Random Acts (13 page)

Jenny waved a hand in dismissal. “I ran into the door when I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.”

“Call the nurse when you get out of bed.” Jenny flinched and Danielle immediately regretted her stern tone.

“I’m okay.” Jenny glared at her with steely eyes. She lifted her chin, but her trembling lips belied her bravado. Tears filled her eyes and her entire body began to shake. “I want to get out of this place.”

“Soon, I’m sure.” Danielle glanced around the sterile room. “Hey, Gram told me you were taking early education classes.” She wanted to lighten the mood. And she’d promised Patrick she wouldn’t ask about the night Jenny was hurt. He had claimed it was critical that he be there to measure her response.

Jenny nodded, pressing her fingers to her temples. “Yeah. I want to be a teacher. But I’m missing all my classes. It will be impossible to catch up if I don’t get out of here soon.” She sighed in frustration. “It was a stupid dream anyway.”

“Why do you say that? I think it’s great. You can catch up. Or worse case, start again in January. I can help with tuition. You can cut back on your work hours. Gram told me you were working a ton.” Danielle prattled on, searching for some connection with her little sister, searching for a way to make everything okay.

Jenny closed her eyes briefly and drew in a shaky breath. “The doctor told me I might be able to go home in a few days. I’ll be fine. I’m sure you need to get back to your job.”

“No. Yes…I mean…” Danielle squeezed her sister’s hand. “I want to make sure you and Gram are okay first.”

Something flickered in Jenny’s eyes that Danielle couldn’t quite identify. Pain? Fear? “I’ll be fine.” Jenny’s lower lip quivered. “Please just go back to Atlanta. I don’t need your help.”

“What is it? Please tell me.” Danielle moved to pull Jenny into an embrace, but her sister lifted her hand, deflecting her.

“Well,” Jenny said with a forced smile, “my body aches. I feel like I was someone’s punching bag.” Jenny flicked a glance toward Danielle and then lowered her gaze.

“Let me get Patrick. Tell him what happened. He’ll arrest whoever hurt you.” Danielle felt her heart rate kick up a notch. She sensed her sister was on the cusp of sharing something with her but feared the moment was slipping away.

Jenny turned her face and brushed a tear with her shoulder. “I screwed up everything.”

“What do you mean?” Danielle forced the words from a too-tight throat.

Jenny stared off in the middle distance then averted her eyes. A confused expression settled on her features. “I don’t remember anything about the night I got hurt.” Jenny’s words sounded flat, almost rehearsed.

Danielle’s mouth grew dry. If only she knew the right words to get Jenny to open up. “You don’t remember
anything
from the night of your accident?”

“The doctor told me memory issues are common with head injuries.” Jenny inspected her fingers then bit at the corner of her thumbnail.

Danielle sensed her sister was lying. Was she protecting someone? Was she afraid?

Racking her brain for a way to draw her sister out, Danielle strolled toward the window and pulled back the curtains. Jenny squinted against the bright sunshine and groaned.

“Oh, want me to close it?” Danielle asked.

Wincing, Jenny shook her head. “No. Maybe if the doctor thinks I’m better, she’ll let me go home. Do me a favor and make sure the window is locked.”

Danielle did as Jenny had asked. She returned to her sister’s side and squeezed her hand. “I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours.” Her light and breezy tone belied the emotions warring inside her. “I promised I’d get Patrick. He’s down the hall. He wants to ask you a few questions.”

Jenny tucked her hair behind each ear with trembling fingers. “Chief Parker came yesterday. I told him I don’t know what happened.”

“Humor me,” Danielle said, slightly surprised to learn Chief Parker had already interrogated her.

Danielle texted Patrick and a few minutes later he appeared in the doorway. “Danielle, if you don’t mind I’d like to talk to your sister in private.”

Heat warmed her cheeks. “Of course.”

With hands on either side of her, Jenny pushed her backside farther up on the bed and straightened her back. “Don’t bother leaving. I don’t have anything to say. I already told everyone I don’t remember.” Her teeth chattered and fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. “I. Don’t. Remember.” Her voice reached a high-pitched screech.

