The Ninth Floor (19 page)

“Thank you,
Ash. The sooner the better.”

He nodded. “I
really didn’t know. I thought … I don’t know what I thought. I’m sorry I haven’t
been here more, Ryan. This shouldn’t all fall on you.” His phone rang and he
walked away to answer it.

I looked at
Blair. “Jack said she’ll probably sleep the rest of the day. Come with me to
the room to get my stuff.”

“You really
believe this stuff, don’t you?” he said softly.

“I’m getting
there,” I said.

Ashley had
taken up sentry next to the door when we came back out. We all walked to the
elevator together.

“I have to go
back to the office, but I’ll let you know when Keith can give you a second
opinion.”

“Okay.”

“Are you going
to be around tonight?” Ashley asked.

“Um, yeah.” My
head was beginning to thud.

“Melissa and I
are having some friends over for dinner. Why don’t you come?” He looked at
Blair. “Both of you.”

“Sure. I’ll be
Ryan’s date,” Blair said, but he didn’t sound thrilled about hanging out with
Ashley’s friends.

I needed to
get a handle on Bee’s situation. I didn’t have time to hang out with Ashley,
but he was making an effort so I knew I should too. “Where will Mom and Dad be?”

Ashley gave me
a puzzled look. “At their house.”

“Where do you
live?”

Blair laughed.
“I know where he lives. I’ll get us there. Later, Ash.” I texted Aiden that I
was going home and walked Blair to his truck. “Look at us. We’re almost like a
real family. What brought on this change of heart?” he asked.

“I figured so
long as I was giving Briggs and Jack second chances, maybe we all deserve one.”

“All of us?”

I nodded. “Even
me. I’m not perfect and perhaps I never gave our family much of a chance.”

“So when are
you going to call Mom?”

I scrunched my
nose. “I’m going to learn to climb before attempting the mountain.”

Blair smiled. “What
did Jack do to need a second chance?”

I filled him
in on everything that had been happening with Bee. If he was going to spend
more time at the hospital, he needed to know. Otherwise, I was essentially
doing to him what everyone did to me.

“So what are
you going to do? Do you think she could have … you know, hurt those women?”

“Of course
not.”

“You didn’t
see her today, Ryan. She was so fast and strong.”

I stared out
at the parking lot without seeing. Blair was implying what I feared most of
all. “What you saying? Do you really think Bee could do that?”

He scratched
his head and leaned against his truck. “She’s sick. I know that. But, Ryan, if
she’s hurting people—”

“She’s not
hurting people.”

“But if she
is. We can’t let her continue.”

“It’s not her.
It’s the hospital, and I’ll prove it.”

“How?”

I hadn’t
figured that out yet, but there had to be a way. “I’m going to get onto the
ninth floor.”

“What exactly
do you think you’ll find there?”

“I don’t know,
but if there are answers, that’s where they will be.”

I no sooner got in the door when
Aiden showed up.

“Hi,” I said,
not sure what the social rules were concerning one’s bodyguard. “Come in. Can I
get you a drink?”

He shook his
head. “I ordered the camera for the stairwell, but it won’t come until Monday.
Did you ask your brother about Samantha Cobb?”

“He told me to
talk to my parents.”

“That doesn’t
surprise me.”

“You could
always just tell me and save me the headache.” I smiled.

“Not if I want
to keep protecting you. I signed a nondisclosure agreement. I was technically
never
supposed to talk to you.”

“Why did you?”

He shook his
head. “I don’t know.” He looked far away for a second. Then he blinked a couple
times and refocused on me. “How would you feel about having a driver?”

I curled up my
lip.

“I could
protect you better if I were with you more. Maintaining distance leaves you
open for attack. It was never an optimal plan, but since there was no immediate
threat, it’s worked so far. But the situation’s changed.”

I nodded. “I
know you’re trying to help and I appreciate that, but I don’t love the idea.
Let me think about it.”

“It’s up to
you.”

He looked like
he was about to leave so I asked the burning question on my mind. “Do you think
my aunt could’ve had something to do with those nurses dying?”

Aiden shook
his head. “If they weren’t accidents, my money’s on your stalker.”

