Gina Cresse - Devonie Lace 04 - A Deadly Change of Power

by Gina Cresse

  “Don’t be scared. Everything’s going to be okay. I’ll make sure of it. I promise,” Melvin assured her. “Now you better go to bed. It’s way past your bedtime.”

  “Can I have ice cream?”

  Melvin smiled. “Tell you what. You go in and get a couple bowls and spoons. I’ll be right in and we can both have a scoop.”

  Ronnie beamed. “Okay!”

  Ronnie scurried out the door and ran for the back porch. Melvin smiled at the sight of her long curls bouncing as she happily skipped across the concrete driveway.

  A hundred moths flitted around the back-porch light. Ronnie swatted at them as she pulled the screen door open to let herself into the house. She turned to see if Melvin was on his way yet. She caught his image through the big window. He smiled and waved to her. She raised her hand to wave back, then jumped at the flash of light. A thunderous boom immediately followed. Shattered glass flew in all directions. Splintered wood and bits and pieces of metal shot through the air. The shop was engulfed in a ball of flames. Ronnie felt the heat on her face. Staring at the fire, she stepped away from the screen door and let it swing closed.

  “Daddy!” she screamed. “Daddy!”

  Chapter One

  Our plane touched down in San Diego at 10:30 PM on New Year’s Eve, 2001. Craig and I wandered down the half-lit corridors of the airport, barely noticing the fact that only one out of every four lights was on. Threats of rolling blackouts prompted officials for the airport to conserve energy wherever they could. We’d read about the California power crisis in the Auckland newspaper, but it didn’t become a reality for us until we stepped off the plane.

  After three fun-filled weeks of exploring nearly every square inch of New Zealand, followed by twelve hours in the air, neither Craig nor I felt compelled to attend any of the New Year’s Eve parties we’d been invited to. We were both too exhausted. We stood at the baggage carousel holding hands and gazing at the passing bags. My own suitcase went around twice before my brain kicked into gear and recognized it.

  “Isn’t that yours, Dev?” Craig asked me.

  I shook the fog out of my head. “Huh? Oh, yeah.”

  Craig dragged the heavy American Tourister off the belt and set it down next to our other bag.

  “Thanks, sweetie,” I said, leaning in to kiss his stubbled cheek.

  New Zealand was our belated honeymoon trip. Now it was time to think about returning to the reality of everyday life in San Diego. Craig would return to his duties as Dr. Matthews and I would pick up where I’d left off as Devonie Lace, treasure hunter. Oh yeah, Devonie Lace-Matthews. That’s going to take some getting used to.

  Craig wrapped his arms around me. “I know you’re exhausted and you can slug me if you want, but would you mind if we stop by the hospital on the way home? I need to pick something up.”

  My forehead fell against his chest. “Will you carry me?” I moaned.

  “Yes,” he replied and proceeded to heave my hundred and twenty pounds over his shoulder.

  “No. No. You’ll hurt yourself,” I insisted, giggling uncontrollably from pure exhaustion.

  He set me down and straitened my shirt collar. “I’ll only be five minutes. I promise.”

  I smiled up at him. “Okay,” I surrendered. I seem incapable of telling him no when he looks at me with those beautiful green eyes—and that dimple—Mother Nature’s equivalent to a perfectly-cut diamond in a human face.

  I tried to convince him before we left for our trip that we should get someone to drop us off at the airport to save the huge parking fee. Uncle Doug had offered, but Craig insisted he wouldn’t ask anyone to play taxi driver that late, especially on New Year’s Eve. I did the math for him and calculated the parking fee, but he just scoffed. It will take some time to teach him the fine art of conservatism, but I have a lifetime to work on it.

  We pulled into the hospital lot and parked in one of the spaces reserved for the doctors. Craig cut the engine but left the radio on. “You want to wait here? I’ll be right back.”

  It was a tempting offer, but I know Craig, and when he says five minutes, he really means twenty-five. I’d fall asleep and miss yet another ringing in of a new year. For once, I’d like to at least be conscious for the event. “No. I’ll go in. I think Tammy’s working tonight. I’ll go wish her a happy new year.”

