The Choice (29 page)

“I told Jesse and Diane everything Marcie. We’re in over our head.”

Diane’s stance never faltered. Her lips thinned as she inclined her head.

“You should have told me, Marcie.” Diane spoke with such quiet control.

“How much trouble am I in?”

“First I need to find out how soon we can get you out of here.” As if on cue, the intern followed by the neurologist, strode in. Surprisingly, Sam, Diane, Jesse and Maggie were allowed to stay. Maybe it was the respectful way they moved back and stood quietly out of the way.

The neurologist spoke briefly to Marcie, pulled a penlight from the pocket of his white doctor’s coat and checked her pupils. Then he tapped a spot on her elbow and uninjured knee. The results from a rushed head CT were evidently in the metal chart the intern clutched against her chest. The neurologist reached for the chart and flipped it open. “Your CT’s negative, no trauma or concussion.”

The dark haired neurologist pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up when they slid down his slim nose. He leaned over the silver bed rail, questioned Marcie about her choice of a recreational vehicle and advised her to stay off the bike. When he asked for details of what happened, she accounted with clarity a censored version, while maintaining eye contact with Maggie, Diane, Sam, Jesse and then the doctor.

“When can she be released?” Diane asked as she stepped beside the short and boxy, middle aged Neurologist.

“I want to keep her overnight for observation, so tomorrow at the earliest.”

Marcie blew out a heavy sigh and pressed her head into the pillow. She wanted out but the throbbing in her leg was enough of a catalyst for her to agree, for now.

“I know what you’re thinking, but as soon as you’re settled in a room, we’re talking.” Sam lowered his face a mere inch from hers. “Okay Doc, how soon can we get her moved?”

Diane used her resources with the Port Townsend Sheriff’s Detachment to secure a private room for Marcie. Within an hour, Marcie was moved to a small, bright room on the fourth floor with a large window overlooking the parking lot. Marcie pressed an electric button on the side rail to elevate her head. The kind motherly floor nurse raised her foot, which thankfully relieved pressure from the miserable ache in her leg.

Marcie wished for a few moments alone with Maggie to find out what she said. For some reason, her instincts were stuck behind a foggy wall, which most likely, was from the drugs.

Maggie, Sam, Diane and Jesse lingered in the background until the nurse left. She sighed, her brief reprieve was gone. The door barely closed, when it popped back open. This time filled with a tall, dark haired Richard, whose wild icy blue eyes fired at Maggie. He absorbed everything and everyone in the room with such razor-sharp control any hope for a quiet, peaceful resolution was extinguished. The heavy, dark stubble and unusually messy short-cropped hair changed his hard handsome rustic looks to that of a man out of control. He grabbed Maggie’s arm, hauling her so fast and hard into his arms and held tight. His lips pulled back as his jaw tightened. A man fiercely protective of his family, looked as if he wanted to punch someone in the room and didn’t much care whom. Then he closed his eyes and rested his chin on top of Maggie’s head, his chest heaving as if he’d run the entire way here.

“What the fuck were you two doing?” Then he held Maggie away from him like a recalcitrant child, far enough to look straight down into her eyes. “Where are the kids?”

Until now, Maggie appeared so strong and unbreakable. Marcie hadn’t realized how much Richard was her rock. That force of knowledge hit Marcie square in the gut. She watched something crumble inside Maggie, her face scrunched and her lips trembled in a losing battle.

“My mom—she’s at the house.” Chemistry flared a powerful bond between Richard and Maggie.

Sam moved closer to Marcie, remaining a spectator.

“There are a whole lot of secrets going on here, Richard. I’m Sam, that’s Diane at the foot of the bed. Jesse behind you and you know Marcie of course. But let’s start with what Marcie and Maggie were up to last night, shall we.” The air in the room froze. All eyes were looking, just not at each other.

“Sam, Diane, Jesse, exactly who are you and why are you here?”

