21 Hours

by Dustin Stevens

Skip's mouth dropped open and he shook his head. "I heard about what was going on when I came in to work tonight."

  Dammit. Already I knew where this was going. My hunch from earlier was right. We'd just wasted almost three hours with this kid. For a moment, I weighed going in after him, roomful of cops be damned.

  "You heard about what was going on?"

  "Yeah, you know, from the staff. Nurses talk, so do techs and doctors. Everybody knew about it. They were all too happy to fill me in."

  I saw it the moment it clicked with Watts as well. Slow realization crept over her, replaced almost instantly by contempt. "So you heard we were waiting for a call, decided to make a little money, huh? Told them to drop the dough at one, you get off at two and head on over?"

  Tears began to run down Skip's face. His face crinkled as he shook his head. "My mother's in a nursing home. I work at that Applebee's during the day and at the hospital at night to pay for it. I figured, this guy used to be a star football player, he's got money to burn. It's only fifty grand..."

  His voice trailed off as he cried harder. He raised his head and said, "But I didn't hurt anybody. I swear to God I didn't hurt anybody."

  Watts glared at him, but said nothing. Instead she strode out and slammed the door behind her.

  The room seemed to stand still for a moment, unsure how to proceed. Several glances were cast from one to another as I retreated back to my corner by the door. I didn't need to look at Skip a moment longer. Nothing good could come from it.

  Watts barged back in, the entire room cowering in front of her. "I want this kid booked right now. The first second we can get him into county lockup, do it. And keep him there as long as we can."

  A couple of men disappeared through the door Watts just used. I assumed they would appear behind the glass a moment later, but my view was blocked. Also probably a good thing.

  The room milled about for a full minute before filing out. Many of them had been called in to handle the ransom situation and now that it was over, they were no longer needed. With a few exchanged nods or half waves, they drifted off.

  Watts stood with a hand to her head, rubbing her brow. Several pairs of eyes continued to watch her every move as she stomped back towards the far side of the room. She took up the garish black-and-flame bag from the table and gripped it by the handles on either side, holding it out in front of her.

  With purposeful strides she exited the room, hissing "Come with me" under her breath as she passed. I said nothing, didn't even bother to look up at the remaining men watching, and slid out into the hallway behind her.

  "Where we going?" I asked, jogging several quick steps and falling in beside her. She was moving fast and I had to almost run to keep up with her.

  "Back to the beginning," she said, cutting a direct course back towards the parking lot. Through the front windows, I could still see the red and blue strobe light circling atop her car.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Watts waited a moment for me to hit the passenger seat before dumping the money bag in my lap. The dead weight of fifty thousand dollars landed with a thud against the front of my jeans, a momentary swell of nausea rolling through my stomach. It receded just as Watts slammed the car into reverse and peeled away from the parking lot.

  "Should I leave the flasher up top?" I asked, my voice neutral. Unlike her coworkers and underlings in the precinct, I wasn't afraid of her. I was just happy to be doing something again.

  "Leave it," Watts said. Her hands deftly maneuvered the steering wheel as she hooked a left back towards the hospital. If even possible, the route was more deserted than an hour before. There's a reason they say people working the three a.m. shift pulled graveyard duty, because that's exactly what the world is.

  Lifeless.

  With the flasher leading the way above us, Watts cut through the night, ignoring traffic signals and the lanes painted on the road. During normal daytime hours the drive between the two places took fourteen minutes. Earlier, she'd covered the ground in ten minutes. This time it was more like six.

  We slammed to a stop in front of the main door. Watts left the car in the drop-off lane, turned on the caution lights and grabbed the keys from the ignition. I slid out opposite her and flipped the switch on the flasher but left it suctioned to the roof. No reason to wake a hospital full of sleeping patients.

  Also no reason to be too hasty in taking it down. We might need it later.

  I kept the money bag in my right hand as we went, making it look like I just held on to it without thinking. Already there was a plan forming in the back of my mind. I prayed it wouldn't come to that, but knew better than to rule it out. That's just kind of how the night had gone so far.

