Standoff, page 19
He returned to where John had fallen and tried to picture possibilities. His friend believed a heroin transfer was going to happen here. Did he get here early and wait or did he pull in when it happened? Either way, Luke believed he confronted the carrier.
He looked up as a truck pulled into the parking area and Dale Gallagher climbed out. What was he doing here?
“Luke?” Dale asked when he neared. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see where John died,” he said.
“Didn’t realize you were close to him.”
“He lived next door to my grandmother and always treated me well.” Better than his own father, in fact, but no need to rehash that. “It was a shock learning of his death. And no one will ever make me believe it was suicide.”
Dale nodded. “I’m having trouble with the ruling too, but no evidence of foul play has surfaced.”
Luke hated the way working undercover tied his hands sometimes. “How about Kyle Marlar’s murder . . .”
“FBI has taken that investigation over. I requested someone from ISB but haven’t heard if or when they’ll arrive.”
“ISB?” He shot Dale a questioning gaze. Was he testing Luke? Run-of-the mill people wouldn’t know what the acronym stood for.
“The Investigative Services Branch of the park service. They specialize in this sort of thing.” Dale tilted his head. “Tell me about the wreck you and Brooke had.”
“Nothing much to tell. Someone tried to run us off the road— teenagers, probably, with a little too much to drink,” he said. “I didn’t realize you were staying over in Natchez last night.”
“I didn’t. I’m just now getting here from Jackson.” Then he smiled at Luke. “I’m swearing Brooke in as a law enforcement ranger at three today. You coming?”
“Yep,” he said. “Why did you stop by here?”
Dale shrugged. “About the same reason you did. I miss my old friend.” He glanced toward the area where John’s truck had been parked the night of the murder.
“I know what you mean,” Luke said. Dale seemed sincere in his sorrow. For half a second he thought about revealing why he was in Natchez. But only for half a second. If his superiors hadn’t told the chief ranger what was going on, it wasn’t Luke’s place to break the news.
Dale’s phone rang and he answered and listened for a few seconds. “What?”
Luke tensed at the alarm in the ranger’s voice.
“I’ll be right there,” Dale said and pocketed his phone.
“What happened?”
“Kyle Marlar’s house blew up.”
The words hit him like a sledgehammer. “No! Brooke planned to see Kyle’s widow today. Was she still there?”
“Yes. Both she and Sharon Marlar have been taken to Merit.”
45
Brooke’s head pounded against the bright light the doctor shined in first one eye then the other. Overhead a monitor beeped with the steady rhythm of her heartbeat.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” he asked.
“Two.”
“Now?”
He’d folded one finger down. “One.”
“Follow my finger?” he said, moving his hand from one side to the other. “Good.” He made two syllables out of it.
“Do you know how Sharon Marlar is?” she asked.
“Another doctor is seeing after her, but I’ll try to find out for you.” He pressed a button, and the blood pressure cuff around her arm pumped up.
At the final beep, she asked what the reading was.
“A little high. One-seventy over ninety-eight.”
Not too high for almost getting killed. The doctor had already told her the CT scan had showed no brain bleed, and that her headache would eventually ease. She had no broken bones, and a little high blood pressure shouldn’t keep her in the hospital. “When can I get out of here?”
“I’d like to keep you for observation.”
Brooke gingerly touched the back of her head. It was only a small bump, probably from when the blast knocked her down. “I don’t want to stay. You said the headache would leave and everything else checked out . . .”
“I’d still feel better if we could watch you. Concussions don’t show up on a scan, but I believe you have one.”
A knock on the door to her ER room drew both of their attention. “Come in,” she said.
Pete stuck his head inside the room. “Can I ask your patient a few questions about what happened at the Marlars’?”
The doctor turned to Brooke. “If you’re up for visitors, I don’t have any objections.”
She shrugged. “I’m good, but why are you investigating? Don’t the Marlars live out in the county?”
He shook his head. “They’re half a mile inside Natchez city limits.”
The ER doctor cleared his throat, getting her attention. “I’ll check on you in a few minutes . . . and be thinking about what I said.”
She was not staying overnight.
“What happened?” Pete asked, taking his notepad out.
As long as she lived, she’d never forget the ball of fire before everything went black. “There was an explosion . . .” What else? She massaged her forehead. Details hovered around the edge of her mind, so close she could almost touch them. Finally she gave up. “That’s all I remember right now.”
“Did you smell anything unusual?” he asked.
Had she smelled something? If her head would just quit hurting, maybe she could think. “Rain, maybe? And something else . . .”
The chief nodded. “There was a summer thunderstorm a couple of miles away.”
That didn’t trigger any thoughts. “How is Sharon?”
“Very serious, but that’s all I can get from the doctors. Can you remember anything else?”
Brooke stared at the floor. Something important floated close to the surface of her mind. Maybe if she talked it out. “Sharon and I were sitting on the front porch, and I went to get something from my car . . .” What was she looking for? Why couldn’t she remember? “I’m afraid I can’t recall much of what happened before the explosion. Was it a bomb?”
