'Your detective's the only one who can answer that. Speaking of which,' he said, nodding toward the door. 'I think your wife's had enough time alone with her.'
Jeffrey could only hope that was the case. He followed Valentine back into the room. Sara was leaning against the wall outside the bathroom. The bed was empty, the soft restraints hanging from the rails. The shower was running.
Sara explained, 'I talked her into cleaning up.'
'She talk back?' Valentine wanted to know.
Sara shook her head, and Jeffrey could see that she was telling the truth.
'Not much help then,' Valentine said, obviously annoyed. He glanced at his watch, then at the bathroom door. 'How long she been in there?'
'Not long.'
He tried the doorknob, but it was locked. 'Jesus, lady, you didn't think it'd be smart to go in there with her?'
Sara opened her mouth to answer, but Jeffrey cut her off, telling the man, 'Watch your tone.'
Valentine ignored him, knocking hard on the door. 'Miss Adams? I need you to open this door now.' He slipped his radio out of his belt. 'Cook, you there? Come in.' There was no answer, and the sheriff pressed his shoulder into the door, trying to pop it open.
For the second time that night, Sara's lips parted, but she did not speak.
'Cook?' Valentine tried the radio again. There was no answer, and he banged his fist on the bathroom door. 'Miss Adams, you've got to the count of three to open this door.'
The radio crackled. In a slow drawl, Don Cook asked, 'What is it, Jake?'
'Find the passkey for the bathroom and get your ass in here!' Valentine barked. He tucked the radio back in its holster and put his shoulder to the door again. 'Miss Adams,' he tried again. 'Lookit, just come out and everything will be fine.'
Jeffrey asked Sara, 'Does she have anything sharp in there?'
Valentine turned around, waiting for her answer.
Sara shook her head. 'I don't think so.'
Valentine asked, 'Would she try to hurt herself?'
'I have no idea,' Sara returned, her words clipped. I'm not her doctor.'
'Shit,' Valentine hissed. He banged on the door again. 'Miss Adams.'
'Oh, no…' Sara's voice was so low and the banging was so loud that Valentine obviously didn't hear her.
'What's-' Jeffrey looked up, his question caught in his throat. He knew exactly what had happened on the other side of that door.
Cook came into the room, a key in his hand. 'What's going on?'
Valentine snatched the key from him and slid it into the locked door. Steam from the shower filled the room. He strode inside and yanked back the curtain. The tub was empty.
'Motherfuck,' Valentine cursed. Above the toilet, a ceiling tile had been pushed back, exposing a narrow crawl space. 'Goddammit!' he screamed, kicking the wall. He told Cook, 'Search the hospital top to bottom. Call backup now.' Cook left, and Valentine looked right at Sara, saying, 'You bitch.'
Jeffrey grabbed the man by the collar and slammed him against the wall. 'You ever talk to my wife like that again and we're gonna have a real problem. You hear me?' Valentine tried to get away, but Jeffrey tightened his grip. 'You hear me?'
Valentine went limp like a kitten who'd been grabbed by the scruff of the neck. 'She let my prisoner escape.'
Jeffrey didn't let himself look at Sara, because he knew that she was thinking the same thing he was. Lena had tricked her. There was no getting around it.
He let the man go.
'Asshole.' Valentine jerked his shirt back into place, scowling. He shoved past Jeffrey as he went into the hallway. Jeffrey followed him around the corner and into the next room. The bed was empty, obviously unused. 'She let my prisoner escape,' Valentine snarled. 'I can't fucking believe I stood out in that hall letting you jerk me around while your wife was in there letting her escape.'
'Sara's not a part of this.'
'Why don't you do yourself a favor, buddy?' Valentine challenged. 'You get that wife of yours, and you get back into your car, and you get the fuck out of my town.'
Jeffrey didn't need to be asked politely. He turned without a word and went to find Sara.
She was still in Lena 's room, stricken. 'How could I have been so stupid? How could I-'
He took her by the elbow, leading her out of the room. 'We don't need to talk about that right now.'
'I shouldn't have been here in the first place.'
Jeffrey led her into the hallway. The rent-a-cops had been called in, all two of them. Both men looked older than Don Cook and just as fit for duty.
Valentine started barking orders in between screaming into his radio for more backup. 'I want her found
Jeffrey pressed the button for the elevator. He glanced down the hall, figuring Lena 's escape. Obviously, she had pushed back the tile over the toilet and used the crawl space over the drop ceiling to access the bathroom on the other side. Then, she had probably sneaked down the stairs to the basement. The elevator opened onto the emergency room, though even if she'd taken that route, he doubted she would've caused much of a stir. The receptionist probably wouldn't have even looked up from her game of cards on the computer.
The elevator doors slid open. Jeffrey pressed his hand to Sara's back, urging her to get on. Valentine and one of the hospital cops trotted past the elevator as the doors closed, probably on their way to search the basement.
Jeffrey pressed the button for the second floor, wondering again why the car didn't go down to the first floor. Maybe there was a freight elevator Valentine had failed to mention. Lena could've used that to get downstairs, but then what? The laundry would have sheets and towels. There was probably a staff lounge, maybe lockers for the cleaning staff. She could find clothes, cash. Jeffrey figured she had taken what she needed and gotten out of the hospital as soon as possible.
'How could I be so stupid?' Sara repeated, shaking her head. Tears were in her eyes. He had seen her angry countless times, but there was nothing so savage as the anger she could direct toward herself.
He instructed, 'Tell me exactly what she said.'
'Just the same stuff – that we had to leave. She barely even looked at me.' She brushed away a tear with the back of her hand, her face white with fury.
'I'm so sorry,' she told him. 'This is all my fault.'
'I was standing out in the hallway,' Jeffrey tried. 'She used me, too.'
'Not like…' Sara shook her head, unable to finish the sentence. 'I unstrapped her, Jeffrey. I'm the one who let her go.'
'Did she ask you to release her?'
'No – yes. Not directly. She said she felt dirty, that she was covered in