  Craig led the way into the hospital. A security guard sat on a bench with his back against the wall. At first glance, I thought he was asleep, but when he heard our footsteps, he raised his head to acknowledge our presence.

  “How ya doin’, Danno?” Craig asked.

  The guard gave him a confused look, then cupped his hand around his left ear. “What’s that?” he replied.

  “I said, how ya doin’? Craig repeated, only twice as loud.

  The guard smiled. This time he heard the question. “Doin’ okay, considerin’,” he replied.

  Craig patted him on the shoulder. “Your hip givin’ you trouble?”

  Again, the guard cupped his ear.

  “I said, your hip givin’ you trouble?”

  Finally, the guard nodded. “Naw. But my hip is sure actin’ up tonight. Must be rain comin’.”

  Craig and I exchanged grins.

  “Danno, this is my wife, Devonie,” Craig said.

  Danno smiled at me. “Debbie?”

  “Devonie,” I corrected.

  “Nice to meet you, Debbie,” Danno said.

  I smiled and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you too, Danno.”

  Craig took my hand and led me down the hall. “See ya later, Danno,” he said over his shoulder. Danno waved.

  “He’s got to be three hundred and twelve years old, if he’s a day,” I whispered in Craig’s ear.

  Craig laughed. “You might be right. Nice guy, though.”

  Craig and I parted ways at the elevator, he toward his office, and I toward the nurse’s station.

  The place seemed like a ghost town as I strolled down the corridor. I didn’t pass a single nurse or orderly as I made my way to the nerve center of this section of the hospital. Televisions lit several of the dim rooms I passed. Most were tuned to the New Year’s festivities going on all around the country. I paused briefly to listen.

  The nurse’s station was deserted—no one in sight. I checked my watch. It was almost midnight. Everyone was probably gathering for an informal celebration in the break room. If I could remember where the break room was, I’d join them. I headed off in the direction I thought it might be, when the silence was broken by a shrill cry.

  “Help me! Help me!” a woman’s voice cried out from one of the rooms behind me. I turned to see where the sound came from.

  “Help me, please! Help me!” she continued yelling.

  I scanned the area for anyone who might be able to help her. No one seemed to respond to her pleas. I wasn’t sure which room the cries were coming from, but I headed in the general direction, peeking into each room on the way in case I could find a nurse busy with another patient.

  As I got closer to the source of the noise, a second voice joined in. “Use your call light, Delores!” another patient yelled out.

  “I can’t! Help me, Jesus! Help me!”

  “Jesus doesn’t work here, Delores! Use your call light! We’re all trying to get some sleep!”

  I pushed open a door, hoping to find a nurse busy taking someone’s temperature or blood pressure. I stood in the doorway for a moment to let my eyes adjust to the darkness. The light from the bathroom was on and lit the room enough that I could make out the figure of a tall man standing next to the hospital bed. I blinked a couple times. He wore surgical scrubs, as many of the hospital staff did.

  Relieved, I requested his assistance. “Excuse me, but can someone come help this woman? She seems—“

  I had obviously startled him. My eyes moved from his head down his arms to his hands. He gripped a pillow tightly against the face of whoever was in the bed. “Hey! What are you doing?” I demanded. I felt
the adrenaline rush through my system. My hand shook as I groped to find a light switch. He panicked and nearly knocked a tray over as he scrambled to escape. “Stop!” I screamed as he headed my direction. I tried to back out of the room, but he beat me to the door, knocking me down as he bolted past. I hit my head on the floor and was dazed for a few moments.

  I looked up to see the silhouette of a man standing in the doorway with his hands firmly planted on his hips. “What’s going on in here?” he demanded. He hit a switch that brought light to the entire room. A stethoscope hung around his neck and one end was tucked into the pocked of his scrubs.

  “Did you stop him?” I asked, rubbing my head as I struggled to get to my feet.

  “Stop who?” he asked.

  “That guy who just ran out of here. He was trying to kill that patient,” I explained, pointing toward the unconscious woman in the bed. “Oh my God. Is she breathing?” I asked, rushing to her side.

