Dead Girl in a Green Dress (20 page)

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself before she spoke, but her voice still wavered a little. "The gun went off. I – I tackled her – Mrs. Prince. She said..."
Byrony
dug her nails into her palm and continued. "She said she killed my sister and my boyfriend and she was going to kill me. Then she grabbed me by the throat." Without thinking, her fingers rose to the bruises on her neck. "I bashed her in the face with the brace on my wrist. She lost her balance and fell."

A deadly silence prevailed for a moment before the detective took the paper cup from her hand, crushed it and tossed it at the waste basket against the far wall.
"Anything else, Miss Long?
Anything at all that you remember?"

Byrony
covered her face with her uninjured hand for a moment before she spoke again. "Ben put Tate in the carriage. He said she – she injected him with something but he was still alive." She stopped and shook her head.

"Seems Mrs. Prince was a diabetic, so she had access to syringes," Shaffer mused more to himself than her, but
Byrony
heard him nonetheless.

Her eyes snapped around to meet his gaze. "That’s how she killed my sister, because my sister and her husband were having an affair. Mr. Prince called and admitted the affair to me earlier today."

The older man had a look of distaste on his face. "I’ve already sent two deputies to bring Prince in for questioning. Oh, and I think I found your sister’s running shoes. I’m expecting the DNA tests any minute. Plus, we’ll be releasing Justin Saunders –"

A woman’s voice calling
Byrony’s
name interrupted the detective.
Byrony
turned to see a familiar figure hurrying toward them.

"Paige?" She rose unsteadily as her friend, Tate’s sister, brushed past Shaffer and enveloped her in a tight hug.

"Oh my God,
Byrony
," Paige whispered on a half-sob. "Are you okay?"

Byrony
pulled away and looked into her friend’s haunted blue eyes. "I’m all right. Are you?"

Biting her bottom lip, Paige gave a slight nod,
then
noticed the detective. She squared her shoulders, and extended her hand, her voice steady and formal. "Paige Madison Kowalski."

"Detective Jim Shaffer, Mackinaw City Police.
Sorry about your brother." He picked up his hat and nodded at
Byrony
. "Thank you, Miss Long, I’ll check back later. Please excuse me, ladies."

With Shaffer gone,
Byrony
collapsed back onto the couch. Paige sat next to her and clutched
Byrony’s
uninjured hand. "I just got here. Sloan said you were down the hall and told me to come find you. They were taking Tate off the respirator. Sloan will come and get us when they’re done."

"Paige, I…" Words clogged in
Byrony’s
throat as her thoughts careened through her mind. "I’m so scared."

"Me, too."
Her friend’s grip tightened painfully. "We almost lost him two years ago in the accident. We can’t – we just can’t…" Paige let go of her hand, pulled a tissue from her purse and blew her nose.

"Are your parents on their way, too?"

Paige shook her head and shoved the tissue into her pocket, visibly pulling herself together. "They’re in their motor home somewhere in Denali National Park. We haven’t been able to reach them. Sloan and I are on our own."

"This is
all my
fault,"
Byrony
whispered.

"It most certainly is not!" Paige swatted her knee, a look of outrage on her pretty face. "You can’t control a deranged killer."

While
Byrony
couldn’t argue with that fact, she still felt responsible. "Tate came here because I hired him."

Paige gave her a
molifying
look. "I was the one who asked him to help you, remember?" She twisted her fingers together nervously. "I was actually hoping the two of you would get together. I’ve thought for ages that you and Tate would make a good match."

Byrony’s
jaw dropped. "You – you were trying to fix us up?" When her friend gave a hesitant nod,
Byrony
couldn’t suppress a disbelieving snort. "You were so incredibly right."

"Well, I
– "
Paige started to protest then stopped short and did a double take. "Did you say right?"

"I’m afraid so,"
Byrony
admitted with an embarrassed nod. "I’m madly in love with your brother."

"Really?"
Her friend’s voice came out in a high pitched squeak. She coughed and cleared her throat. "Does
he
… Never mind, Tate’s
no
fool. Of course, he does." She searched
Byrony’s
face with a rueful smile. "I don’t know if I should feel happy or sad about it."

Byrony
gave a ragged sigh. "Neither do
I
."

Paige’s phone broke the brief silence. "Eric," she murmured after glancing at the screen. She walked out into the hall to talk to her husband, leaving
Byrony
alone to fidget. Time stretched interminably until she heard the click of Paige’s shoes growing louder.

"He just picked Taylor up from his mother’s," Paige explained, plopping back down next to
Byrony
. "He asked if I wanted him to come here, but I told him to wait."

Byrony
opened her mouth to speak but immediately stopped when she heard more footsteps in the hall. Both she and Paige sprang to their feet as Sloan Madison strode up. Stress lines creased his forehead, but his blue eyes held relief. "He’s holding his own."

While Paige threw her arms around her younger brother,
Byrony
sagged down into the nearest chair and covered her face with her uninjured hand, fighting against the tears burning in her throat.

"Can we see him?" Paige asked, her voice reflecting the budding hope
Byrony
felt.

Sloan nodded and rubbed his hand over his jaw. "You two go ahead. Think I’ll go down to the cafeteria and get a cup of coffee. Can I bring either of you one?"

"Sure." Paige agreed. "No cream, two sugars.
Byrony
?"

"
Black,
thanks."

Sloan walked with them as far as the bank of elevators,
then
she and Paige continued to the ICU.

A different nurse greeted them. "I’ll let you both stay, but only if you don’t get in the way. And if I tell you ‘out,’ you scat, understand?"

