Lynne's Love Triangle (15 page)

She parked her silver Honda in her usual spot, shaded by the maple tree, and grabbed her bags to walk to her condo. She walked past the carefully manicured lawn and shrubs to see something amiss.

Dread filled her entire soul.

The door to her condo was open and a note taped to the door. Random thoughts scrambled her mind. Did she leave the door open? Did someone break in? Why was there a note? What kind of vandal would leave a note to tell her they had been here? The only ones with a key were her, her old roommate, Sandy, and Kurt. She trusted both of them to not go into her home without permission. Neither would be so careless as to leave the door open.

She grabbed the note taped to the door, bright, red ink scribbled across the front. The writing was a loud warning that read, “Die whore!”

Chapter Eleven

“Oh-my-God-oh-my-God-oh-my-God!” Lynne slowly walked inside the house, her eyes darting from one mess to the next. Overturned furniture was everywhere. Papers dumped out of her desk drawers, books were thrown across the room, her clothes were littered everywhere, but the thing that disturbed her the most was the crimson blood. A line of it trailed to the kitchen. She cautiously followed it not knowing what she would find. Blood smeared across her cabinets, a trail leading across her kitchen straight to the body lying prostrate on the floor in a pool of blood. Brown hair covered her face. She didn’t know who it was, but the woman had to be dead. She lost too much blood to still be alive.

Holy freaking shit!

There was a dead woman in her house. In her kitchen!

Lynne screamed.

She didn’t look any further, just ran as fast as her legs would carry her out of her house.

She ran straight out into the arms of a man and screamed again.

Strong arms fought to contain her, and she struggled to escape. “Lynne, calm down, what’s wrong?”

Only when she realized it was Troy who held her did she calm down just a little. Still, she couldn’t stop shaking—couldn’t breathe—couldn’t think. Tears blurred her vision.

“Oh my God, Troy! I just came home, and it was like this.” She burrowed into his warmth, burying her hands on her face. “I don’t know what happened—but it’s awful—just awful! We have to call the cops right now!”

“You’re not making sense. You saw something in there, didn’t you? Is the man who broke into your house still there?”

“No, I don’t think so, but there’s a woman in there, and I think she’s dead!” Lynne’s voice cracked with raw emotion. “I can’t go back in there. I just can’t.”

“It’s going to be okay.”

Neighbors were beginning to turn on their porch lights and open their doors, coming outside of their condos in their pajamas. Mrs. Anderson was a gray-haired widow who lived next door. She was the first to respond. “What’s wrong, Lynne? I heard a scream.”

“Call 9-1-1! They murdered her. Please call for help!” Lynne screamed at the old lady until she ducked back into her apartment.

Lynne never wanted to leave Troy’s arms, and she clung to him as he patted her on the back and spoke soothing words. “It’s going to be okay, Lynne. I’m going to go inside and check if the intruder is still here.”

“Don’t leave me, please.” Her ragged breath hiccupped as she spoke, but he pulled away despite her pleas.

“I have to check. I’ll be right back. Why don’t you go ahead and call Kurt while I go inside? He’ll want to know what happened, too.”

Lynne watched him disappear into her condo before falling to her knees and sobbing.

* * * *

The red and blue flashing lights of the emergency vehicles broke the darkness. She was exhausted after hours of questioning and the police going over her house with a fine-tooth comb for evidence the criminal may have left.

Detective Ryan Cassidy handed her his card. “That’s all I can think of for now, but if you need anything else, you can call me.”

“Thank you.” Lynne pocketed the white business card after a brief glance at it.

“I wouldn’t recommend staying here though with those locks busted in. Do you have somewhere close by you can go and stay for a while?”

Lynne’s mind blanked for a second. Who could she stay with? There was always family, but her father retired in the Caribbean and her mother lived three states away. Neither was close enough to continue living her life without some major changes.

“You’re moving in with me. There’s nothing else that needs to be said about it. You aren’t safe here, Lynne.” Troy took one look around the trashed apartment and shook his head.

“Thank you, Troy.” Lynne cradled her head into the crook of his arm.

“What about me?” Kurt was visibly upset, a red ring flared on his neckline. “That makes everything nice and cozy for the two of you, but I should be keeping her safe. I need to be close by.”

“If you feel that way about it, you can move in, too. There’s more than enough space at my place for two.”

“That’s just awkward. Two’s company, three’s a crowd, remember?”

“You’re more than welcome.”

“Kurt, please. I can really use your support right now. Poor Sandy, I can’t believe what happened to her. I need sleep, but I need to see her again.” It was a surprise when the paramedics carried her off on a stretcher and declared she was still alive. She couldn’t stop thinking about it—couldn’t stop asking herself why she was there at all in her house and there was also the guilt. If she wasn’t there, it would have been Lynne lying in that puddle of blood. Why wasn’t she the one being carried off in the ambulance? Sandy didn’t deserve the attack, and whoever had been there was lying in wait for her, not Sandy.

“We’ll call her family and her fiancée. I’ll even drive you to the hospital, but you have to try to go home to rest, too, as soon as we’re done.” Kurt pushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. “You’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t give your body the rest you need, and there is nothing more you can do here.”

“I guess not.”

* * * *

“You’re friends of Sandy Witten?” The Vanderbilt ICU nurse looked surprised. “She just got out of surgery, and we were not able to call anyone so excuse me if I seem surprised she has visitors so soon. She can’t see anyone yet.”

“Is she going to be okay?” Lynne’s eyes hurt from all the tears she shed this evening, but she could feel tears threaten to brim again.

“I can’t say for sure—she lost an awful lot of blood.”

Lynne sobbed loudly, and bit her fist to keep from crying again.

