She opened her eyes just as a double thump rang out and then the car lurched. She grabbed the door handle to minimize the whiplash effect.
“Damn,” Duane said with remorse. He looked into the rearview mirror. “I tried to miss it, but I’m afraid I hit that bunny square on. Not much left of the poor thing.”
“It’s just a rabbit. There’s like a million of them per square mile in Arizona.”
“Still, it’s one of God’s creatures.”
“Now you sound like my mom.”
“You have a mother? I didn’t know that.”
“I used to. She died.”
“I’m sorry. Recently?”
Emily wasn’t sure how to answer that. It’d been almost thirty years in calendar time, but just a few years in her time. She decided to keep it simple. “It’s been so long, I barely remember what her face looks like.”
“That happens over time. I’m sure she loved you very much.”
“Yeah. We were pretty close, when she wasn’t nagging me about something.”
“You must miss her.”
She wanted the conversation about her mother to stop. It conjured too many painful memories about that horrible night on the ship.
“Can we talk about something else? Or just not talk for a while. I’m tired.”
“Sure. If that’s what you want.”
She kept her eyes on Duane’s driving habits, just in case any more rabbits decided to play Death by Impala.
His actions were controlled and purposeful, like his apparent view on life: Slow, steady, and straight on till morning. Nothing seemed to faze this man. Not a little old lady in a Dodge Dart who kept drifting between lanes, almost hitting everyone around her. Not a pothole the size of the Grand Canyon that he straddled between the tires without so much as a flinch or raised eyebrow. Not an asshole on a yellow and black Yamaha, weaving in and out of traffic without a helmet on, zipping past everyone at something north of seventy.
She put his phone away in the compartment between the seats and leaned back against the head rest, taking in the splendor of the moment. She realized that this goodhearted man had an aura that was very much like Derek’s; except for the cute, sexy parts of course.
Everything about him was ultra smooth and gentle: like the way he tilted his head when he spoke, the slight grin that forever tugged at the corner of his lips, his rhythmic finger-tapping on the top the steering wheel that seemed to match her heartbeat exactly, and his watchful but non-judgmental eyes that wrapped everyone in a warm embrace.
He hadn’t asked her for much either time they’d met, but when he swung his head and locked eyes with her, she could sense that was all about to change.
“I’m sure Jim will be absolutely thrilled to see you. Hopefully, he’s awake today. When I stopped by yesterday, he was under heavy sedation and Nurse Guard Dog wouldn’t let me see him. She watches him like a hawk, but that’s what he needs right now, someone to protect him for a change. He’s been through hell and back.”
“Yeah, all because of me. I never asked him for help. That was all his idea.”
Duane put the turn signal on, looked over his shoulder to check for traffic on the left, then moved the car gracefully into the next lane.
“You have to understand, young lady, that’s who Jim is. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s never once failed to step up when someone’s in need. Sometimes that great, big, wonderful heart of his gets him into serious trouble, like now. But I guess it’s all part of being a Marine and serving others. It’s what makes Jim, Jim. You can never have enough friends like that. Trust me, they’re few and far between. Just the kind of man you want in the foxhole with you when the world comes to an end.”
She fiddled with the seat belt, opening and closing the latch several times. “But still. What do I say?”
“Just give him a kiss on the cheek and thank him for protecting you. I’m sure just knowing that you’re safe will be reward enough.”
“Okay, I can do that.”
There was silence in the car as Duane waited for the light to change. When it did, he pulled forward and turned left, passing a bus stop on the right with at least twenty people crammed under the canopy.
“When we’re done with Jim, I’m going to need you to tell me what’s really going on here. My wife says I’m a total pushover, but eventually even I need to get something in return. You can’t expect me to keep helping you unless you tell me . . . everything.”
“Thank you for doing this.”
“You’re welcome. I hope you know that I’m here for you. But there are limits.”
“I know,” she said, wondering if the time had come. She needed to tell someone. Keeping all her secrets locked away was eating her alive. “I’ll make you a deal. When we get there, I’ll tell both you and Jim, so I don’t have to go through it all twice. It’s a long story.”
“I’ll bet. Especially the part about why you haven’t aged in thirty years. That, my dear Emily, is the first and foremost question on my mind right now.”
“I understand,” she said, wanting to change the subject. “This car smells new.”
He grinned and did a bobbing chair dance in his seat. “Just bought it last week. My first ever new car. I’ve waited a long time, and now I can finally afford something first class.”
“It’s nice, but I think I miss your little scooter.”
“Yeah, I kinda miss it, too. But I’m the big boss now, so I have to ride in style.”
“Big boss? Like the manager?”
“Nope. I own the company that provides security for the shopping center.”
“Duane! That’s so cool. But why are you still walking the mall in a uniform? Shouldn’t you be in an office somewhere, telling your cute little secretary what to do?”
“First, my wife Nora would never let me have a cute little secretary. And second, I’m a working guy, Em. I never make my boys do anything that I won’t do myself. Besides, I only patrol on Saturdays. It gives me a chance to get out and enjoy the hustle and bustle. Can’t stand to be cooped up in my office all day. The walls start closing in.”
