Ripped From the Pages (21 page)

I sat up a little straighter on the couch. “Of course, Robson. Anything.”

His eyes narrowed. “Stay in Dharma. Recuperate from this attack. Then work with Derek
to track down the assailant who has brought this terrible evil to our community.”

“Derek wouldn’t want to hear you saying that.”

“He wishes to protect you from yourself.”

“Yes. Even though he’s perfectly happy putting himself in danger to find the answers.”

“In truth, he does this best when you are by his side.”

I had to smile. Returning to the city right now had never
really been an option anyway, I told myself. And to tell the truth, I wouldn’t have
wanted to leave until Dharma was once again its peaceful, normal self. But having
Robson call it a personal favor pretty much sealed my decision.

“I’ll stay,” I said. “But I’m afraid you might have to answer to Derek if anything
happens.”

He pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Perhaps we ought to keep this between ourselves
for now.”

“Good idea,” I said with a laugh.

Despite my gauze-enshrouded head, I felt well enough the next morning to shower carefully
and dress for the day. Over orange juice, a soft-boiled egg, and toast, Derek broke
the news that Trudy remained in a coma. “But the doctors are hopeful she’ll emerge
within the next twenty-four hours.”

“I pray they’re right.” I needed to ask a totally dumb question that had kept me awake
for at least an hour in the middle of the night. “Did the vase break when the killer
hit my head?”

Derek smiled in sympathy. “No. Whoever swung it wasn’t able to do permanent damage
to either your head or the vase itself.”

“Small favors,” I whispered. I would take them wherever I could find them. “I imagined
I’d broken a Ming vase with my head.”

“If it had been a Ming, you probably would’ve broken it. But sadly, it was harder
than your delicate little head.”

I chuckled. I finished my egg and toast, but lingered over my juice. “I feel like
I’ve been out of it for a week. Is there any news? Was someone arrested? Have you
seen Elizabeth? How’s Trudy doing? Is Amelia being autopsied?”

“It all happened yesterday, so you haven’t missed much.” Derek smiled but turned somber
as he began to answer my questions. “Amelia’s autopsy is being performed today. I
don’t expect any grand revelations. And no one’s been arrested. The detectives are
questioning everyone they can find.”

“Do they want to talk to me?”

“I called Detective Parrish to relate everything you told me
yesterday, but they’ll want to hear it from you eventually. I assured her that we
would contact them as soon as you’re up to it.”

“Any other updates on Trudy’s condition?”

“As of last night at eight o’clock, there was no change. I’ll call Robson after breakfast
and find out how she’s coming along.”

There was no more news to report, so we read the paper and finished the last bits
of breakfast in amiable silence. Afterward, I stayed seated at the table while Derek
washed the dishes, dried them, and put them away. I knew he had to leave in a little
while to chaperone the odious Noland Garrity into the caves in order to view the artwork
once again.

“I’m not completely incapacitated,” I insisted, trying not to sound too whiny. “I
could go with you.”

He gave me a look over his shoulder, then shut off the water and returned to the table.
“Darling, less than twenty-four hours ago you were coshed in the head and came away
with a bloody bad gash and a concussion. One woman is dead and the other is in a coma.
The only reason you escaped a hospital stay is because I swore I would wake you up
every two hours to make sure you weren’t seeing double and slurring your words. So,
while the doctor has given you a clean bill of health, I think you should stay close
to home today. Rest. Take a nap, read a book.”

“Sounds so boring.”

“You’d honestly rather spend the day with Noland Garrity?”

“Ugh. Maybe you’re right. But I hate knowing you’ll have to deal with him alone.”

“So do I.”

“Can’t we make him go away?”

He laughed and folded the dish towel, hanging it on the small rack under the sink.
“It won’t be a pleasant day, but I’ll survive him.”

“I hope so. I’ll miss you if you go to jail for throttling him.”

He chuckled. “I won’t throttle him, I promise.”

I felt a sudden throbbing and rubbed my head. “I was thinking I might have lunch with
China, but I’d better not push it yet.” Saying it out loud reminded me of my last
lunch in town. “And you didn’t say whether anyone’s heard from Elizabeth yet.”

Derek scowled. “I don’t know. I’ll give Detective Parrish a call to see if she’s heard
anything.”

“You don’t think she could’ve . . .”

He gazed at me for a long moment. “I don’t, no. But it’s suspicious, her being gone
like this.”