“It’s okay.” Danielle rubbed her little sister’s forearm. “It’s okay.” She glanced over at Patrick, seeking guidance. His expression possessed a mix of compassion and confusion. Was he also trying to see beyond the bruised face and mask of denials?

Jenny lowered her head, lacing her fingers through her bangs. “It will never be okay.”

“You must be getting sick of driving me back and forth,” Danielle said as Patrick slipped behind the wheel of his police cruiser.

“I don’t mind.” He turned the ignition key, leaned back and smiled. “Where to now, madam?”

“Well,” she said a little sheepishly, “I was hoping to get a swim in at the Y. Do you think you can swing by my Gram’s so I can grab my swimsuit first…unless it’s too much of an imposition? Then I can walk home from the Y.” She hoped to exercise away some of the stress.

“No problem. I can chauffeur you around town and do my patrol at the same time.” His soft laugh warmed her heart. In a short time, she had gotten accustomed to his companionship. Almost like old times. Rubbing her forehead, she pushed the thought away. Nothing could turn back the hands of time.

“Thanks.” Looking for a distraction, she pulled her cell phone out of her bag and noticed the missed-calls indicator. She’d never get out from under the pile of work accumulating back home. “I think a few laps will help me work out the kinks.”

“Still swimming?” Patrick waggled his eyebrows. “I remember that cute red one-piece bathing suit you had to wear as part of the high school swim team.”

Her cheeks warmed at the memory.

“You’d stand next to the starting block fidgeting with the straps. But as soon as you stepped up on the starting block, it was like another person took over. Cool as a cucumber.”

“I had no idea you paid that much attention.”

Patrick chuckled. “There are lots of things you never knew.”

“In Atlanta, my building has a gym on the bottom floor,” Danielle said, quickly changing the course of the conversation. “I try to hit the pool a few times a week, first thing in the morning.”

“Impressive.”

“When my head is underwater, I forget all my problems.” Danielle braced her hand against the door as the vehicle rocked back and forth up the rutted driveway of Gram’s house.

“Do you mind if I come in and say hello to Gram?” Patrick asked as she climbed out of the car.

“Gram would love to see you.” She walked ahead, keys in hand. She slowed at the door and glanced over her shoulder. “The door is open. I know I closed it.”

The intense expression on Patrick’s face sent a jolt of cold panic coursing through her veins. “Let me go in first.” He strode into the home with Danielle following close behind. The sound from a television game show blared from the family room. Gram sat in her chair dozing.

Patrick lifted the remote to turn off the TV. Danielle grabbed the remote out of his hand. “Don’t,” she whispered, “she’ll wake up. Trust me. The sudden quiet might startle her.”

“What about the door?”

“Maybe Gram opened it to greet someone and didn’t close it all the way. She’s had a lot of church friends drop off casseroles since Jenny’s accident.” Why hadn’t she thought of that before? She pressed a finger to her lips. “Wait here, I’ll go grab my things and we can go.”

At the top of the stairs, a rustling sounded from Jenny’s room. Danielle’s pulse roared in her ears. Renewed panic spread through her body and settled in her stomach. She glanced down the stairs, working her lip. Should she get Patrick? She pushed back her shoulders. Maybe the wind was dragging branches against the side of the house.

Heart beating in her ears, she took a step toward Jenny’s open bedroom door. She froze. A man, his back to her, bent over the nightstand, grumbled to himself. He spun around, lifting the solid metal weapon in his hand. She took a step back and turned, twisting her ankle. She grabbed the top of the railing to break her backward fall.

Henry ran toward her with an outstretched hand. Danielle opened her mouth and screamed.

Patrick took the stairs two at a time to find Danielle with her eyes squeezed shut, an open palm lifted to protect her head. Henry stood against the wall, distress etched on his face. Patrick assessed the situation, his gaze landing on the pipe wrench in Henry’s hand.