“Now that’s a fair question. I’m with the DEA, with kind of a weird twist in this. You see Marcie here landed in my path in New Orleans. And ever since, I’ve been trying to get her out of whatever hole she’s dug herself into. And she’s making it damn impossible. Now Jesse’s with the NOPD, my former partner and friend. And Diane here’s my friend and current partner with the task force. Both are trying to help. We seem to be in an unusual situation here.”

It didn’t take a genius to see Richard shut down, as if clamping an iron wall around him.

“Sam. There’s a lot you don’t know.” Jesse wandered into the center of the small bright room.

“What?”

“Dan stashed the drugs in your locker.”

“What?” Sam’s face paled.

Jesse moved to the foot of the bed, so he could eyeball Marcie. “Remember the mess we found this girl in yesterday? Scared. Freaked out. Remember what you said Marcie? You ever have to do something, and it’s the only way to protect the one you love?”

Marcie scrunched her eyes, turning her face away.

Jesse walked around Diane to the other side of the bed, forcing Marcie to look at him. “Apparently, Dan McKenzie was hiding in the cottage. Remember Marcie’s off feeling? Someone was in her house. Well, he was there. And he caught her alone, after her shower when we were hiking around the property.”

“For fuck sakes Marcie, why the hell didn’t you tell me?” Sam hovered, bracing a hand into her pillow on each side of her face.

She couldn’t hide from him. “Because he said if I didn’t go to every garden I planted and get him his marijuana, he’d make sure, this time, enough evidence of some unspeakable crime would be planted on you. And even your boss would be convinced you worked for Lance Silver. You’d not only lose your job but your freedom.”

“You believed him? Come on, Marcie.”

She touched Sam’s arm. “No Sam, I told him to get lost, that I wouldn’t help him. And that’s when he told me intimate details of what was found in your locker, where, when and how. Only someone who masterminded the setup could know those details. Am I right?”

Sam pulled away.

“Richard, I’m sorry.” Maggie spoke quickly. Her voice raised to an anxious pitch while she paced in front of the man she loved. “Dan came to see me yesterday. He said you’d be away on business, and he was right. And I never asked you about your business before you left.”

“What the hell does that have to do with what you were doing last night?”

As gifted as Sam was at concealing emotions, he had nothing on Richard.

This time Richard shut his eyes as if remembering something. When he opened them, his jaw hardened, and his voice held a hint of steel. “I was at an auction in Seattle Dan arranged. For some reason, at the last minute, he couldn’t go. Supposedly, equipment from a bankrupt contractor was featured. I didn’t buy anything, what we needed wasn’t there. Then he messaged me to meet with an investor. But he never showed. I missed the last ferry, so I drove around the peninsula. When I couldn’t keep my eyes open, I stopped around two a.m. at a pullout to sleep for a few hours, son of a bitch.”

“Richard, he has proof that you started the fire and burned the house down.” Maggie touched Richard’s sleeve.

Richard just looked at her. He didn’t blink. “What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t burn any house down.”

Diane dropped down into a typical padded hospital chair, shoved in the corner. “Richard, an anonymous tip had been called into crime stoppers a while ago. You were there at the fire. A good arson investigator can recreate a fire from the ashes. And there’s enough evidence from the burn patterns it was electrical. And there’s evidence the wiring was tampered with. Also, marijuana residue was discovered in the basement. From what was left of the house, they were able to ascertain no forced entry. They suspect whoever set the fire had access to the house. And let’s add in a piece of information the investigators didn’t know. Motive, the state contract for a group home, and the fact that the house needed extensive renovations.” Diane as usual was blunt and to the point.

Maggie reached up pale, slender fingers to touch Richards’s darkened cheek. “Dan said there’s an eye witness who puts you coming out of the house almost the same time the fire broke out.”

“And you believed him?” He shook her off. “You think I’d do that? Answer me; you believe I’d burn down some piece of shit, run down house for what? Insurance money, renovations, what are you crazy?”

“No. I didn’t believe him at first, but he brought the witness with him.”

Two nurses from the floor arrived within moments of Richards’s explosive outburst.

“What’s going on in here?” One of the nurses demanded an answer.