I didn’t know what to think. I liked Elizabeth and couldn’t imagine her doing anything
that would hurt Trudy. But then, what did we really know about her? Almost nothing,
except what she’d told me. And who was to say she’d told me the truth? But recalling
what she’d said about her beloved grandma Reenie, I couldn’t believe she’d been lying.
It made my stomach hurt to think about it.

“Before you leave,” I said, changing the subject, “can we call and find out how Trudy’s
doing?”

“Funny you should say that, darling, because I was just going to call Robson to find
out that very thing.”

“I hope she’s awake.”

He sat down beside me at the kitchen table and made the call on his cell phone. When
Robson answered, Derek pressed the Speaker button so I could listen in.

“I am at the hospital now,” Robson said, “and it is very good news. Trudy is awake
and seems to be doing well despite her ordeal.”

“That’s wonderful,” I said.

Derek agreed. “Please give her our best.”

“Yes, we’re looking forward to seeing her soon,” I said.

“Thank you both for your kind thoughts. She will be pleased that you called.” Robson
hesitated, then said, “May I ask you to hold on for a moment?”

“Of course,” Derek said.

It was a full minute before he came back on the line. “I am sorry I kept you waiting.
I wanted to step outside Trudy’s room to give you the rest of the news.”

I glanced at Derek. We could both hear the tension in his voice.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Is she really okay?”

“Trudy is fine physically,” he assured us. “There is a problem, though. She does not
remember a thing.”

*   *   *

A
fter calling to reschedule his morning meeting with Garrity, Derek drove us to the
hospital. Guru Bob’s news had been a shock, and there was no way I was going to sit
around waiting for updates. We both wanted to see Trudy, even if her memory was temporarily
gone.

And as long as I was at the hospital, I was determined to have this headful of gauze
and bandages removed. I was pretty sure a simple, small bandage would do the job.
I didn’t want to scare poor Trudy half to death by walking into her room looking like
the Invisible Woman.

“Poor Guru Bob,” I said to Derek as he drove down Shakespeare Lane toward Ridge Road.
“He’s the one who’s always being called on to comfort the sick and troubled. So who
comforts him when he’s suffering?”

“Looks like it’s you and me,” Derek said.

I nodded. “I guess we’ll do what we have to do.”

Derek took hold of my hand as he drove, and we talked for another minute or two, until
the gentle movement of the car made me drowsy and I closed my eyes. The good news
about sneaking a little car nap was that it would help in my healing process. The
bad news was that Derek was probably regretting taking me along
while I was still a little wobbly on my feet. The sooner I was completely back to
my normal self, the sooner I could start figuring out who the hell had killed Amelia.
Because if Trudy couldn’t remember anything that happened yesterday, we were still
at ground zero.

I woke up as we pulled into the hospital parking lot. Derek agreed to go with me to
the clinic to have my bandages removed. It only took a few minutes, and I was looking
and feeling much better after the new dressing and small bandage were applied.

We took the elevator up to Trudy’s floor, and I was happy to see an armed guard stationed
outside her door. I was even more gratified to see her looking so well. Someone had
come by and fixed her hair. She was sitting up in bed, and Guru Bob was seated in
the chair beside her.

“Oh, how sweet you are to come by,” she said, holding out her arms to greet us. When
she saw my small bandage, she faltered. “What is this? Were you hurt?”

I gave Guru Bob a quick glance, and he shook his head. So he hadn’t told her anything
yet? I could hardly scold him. He looked so upset, it broke my heart.

“I had a little accident,” I said lamely. Derek, meanwhile, had brought two more chairs
into the room and set them down on the opposite side of the bed from Guru Bob.

“We could be having a party,” she said.

I smiled. “Trudy, do you remember what happened? Why you’re in the hospital?”

“I can’t remember a thing. The doctor says my memory is temporarily missing because
I hit my head.” She laughed lightly. “But I can’t even remember doing that.”

Derek closed the door to the room, and I moved my chair closer to Trudy’s side. “It’s
not good news. I’m sorry.”

Guru Bob reached over and took her hand in his.

“Oh dear. You all look very serious.” She tried to smile. “Am I dying of some rare
disease?”

I leaned in and held on to her other hand. “I came to your house to see you yesterday
because you said you had a surprise for me. Do you remember what that was?”

She gazed at me blankly. “I have no idea.”

“When I arrived, I heard a loud noise, like a gunshot. I ran into your house, and
you were lying near the fireplace.”