“Why?”

“That’s an
excellent question. And if we knew the answer, all of this would be a lot
easier.”

*

I spent the rest of the afternoon
going through the scrapbook. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but it did
strengthen my opinion that whatever was happening at the hospital had nothing
to do with Bee. The book held one news article after another about the
hospital. The majority of them were about various people who died there. I didn’t
make it to the end before Vivian came home, and I realized I had to get ready
for Ashley’s dinner.

Vivian helped
me pick out a navy blue dress cinched at the side. I was putting on
camel-colored heels when I heard a knock on the front door. I came out of my
room, the dogs trailing behind me, to see Blair leaning against the door frame
in a suit and tie—hair combed—talking to Vivian. Between the glint in his eyes
and his ever-so-slight smile, it was clear he liked her a lot.

“You kids have
fun,” Vivian said as she waved with one hand and petted Sid on the head with
the other.

Ashley’s house
was a three-story structure with a long double porch. It was massive for two
people, but I dismissed the thought. I wasn’t being judgmental tonight. Melissa
answered the door. She smiled at Blair and gave him a hug. “Ashley said the two
of you would be coming tonight.”

I took a deep
breath. “I don’t think we’ve ever been officially introduced.” I stepped
forward. “I’m Ryan.”

She finally
looked at me. Her eyes drifted down to my extended hand. “Don’t be silly.” She
hugged me too. “That’s a gorgeous dress, Ryan. Wherever did you get it?”

I laughed. “At
Blueberry. I didn’t bring anything like this with me.”

“I love Bee’s
store. I’m so glad you reopened it.” She led us into the house, her arm
threaded through mine as if I might try to escape. She took us to a living room
where about fifteen people had broken off into small groups of two or three to
chat.

Ashley came
over and Melissa finally released me. “Ryan. Blair. Nice to see both of you
again. How is Bee?”

“Still
sleeping. The nurse said the afternoon was uneventful, and Jack checked on her
a couple times.” I’d called the hospital just before I came tonight.

“I spoke with
Keith. He can make it down here on Monday.”

I nodded.

“Nice spread,
Ash,” Blair said, his small plate heaping with appetizers. He plopped a baby
quiche into his mouth. .

Ashley shook
his head at him. “You know a few people here tonight, Ryan. Katherine,
Annabelle, Max, and, of course, Briggs.”

Blair choked
on his quiche. I patted him hard on the back. “You invited Briggs?”

“Of course.
Besides his connection with you, you know who his father is.”

“Yeah.” I
scanned the room, ignoring Ashley as he told me about each guest. Briggs was
cornered by Katherine, who was fawning over him. Or maybe he wasn’t cornered at
all. He didn’t appear to be trying to leave. He was even smiling. I looked
away, pretending my chest wasn’t tightening at the idea of another girl
flirting with him. I didn’t have a right to expect Briggs not to talk to or
date other women. I was, after all, seeing Jack.

There was
another knock on the door and Ashley and Melissa excused themselves. I turned
to Blair. “Show me the food?”

“Sure thing.”
He took me to another room where a large table was filled with pretty, decadent
snacks. I took my time selecting just a few. When I turned around, Briggs had
taken Blair’s spot.

“I thought I
saw you come in.”

“Really? I
thought you were too distracted by your charming company.”

“Jealous,
Ryan?”

I pursed my
lips and walked past him, but he caught my arm and leaned in close. “You look
beautiful.” I glanced at him from the corner of my eye before breaking free and
going back to the main room. Briggs fell into step with me, however. I tried to
ignore how good he smelled. I slowed when I got close to Blair, who was
entertaining a growing group of guests.

“Yep. It’s
haunted. I didn’t believe it either, but strange things really have been
happening there. Four people have died in like a week.”

I cleared my
throat, and he turned around with a smile.

“Ask Ryan. She
knows all about the hospital.”

Seven sets of
eyes, including Briggs’s, focused on me. Obviously, Ashley was right. Blair
couldn’t be trusted with secrets. Before I could decide how to smooth this
over, dinner was announced. I was seated between Briggs and Blair. As soon as
we sat down, I elbowed Blair.