“Won’t know until the state fire marshal finishes his investigation.”
“How long will that be?”
“A day or two, maybe even a week. He’s on his way from Jackson now. But it may be something as simple as a propane gas explosion.”
She caught her breath. “Rotten eggs—that’s what I smelled just before it happened, so it could have been propane gas.”
He nodded. “When I talked to Sharon’s son in the waiting room, Bill said his mother had complained of a funny odor earlier in the week.”
Brooke closed her eyes and massaged her temples. “I keep thinking there’s something else . . .” The dog barking! “I heard something in Kyle’s office. Thought it was the dog, but now, I don’t know.”
“This is enough for now.” He put away his notepad. “I won’t bother you any longer, but thanks for what you’ve been able to tell me.” Pete walked to the door. “Call me if you remember anything else.”
The doctor came in as he was leaving. “Up for more visitors?” he asked.
When she nodded, he stepped out of the room, and a few seconds later, Luke stepped inside, the worry lines fading when he saw her. Right behind him was Dale, who looked paler than she felt.
“You look okay,” Luke said. He glanced at the monitor. “And your heart rate looks good.”
“I’m fine. At least that’s what I’m trying to convince the doctor of. How did you two know?”
“Clayton called—he heard it on the scanner. It scared the daylights out of me,” Dale said. “What happened?”
“Pete thinks it might have been a propane explosion.” She relayed what she’d told Pete minutes ago.
“He doesn’t think the fire has anything to do with Kyle’s death?” Dale asked.
“You’d have to ask him . . . or the fire marshal.”
“The fire marshal has been called?” Dale frowned. “Then he must be suspicious that it didn’t happen naturally.”
“He didn’t say.” Brooke craned her neck, working out some of the tightness. “Wouldn’t it be normal to call in the fire marshal?”
“Sure. Don’t know what I was thinking.” The chief ranger shook his head. “I just hate to think someone has gotten it in for the Marlars bad enough to burn their house down. Do you know how Sharon is?”
“No one will tell me,” she replied. “Could you find out for me?”
“I’ll let Luke do that. I need to track down Clayton,” Dale said and edged toward the door. “Looks like we’ll put your commissioning off until tomorrow. That work for you?”
“Sunday?”
“Sure. Let’s make it after church, say three again? That way Mary can come if she’s up to it—she’s really proud of you.”
It was like he couldn’t leave fast enough, but with his wife in and out of hospitals, Brooke shouldn’t be surprised. “I hope she can make it,” she said.
“I’ll see if I can get an update on Sharon,” Luke said and left with Dale.
When there was a hard rap at the door, she almost laughed. Her room was like Union Station with all the people coming and going. Before she could respond with “Come in,” the door jerked open, and Jeremy strode inside.
“You’re all right!”
“I think so, but how did you know?” she asked.
“I was on my way to Mammy’s Cupboard when a friend in the 911 office called and said you were involved in an explosion at the Marlar house.” He grabbed a chair and pulled it to her bedside, then took her hand. “I thought my heart would stop.”
“I’m okay.” Brooke squeezed his fingers. “Trying to get them to release me.”
“I think you should stay here. It’s much safer.”
The door opened again. “They’re still working on—” Luke stopped when he saw Jeremy. “Sorry, I didn’t know you had company.”
“I hope Brooke thinks of me as family,” he said, turning a gentle smile on her. “But I am surprised to see you here.”
“When I heard she was in the hospital, I wanted to see for myself that she was okay,” Luke said.
Tension filled the air in the small cubicle. She wasn’t sure which man sucked the air out of the room. Maybe both. They reminded her of boxers squaring off. Jeremy was a couple of inches taller and was leaner than Luke, but Luke was by no means fat—he was all muscle. Blood rushed to her face, flaming her cheeks. “You two know each other, right?” she asked, hating that she sounded breathy.
Luke extended his hand to Jeremy, and he relinquished his hold on her to shake hands with him. “Of course,” Jeremy said. “We talked just the other day, and his grandmother is one of my favorite people.”
“Mine too,” Luke replied, and then turned to Brooke. “I better let her know you’re okay. I’ll just step out into the hall.”
“Wait! How is Sharon?” Brooke asked.
“Haven’t found out yet,” Luke said.
After Luke left, Jeremy stood by her bed, shifting from one foot to the other. “So much happening lately and none of it good. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, me too.” She remembered their date tonight. “I’m not up to dinner tonight.”
He took her hand again. “I could play the disappointment card, but actually I was going to have to cancel on you. The governor is calling a special session in ten days, and he phoned and asked me to meet with him in Jackson this afternoon. We have lobbying to do and I’ll be late getting home.”
“Why is the governor calling the session?”
“It’s for a special session to vote on the medical marijuana bill.”
“Really?” She knew people like Dale’s wife, deathly sick from chemo, would benefit from it. “Think it’ll pass?”
