A Justified Kill (17 page)

The sun was peaking over the horizon when Amber pulled the flap of her
small
tent back and collapsed on
to the sleeping bag
. Groaning, she stretched out, wishing she had at least gotten a
n inflatable
mattress.
She knew she shouldn’t
,
but she wanted to go see Hanna in the hospital.
When she felt the nudge of her wolf she
wondered if
the wolf was going to take control again
,
a
nd decided it was probably best for her not be
among humans.

She
remained
in the
tent. While she lay there, she could hear the occasional branch move when
something jumped from one tree
to
another and
the beati
ng
wings of birds flying
overhead
. S
he could
also
hear the other campers talking even though they were a good quarter mile from where she was set up. She was exhausted and would have begged for sleep if it would
have
do
ne
any good. But e
very time she closed her eyes
and drifted,
the images of her snout ripping at Gerald’s throat startled he
r awake. S
he gave up on the thought of sleeping
and went to the shower stalls
instead. The
cold water
hitting her skin felt like ice pellets and she was shivering by the time the
grime from the river
was washed away. With sleep eluding her, and her wolf not pushing to emerge she
decided to go
ahead and head to
the hospital
to check on Hanna.
She had a good reason to go. W
ith the lacerations Hanna had on her body, there
would be
some type of
antibiot
ic ointment for her cuts and
she
coul
d grab
a handful
for her own use
while she was there.

Hopping into the jeep, she made her way towards the hospital. On the way, the morning traffic was back
ed
up and Amber happened to notice a McDo
nalds at the same time her stomach
made a loud rumble and
reminded her she was hungry
.
Actually, s
he was starving! Pulling through the drive thru, ordering enough food for two people, she parked in the lot and wolfed down the breakfast sandwiches and
hash browns,
sipping on the
cup of coffee. Leaning her head against the rest she waited a few minutes for the mini traffic jam to clear out of the parking lot and on the street
.
She kept a close eye on the sheriff and deputy sheriff’s car when it pulled into the parking lot and sat there for a few minutes. She quickly lifted the coffee cup to her lips when she saw the sheriff glanced in her direction. When they climbed out of their cruisers and headed into the building, she breathed a sigh of relief and decided it was time to go. Traffic had cleared up, so
she
pulled out onto the road and headed
in the direction of the hospital.

When Amber walked into the
emergency room instead of through the
front
lobby,
the nurse
assistant
recognized her
immediately
and led her
to the priv
ate room they had moved Hanna
to
. “She had a
rough
night, lots of bad dreams
. T
he doctor went ahead and sedated her
so
she’s still sleeping
. We tried to f
ind a phone number for you, but
c
ouldn’t find one
since nothing was listed on her intake forms
.”
Her tone was almost accusing.

Amber ran
her hands through her hair and strangely felt guilty.
“Um, sorry, I don’t carry a cell phone.”

Thankfully
it was a short walk to
Hanna’s room
.
T
h
e
orderly
pushed
the door open and allowed her to enter the room without further discussion.

Amber stood just inside
the closed door
and stared at the pale girl lying in the bed. Th
e dirt and grime had been cleaned
from her face and hair, leaving the dark bruises and cuts
marring
her
young, once perfect
skin.
Her blonde hair was pushed away from her face. She appeared to have had a shower, which Amber felt relieved to see. She walked over to the bed and saw Hanna’s
bandaged
hands
clutch
ing
the blanket to her chest
. Her hair lay limp,
spread out across
the stark white pillow
and
appeared to have been
haphazardly
cut. There were jagged chunks missing and leaning a bit closer, Amber saw that there were bald spots where the hair had been ripped from her scalp.
The
tiny
hair
s
on the back of
Amber’s neck stood on end and she fought the
lump suddenly forming
in her throat
. She was not a crie
r and she refused to do so now. Taking a deep shuddering breath, she closed her eyes to get herself under control.

Once calm, g
la
ncing over her shoulder, she made sure
the door
was
closed
. Leaning down to Hanna, she brushed the back of her knuckles along her cheekbone
and leaned in close. S
he saw that he had eve
n ripped the earrings out of the
piercings
in her ears
and recalled seeing in the photograph, the diamond studs in her ears
.
She had a sneaking feeling that if she were to go to the pawn shop, those earrings would be there.
Closing her eyes, she whispered softly to the sleeping girl. “I promised he would never hurt you or anyone else again, and now he won’t.
”
Amber straightened
up. Her hands gripped the side rails of the bed and she stared down at Hanna for another moment.

Moving away from the bed she began looking around the room. There should be some kind
of medical supplies
, opening cabinet doors and drawers
she searched
until she found them above the sink.
The individual ointment packet
s were perfect.
Grabbing a handful, Amber
slipped into
the bathroom
and
unbuttoned her
shirt
. Peeling the field dressing off, she tossed it into the toilet
and
flushed, staring at it until she was sure it was gone. Then she
stared at the red
puffiness surrounding the
infected
cut. With a
disgusted
shake of her head, she cleaned herself up
then
applied a new bandage
.
When her wolf emerged, the cut would heal. She just dreading making the change, but looked forward to healing and most of being able to run again.

Making sure she left nothing behind and w
ith one last look at
Hanna, Amber
listened for the hallway to become quiet. Wh
en she didn’t sense anyone near
, she
slipped
quietly out of the room. Hanna never knew she
had come and gone.

Sitting in the parking lot of the hospital, Amber
grabbed
the small backpack and pulled out the
plastic bag
. Sifting through her purse once more, she
removed
the picture of
Hanna and her parents
.
Looking at the
photo
, she wondered if her mother had loved her the way Hanna’s parents appeared to love their daughter. Clenching her jaw against the memories, she shoved
it
roughly
back i
n
to
the purse
.
With a
n irritated release of
breath
at allowing her thoughts to wander to her mother again
, she pulled out of the parking lot,
drove to the nearest shopping center and
found an
electronic
s
store.

Handing the phone over to clerk
she
frowned
.
She knew how to use electronics, but when it came to the accessories, she had no clue and it was just easier to let the clerk help her find what she needed.
“I need a new charger for this.”

The young man smiled and took off towards the isle of chargers with a wave of his hand.

Within
minutes she was
back
in her jeep
and on the way
back
to her campsite
.
She decided, since she still had a job she was going to stay in town a couple more days because she had
more
investigating she wanted to do. The feeling that Hanna was not Gerald’s only victim would not leave her mind. The full moon phase lasted up to five days and would make her wolf want to run free. Staying there worked out perfectly since she already knew the area
. She m
ight as well be comfortable
and decided to go back to the hotel
.