“Drop it,” Patrick growled, his hand instinctively hovering over the gun in its holster.

The pipe wrench landed with a loud clatter on the hardwood floor. “I didn’t do anything…” Henry’s voice shook.

Patrick grabbed Danielle’s forearm and brought her to her feet. “What happened here?” He put a protective arm around her. She leaned into his embrace, her trembling body warm next to his.

Her pulse leapt in her neck. “I found him—” she pointed to Henry who had flattened himself against the opposite wall, “—in Jenny’s room.”

Henry lifted his palms to the ceiling. “Mrs. Carson hired me to fix the bathroom sink.”

Patrick’s eyes dropped to the pipe wrench on the floor. “Why were you in the bedroom?”

All the blood drained from Henry’s face. “I was just…” glancing over his shoulder into Jenny’s room, he seemed to be searching for the right words, “…I wanted to look at the photo of Jenny. I miss her.”

“I don’t believe you,” Danielle said, stepping away from Patrick. “Why were you really in there?”

Henry shrugged. “I told you. I had to do some repairs. A friend dropped me off.”

“What’s going on?” Gram’s shaky voice floated up from the bottom of the stairs. “Everything okay?” She sounded out of breath, alarmed.

“Did you know Henry was up here?” Patrick called down.

Gram leaned on the post at the bottom of the stairs. “Of course I did. He was fixing that pesky drip in the bathroom.”

Patrick angled his head to look into Danielle’s eyes. “Okay?”

She shook her head. “No, not okay.” She jerked her thumb in the direction of her sister’s room. “It doesn’t explain why he was in Jenny’s room.” Patrick realized she would be a formidable opponent in a legal case.

“I told you,” Henry pleaded, lowering his eyes to his tool, then quickly lifting his head again. “Jenny and I are good friends. I just wanted to see her smiling face in that photo.”

Patrick nodded toward the bathroom. “Are you done with the job?”

Henry’s face brightened. “Just have to get my tools.”

“Go get them and Mrs. Carson will settle up with you later.”

Henry moved toward the bathroom, tossing a glance over his shoulder. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

Patrick rubbed his hands up and down Danielle’s arms. “I think it’s time I told you something.”

Danielle and Patrick followed Henry onto the front porch. As soon as Henry’s friend arrived to pick him up, she turned to Patrick with accusing eyes. “I think you’re letting him off too easy. He’s up to something.” Her nerves were still humming from the earlier fright. “He looked too guilty when I found him in Jenny’s room.”

A shiver raced down her spine. “I hate the cold,” she muttered, yanking up the zipper on her fleece. Squaring off to face him, she narrowed her gaze and set her jaw, her mood foul. “What do you have to tell me that warrants letting that creep slither off?”

“I don’t believe Henry has anything to do with Jenny’s injuries.”

“How can you be sure?” Her pulse beat wildly in her ears.

“The night she got hurt, the Mayport Police Department had used Jenny as a drug informant.” Patrick’s steady gaze met hers.

Danielle’s vision became almost tunnel-like. His words sounded hollow, strange. She grabbed the railing and swayed.

Patrick’s eyes grew dark with concern. “Let’s get you inside.” He cupped her elbow.

She jerked her arm away and shook her head, disbelief clouding her thoughts. “What are you talking about? Drugs? Does my grandmother know?”

“No, only the police department.”

“Apparently not.” Anger bubbled up, threatening to explode in a tirade of hurtful words. “Someone found out and hurt her. Somebody else knows.” The conclusion was obvious. That’s why Patrick was so quick to let Henry go.

He scrubbed a hand across his pained features. He
used
Jenny and
now
he was sorry? She bit back the angry, bitter words sitting on her tongue.

“Please come inside. Your teeth are chattering.”

Danielle narrowed her gaze. “No. Tell me right here, right now. I don’t want Gram to hear any of this. It would destroy her.”

He ran a hand across the back of his neck and seemed to be struggling with where to start. “Chief Parker pulled Jenny over four weeks ago for talking on her cell phone.”