  "Alright, so we're back to the beginning. What's the plan?" I asked, the two of us falling in side by side. Together we cut a path for the ICU, both oblivious to the loud sounds of our shoes echoing through the halls. We each had more important things on our minds and there wasn't anybody around to tell us to quiet down.

  "We're going to go talk to your sister again. To your in-laws. There has to be something," Watts said. She too was beginning to show signs of strain. I guessed she was fast approaching a full twenty-four hours on her feet, punctuated by several stiff jolts of caffeine. Her mouth was drawn into a tight line and her eyes were bunched revealing crow's feet at the corners.

  I glanced at the clock again as we swung past the ICU nurse's station. "Little bastard cost us three hours," I muttered. We were now just inside ten hours remaining. Single digits. Something needed to break, and fast.

  Watts grunted some form of response and continued speed walking forward. Her fists were balled tight and the tail of her jacket swung back and forth as she headed for the final corner and made the turn.

  At the opposite end of the hall Lex and my mother were both on their feet, watching us approach. Both of them had their arms folded across their torsos and Lex had her thumb up beside her face. She was going to be gnawing on the bone by the time I got Annie home to her.

  A range of emotions crossed both their faces, spanning everything from hope to fear in a matter of seconds. The last they knew I said I would be right back. Now here I was well over an hour later with Watts and the money in hand. From where they sat, it couldn't look good.

  "False alarm," I said in a loud faux whisper, holding a hand up for them. I could see Lex's chest lower as she exhaled a long breath and my mother reached out and laid a hand on her arm. From inside the room the Borden’s both appeared, each looking like they'd just awoken from a nap.

  Watts shot me a sideways glance. For a moment she looked hostile, but it passed as she realized what I'd done. Almost imperceptibly she nodded my way. "He's right. Turns out the ransom demand was made by a hospital employee who thought he could take advantage of the situation."

  "What?" Lex asked, her face flat. Beside her, my mother pulled her hand from Lex's arm and held it to her agape mouth.

  "The young guy who works the front desk here," Watts said, motioning back over your shoulder. "He heard through the hospital grapevine that we were waiting for a ransom call. Everybody in Columbus knows who Ricky Borden is, so he thought he would make a little money on the side."

  "When this is over we're going to own this hospital," Sue Borden said, her eyes flashing. All four of us in the hallway turned to glance at her before facing back to one another.

  Grief is one of the most dissected human emotions. Apparently Sue was already past denial and firmly entrenched in the anger stage of the process. It was just not something any of us needed right then, especially not my sister.

  Lex ignored Sue and asked, "What does this mean? Are we any closer to finding my daughter?"

  Watts opened her mouth to speak, but closed it and shook her head. "No. This guy's personal greed set us back a few hours. We're no closer, but we're no further either."

  "This is all your fault you know," Sue spat. Again all eyes turned to face her. A snarl appeared on Watts' face and she raised a
finger to respond before realizing Sue wasn't looking at her.

  She was looking at me.

  The entire bunch fell silent as Watt's finger lowered to her side. The comment was so unexpected, it took several seconds for it to sink in. When it did, I gave a hard twist of my head and made a disbelieving face. "What? My fault?"

  "Well, she's right you know," Jim said, folding his arms across his chest and leveling the same accusing stare on me as his wife.

  I could feel the veins in my forehead throbbing. If these people had any idea what I'd been through tonight they'd be on their knees kissing my ass right now. Instead they were hurling accusations my way. I balled my right hand into a fist so tight I could feel the fingernails digging into my palm. "How...the...hell...do...you...figure?"

  I drew out every word so they could feel the malevolence dripping from them. These people had no idea how ugly this could get in a hurry.

  Across from me I saw my mother put on a face that matched my own. She was in full-on Mother Lion mode. Nobody messed with her children, especially not right in front of her. Watts made a face that was part confused, part disciplinarian, as she looked from one side to the other.