Diane stepped forward and flashed her badge. “I’m so sorry, Richard was so upset to see how badly his friend’s hurt and how she was injured. He panicked and imagined the worst. She could’ve been killed, and it got the better of him. But I can assure you as an officer, there’ll be no more noise.”

One of the nurses remained by the open door. She waved someone away. “It’s okay George; go back to your room.”

The other short, plump nurse faced Diane, pursing her thin lips. “I think it’s best if everyone leaves. The patient needs rest, and I’ll not tolerate any further commotion.”

Diane didn’t move but softened her shoulders and her voice. “You’re absolutely right. The hospital is a place of peace. I promise you there’ll be only calm words spoken and we’ll be leaving soon. Would it be all right, if we take a few moments to say goodbye and make arrangements for Marcie’s care before she’s released tomorrow?”

Both nurses appeared satisfied when they glanced at each other. One shrugged. The large one with the short, permed hair responded. “Just make it quick.” And then they left.

“Diane, you’re a born diplomat. Your negotiating skills could be put to good use with hostage negotiation. Ever thought of transferring?” Jesse leaned against the wide window ledge.

Marcie’s heart raced. Why didn’t Maggie tell her Dan had brought someone with him? A sick rumble pummeled her already shaken insides. She searched out Sam, wanting to ask. He leaned closer, snaking his arm around her pillow. Their eyes met, and his odd expression kept her silent.

“Richard, you need to take Maggie home.” She couldn’t get a read on the situation. Her foggy brain jammed all her senses. And she was worried about what Dan might do to Sam. She needed time and quiet to digest all she’d heard.

“She’s right Sam, let’s go. We’ll pick this up later.” Diane slipped around the bed, brushing past Jesse. She gazed thoughtfully down on Marcie and laid a calm hand on her shoulder. “We’ll go, get some rest. We’ll be back to get you.”

“Thanks.”

For the first time since she met Jesse, he picked up her hand, lifted it to his mouth and kissed it. She fought the tears. “Thank you, Jesse.”

“Thanks for caring enough for Sam that you’d risk doing something absolutely stupid. If there’s ever a next time Marcie, talk to me first.” She nodded as a smile wavered in among her crying jag.

Sam didn’t move. “I’m staying.”

Warmth poured into Marcie’s center, regardless of why he wanted to stay, he was here.

Diane tossed her keys to Sam, which he caught midair. “We’ll catch a ride with Maggie and Richard. Call me.”

Richard wrapped his arm around Maggie and pulled her with him to the foot of the hospital bed. “Oh Marcie, I’m sorry honey.” Tears pooled in Maggie’s wide eyes as she swallowed. There was a whole lot they both needed to say. But when she looked up at Richard, who stood stone still, there was something else passed down to her. Rage, they turned and left.

“Marcie.” Sam touched her forehead.

“Hmm.”

He said nothing for a few seconds. “Never mind, get some sleep, I’ll be right back.” She wondered what he wanted to say, but was so tired. She closed her eyes when the room emptied, breathing deep, past the ache in her battered body. She tried to sleep. Because she knew with a clearer head, she’d have a better chance to figure out how to bring an end to Dan’s madness.

Sam caught up with Diane, Jesse, Maggie and Richard in the parking lot beside Richard’s dark blue one ton pickup truck. “Diane, wait.” He pulled her aside, behind the black BMW, just out of hearing. Jesse took Maggie’s keys from Richard, making plans to follow behind in Maggie’s SUV.

“You haven’t told me what Maggie said. I somehow believe it has to do with those marijuana gardens Marcie was growing for Dan.”

Diane placed her hand on Sam’s shoulder and led him away from Richard and Maggie. “Yup, they were cutting all the marijuana. Marcie took a dirt bike in, and Maggie delivered to Sandra Carter. Maggie wants me to call the sheriff and send them to Sandra’s house. She’s really upset. Sandra has two special needs kids she’s looking after while packaging the marijuana.”

Sam ran his hand roughly over his face. “You’re kidding right?”

“No.”