need her phone! He needed her dead.

At least the oaf had called him immediately rather than driving straight back with the phone on and searchable.

That would have been a disaster.

As it was, the phone had been disposed of. And if by some fluke of fate it was discovered? Well, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

He sipped his espresso and considered his options. He’d had to talk fast to convince Juan that trying again today would be a mistake. They would wait. Watch. An opportunity would present itself and when it did, Juan would be free to get the vengeance he craved.

He had time. Not a lot, but enough. This was but one piece of the intricate puzzle he’d been putting together for the past three years.

The phone rang.

Ah. Another piece.

“Hello, dearest. How was your flight?”