heavy frame, causing it to shudder slightly, but not budge. I watched her move quickly as she stomped down on the brake to lock the bed into position. Then she stalked around the end and along the side.
Glaring, she covered the few steps toward me, then she laughed. “You are so gullible, little man. Did you honestly believe that I would give up?”
That was when I caught the sharp glint of light from metal. I probably hadn’t noticed it before because Detective Shen had positioned herself between us, blocking my view. And after that, everything had happened so fast that it was a wonder I’d noticed anything at all. But now, there it was, a chain around the woman’s neck that flowed downward and disappeared behind her scrubs. I didn’t have to see the rest of it to know what was dangling on the hidden end.
I could hear shouting beyond the door. Tremors continued to vibrate through the bed frame as something heavy pounded against the opposite side of the barrier. Still nothing budged. I came to realize in that instant that I was on my own.
“You can’t make it out of here,” I spat. “You have to know that, Miranda.”
She lashed out, driving her fist into my jaw. I tried to block her, but my reactions were lagging far behind hers. I tried to roll with it, but her connection was solid and the damage was done. I could feel a sharp sting in the corner of my mouth and taste the blood as it began to flow.
“That does not matter, little man,” she snapped. “This is just another body, and you will be dead. Then I will have what is rightfully mine. My only regret is that I do not have enough time to show you what love really is.”
“You mean your twisted concept of it?” I asked.
I heard my name being called from the other side of the door, and now a new noise joined the clamor as something struck with a hard ping against the window wall. It didn’t take much for me to realize what they were trying to do, but I also had to wonder just how long it would take for them to break through tempered safety glass.
Something told me it would be too long.
Although I was absolutely certain I should be feeling abject fear at my impending fate, I wasn’t. Miranda was going to kill me, and I knew it. For a fleeting instant, I thought perhaps I was simply feeling resignation, as a bizarre calm seemed to spread through my body. However, that calm was tainted with a pang of guilt.
I looked into the eyes of the unfortunate woman who was now glaring back at me. The spirit was evil, but the body belonged to someone else, and that rightful owner was in no way responsible for what was now happening. If she killed me, an innocent person would be who ended up standing trial, not the actual killer. If by some miracle they came through that wall in time, an innocent person might lose her life as they did whatever was necessary to save me.
Too many people had died because of me already, and I wasn’t willing to allow another sacrifice. My eyes were quickly attracted to her neckline as light glinted from the exposed portion of the chain once again, and in that moment I made a decision.
I imagined there were any number of things in this room she could pick up and use to beat me to death. If she went that route, there was nothing I could do. However, if she came in close enough and if I was correct, there was a way out. It didn’t escape my attention that I was dealing with two very big ifs, but I didn’t have much choice. If it turned out I was wrong, the outcome would be the same as if I had done nothing at all.
I looked back up at her face and said, “Well then you damn well better kill me now, you fucking bitch.”
My intent was to antagonize her. Given past experience, I had no real reason to believe that I could, but I had to take the chance. Fortunately, or so I hoped, the gambit actually worked.
Miranda let out an unearthly scream and lunged forward, clawing as she literally climbed into the bed on top of me. In my weakened state and vulnerable position, I was hard pressed to fight back, so she had every advantage where this close quarters fight was concerned. As she scrambled up on top of me, she purposely tried to bring her knee down on my wounded abdomen, but out of reflex I had pulled my knees upward and thwarted her plan. Still, a searing pain ripped through me, and I howled as she continued her attack. As I buckled under her assault, she rammed her fist into my chest, and I felt the air explode from my lungs.
Half straddling me, she lunged forward again and brought her forearm against my throat, pressing hard. She slipped her free arm in behind my head and bore down in an attempt to lock me solidly into the chokehold.
Somewhere above my head, I heard the hard sound of something slamming into the tempered glass wall as before, but this time a high-pitched ping joined the hollow thud. A second later the heavy noise struck my ears once again and was instantly followed by the bright tinkle of shattering glass as it spilled into the room. The voices on the other side of the wall were much louder now, but even so, everything I heard seemed to be in the form of a ghostly echo.
The lights in the room appeared to be going dark. With the air already forced out of my lungs, I was fading even more quickly than I had imagined I would. I struggled against the weight pressing down on top of me. Miranda had managed to drop a knee across my left forearm to pin it down, but my right remained free.
I tried to swing the arm, but with the limited space I barely thumped it against her ribcage.
“She is mine,” Miranda growled directly into my face.
The comment sparked a renewed fury in my gut. Hooking my free arm beneath hers, I thrust it upward, slamming my fist against her chin. A small amount of blood from the back of my hand was trickling down my arm, and it smeared across her face. The force of my strike wasn’t enough to do any real damage, but it rattled her enough that she loosened her grip slightly. I gasped in the barest scrap of a breath before she leaned harder into me. But, it was enough to buy me the time I needed. I let my hand drop down to her neck and sent it searching. Groping with my fingers, I found the chain and slipped them beneath it as I began to pull. Miranda reared back with a shriek but continued to choke me. Her motion caused the pendant to pop out from behind the scrubs and into plain view.
With everything I had left, I twisted my hand through the chain and clasped it around the half coin and began to pull. The moment I closed my fist, an unbelievably harsh pain began chewing its way through my flesh. An unearthly fire was searing my palm, and it felt as if my hand was literally blistering, but I held fast.
The wisp of air I had been able to suck in was now beyond depleted. I could feel the brain numbness taking over and see the darkness slipping in to replace the light.
I heard Miranda screaming, “No!”
Then came other voices filling the room, barking out urgent, forceful demands.
The weight suddenly shifted off my chest, and I could feel a sharp tug on my arm, but I refused to release my grip, no matter how badly it hurt. As a hard shudder rattled the bed and a hollow crash sounded in my ears, cool air rushed into my lungs, but I was already slipping under.
When I regained consciousness several minutes later, they had still been unable to pry the necklace from my hand.
Saturday, April 29
12:17 P.M.
University Hospital Northeast
Room 312
Saint Louis, Missouri
CHAPTER 36
“Hey, white man,” Ben greeted me as he came through the doorway.
“Hey,” I returned as I looked toward him then grabbed the remote and muted the fuzzy television set.
Fallout from everything Miranda had done, or in truth, forced others to do, was still dominating the local news and even making a splash on the national scene. Unfortunately, the media was dragging Lisa Carlson through the proverbial mud, and the real story would never be told. In the end, the poor woman had lost more than just her life, and there was nothing I could do to fix it.
“Jeezus, white man,” Ben snorted as he drew up next to the bed. “That’s what they’re feedin’ ya’?”
“For now,” I replied, pushing aside the tray containing tasteless cream-of-some-unknown-item soup, along