  Lex remained between us, her gaze vacant as she stared at nothing particular on the wall.

  "We all know what you did," Sue said. "It's no secret that's why you hide in Wyoming playing cowboy."

  "He's not hiding from anything you self-righteous bitch," my mother seethed.

  I appreciated knowing my mother had my back, but this wasn't her fight. It wasn't particularly one I wanted to have either. I knew the look on Lex's face to know this would send her over the edge in a hurry. I needed her in the moment to help me find Annie.

  "Now wait just a minute there," Jim said, raising a hand and pointing it towards my mother. I was between them before even one more word could slide out. Like with Skip earlier, I knew I was hanging on by a thin thread, keeping my rage within. Part of me almost dared him to continue, the other part knew nothing good would come from it.

  "No, you wait," I said, swatting his hand down. "I haven't even been in Ohio in months. Your son's one of the biggest assholes in the country. The odds are he pissed off the wrong person and that's what this is all about, don't you think?"

  "Our son isn't a murderer!" Sue spat, her voice rising just shy of a yell.

  It took every fiber of my being not to club them both to a pulp with my cast. Instead of responding, I stood quivering with anger in the middle of the hallway.

  My mother pressed tight against my back to let me know she was there. I could feel her trembling as well, no doubt wanting to tear Sue Borden limb from limb. Watts stood off to the side, a hand raised in either direction.

  "She's still not wrong," Jim said. "Our son may be an asshole, but everybody knows you spent five years in prison for killing a man in cold blood. You were evil before you went to jail, no telling what you picked up inside."

  I stared at the floor, my body still trembling. It didn't matter where I looked at that particular moment, all I could see was red. "And that's what you think this is about?"

  "This is karma!" Sue said, her voice breaking as she started to cry. "This is you having to answer for your sins!"

  "Go to hell!"

  I couldn't take it anymore. I felt my mother's arms wrap around my wrist as I cocked my arm and prepared to shatter Jim's jaw. I wasn't going to hit Sue, but I was going to pound him so savagely she'd feel it. I didn't care if Watts arrested me right then.

  Before I got a chance to throw that punch though, Lex stepped in. She didn't put herself between us, she didn't move at all in fact. What she did was far more powerful. She simply turned her head towards all of us and said, "They weren't his sins."

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  "Lex, don't," I whispered. All the air had sucked out of the hallway. Everyone stood staring at her, not knowing what to do. I wasn't sure what she planned to say next, but I prayed it wasn't what I thought she might.

  Not here, not now. Not after so long.

  "O, it's time," Lex whispered. Her eyes were glassy with tears as she turned to face me. Slowly I lowered my fist back to my side and my mother's hands freed themselves from my waist. The hostility of just a few moments before was already dispelled, waiting to see what she would do.

  "Lex, don't," I said, casting my eyes towards Watts. A thick knot settled in the back of my throat. I would rather let Watts see me pound both the Borden’s to within an inch of their lives than hear what Lex might say next.

  "It doesn't matter," Lex said. "It's been twelve years. You served the sentence. It's time the truth came out."

  I shook my head from side to side, but said nothing. This was not at all what I wanted. Annie, Annie was the most important thing right now.

  "Alexa, what are you talking about?" my mother asked. "What's been twelve years?"

  "You know," Lex whispered.

  My mother's eyes glassed over to match Lex's and her hand went to her chin. "You mean the accident."

  Lex shook her head. "It wasn't an accident, but you always knew that too."

  I closed my eyes and lifted my face towards the ceiling. Every bit of my being wanted her to stop, but just as surely I knew she wouldn't.

  Lex turned her attention past me and my mother to the Borden’s. Watts had lowered her arms back to her side and stood off to the left, watching the entire scene unfold. "Twelve years ago, just after our high school graduation, our father was killed. He'd worked a double shift that day and was coming home around midnight. It was dark and it had been raining."

  My mother reached out and tried to take my hand. When her hand found the cast, she wrapped it around my forearm instead.

