21 Dares: A Florida Suspense Mystery (22 page)

Chapter 26

S
usan was still in surgery.

That was all Abbie knew at this point, as she
sat in the family waiting area of Tampa General Hospital for what seemed like
hours. She glanced at her watch. It was just past two AM. A bandage covered the
scratches on her face and hands. She had a prescription for Tramadol. Doctors
had checked her and deemed her well enough to be released. But with nowhere to
go and nothing to do, she just sat outside the surgery ward, waiting.

The twins had left hours ago. The last time
Abbie saw Dharma, she was talking to the police back at the abandoned cigar
factory. Now, it was just Abbie and Mrs. Nichols, sitting in uncomfortable
hospital chairs at opposite ends of the waiting room.

Mrs. Nichols sobbed into a wadded tissue.
She’d obviously been waken in the middle of the night and rushed right down to
the hospital. Her hair was uncombed.
Her face puffy from
crying.
She hadn’t bothered with makeup, and wore a long coat over what
was probably her nightgown. After several minutes, Abbie spoke to her.

 
“I’m sorry about what happened.”

 
“What were you doing there? Why in God’s name
would you kids be—” Mrs. Nichols glanced up with swollen eyes. She couldn’t
finish
and broke down into heavy
sobs, covering her mouth with both hands. The wet tissue fell to the floor.

A
voice from behind interrupted them. “Abbie Reed?”

Abbie
turned around to see an approaching plain-clothed detective. Tall, square jawed
with a graying buzz cut, he walked with a commanding air of authority.

“We’ve
contacted your father. He’s on his way to pick you up.” He put a firm hand on
Abbie’s shoulder. “Let’s give Mrs. Nichols some space.”

“I’m
really, really sorry.” Abbie said to the sobbing woman, then grabbed her purse
and got up from the chair. He motioned for her to follow.

“I’m
Captain Frank Parks.” With his hand on her shoulder, he guided her away from
the surgery ward. When they entered the hallway, he moved both hands behind his
back as they walked.

“Captain Parks?
You’re the Chief of
Police.”

The
captain nodded. “My son said he knew you and your friends.”

“We
saw Josh in the Ybor District, but he wasn’t at the factory.” Abbie licked her
lips. They were dry, dehydrated. She looked back at the surgery ward.
“Any word on McKenzie?
Did you find her?”

“We’re
doing all we can,” the captain said. “Can you tell me again what happened?”

Abbie
shook her head. “I don’t know anything new.”

“That’s
okay.” He took out his ballpoint pen and notepad. “Just go over it again, in
your own words.”

“Susan
and McKenzie had planned a surprise party for my birthday.” Abbie talked as they
walked side by side down the hall, passing another doctor and two nurses. “They
had my therapist send text messages with dares for me to do.”

 
“The same text message was sent out to all the
girls there?”

“Yes.”
Abbie nodded.
“Except Dharma Larson.
She joined us
later. She’s in one of my classes.”

“And
your therapist, Dr. Everett Wachowski, was sending these text messages?”

“Yes,
but I just can’t believe he’d do anything to hurt someone. The dares started
off as silly drinking games but the last one was daring me to go into that
abandoned cigar factory and take a selfie standing on the ledge of the roof.”

“Why
did you play along?”

“Because
we—Susan—thought it was McKenzie and Rocky trying to scare us.”

“And
it wasn’t McKenzie or Rocky? You didn’t see either of them in the building?”

“Not
in the building. No.” Abbie looked up at the Captain. “You saw the video from
my phone. The one with McKenzie…” Her voice trailed off. Captain Parks stopped
walking.

“Abbie,
do you know who Charlie Hicks is?”

“He
was the police officer who saved me from that… that attacker… when I was a
little girl. He carried me out of the house.”

“Why
was he there?
In the old cigar factory?
On the roof?”

“He’s
been following me.”

The
Captain cleared his throat. “Did you know he was discharged from the police force?”

“No.”
Abbie gripped her purse with one hand as the other reached for the little
unicorn pendant hanging around her neck. She twisted the necklace around her
finger as they continued down the hallway. The Captain continued.

“Six
years ago he was charged for stalking a teenage girl and killing her.”

“He
killed a girl?” Abbie gripped the unicorn tighter in her hand. “Where is he? Did
you find him?”

“He
was gone when we got there. We searched the building.” Captain Franks watched
her a moment. “We don’t know how he was involved. The text messages where coming
from Dr. Everett Wachowski’s cell phone though. We’re tracking its location.”

“And
McKenzie’s phone. He has McKenzie.” Her voice choked. “He’s going to kill her.”

“We’re
doing everything we can,” he said. “Is there anything that you’re not telling
me?
Anything on the roof that may be of importance?”

“I’ve
already told you everything I know. I didn’t give him a chance to say much?”

The
Captain looked up from his notepad. “But he wanted to talk to you?”

Abbie
bit her lip, thinking. “It seemed like it. He said he was looking out for me.
Said that I was in danger.”

“When
was the last time you spoke to him?”

“About
an hour ago.”

“I
mean, have you spoken to him since the night your sister died?”

“No,
that was sixteen years ago. I haven’t seen or heard from him since that night.”
A flicker of apprehension coursed through her as the unicorn’s horn pressed
deep into her palm. She remembered that night when he pulled her from the attic
and carried downstairs. She could still see the blood.
The
blood drowning her teddy bear.
The blood pooling
beneath the man who attacked her.
The puddle of blood around
her sister’s body.
Maybe it had something to do with that night or maybe
something to do with Heather. She didn’t want to think about it. “That was a
long time ago.”