“Of course not. Mississippi isn’t ready to legalize any form of marijuana. The problem is, a few in the legislature keep calling for a vote by the constituents—they take up valuable time during the regular session. He wants it over and done when the legislature convenes in January.”
“You’re voting no?”
“That’s right. Regardless of how I feel personally, the people who elected me expect my vote to be no. It would be political suicide for me to vote yes right now.”
Jeremy was probably right about the timing, and she figured in a few years, attitudes would probably change.
“Even Kyle Marlar realized that and decided to vote no,” he said. “Let’s don’t talk about politics. You’ll be busy next week, but save some time for me. If I’d lost you . . .”
His warm brown eyes captured hers, sending the heart monitor skyrocketing. She ignored the pounding in her head as he leaned toward her.
Before he could kiss her, someone knocked at the door, and he pulled back. She caught her breath, trying to calm her heart.
“I better go,” he said, running his thumb along her jawline. “But I’m worried about you. Listen to your doctor and stay here in the hospital overnight.”
“I’ll rest better at home.”
“You are some kind of stubborn.” He smiled and took her hand. “I hate to leave you like this, but I have to go.”
There was another knock and she said, “Come in.”
Jeremy leaned over and kissed her on her forehead. “I’ll keep you in my thoughts while I’m gone.”
“Thank you,” she said as Luke stepped back into the room. A slight frown crossed his face as Jeremy straightened up and walked past him to the door.
“I’ll see you tomorrow at church,” Jeremy said.
After he left, she turned a curious glance at Luke. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was jealous. “Did you reach Daisy?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
He shrugged. “She’d just gotten back from playing bingo and hadn’t heard about the explosion.” He raised his eyebrows. “She may not want to move back home where she’ll be all alone most of the time.”
A twinge stung her heart. He might be right, but the neighborhood wouldn’t be the same without Daisy. “She’s not alone. She has me and you, if you move back,” she said.
They both turned as the doctor entered the room. Brooke looked expectantly at him. “Can I leave now?”
The physician turned to Luke. “Can you do anything with her? I’d like to keep her for twenty-four hours. It’s possible she received a concussion when her head hit the ground, and that could be dangerous since she lives alone.”
“I’m fine. Luke is next door, and he can keep an eye on me if that’s all you’re worried about.” She turned to Luke. “Right?”
“I wish you would do what the doc says.”
“I hate hospitals. People die here.” She caught Luke’s gaze and held it, practically begging him to go along with her.
“I’ve had some first-aid training,” he said. “If she refuses to stay, I’ll make sure she doesn’t go to sleep for at least twelve hours.”
“No need for that—keeping a concussed patient awake no longer applies,” the doctor said. “In fact, sleep is good.” The doctor turned a stern face toward Brooke. “I can’t force you to stay, but if your headache worsens or you have a spike in your blood pressure, you need to get to the ER. Okay?”
“Yes, sir. And thank you.”
“Try to keep her off her feet for the rest of the day,” the doctor said as he signed her release order.
After a nurse unhooked Brooke from the monitor, she sat on the side of the ER bed, waiting for someone to bring her discharge papers. “How did you find out I was here?”
“I was with Dale when Clayton called,” Luke said.
Brooke nodded and winced. Had to keep her head still. Suddenly she gasped when a memory flashed through her mind.
“What?” he asked.
“I just remembered something. Sharon was going to let me look at the files on Kyle’s computer. I went to the car for my phone—that’s why I wasn’t on the porch.”
“Why were you going to look at his computer?”
Brooke searched her memory and came up blank. “I don’t know, but something inside me says to find that computer and look at those files. My impression is Sharon felt the same way.” She looked toward the door. “I’d really like to find out how she is.”
“As soon as you’re discharged, we’ll see if we can find out,” Luke said just as her nurse entered the room with papers in her hand.
Brooke waited patiently while the nurse went over her instructions to not take anything stronger than Tylenol, and then repeated the warning signs the doctor had told them about.
She signed the papers, and the nurse asked if she needed a wheelchair. “No, I can walk. What room is Sharon Marlar in?”
“Twelve. It’s around the corner.”
A wave of dizziness hit her when she stood, and Luke grabbed her before she toppled over.
“I don’t think—”
“Just let me hold on to you. I’ll be fine.” She held on to his arm until the dizziness passed. Maybe leaving wasn’t such a good idea. She took a deep breath and blew it out. Her head cleared, and with Luke’s help, she walked down the hallway to Sharon’s room.
Brooke’s heart plummeted when the door was open and the bed empty. She turned, looking for the nurses’ station. “Where is Mrs. Marlar?” she asked.
“She’s been taken to ICU.”
Brooke breathed again. “Is she going to make it?” When the nurse hesitated, Brooke said, “We were in the explosion together.”
“She’s critical,” the nurse said.
“Can I see her?”
“Probably not until they get her settled.”
“Do you know what her wounds are?”
The nurse smiled apologetically, and Luke said, “She can’t tell you anything more.”
Brooke glared at him. Where were his social engineering skills when she needed them?
