A Grave Breach by James Macomber

Author:James Macomber [James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Matsen rarely drove himself anymore, but the fewer people who knew Janie’s whereabouts the better. Someone inside the safe house was watching for him and as soon as he entered the driveway, the garage door started to open. He drove straight in and the door closed behind him. Even before he was out of the car, a man opened the door from the kitchen and scanned the garage, then waved Matsen in.

Furden was in the kitchen when Matsen entered. She approached him and extended her hand. Matsen took it in both of his and patted it repeatedly.

“Thank you so much,” Furden said sincerely.

“No, thank you, Sara,” Matsen responded. “It took great courage for you to do what you did.” He jutted his chin toward the interior of the house. “How’s she doing?”

“Her head’s okay,” Furden explained. “Several stitches. The doctor found no other physical injuries.” Then her face twisted into a grimace. “It’s the withdrawal that’s the worst. That bastard.”

“Withdrawal?”

Furden nodded. “The therapy Fredrich was doing —” She stopped herself. “Therapy. How can I even use the word? The program. . .” She threw her hands up and waved them around in confused dismissal . . . “Whatever you want to call it. The toxicology analysis indicates he used a variant amylobarbitone, but the analysis also shows the presence of an opiate, maybe even heroin, the theory being that the combination would enhance the effects.” Her lips twisted in hate. “Amobarbiturates are addictive after prolonged use, but with an opiate it happens quickly. And opiates increase the tolerance for pain. That’s why she was hitting her head and didn’t even notice. Damn it, he could have killed her.” Her voice cracked under the strain. “We’re getting her off it,” she said finally. “But it isn’t easy for her.”

“I want to see her.”

They went down the hall to the rearmost bedroom. The door was slightly ajar. Matsen pushed it open and saw an attendant seated by the side of the bed. She had a book in her lap but she wasn’t reading.

Matsen crossed over and looked down at Janie. He studied her sweet young face with its roundish shape and prominent cheekbones. Underneath the closed eyelids, he pictured the blue, blue eyes. She looked pretty and peaceful.

The moment ended abruptly when Janie’s eyes flew wide open with such suddenness that Matsen actually took half a step back. The rest of Janie’s face twisted so grotesquely that Matsen’s eyes squinted and his teeth ground into each other as he unconsciously mirrored what he was seeing. Janie’s eyes, however, saw nothing and she emitted no sound.

The attendant jumped up and held Janie’s left arm and leg down as Furden crossed quickly and did the same with the right. “There’s always the possibility she could hurt herself,” Furden said through gritted teeth. “But I won’t have her in restraints. That’s why we’ve got the twenty-four-hour attendants. If I have to sit by her bed myself all the time, I won’t have her tied down.”

“She won’t be,” Matsen promised. “I swear that to you.

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