“And we have her medicated for the pain. We want to keep her calm.”

“Can I see her?”

“Visiting hours are over for the night, but I think I could sneak one of you in for a minute.”

“Thank you. I’d be forever grateful.”

The nurse motioned for Lynne to follow her. She waved her ID over the door lock at the side of the double doors. They automatically opened and then closed behind them. She led Lynne down the hall. It was quiet. The only talking was at the nursing station.

The nurse paused at one door and pushed it open, allowing Lynne to enter in front of her. “She’s not conscious, but it’s because of the meds. Make it quick. Neither one of us needs to get in trouble.”

The beeping of the machines was constant, like a heartbeat. The first thing Lynne noticed was Sandy’s bruised and battered face. Her eyes were closed and the white pallor of her skin was ghostlike. Wires led from her chest to the heart machine from beneath the covers and her blue hospital gown.

Lynne was drawn to her across the room. She touched her skin, hoping to feel warmth. Some proof that her friend was still alive. Her chest rose and fell with the help of the machines. A breathing tube was stuck through her neck.

“Sandy, I wish you could tell me who did this to you.” She stroked her cheek below a patch of dried blood and a line of stitches.

“She won’t be able to talk until they remove the tracheotomy.”

Lynne squeezed her hand knowing it would be a while before her friend could tell her anything.

“Are you finished? You can come back tomorrow during visiting hours, but I have to begin my rounds now with the other patients.”

“Okay. I’ll be right there,” Lynne said to the nurse before leaning down to whisper her goodbyes to Sandy. She kept her voice low, but she really didn’t give a damn who heard her. She wanted to fix this, and there was only one way she could think of. “I’m going to find the bastard who did this to you. I promise. Then I’m going to kill him.”

Chapter Twelve

“I’m sorry. We only allow two visitors at a time, and there are already two people inside her room.” They had a lot of strict rules on the ICU floor. Lynne would be very happy once she was upgraded to a normal room and was considered stable again.

“Can you tell me who?” Lynne couldn’t keep the disappointment from touching her voice.

“Honestly, I’m not sure.” The gray-haired, blue-eyed nurse glanced towards the room. “I could go ask if you like.”

“That’s okay. Can you just give Sandy these please?” Lynne held out the small bunch of miniature sunflowers. She thought it would brighten the room and her spirits rather than to wake to the cold white walls of the sterile hospital room.

“Sorry, they don’t allow those on this floor in the rooms, but we can hold it at the nurse’s station until she is moved or released.”

“Okay, but that’s really kind of sad. You have more rules than any hospital I’ve ever been to.” Lynne squished up her nose in disgust.

“That’s ICU.” She took the flowers from Lynne’s grasp. “I’ll just put these in some water for you. You can go to the waiting room until her visitors leave if you like.”

“Okay, thanks.” Lynne turned to leave, but then thought the better of it. She came to find out how Sandy was doing and that wouldn’t happen in a waiting room.”

“Can you tell me how she’s doing? Has she woken up yet?”

“No, she’s still unconscious, but her blood pressure is back to normal after adding two pints. The doctors are thinking about bringing her around and lowering her pain medicine tomorrow if all the signs continue to improve, and they can take her off the breathing machine.”

Lynne’s blank stare said it all. She didn’t understand half of what she said. “So she’s getting better?”

“Yes, we expect her to pull out of it.” The nurse smiled at her, lifting her spirits instantly.

“Oh, thank you.” Now she felt a peacefulness enter her soul. Knowing Sandy would recover made her feel so much better. Ever since she found out it was her friend lying in that pool of blood, she felt responsible and a devastatingly large sense of guilt. It should be her in that bed. Not her friend. “I’ll be back later. I’ll just go and get something to eat.”

“The cafeteria is still serving breakfast if you hurry.”

“Thanks, I will.” Even cafeteria food was better than vending machine surprise, and right now she didn’t need the sugar. She already couldn’t sleep at night.

She turned round and smacked straight into a hard, male chest. He straightened her, holding her arms like a vise, and then suddenly let go. It wasn’t one of her lovers, and the physical familiarity combined with the barely restrained anger frightened her.

“Oh, Steven.” Well bumping into her ex-boyfriend here was certainly a surprise. “What are you doing here?”

His lips pursed in a hard, thin line as if he were contemplating or attempting to control his reaction. “I heard about Sandy being attacked on the morning news and wanted to see how she was doing.”

That made sense. She was a friend to him, too, and naturally, he hurried down to the hospital as soon as he heard.

“They said she surprised everyone by living.”

“Yeah. I think the attacker only left her alone because he believed she was dead.”

His face blanched at the comment. “Yeah well, she can probably identify him.”

“If she wakes up and that’s a big
if
right now. I don’t think she’ll be the same woman. Head injuries can really change a person, you know?”

His features softened somewhat. “She is sleeping?”

“She suffered a concussion, and they have her doped up. She may not be the same girl when she wakes up.”

“Ah well. There are some things you have to give up to God.”

That would feel too much like saying goodbye, and Lynne just wasn’t ready for that yet. “I have a hard time just letting the doctors do their job.”

“You always were a control freak, Lynne.”

Lynne bit her tongue on the sharp reply that wanted to snap back at him. He was there to support her friend, and she had to respect that. Instead, she said sweetly, “I was just going to get something to eat if you want to join me. She has family in the room now, and they won’t let anyone else in the room.”

“Sure thing.” He glanced back towards the nursing station and up at the cameras in the hallway before throwing a fake looking smile on his face and an arm over her shoulder. She wriggled away not wanting to give him the wrong idea and kind of freaked out by his uncharacteristic behavior.

She was in love with two other men at the moment, and Steve didn’t compare to either one of them.