Part 33 (1/2)

The screaming continued for several minutes, then Genny started crying and moaning. She thrashed about in the bed as if she were fighting a demon.

”I've never seen anything like it,” the young nurse said.

”I have,” Jazzy murmured.

”I'll put in a call to Dr. Rawlins.”

”He won't be able to help her.”

Jazzy sat on the bed, grabbed Genny by the shoulders and held her as she struggled. ”Come back, Genny. You've gone in too deep. Wherever you are, it's dangerous for you there. Don't let him win. Don't you dare let him win!”

Genny continued fighting for several minutes, then she stilled and began breathing normally. Her eyelids fluttered, then opened.

”Call Jacob,” Genny whispered. ”He's already killed Esther. I could see her plainly. She was lying on a tattered chaise longue. And the sword...the sword ripped through her flesh. Blood. So much blood.”

Jazzy glanced at the closed blinds covering the window in Genny's room. She walked over to the window and opened the blinds. The faint pink glow of morning light brightened the dark sky.

Chapter 27.

He had waited until the officer watching his home drove away at seven o'clock. Apparently his orders had been to stay until well after daybreak. What no one knew, not the officer who'd kept watch all night nor the sheriff and the members of his task force, was that he had already sacrificed Esther Stowe, down in the bas.e.m.e.nt. Everything had gone according to plan. His only regret was that he hadn't dared allow Esther to scream. Someone might have heard her.

He kept his coat and hat on and a scarf wrapped around the lower part of his face as he entered the hospital through the ER entrance. Earlier in the week, he had taken the time to scope out the entrances, determine where the guards were located, and discover what doors were locked at night and exactly when they opened each morning. The only entrance that was open twenty-four hours a day was the automatic double doors leading from the ambulance delivery area to the ER's waiting room.

There were only two people in the waiting room, but neither paid much attention to him as he walked through and headed toward the long hallway that would take him to the elevators. He checked his watch. He had to get to Genny's room and take her from the hospital before Dallas Sloan arrived for breakfast. Or perhaps Sloan wouldn't show up this morning, since the federal agent had probably joined the task force in the ma.s.sive manhunt for Esther Stowe. They wouldn't find her, of course. At least not any time soon.

He kept a close lookout all around him; it wouldn't do for him to run into someone he knew. Of course, if necessary, he could just say he'd stopped by to see Genny. After all, it wouldn't be a lie. He really was here to see her. To see her, drug her, and take her away.

After entering the elevator and finding himself alone, he smiled as he punched the UP b.u.t.ton. So far so good. With a little luck his plan would work. When he arrived on the second floor, he went directly to the storage room he'd spotted when he'd been checking out Genny's floor. He closed the door behind him, then flipped the light switch. He removed his scarf, coat, and hat, folded them neatly, and stuffed them in the garbage can. Then he took off his trousers and added them to the other clothing. Placing his hands on either side of his head, he adjusted the wig he wore.

Too bad there wasn't a mirror in here, he thought. He'd really like to check his nurse's attire, to make sure he looked just right. But he'd put together this costume as meticulously as he did everything else. And he had applied his makeup carefully. Lipstick, blush, and eyeliner. Thankfully, no one would suspect he wasn't female, not with his pretty face. Mother had always said he was too pretty to be a boy.

Hustle, hustle, he told himself. Time's a-wasting. Luckily he didn't encounter any of the nurses as he made his way down the hall. In his peripheral vision, he spotted a cafeteria staffer rolling the five-tier breakfast cart from the elevator. The young woman brought the cart to a halt several feet from the nurses' station, then went over and began talking to the LPN on duty.

He eased up behind the cart, slid a tray off the top, and, whistling inside his mind, headed toward Genny's room. He recognized the guard outside her door.

”Good morning, Deputy Willingham,” he said in his best alto voice. He could mimic his mother's voice so well that sometimes he spooked himself just hearing the sound.

”Morning,” the deputy replied.

”May I take Genny's breakfast in to her?”

”Sure. Go on in.”

He slipped right past the stupid deputy. The man hadn't bothered to ask why Genny's breakfast was early, and he hadn't even noticed that no one else on the floor had received a tray yet. And Genny's room was near the end of the hall, so she should have been one of the last patients served.

When he entered Genny's room, he kept his head down. He had to work fast if his plan was to come off without a hitch. Being as astute as she was, Genny might pick up on his true ident.i.ty, so it was best if she didn't get a close look at his face before he subdued her. There would be time enough to reveal himself later.