I glanced at Derek, who continued the story. “Someone was in your home, Trudy, and
they had a gun pointed at you. As they pulled the trigger, Amelia ran over and shoved
you out of the way. The bullet went through your shoulder and hit her in the chest.
I’m sorry, Trudy, but Amelia died yesterday.”

I gripped her hand as she gasped. She glanced from Derek to Robson to me, gasped again,
and then couldn’t seem to catch her breath. “No. No. No. No.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said.

Her eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head. “It’s not possible. It can’t be
true. Robson, tell me the truth.”

“Oh, Trudy.” Robson stood up, leaned over, and pressed his cheek to the top of her
head. He couldn’t lift her up and hold her because her shoulder was bandaged.

I kept my hand locked on hers and felt her squeezing it so tightly, I could barely
feel my fingers. I didn’t care.

Derek walked out into the hall to find a nurse. I knew we’d dealt a crushing blow
to Trudy’s spirits. She would probably need a tranquilizer, and I wondered if she’d
be able to come home as early as they’d said.

But almost as upsetting was seeing how distraught Guru Bob was. I’d never seen him
like this before. It was perfectly understandable, of course, but I’d always known
him to be so strong. He seemed to have aged overnight.

I had a feeling the best thing for Guru Bob—and everyone else—would be for Trudy to
regain her memory and fully recover from this awful experience. But who knew how soon
that would happen?

“Tell me everything,” Trudy said abruptly, letting go of my hand and grabbing the
remote control to bring her hospital bed to a fully upright position. “I want to hear
it all, no matter how horrible. I’m heartsick and my head can barely accept what you’re
saying, but if you tell me the whole story, I might be able to remember something.”

“All right,” I said, thrilled that she was willing to act, not just sit back and worry.

Robson sat down just as Derek walked back into the room with a nurse, but Trudy waved
her away. “Thank you, Lynette, but I don’t want any shots or sleeping pills right
now.” She trembled and sniffled twice before her eyes narrowed in on Derek. “I want
you to find the person who did this, and you can only do that if I can recall what
happened. And dozing off for the next three days won’t help.”

Guru Bob’s concerns for his beloved cousin seemed to dissipate slowly as Trudy spoke.
He scooted his chair closer and took hold of her hand again. It seemed to comfort
him as much as it did her.

Derek leaned against the wall facing her. “Can you think back to the last thing you
do remember?”

Trudy stared at him for a moment, then said, “Dinner. Wednesday night. Amelia served
my favorite, chicken stew with dumplings.” She frowned. “After that, nothing.”

For some reason, that filled me with sadness. Wednesday was the night before Amelia
was killed. So she remembered nothing about Thursday.

I continued telling her what had happened. “When I saw you
lying on the floor, I ran over to help you. I vaguely registered that Amelia was sprawled
on the chair, but I was more worried about you. I didn’t even think . . .”

“That she might be in worse shape than I was?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. My concern was with you. I felt your pulse and knew you were alive,
so I pulled out my phone to call nine-one-one.”

Derek added, “And she was attacked from behind by the killer, who hit her over the
head with a vase.”

Trudy’s eyes were wide as she realized I’d been injured, too. “Dear God. Brooklyn,
I’m so sorry.”

“None of this is your fault,” I insisted. “And I’ll be fine. I’ve got a hard head.”

She gave me a weak smile. “So much damage. Why? What in the world happened?” She took
another glance at each of us. “I’m the only one who knows. And I can’t remember.”

“But you will,” Robson said, squeezing her hand for encouragement. “Your memory will
return shortly, and you will be able to tell us who did this horrible deed.”

She nodded. “I will. I promise.” Her eyelids fluttered closed. “I’m so tired.”

I thought about asking her if she knew where Elizabeth was, but Trudy had been through
enough trauma today. I didn’t want to compound it by suggesting that her new friend
had disappeared.

Lynette, the nurse, must’ve been hovering at the door, because she walked into the
room just then. “I’d like you to let her sleep. She’s been devastated by the news.
Sleep will help her get her strength back and, in turn, it’ll help with her memory.”

“Yes, we’d better go,” Derek said, looking at me as though he thought I could use
some sleep, too. Frankly, he was right. I was exhausted.

“I will stay for a few more minutes,” Robson said. “I would rather she have someone
here in case she wakes up.”

I walked to the other side of the bed and gave him a hug. “She’s going to be all right.”

“Thank you, gracious,” he said.

Derek and I walked out of the room, just as another security guard approached. I was
surprised to see that it was George from Derek’s office. He had been undercover security
when I worked on a television show several months earlier.