“I hate malls. Nothing good ever happens there.”
“I can see why you feel that way. For everyone else, it’s a wondrous place.”
“Wondrous?”
He gave her a sly look, winking with his right eye. “It all depends on whose credit card you walk in with. That’s what my beautiful wife says right before she sets sail on one of her power-shopping trips. At least we can afford it these days.”
“Must be nice,” Emily said, remembering all the high-end clothes from Saks Fifth Avenue. She held her legs out in front of her, looking at her feet. “I’m lucky I have a pair of shoes that fit.”
“Maybe when we’re done today, my wife can take you shopping. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
She hated shopping. Her mother used to drag her along every time she went to the store, making it her least favorite chore back when she was living at home and living as a normal.
“Yes, that would be wonderful. Thank you, Duane.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Detective Alison brushed past Derek and stood next to Jim at the head of the hospital bed, never taking his eyes off Derek. “A reporter, huh? For what school?”
Derek straightened his back, repositioning himself in the chair to stall for an answer. He kept the brim of his cap lowered to avoid eye contact with Alison, trying to think of something that he could say to Jim. Something that would help sell the lie that Jim had just told to the Marine-turned-detective standing with his arms folded.
“Actually, it’s not for any school. I’m starting an online blog about recent crime on the streets of Phoenix. I figured what better place to start than with the man who took down two rival gangs.”
Alison paused, rubbing his hand on his chin. “Interesting. So, tell me, Vincent; if you’re here to do a story, how are you planning to take notes? I don’t see a recording device, or a pen and paper. Then ther
e’s the issue about the rival gangs. We never released that fact to the public. So, how could you—?”
“I told him,” Jim said with vigor. “Just before you walked in, as a matter of fact.”
Alison hesitated, then his face beamed as if he’d just had an epiphany. “Millsy? What the hell? Mind telling me why you’re sitting here discussing classified information with a juvenile offender who’s wanted for assaulting an officer with a garbage can?”
Derek reacted faster than he thought possible when he heard the words “assaulting an officer with a garbage can” leave the cop’s mouth. He snatched the bedpan from the foot of Miller’s bed and sailed it at Alison’s head. The pan hit its mark, plinking off the man’s forehead, sending Alison crashing into the monitoring equipment beeping behind him.
Derek bolted to the door in a flash, twisted the handle, threw open the door and took off at top speed down the hallway and around the corner, where the door leading to the stairs was waiting for him. It was only then that he heard Alison’s shouts from down the hall.
Adrenaline does crazy things to a guy, Derek thought.
He knew he was digging a deeper and deeper grave for himself every time he assaulted another member of law enforcement, but he had this thing about being in custody: he hated it more than anything in the world, except maybe country music.
He hopped off the last step and hit the ground floor. He changed his carriage to a fast walk, casually opening the exit door and walking out. He went down the corridor, heading back to the geriatric receptionist who had helped him earlier at the front desk. Two men in delivery uniforms were standing in front of her station with a bouquet of flowers in each hand. They appeared to be arguing about something.
He scooted past her station, hoping she wouldn’t notice him, but she locked eyes on him. He waved a good-bye salute at her. She flashed a subtle grin and a head bob in return.
The main entrance was only fifty feet away, just past the espresso stand on the left and the gift shop on the right. He was almost home free, but then a brown and maroon-colored sedan came screaming into the front drive and hit its brakes hard, sending a cloud of black smoke billowing out from its tires. Stenciled on the side of the vehicle was the word SECURITY.
Derek froze, wishing he’d remembered to change his appearance along the way.
A second later, two towering black hospital security guards rose from its doors, each armed with a nightstick, a radio, and a holstered firearm.
One of the men pointed at Derek. “There he is!”
“You! Hold it right there!” the other guard said.
Derek’s eyes darted, scanning the area for an escape route. He only had two choices. Run back the way he came and try to disappear after taking the stairs to a higher floor; but that might take him into the arms of an angry and bleeding Detective Alison.
That left choice number two: the connecting hallway on his left. He wasn’t sure where it went. The signs along the ceiling were covered with medical terminology that he didn’t understand, but then he saw the answer. A sign that said EMERGENCY.
He knew there’d be an entrance door and, most likely, plenty of patients and hospital personnel. He figured he could blend into the crowd and slip outside without too much trouble, if he could put enough distance between him and the two security guards who had just cleared the lobby doors. There might even be an ambulance parked outside that he could steal.
He peeled out, pushing his legs down the first hall then around a corner, where he spotted another emergency sign hanging above him. He followed its arrows, continuing at high speed, dodging an endless string of hospital staff, food carts, linen bins, patients, gurneys, and a smattering of visiting adults who didn’t have their children under control.
Derek checked behind him, but didn’t see the security team. He tossed his baseball cap into a trash container sitting next to the wall outside the entrance to the woman’s restroom. Then ran his fingers through his hair, hoping to eliminate any sign of hat head.
