the morning to see the car, get it replaced,” the nurse said as she bent to examine Torie’s palms. She applied a cool gel as she spoke. “This is an antibiotic ointment. It’s also got an analgesic, should take some of the sting out.”
“He’s an industrious guy,” Paul said of the driver, without taking his gaze from Torie. “And a tough one. It’s also his livelihood. I’m sure he wants to get back out there as soon as possible.”
“I’m going to get the doctor to stop in so we can release you, Ms. Hagen. And please,” the nurse said, smiling to take the sting from the words, “don’t come see us again, okay?”
“I’ll do my best.” Torie managed to return the smile, but lost the will for it as soon as the woman disappeared.
“You didn’t talk to the police? To the EMTs?”
“No, Paul, I didn’t. You said not to. Besides, I didn’t have time.”
“That’s good.” He ran a hand through his hair, then dropped it into his pocket to jingle the change that rested there. “We need to get you moved out of that place. Whoever’s after you obviously knows where you’re staying. It isn’t safe for you. Do you have a place you can go tonight?”
Torie shook her head. “No. I’m not endangering anyone else I know just for a room for the night. I’ll switch hotels if I have to, but I’m not staying with anyone who could get hurt,” she said, thinking of Pam. Pam would be pissed not to be called, but between her interest in Dev and being friends with Torie, Pam was in enough danger.
Paul looked exasperated. “Just for the night.”
“No. I’ll find another hotel, or just go back to the one I’m at. Surely whoever it is wouldn’t do it again, in the same night? I mean,” she said as she closed her eyes, thinking about what had happened, “he could have just as easily killed me tonight. He shot the car first, but I was standing outside it, on the sidewalk.”
“Don’t even think that,” Paul said, gripping her arms. “Much less say it.”
“What?” Torie was baffled. “Say what?”
“That you could have been killed.”
“But…I could have.” Torie stopped. The blazing anger in Paul’s eyes brooked no argument. “Okay. So, maybe you could talk to the police. I’ll call the insurance agent.”
“Insurance?”
“I gotta know if I’m covered on the move.”
“Torie, if it’s a matter of money, I’ll pay.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s making sure about the house. It’s all connected,” she said, frustrated that she was too tired to make sense. The way she said it made it sound like she was some penny-pinching miser, but the truth was, she was learning that the insurance was tricky on what it covered when it came to the house.
“The insurance can wait. Don’t bother checking out, just go to another hotel for now. I’ll book the room.”
Too weary to argue, Torie just nodded. Having gotten that acquiescence, Paul left her alone.
The beeping and droning of machines, the wails of a baby, and the curses of what sounded like a teenager all closed in on her. She wanted to curl up and go away, leave the ugly reality of what was going on behind. With all that had happened, as bad as it had been, even in college, she’d pushed through it, gone on with her life. This was almost more than she could bear.
For the first time in her life she understood why someone would take Valium or get high on something. Escape. Oblivion seemed pretty appealing because right now, reality just plain sucked.
Before she could give that any more attention, she heard Paul’s voice arguing with other people.
“She didn’t see anything.”
“We’d like to hear that from her, Mister Jameson.”
“Of course.” Paul’s voice was cold, hard. She knew that distant, professional tone. It was usually directed her way, so she could easily imagine the icy stare that accompanied it.
“Ms. Hagen? May we come in?”
Torie nearly laughed at the request. As if there was a door. Right.
“Sure.”
The officers introduced themselves, and Paul moved to her side, making his allegiance obvious. “I’ve already given them the names of the officers working on the other cases, Ms. Hagen,” Paul said, fully in the role of professional counsel. “I’ve informed them that you didn’t see anything.”
Torie didn’t like anyone speaking for her, but in this case, she was grateful. “He’s correct, gentlemen. The only thing I saw was flying glass from the windshield. The only way I knew I was in danger was because of the driver. His quick action saved my life. He told me to get down. There were more shots. When one hit the hood and he said to run, I ran. We both saw the explosion. He said a bullet must have hit the battery. I didn’t see any other people, or cars, or anything. I was just too tired to be paying attention.”
“Tired?”
“Ms. Hagen had just returned from a long trip and had been in our offices for a meeting for at least an hour. I arranged for the car to take her back to the hotel. As I mentioned, this is the second attack. Her home is still an unreleased crime scene. You’ll want to talk to Sorrels and Marsden from Arson Investigation.”
Torie winced at the mention that her home was off-limits, especially to her. It just added insult to injury that the officers were nodding, already familiar with the situation.
“We’ll confer with the arson team in the morning. In the meantime, Ms. Hagen, we need to ask that you not leave town again. Will you go back to the hotel?”