They both solemnly agreed and edged into Tate’s room. He still had an IV, heart monitor and pulse
oximeter
, but
Byrony
thought his face looked a little less pale and pasty. Sitting in the closest chair, she watched his chest slowly rise and fall with uneven breaths. Every long pause before he inhaled rattled her nerves. She looked up at Paige sitting opposite her, and her friend looked equally upset. Instinctively,
Byrony
knew this would be a very long night.

About a half-hour later, Sloan backed into the room with Styrofoam cups in each hand. He went to Paige first, and she rose to her feet. "Why don’t you stay awhile? I need to call Eric and update him."

"Okay." Sloan stepped around the end of Tate’s bed to give
Byrony
her coffee,
then
he turned back to his sister. "I tried Mom and Dad again. No luck."

With a brief nod, Paige left the room. Whichever of the two siblings got through to their parents first,
Byrony
didn’t envy them. The memory of the anguish in her father’s voice when she’d called and told him about Jessica flashed through
Byrony’s
mind.

Was that really less than a month ago
? She felt like a lifetime had passed.

Her thoughts must have shown plainly on her face, for Sloan cleared his throat. "He’s going to make it." He spoke with a fierce determination. "Every breath he takes on his own improves his chances."

Unable to speak around the lump of tears in her throat,
Byrony
nodded. She attempted to dislodge the clog with a sip of coffee, but the bitter liquid brought no relief and she gave up after two sips. Replacing the plastic lid, she carefully placed the cup on the floor under her chair and settled in for a long haul.

Minutes crawled by measured with the beeps of Tate’s heart monitor as she and Sloan kept their silent vigil. After a couple of hours, the growling of
Byrony’s
stomach over-rode the monitors. Her gaze met Sloan’s and a brief smile flickered over his mouth, revealing a dimple just like Tate’s. "Why don’t you and Paige go to the cafeteria? I’ll call if anything happens."

Even though
Byrony
doubted she’d be able to eat anything, she also doubted she’d win an argument with Sloan Madison.
 
She found Paige pacing in the waiting area at the end of the hall, and the two of them took the elevator to the sparsely populated cafeteria.
Byrony
bought a bowl of soup and Paige got a dinner salad. Neither of them ate more than a few bites.

When they got back to the ICU,
Byrony
sent Paige into Tate’s room and she went down to the waiting area. After what felt like a never-ending hour, Sloan appeared and sent her back in for another turn with Tate. The three of them continued to rotate every hour or two until shortly after midnight. After the shift change, the new nurse encouraged them to go and get some sleep, but none of them was willing to leave the building.

"You and Paige go down to the waiting area and catch a few
z’s
," Sloan insisted a half-hour later. "I’ll come and get you when I’m tired."

Byrony
didn’t believe for a minute that he was any
more lively
than her. However, Paige looked dead on her feet, so
Byrony
went along with Sloan’s suggestion. She and her exhausted friend stumbled down the hallway. They curled up on opposite ends of the couch, and Paige was asleep within minutes.
Byrony
didn’t think she’d be able to sleep, but very soon, she found her head nodding.

Someone shaking her shoulder brought
Byrony
back from a dreamless sleep. Pale light filtered in from the windows on the back wall. Through her sleep addled brain, she gazed up and recognized Sloan standing over her. Fear and awareness flooded her and she jerked to attention. Then her mind registered the fact that he was smiling.

"He’s awake and asking for you."

"Me?" she squeaked in disbelief.

Sloan’s dimples deepened. "He said ‘Where’s Sunshine?’ and I didn’t think he meant the weather."

Chapter 13

Byrony
sprinted down the empty hallway to the door of the ICU, where she almost collided with a man pushing a dust mop. Muttering an apology, she slipped through the door. She didn’t see anyone else as she hurried around the nurse’s counter toward Tate’s room.

With her back facing the door, the nurse stood making adjustments to one of the monitors, while Tate’s blue eyes followed the woman’s movements.

He really is awake!
Byrony
gasped aloud at the realization.

The noise drew Tate’s gaze, and a hint of a smile tugged at his lips.
"Hey, Sunshine."
His hoarse tone croaked like a toad, but was the most beautiful sound
Byrony
had ever heard.

"Hey, yourself, Cowboy."
She slid into the chair on the opposite side of the bed from where the nurse stood.

His hand rested atop the sheet, and she covered his fingers with hers. Stress lines creased his forehead. "Did – did we get her?"

Nodding,
Byrony
reassured him. "Of course we did."

"Good," he murmured on a long sigh.

"Try not to talk," the nurse scolded. "You need to rest." She gave
Byrony
a censorious look as she left the room but
Byrony
pointedly ignored her. All the dirty looks in the world were not budging her from Tate’s side.

 
With the nurse gone,
Byrony
raised his hand to her lips and lightly kissed each of his fingertips. "You gave me quite a scare."

"S--sorry, but I…"

She let go of his hand and placed two fingers against his lips. "
Shhhh
.
Don’t
talk, just listen." The unmistakable gleam in his eye left
Byrony
giddy with relief and happiness. She was even able to keep her tone cavalier to deliver the news. "Mrs. Prince fell down the hill, and apparently she broke her neck before she got to the bottom."

Tate’s eyebrow rose ever so slightly. "Fell?"

"Okay, maybe I helped her a little."
Byrony
admitted with a hint of a grin. "By the way, that was a smooth move releasing the ammo clip. Mrs. Prince almost shot
herself
in the foot with the bullet still in the chamber."

He gave an unmistakable snort that caused his heart monitor to give a jagged blip.

"Hey, none of that or the nurse will kick me out for sure."

"That’s right, knock off the stuff with your monitors." A familiar voice scolded, and Paige walked into the room, a dazzling smile on her face.