Epilogue
Head pounding and irritation level at an all-time high, Luther strode down the hospital corridor. His thoughts joggled left and right, but always there, dead center, was a need to see Gaby.
She'd gone and disappeared on him, and he was pissed as hell.
When he pushed open the hospital door to Morty Vance's room, he found Ann sitting on the side of the bed, one of Mort's big-knuckled hands in both of hers.
Un-fucking-believable. But he had to admit, ever since the night of that awful debacle a week ago, Mort was different.
The nurses saw it, and Ann evidently did, too.
In the normal course of things, Ann was too independent to accept any gentlemanly favors. She went out of her way to prove herself an equal to the male detectives.
Yet today, she'd asked Luther to drop her off near the hospital entrance before sending him off to park the car. She was that anxious to see Morty.
The entire world had turned upside down.
Ann ignored his entrance, but Morty said, 'Hey, Luther.'
Reclining in bed, his hair freshly washed, his face cleanly shaved, and a crisp hospital gown the only concealment to his scrawny bod, Mort seemed… more of a man than Luther remembered.
'Am I interrupting?'
Ann let out a sigh. 'Instead of being an ass, why don't you keep Morty company while I go get him something to eat?'
'There's nothing I'd rather do.' Luther waited until Ann had circled the bed, then said, 'I'll be right back, Mort. I need a quick word with Ann first.'
'Sure thing, Luther.'
Damn it, he even sounded more confident. Once in the hall, Luther stared down at Ann. 'Please don't tell me you're interested in him.'
Smug, Ann smiled and examined a nail. 'Why would I tell you anything at all? My private life is none of your business.'
'Jesus.'
Ann shrugged. 'There's definitely something about him.'
Because he'd felt the same way about Gaby, Luther let it go. 'Is he talking much this morning?'
Ann's smile became a warning frown. 'Don't you dare forget that Mort almost died and is just now recovering from all he went through. He doesn't remember many of the details from that night, and you badgering him won't change that.'
'And now you're a mother hen.' Luther rolled his eyes. 'Go get the food while I entertain Sir Lancelot.'
As she walked away, Ann said, 'Sarcasm is not an attractive trait in a man.'
Luther waved that off. After days without sleep, a nonstop headache and a feeling of grave loss, being attractive dropped way down on his list of priorities.
The second he stepped back into the room, Morty said, 'I haven't seen her, Luther. I swear. I wish I had.'
Unconvinced, Luther sidestepped that to ask, 'How are you, Mort?'
Leery, Mort frowned at him. 'The docs say I should get out of here soon. My head is fine now. If that explosion hadn't sent debris into my guts, giving me an infection, I wouldn't have been here this long.' He leveled his brows. 'And I really don't know where Gaby is.'
'Okay.' Taking the chair beside the bed, Luther said, 'But you'd tell me if you did?'
His eyes narrowed. 'Not if you wanted to arrest her. Gaby didn't do anything wrong.'
'I didn't say she did.' As annoying as it was to be without answers, Luther applauded Mort's defense of Gaby. She deserved a few defenders in her life. 'In fact, against my instincts, I'm beginning to believe you that she wasn't even there that night.'
Mort's eyes widened. 'You are?'
Not entirely, but he said, 'I located that little hooker friend of hers—Bliss.'
'The girl Gaby saved from being abused.'
'That's the one. Bliss had an interesting story to tell me. She claims Dr. Chiles threatened to kill her, just as she'd killed Rose, another hooker, if Bliss didn't trick Gaby into coming to the isolation hospital. The thing is, Gaby wasn't supposed to go until the next night, when the doctor planned to ambush her.'
'You mean kill her.'
'Probably.' The idiot doctor hadn't realized whom she was up against, to think Gaby would be that dumb. 'Far as Bliss knows, Gaby planned to do just that, even promised that she would. But then she went missing, and you went to the abandoned hospital instead.' Luther leaned forward, lowering his voice. 'And you found the doctor and killed her.'
Putting both hands to his head, Mort closed his eyes. 'I still can't believe what I saw there. I only went because Gaby seemed cautious of the place. She said the woods were filled with malevolent spirits.'
'She had that much right.'
'When I couldn't find her, I went there to look for her.'
'I'd just dropped her off, Mort.'
'I didn't know that.' He rubbed at his temples. 'I wanted to protect her from whatever was there, but I'm a coward, so I took the gun—which I'd bought off the street from some guy I haven't seen since.'
Dryly, because he didn't quite believe that either, Luther said, 'Yeah, I have your statement on my desk.'
Mort shook his head. 'That crazy doctor would have maimed me, Luther, just as she'd done to those other people.'
'Probably.'
'Even after I shot her, she still tried to come after me. She hit me with that long-handled saw. And she was strong, let me tell you.'
'I saw. She'd practically bled to death before she collapsed. If she'd been just a little stronger, I don't think you'd be here today.'
Mort shuddered. 'And those poor patients of hers…' He squeezed his eyes tighter. 'They were so deranged from Dr. Chiles's torture that they didn't know what they were doing. I had to defend myself from the ones that came after me.'
'Brain cancer is a horrible thing,' Luther said, citing what professionals had told him. 'It can obliterate a kind personality, and instead bring out very hostile behavior.' Sitting back, Luther stretched out his legs and kept a close watch on Mort's reaction. 'But some of those people were too far gone to move, much less physically assault anyone.'
'I know.' Mort nodded and opened his eyes. 'The doctor killed them. You saw that awful scalpel she had. It was insane the way she started slashing and slashing—'
Luther still had a few nightmares himself, so he interrupted Mort's morbid retelling. 'In all the time you knew her, Gaby never mentioned any place she might go?'
'No.' His voice softened with sadness. 'Until recently, Gaby never told me much of anything. I wish I did know where she was. I'd go to her and tell her… I'm still her friend.'
'Yeah.' Luther rubbed his tired eyes. He wanted to tell her something similar himself, only with a little more passion. 'If you ever do hear from her, tell her I want to see her, okay?' He glanced toward the door to ensure their privacy. 'Off the record, Mort. Tell her I just want to talk to her, to know she's okay. Nothing else.'
'Okay.' He eyed Luther. 'If I see her.'
As Luther stood, he noticed the large, thick envelope on the bedside table. 'A present?'
Excitement brightened Mort's countenance. 'A new
Suspicion sparked, and it had nothing to do with Ann's additional signs of infatuation. Luther recalled the