He glanced at the bed. Empty. Suddenly he heard water running in the bathroom. He set the tray on the portable table, then removed one of the two hypodermics in his pocket. He popped off the plastic cap to expose the needle and opened the door very quietly. Deputy Willingham had his back to the door.

Thanks for being so cooperative.

He eased up behind the deputy and shoved the needle into his b.u.t.tock, right through his pants. Willingham yelped and grabbed his b.u.t.t, but before he could do more than glance over his shoulder, he slumped to the floor. He clutched the guy by his shoulders and dragged him straight into Genny's room. Just as he positioned the deputy halfway under the bed and only partially out of view, Genny emerged from the bathroom.

”Morning, dear,” he said to her in Mother's sweetest voice. ”Breakfast's here.”

Genny stopped just outside the bathroom. She stared at him. h.e.l.l, was his wig on crooked? he wondered. Had she recognized his voice even though he'd disguised it?

”Need some help getting back into bed?” he asked and scurried toward her.

She held up a hand, motioning him to stop. He paused, then moved toward the bed. He fluffed the pillow and straightened the cover. Genny crept around the foot of the bed and headed toward the door. He grabbed her just as she caught hold of the door handle. When she opened her mouth to cry out, he covered her mouth with one hand and dragged her to the bed. She fought him, but luckily she was a small woman who wasn't fully recovered from surgery. He threw her onto the bed and with his one free hand jerked the other hypodermic from his pocket. Using his teeth, he removed the plastic cap covering the needle. Genny's eyes widened in fear when she realized what he was going to do. When she squirmed and tried again to fight him, he flattened one of his knees atop her chest, then took the syringe and aimed it at her hip. Within seconds, she pa.s.sed out.

The door to the stairs was at the end of the hall, only two rooms down from Genny's room. All he had to do was wrap her in a blanket, carry her less than fifteen feet, and he'd be almost home free. There was little chance anyone would see him. Few people used the stairs, especially not this early in the morning. And he'd parked his car in the employee's lot, near the back entrance. Since the day s.h.i.+ft had already come on and the night s.h.i.+ft had left, there shouldn't be any activity in that area. Once he had her safely in the trunk of his car, he would take the back road from the hospital out of town.

He had chosen the perfect place for her sacrifice. A place worthy of a Druid priestess or a Cherokee shaman. The blood of both ran through Genevieve Madoc's veins. She'd told him so herself.

Dallas arrived at the hospital at precisely eight-twenty. Genny would have showered by now and would be waiting for him. For the past thirty minutes or so he'd had the oddest feeling. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he sensed something was wrong. Of course, the problem could be that he'd been up all last night, working with Jacob and the task force, trying their best to track down Esther Stowe. But she was still out there somewhere. Either dead or alive.

When he came out of the elevator on the second floor, he immediately realized the staff was in a frenzy. He'd never seen so many hospital personnel running up and down the halls. The minute he reached the nurses' station, the nurse on duty recognized him.

”Oh, Agent Sloan, thank G.o.d you're here.” The nurse wrung her hands nervously. ”I called Sheriff Butler and he's on his way to the hospital right now.”

Fear grabbed Dallas by the gut and squeezed tight. ”Is Genny all right?”

”I don't know how it happened. None of us saw a thing.”

Dallas broke into a run. As he neared Genny's room, he noticed a hospital security officer talking to several white-clad women. When he tried to shove past them to get into Genny's room, the security officer grabbed his arm.

”Deputy Willingham is unconscious. One of the nurses found him under Miss Madoc's bed.”

Dallas grabbed the officer by his s.h.i.+rtfront and glared directly into his eyes. ”Where is Genny?”

”We don't know. She's gone.”

Dallas released the officer, then shoved past him and into Genny's room. The first thing he spotted was the used syringe lying on the bed.

G.o.d d.a.m.n it to h.e.l.l! The killer had Genny!

When Genny regained consciousness, she didn't know where she was or what had happened; then her eyelids flew open and everything came back to her all at once. A frigid chill racked her body. She was cold. Terribly cold.

She glanced around, trying to see if she recognized her surroundings. She was in a cave. A campfire sparkled golden orange in the shadowy darkness within the cave, but was too far away to warm her. When she tried to move, she discovered her hands and feet were bound. She tried to open her mouth, but couldn't because she'd been gagged. Looking down at herself, she realized she was still wearing the same flimsy hospital gown, and a blanket covered her from her waist to her feet.

She searched all around as best she could, but saw no sign of another human being. Where is he? Had he brought her here and left her? If so, he would come back before dawn tomorrow morning.

She had to contact Dallas. And tell him what? she asked herself. You don't know where you are.