  The young man hurried to the other side of the bed and checked her vital signs. “She’s fine. She’s just asleep. Are you sure you saw someone?” he asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “Of course I saw someone. He had this pillow stuffed against her face,” I insisted, picking up the pillow from the floor. “If I hadn’t stopped him, she’d be dead now.” I read the nameplate pinned to his shirt—Paul Michaels, RN.

  “Well I didn’t see anyone. I think I would have seen him if he was really here.”

  “Really here? Listen, he was here. I didn’t just fall down all by myself. He knocked me down trying to get away.”

  Nurse Michaels crossed his muscular arms over his chest. “What are you doing here, anyway? Visiting hours were over a long time ago.”

  “I was looking for someone to help that poor woman in the room down the hall. She’d been calling for help and nobody was answering her,” I said.

  “Delores?”

  “Yes. Delores. She needs help.”

  “What Delores needs is a good sedative,” he said, shaking his head.

  I scowled at him. “If that’s the case, then why doesn’t someone give it to her?”

  “Because we have to have a doctor’s order, and we can’t find her doctor. He’s probably off at some New Year’s Eve party while we’re here listening to a delirious old woman scream all night long.”

  I turned my attention back to the woman sleeping in the bed. She looked to be in her late thirties, maybe forty. She had a bandage on her head and bruises on her arms and face. I noted the name on the blue wristband. Jane Doe. “What about her? Shouldn’t you call the police? Someone tried to kill her,” I said.

  “Police? No. We have our own security,” Michaels replied.

  I pictured Danno in hot pursuit of the attacker. “I’ve seen your security. I really think—”

  “She’ll be fine. Now, the question is, who are you and what are you doing here?”

  His non-concern over this patient irritated me. “I’m Devonie Lace—uh, Matthews—Lace-Matthews, Doctor Matthews’ wife. We stopped by on our way home from the airport. I was looking for a friend who works here, but when I heard Delores crying, I started looking for help,” I explained. I watched his expression, hoping I’d gained some credibility with my explanation.

  His eyes lit up. “Doctor Matthews is here? Maybe he can write an order for Delores.”

  “What about her?” I pressed, nodding toward Jane Doe.

  “She doesn’t need a sedative. She’s sound asleep,” he said with just enough sarcasm to irritate me even more.

  “I don’t mean a sedative. Someone tried to kill her. She’s obviously in danger,” I said.

  “Obviously?”

  “Yes. Obviously. Why is she here? You don’t even know her name? How’d she get so banged up?” I pressed.

  Nurse Michaels took me by the arm, led me around the bed and out of the room. “I can’t give out that information. You should know that, being married to Doctor Matthews.” He caught the attention of a woman sitting at the nurse’s station and called out to her. “Marge, can you page Doctor Matthews? He’s somewhere in the hospital. Find out if he’ll write an order for Delores so we can have a peaceful night.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you going to call the police or do I have to do it?”

  “I told you, we have security. I’ll have someone call the guard right now,” he said as he turned his back on me and walked away.

  I scowled at the back of his head.

  Delores started up again. “I don’t want a baby!” she hollered.

  “You’re not having a baby, Delores,” Michaels called back to her as he headed for her room.

  Just as he disappeared around the corner, Tammy came from the other direction. She’d been working the night shift for the past month and looked as tired as I felt. “Devonie? What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Hi. Craig and I just stopped so he could pick something up from his office.” I took her by the arm and led her toward Jane Doe’s room. “What do you know about this patient?”

  Tammy and I had been friends for a long time and I knew she’d tell me whatever she knew. She peeked in the room. “Oh, Jane Doe. Yeah, she came in a few days ago. A couple of sailors fished her out of the water somewhere between here and Ensenada. She was unconscious for several days, so we couldn’t get her real name. No one knows how she got hurt and ended up in the water.”

  “Was she in a coma?” I asked.

  “Yeah, but she’s been in and out of it most of today. She’s okay physically, except for a little bump on her head and a few bruises. We haven’t been able to get her to tell us who she is. She’s pretty shaken up about what happened. We can’t discharge her until we can find a relative to take her in.”