  "A group of high school kids from Marysville were out at the same time. They'd been to some graduation parties, had been drinking, lost control of their car and did a complete one-eighty into oncoming traffic. Our father slammed into the rear end of their car going sixty miles an hour. He died on impact, none of them got more than some bruises."

  My mother's nails dug into me. That night was over twelve years past, but it still burned hot within us all. He was only forty at the time.

  "The two passengers in the car were given citations for underage intoxication. The driver was released on bail and given a court date for later in the summer. At a time when we should have been going on a senior trip and celebrating, we buried our father and waited for trial."

  Lex stopped for a moment to clear her throat. Part of me was desperate for her to stop talking. Another part didn't want her to quit. Somewhere, deep down, I knew I needed to hear it.

  "Turned out the kid's dad was some kind of big time attorney downtown. Worked for Nationwide, knew all the prosecutors in the area, even the judge. He bargained it clear down to some community service and a little bit of probation. Not even a slap on the wrist."

  Up until this point everything she'd said was public knowledge. As much as I wanted to hear it, I couldn't let her say it. "Lex, don't do this. Leave it be. Let these assholes think what they want."

  She turned her tear-filled eyes to me. "But what if they're right? What if this is all happening to right some long-standing wrong?"

  "You don't believe that," I said. Everyone else watched us like a crowd watching a tennis match, their heads swinging back and forth. Confusion was splashed across every one of their faces.

  "But what if it is?" Lex continued. "What if my little girl is in danger right now to get back at me? For what I did to that boy? What I did to you?"

  My mother's nails dug so hard into my arm I thought they would tear the fabric of my clothes. She pressed tight against my hip and whispered, "Go on, honey."

  "The day we found out, O was beside himself. Our father was his hero, one of his best friends in the world, and his killer was going to go free without ever seeing the inside of a jail cell. He couldn't bear the idea. He stole a bottle of Jack Daniels and a shotgun from the house and set off to even the score."

  I f
elt a tingle run down the nape of my neck. These were details that had never seen the light of day. I wasn't sure I wanted them there.

  "I don't know why, but I went with him," Lex continued. "I knew when he left that he was in a bad place. I couldn't bear the thought of losing my dad and my brother just a month apart, so I went to try and talk him down.

  "Somehow, O'd figured out where this guy lived. He drove straight to the end of his street and parked at a playground looking down towards his house. We got there early in the evening and stayed through the night. We talked a lot and watched everybody that came and went.

  "By morning, O was completely wasted. He'd finished the entire bottle of Jack, and he never drinks. As far as I know it's the only alcohol he's ever had in his life."

  She slid her eyes to me and I nodded. She was right. To this day that evening was the only time in my life I lost control of myself for even a minute.

  "Shortly after dawn, O broke down and cried. He told me how much pain he was in and how much he missed dad. By the time he was done, it was clear the plan was never going to happen. He had no intention of harming that boy, he just needed somewhere to aim his frustrations.

  "After that, he passed out. Cold. He slumped to the side and fell across the front seat of the truck. Back then he was a lot bigger and it took me almost twenty minutes of pulling and lugging to get him off to the side. By the time I did, the sun was rising."

  Every eye was focused on Lex. I could almost hear my heart pounding in my ears and feel my chest rising and falling with each breath. She was actually going to do it.

  "I have no idea why I did what I did next. The entire truck smelled like whiskey and dad's shotgun was lying behind the seat. I had just gotten O wrestled into the passenger seat and was sweaty and pissed off. I'd never seen my brother cry, I'd just lost my father. Unfortunately for that poor bastard he chose the wrong moment to pull out of his driveway."

  Lex lowered her chin to her chest as heavy tears slid down her cheeks. "I aimed the wheel at him and gunned the engine as hard as I could. We were in O’s oversized pickup with a winch on the front, that kid was in some tiny convertible made of fiberglass. He never stood a chance. We slammed into him head on and crumpled the front of that car, just the way he did dad.