The
Captain clicked his ballpoint pen and put it away. They walked to the front
reception in silence. She was so tired, yet she knew she couldn’t sleep. Abbie
glanced at her watch. It was twenty past two. “I just want to go home.”

 
“Your father should be here soon to pick you
up. For now, we have extra patrols here at the hospital,” he said. “If you
leave, please let us know.”

As
the Captain left, Abbie looked at the waiting room. There were a dozen empty
chairs. A white vinyl couch ran along the wall below the exterior windows. It
looked uncomfortable. She sat down on one end and noticed Josh Parks standing in
the corner by the Coke machine.

She
was happy—
though kinda surprised—
to
see him, and watched him feed quarters
into the machine. He still wore the canary yellow Tommy
Bahama,
and he bent over when a can clunked down the chute. Josh pulled out a can of Minute
Maid Old Fashioned Lemonade and pulled the tab. He approached her and plopped
down on the other end of the couch. He handed Abbie the can.

“I
remember you like Minute Maid,” he said. She smiled and took the cold can from
his hands. She sipped it. It was the best thing she’d tasted all night. When
she put it down, she looked into his eyes.

“I
got you something else too,” he said. Shifting, he held up a phone and handed
it to her.

Abbie
took it and stared at the cracked screen and scuffed corners. She turned it on.
“You found my phone?”

“It
still works,” he said. “They found it on the ground outside that old factory.
Looks like a bush or two broke its fall.”

Abbie
watched the phone boot-up and ran a finger along the cracked screen. The cracks
looked almost like a spider web, running from the top right corner down to the
bottom edges. It looked like it still worked though. She sighed and dropped the
phone in her purse.

“Thank
you,” she said. “By the way, I just met your father.”

Josh
laughed and leaned his head back against the wall, exposing his Adam’s apple.
He shot her a sideways glance. “He can be kind of intimidating.”

“I’m
surprised he’s here,” she said. “I would think he’d have people to handle this
kind of stuff.”

“Trust
me. Every detective in district three is on this right now.”
He stretched an arm across the back of
the couch.
“When I told him what happened to you and Susan, and that
your friend McKenzie is, well...”

“I
know,” she said in a small, frightened voice. Her stomach clenched tight.
She sipped the lemonade and tried to
relax.

He moved closer to her on the couch. His big
hand tightened comfortably on her shoulder.
“What do you think is going on?” he asked.

“I’m
not sure. I don’t even know where to begin.”

“But
you were attacked,” he said. “The police officer that rescued you when you were
a little girl, he attacked you.”

“No, not exactly.”
She searched for the
right words. Abbie knew Charlie Hicks could’ve let her fall, but didn’t. He
could’ve hurt her, but didn’t. He could’ve killed her, but… “I’m still just
trying to wrap my head around everything that happened.”

“But
was it him?” Josh pressed. “Was it the same guy?”

“I
was five. I barely even remember that night, much less what the police officer
on the scene looked like.” She was lying though. She remembered every detail
about that night. And now, tonight, every detail about Charlie Hicks came
rushing back.

Josh
shifted in the seat. “What do you think he wants?”

“I
can’t do this right now.” Abbie cut him off and took another sip of lemonade
from the can. Josh was just trying to help, she knew that. But, she was feeling
interrogated.
He squeezed her
shoulder and brought her head toward his chest. He held her tightly, and she
could hear his heart beat. She shut her eyes, squeezed tight, and just breathed,
listening to his heart. After several thumps, his body stiffened.

“So what did the mayonnaise say when the
refrigerator door was left open?”

“Josh,” she whispered. She kept her eyes
shut. “No more jokes.”

“
Okay.” He breathed in her ear. “I’ll just wait
here with you until your father arrives.”

She
kept her head pressed into his yellow shirt. His heartbeat slowed a little. The
tense lines on her face relaxed too. It was the first time she felt safe,
felt calm
, all evening. She tried to
stifle a yawn. She barely moved her lips, but she knew he heard it.

She
kept her eyes closed and felt him breathe. Both her hands wrapped around the
cold can of lemonade. Water droplets ran down her fingers. She thought she
might fall asleep, but a deep voice calling Josh’s name interrupted the calm
and yanked her back to reality. She opened her eyes, lifted her head.

Captain
Parks stood in the hallway. He called Josh’s name again. Josh straightened,
removing his arm from around Abbie’s shoulders. She sat up and watched him
stand.

“I’m
going to see what my Dad wants,” he said. “Why don’t you just sit here and
relax, okay?”

The
whole right side of her face felt suddenly chilled. Goosebumps ran down her
arms. She looked up at him.

“Okay.”
Her voice still sounded weak, maybe a little hoarse.

“You’re
safe. You know that, right?” He didn’t move, staring at her, obviously waiting
for an answer. She nodded. He grinned. “I’ll be right back.”

She
watched him disappear behind the corner. Abbie plopped deeper into the
uncomfortable couch. People entered the hospital through the swooshing double
doors; others left. An old janitor in a dark green work uniform appeared at the
end of the hallway, mopping his way from one end to the other.

Abbie
wished Clinton Reed would call. She wondered when he’d get there. Reaching into
her purse, she grasped her broken phone and dialed his number. The phone rang,
then Clinton Reed’s recorded voice mail picked-up.

“Hey,”
Abbie said after the beep. “I know you’re on your way, but can you call me?” She
paused, wondering what to tell him. “Do you remember Officer Hicks from that
night? Well, he was here. He’s been following me. The police are looking for
him. Call me. Please.”