It took five more corners and six more connecting hallways before he found the emergency entrance, where a huge waiting room was filled with downtrodden patients waiting their turn for service.
He hit the brakes, sending his shoes into a skid along the freshly buffed tile floor. He felt like Scooby-Doo trying to navigate a slick corner in a Saturday morning cartoon. The tread on his shoes found traction, and he took off for the double doors on his right that led outside.
The automatic doors were already open, thanks to a pair of EMTs hauling a screaming Indian boy inside on a wheeled stretcher. The kid looked to be badly burned across his neck, chest, and arms. That meant there would be an ambulance nearby.
The revelation sent a burst of adrenaline into his system as he flew through the doorway and found the sidewalk outside. He ran fifty feet and made another right.
An instant later, he plowed into a girl wearing a black coat and a fancy skirt. They fell in a heap on the sidewalk. Derek ended up on top, his face an inch from the girl’s.
Their eyes met just as a bolt of electricity shot through him. “Emily?”
“Get off,” she said in a weak voice. “You’re squishing me.”
The moment was interrupted when Derek felt a pair of strong hands grabbing him from behind, under his armpits, lifting him up and off of her.
“Easy there, fella,” came a deep, sonorous voice.
Derek prepared to fight back, wriggling free of the man’s grip and stepping away, fists up.
“Derek, no! He’s a friend. Stop!”
Derek dropped his hands. His eyes darted left and right, and then back at the corner that he’d just navigated.
“Emily, I have to jet! Security’s looking for me. I think I lost them inside, but they’ll find me eventually.”
He turned to run, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him close.
Emily looked at her mountainous friend. “Can you help us, Duane? Please!”
“Us?”
“Yes, I’m going with him. This is the boy that sort of, I mean, kind of helped me escape from the police. Please, Duane? Please? You have to help us.”
Duane hesitated, then shot a suspicious look at Derek before pulling a set of car keys and a cell phone from his pocket. He gave them to Emily. He didn’t look convinced that he was doing the right thing.
Duane focused on Emily. “You know where the car is parked. Take it west to the Harkins Movie Theater and hide inside. It’s ten blocks, just past the Goodwill store on the corner.”
Emily shook her head. “But I don’t know how to drive.”
“I do,” Derek said.
Emily gave him the keys.
Duane took a twenty-dollar bill from his wallet and gave it to Derek. “I’ll take care of security. I’ll call you when it’s safe.”
“What about some new clothes for Em?”
“Don’t they take clothes in trade?”
“Do you really think we have time for that?”
“Point taken,” Duane said, forking over another twenty. “Just leave my coat in the trunk.”
Derek snatched the cash from his hand. “I should probably tell you about the detective inside. I’m sure he’s a little pissed.”
“What’d you do?” Emily snapped.
“Bedpan incident.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Was it Detective Alison?” Duane asked.
Derek nodded.
“I’ve met him before. He’s Jim’s friend. A real arrogant prick. I’ll see what I can do.”
Emily stood on her tiptoes and gave Duane a hug, then pecked him on the cheek. “Thanks, I owe you one.”
“Actually, you owe me three, my dear. And we still need to have that talk.”
“We will. I promise.”
He pointed at the parking lot. “Now go!”
Duane watched Emily and Derek take off across the lot, then began his short hike to the Emergency Entrance.
He made it around the southeast corner of the
building, where he ran into two members of hospital security. They stopped. Breathless.
Duane waited for the men to notice his security guard uniform. They did. Instant credibility, he thought.
“Hey, pal, did you see a kid running through here? Tall, thin, with a baseball hat on?”
“As a matter of fact, I did. I knew something was up the minute I laid eyes on him.”
Duane pointed them north, in a different direction from where Emily and her friend had just run. “He took off that way.”
The taller of the two men gave Duane a fist bump. “Thanks, brother.”
“Good luck.”
Duane waited a bit, making sure they took the bait. They did. He continued to the ER entrance and walked inside, wondering if he’d run into the detective on his way to Jim’s room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Twenty-two minutes later, Emily sat next to Derek in the back row of the movie theater, just under the projectionist’s window, waiting for the previews to start. They’d purchased two tickets for Dolphin Tale 2. It was the only movie due to start within an hour of their arrival at the ticket window. Well, it was that or some R-rated flick about walking with tombstones. Even if they’d been old enough to get in, she would’ve passed on the other film. The last thing she wanted to watch was anything that would remind her of her own troubles.
She slid down in the seat with Duane’s cell phone in her hand, feeling a lot more comfortable and inconspicuous in the pair of cheap jeans and the black top that she’d just purchased for eleven-fifty at the Goodwill store on the corner. She was in and out of there in just under five minutes. A new personal best for her.
The theater was about half-full with parents and kids buzzing about, waiting for the late-afternoon show to start. Everyone seemed to be laughing and smiling, without a care in the world. Normal life, Emily told herself, wondering when Duane would call.
She checked the man’s phone, making sure it was receiving a good cell tower signal. It was. Plenty of battery life, too.
Glassford Girl: Boxed Set (Complete Series) (Time Jumper Series) Page 15