  “That’ll be pretty hard if she won’t tell you who she is,” I said.

  “Believe me. Two more days of hospital food, she’ll be begging to get out of here.”

  Marge called out from the nurse’s station desk. “Tammy, can you check that one? Her call light’s on,” she said, pointing toward Jane Doe’s room.

  “Sure,” Tammy replied.

  I followed Tammy into the room. The mystery woman sat up in her bed, staring at the bruises on her arms.

  “What do you need?” Tammy asked.

  The woman raised her head and looked at me, then at Tammy. “I’m sorry, but when they brought my dinner, I wasn’t hungry. Now I’m starving. Can I get something to eat?”

  Tammy checked her watch and frowned. “I’ll see if I can scrounge something up for you. How are you feeling?”

  Jane Doe gave her a weak smile. “Fine, except for being hungry.”

  “We’ll try to take care of that right now,” Tammy said as she turned and headed for the door.

  I stayed behind and found a chair in the corner. “Hi,” I said. “I’m Devonie.”

  She gave me a wary look and nodded, but didn’t offer her name.

  “My husband’s a doctor here. The staff is the best. You’re in good hands,” I assured her.

  She gave me a weak smile, then turned her head to stare at the closed curtains.

  “Everyone here is pretty concerned about you,” I continued, hoping to get her to warm up to me.

  “Everyone?” she questioned, still not looking at me.

  “Well, I know I am,” I said.

  She finally looked at me. “Why? You don’t even know me.”

  I hesitated for a moment. “Do you remember how you got hurt? Were you on a boat?”

  She remained silent. I decided to be direct. She obviously didn’t trust me, so there was no point in dancing around the issue.

  “When I came in your room tonight, there was a man trying to suffocate you with a pillow.”

  “What?” she gasped.

  “I walked in just in time to scare him off. Do you recall any of this?” I asked.

  “There was a man in here tonight?” she asked, almost dazed.

  “Yes, just a few minutes ago. No one saw him but me.
He knocked me down trying to get away,” I explained, rubbing the bump on my head. It occurred to me that the blow to my head might have knocked me out for a minute or two. That could explain why Michaels didn’t see him when it seemed to me they should have crossed paths.

  Nurse Michaels burst into the room with Craig on his heels. “I knew I’d find you in here. What have you done? Did you wake her up?” he demanded, pointing an accusing finger at me.

  Craig put an arm on Michaels’ shoulder. “Calm down, Paul.”

  “Did he tell you what happened?” I asked.

  “He said you thought you saw someone in here.” Craig scrutinized me closer, noticing the bump on my forehead. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  “The guy knocked me down on his way out. Would you tell this person I’m not some lunatic,” I said, pointing at Michaels.

  Craig brushed my bangs back and took a closer look at my injury. “Hmm. Not too bad. I’ve seen bigger lumps in the oatmeal you fix me for breakfast.”

  “Very funny. Can you get someone to guard her room? Someone besides Danno? I’m afraid that guy might come back,” I said.

  Craig checked his watch. It was past midnight by now. Everyone was so concerned with the time. “I’ll see what I can do, but it’ll be tough tonight. Paul says he’ll keep an eye on her. I’m sure she’ll be okay,” Craig assured me.

  “But can you try? I’m worried.”

  “I know you’re worried. I’ll call a few people. Wait here and I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes so we can go home,” he said as he started to leave.

  I put a hand on his arm. “That’s okay. I’ll meet you in the car in fifteen minutes,” I said.

  He stopped, looked into my eyes and nodded his head. “Okay, fifteen minutes,” he repeated, slowly. He flashed me that “I know you’re up to something” look, immediately followed by the “but I’m afraid to ask” one.

  Jane Doe seemed to retreat to some other world during my conversation with Craig. She knitted her eyebrows together and rubbed her temples as if she had a pounding headache.

  Michaels followed Craig out of the room and Tammy made an entrance immediately after they were gone. She placed a banana, a blueberry yogurt, and three packs of crackers on the tray next to Jane Doe. “Hope this’ll do. It’s all I could come up with.”