LETHAL ASSUMPTIONS by Kassandra Lamb

Author:Kassandra Lamb [Kassandra Lamb]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: a misterio press publication
Published: 2023-04-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I ran across the dark municipal parking lot, one hand on my gun at the small of my back.

Come on, you bastard, come after me!

The son of a bitch did not comply.

Breaking every speed limit—which wasn’t a big deal, since the roads were pretty much deserted—I made it to UF Shands-Starling, our only hospital, in record time.

When I asked at the main desk where Officer Gloria Barnes was, the person manning the desk asked questions in return, such as, was I a relative.

I flashed my badge and she instantly became more cooperative. Good thing, because my next tactic would’ve been to grab her by the front of her blouse and lift her off her feet.

Following her directions, I raced down corridors to the ER.

Bradley and Armstrong were there, hovering outside a curtained-off cubicle.

I skidded to a stop. “How is she?”

“She’ll live,” Bradley said, his expression thunderous.

I couldn’t blame him. “Tell me what happened.”

“She was paired with Detective Jacobs,” Armstrong said, “and–”

“He went into a house,” Bradley cut him off, his voice angry. “Leaving her out on the sidewalk. I was talking to somebody down the street.” He paused, shuddered. “I heard her scream.”

Armstrong put a hand on the detective’s arm.

Bradley sucked in air. “I shouted and the guy ran off.”

The curtain was peeled back by a white-coated kid. “Would y’all keep it down, please?”

It took a moment to register that he was the doctor.

“How is she, Doc?” I asked.

“Contusions and abrasions on her face and neck,” he said, “and on her left side, where her Kevlar vest was jammed against her ribs, but mostly she’s shaken up.”

“I am not shaken up!” Barnes’s voice, from behind him.

Jacobs jogged up at that moment. “How is she?”

Both Armstrong and Bradley gave him dirty looks and didn’t answer.

I pushed past the young doctor, who shrugged and walked away.

Jacobs and Bradley followed me into the cubicle. Armstrong stayed outside. Before the curtains flapped shut, I noted he was scanning the room, as if our perp might try to attack again right here in a crowded ER.

I struggled not to react to the “contusions and abrasions.” Barnes sat on the side of a gurney in a hospital gown, her dark hair down, hanging lank beside cheeks that were scratched and battered. One eye was swollen shut, the other bruised. More scratches on her neck, probably from her own fingernails.

I winced.

Shiny ointment had been applied to the scratches.

“Wish I could say you should see the other guy,” she quipped.

Nobody laughed.

“Tell us what happened,” I said.

“Most people weren’t answering our knocks. Everybody’s scared now. So Detective Jacobs asked me to stand out on the sidewalk, where people could see me, in uniform, from their windows. It worked at the second house where we tried it. The door opened. He gave me a discreet thumbs up and stepped inside.”

She swallowed hard. “He was in there for a while. I, um, must’ve let my guard down. Suddenly, this thing is around my neck. I kicked back and twisted, ducked down, trying to loosen his hold.

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