“What the hell
was that about?”

“What?” He
leaned away from me.

“Why did you
bring up the hospital?”

“They asked.
What does it hurt?”

I sighed. “It
makes us sound crazy.”

He chuckled. I
counted to ten in my head. Arguing about it would only draw more attention to
us. I shifted my attention to Briggs.

“What were you
up to today?”

“Well,” he
said and took a drink of water. “I found a place to live and had a … business
meeting.”

I let his
words sink in. “What kind of business do you have in Goodson Hollow?”

He smiled. “If
all goes well, I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

Were people
just trying to be difficult tonight? “And where are you staying? Or is that
secret too?”

“I’m renting a
lake house a few miles out of town. It has a lot of room for the dogs to run
and play.”

“The dogs who
live with me.”

“For now.” He
put his hand on the back of my chair and leaned in close. His breath tickled my
ear. “I haven’t given up hope that I’ll get all three of you back.”

Blair “accidentally”
kicked me. I scowled at him, but he motioned toward Briggs and rolled his eyes.
At that moment I had a great idea. “Briggs, will you trade spots with me? I’d
love to catch up with my cousin, Katherine—and you and Blair don’t really know
each other, do you?”

Briggs agreed,
and if he thought it was strange, he kept it to himself. Blair, on the other
hand, mouthed the word “traitor” at me, which nearly made me laugh. When we
were all settled back in, Briggs took to winning over Blair and successfully
kept him from talking about Bee or St. Michael’s while I sized up Katherine,
who looked as happy with the new arrangement as Blair was.

Dinner was
served and I was confident all talk of the hospital had ended. Until Annabelle
looked across the table at me and asked, “Did you really see something in the
hospital, Ryan?”

My cheeks grew
warmer with each person who stopped talking and looked at me. “I wouldn’t say I
saw
something.”

“But you heard
things,” Blair said.

“Yes, I heard
some stuff.” I pushed my seared Ahi tuna around on my plate.

Annabelle
leaned forward. “That’s so cool. What did you hear? I watch all of those ghost
hunting shows. I’ve been saying it for years, haven’t I, Katherine? We need to
get them to come out and investigate that hospital.”

“Yes, I think
you can apply to those things, can’t you?” another guy at the table said.

“I heard my
name whispered. That’s it. Nothing television-worthy.”

Ashley made an
attempt to change the topic, but everyone was far more interested in swapping
St. Michael’s stories.

“Do you
remember all those babies that died there when we were kids?” Max said.

A few people
said they did. Blair and Briggs seemed fascinated, and Ashley stared at me, but
I didn’t know what he expected me to do. This was hardly my fault. Then,
despite myself, I started listening. Someone was telling a story I hadn’t heard
about from Jack or read in the scrapbook.

“A few years
ago a patient was sleepwalking and ended up killing seven other patients and a
couple nurses before the authorities could get there. When he woke up, he didn’t
remember any of it.”

I avoided
looking at Blair. That hadn’t happened. It couldn’t have. Jack hadn’t mentioned
it, and it wasn’t in the scrapbook.
But you haven’t made it all the way
through yet,
I reminded myself. I took a couple sips of water. “What was
wrong with the patient?”

If it was some
mental patient, it really wasn’t the same thing.

She twisted
her mouth as she thought. “You know, I don’t remember. Maybe cancer? Apparently
he somehow got a scalpel and went on a killing spree. I have a friend who has a
friend who worked there at the time, though she left shortly after. She said
there was so much blood on the floor and the walls that the hallway looked like
it had been painted red.”

“Why haven’t I
heard about this?” Annabelle asked.

“Because
Valerie’s making it up,” another man said with a robust laugh.

“I am not.”
She shook her head. “I remember it. It was hushed up. I think that was the same
time the paper was bought.”

“Why would
anyone bother covering it up?” Briggs asked.

“St. Michael’s
is the only hospital in fifty miles. That’s why they closed the ninth floor
too. It scares people, but we still need it here. So instead of admitting to a
problem, they wall it off and pretend like nothing ever happens.”