'Jenny,' he said suddenly, shoving them brusquely aside as he plowed through the door.
He knew the way, weaving among the patients, jostling nurses. He vaulted over the circulation desk that now served as a nurses' station, through the back offices where the contagious were kept. Behind him he heard Tracy and Susan calling his name, pleading for him to stop.
'For God's sake, Eric, wait!' Tracy hollered.
He pushed open the door marked Film Library, practically toppling a black male nurse who'd been swabbing a woman's cut and bruised forehead with alcohol.
'Hey, man, watch it.' Then he recognized Eric. 'Sorry, Eric. I, uh, sorry…' The rest trailed off into mumbled apologies and condolences.
But Eric didn't hear. He was already through the open door where he'd last seen Jennifer, only a few hours earlier. She'd been lying on her mat, the covers pulled up under her chin the way he used to tuck her in when she was a little girl. She'd been coughing slightly, but the worst was over, she'd be home in a day or two. Eric had played his scratchy Beatles tape while Jennifer made faces and called him old-fashioned. 'Get with it, Dad,' she'd grinned. But she'd been delighted that his gift worked. She'd praised Rydell Grimme so lavishly for fixing it that Timmy teased her about having a crush on 'Rye Dill Pickle.' Jennifer had protested and blushed and thrown a crumpled tissue at Timmy. Eric had laughed, the sound of his own laughter surprising him slightly, the way it sounded so normal. Annie must have noticed it too, because she'd squeezed his hand affectionately and laughed.
But that lump under the bloodstained sheet couldn't be his little girl.
'Jenny,' he whispered, as if not to disturb her.
He took a step, held the sheet gently between thumb and forefinger and slowly peeled it back. She revealed herself in stages, like a vampire in a cheap horror film, The blood-matted hair, the open-eyed death stare, and…
'Don't, Eric,' Tracy said, grabbing his arm.
He shook her off, knocking her into the wall with a thud. He lifted the sheet.
Jennifer's throat lay gaping from ear to ear, the dark wound hanging open like a grotesque, drunken smile. Blood had cascaded down her neck and soaked the sheet beneath her. It was a clean, crisp slice, done with a single motion by someone who'd done it before. Practiced. Professional.
Eric felt a constricting at his own throat as he tenderly lowered the sheet. He imagined the knife puncturing her skin just under the left ear, slicing the tracheal cartilages, her terrified cries, begging, explaining they were making a mistake, surely she had never done anything worth dying for. Before they'd severed her vocal cords, had she cried out for Daddy to save her? He was sure she had.
He felt a gentle hand on his arm. 'I'm sorry, Eric,' Tracy sobbed. 'I'm so sorry.'
'This is how we found her a few minutes ago,' Susan Connors said. 'Sally Zimmerman out in the hall saw them do it. They knocked her on the head when she tried to stop them.'
'And Annie?'
'Don't know. Haven't seen her or Timmy. Sorry.' She began to nervously twirl her stethoscope, caught herself and stopped. 'You okay, Eric?'
'Susan!' a voice called desperately. 'Gotta bleeder here with internal injuries.'
'Eric?' Susan said.
He looked up from the covered form of his daughter and glanced at Susan. 'Go on. You're needed out there.'
She hesitated, saw Tracy nod at her to go. 'Be out there if you need me.'
Tracy took a tentative step toward Eric. 'You want me to organize a search party to look for Annie and Timmy? We can comb this place in half an hour.'
'First things first,' he said, brushing past her.
Outside the room, the black male nurse was taping a bandage to the woman's forehead. Eric recognized her as Sally Zimmerman, the nurse who'd witnessed Jennifer's murder. He nudged Dennis Gilbert, the male nurse, away and stood in front of her. The bandage, only partially taped, flapped down, exposing a nasty bruise.
'Hey, man,' Dennis protested, 'I'm trying to patch this lady up.'
'It'll keep a few seconds.' He stared into Sally's frightened eyes and he realized that she was frightened of him. He realized something else: he didn't care. He wanted information; she had it. That's all he cared about. 'What happened. Try to remember every detail.'
Sally's eyes shifted nervously to Tracy and Dennis, avoiding Eric's. 'It all happened very fast. Very fast. I mean, I'm not really a nurse or anything. I just help out here, do what I'm told.' A sob caught in her throat and she blinked out a couple tears. 'I was in with Jenny, picking up her food tray from dinner. I always forget these rooms so I have to come back at night. Jenny was asleep. Suddenly we heard a lot of noise, some screaming. Men carrying big flashlights and weapons came in here.'
'They came straight to this room? They didn't bother anyone out there first?'
Sally shook her head. 'I didn't hear them talk to anyone. They marched straight through.'
'How many?'
'Well, there were four who came in here.'
'Describe them.'
She touched her bandage gingerly. 'Am I still bleeding, Dennis?'
Eric grabbed her wrist. 'Describe them.'
'Christ, Eric,' Tracy said. 'Stop bullying her. She'll tell you.'
Dennis stepped closer, though his voice was nervous. 'Come on, Eric, Sally's had a rough time too.'
Eric held the wrist a few seconds longer, then released it. 'Describe them.'
'Well, they were all dressed in army fatigues. Two of them were young, about my age, late twenties. One of them carried a bow, the other had a submachine gun but I guess he never used it, because one of the older guys congratulated him on his restraint.'
'The older guys. Tell me about them.'
She dropped her voice as if afraid they might overhear her. 'I'll never forget them. Ever. I close my eyes and I can see them right now, as if they were branded on my eyelids.' She took a deep breath, composed herself. 'One of them was huge, biggest man I've ever seen. Like that basketball player, uh, Kareem something. Only meatier. He grabbed me by the neck and shoved me against the wall.' Her fingers traced the bruises on her neck, 'He was scary, I'll tell you, but not nearly as much as the other guy. The one with white hair and the square jaw. My God, his eyes were so pale I thought they might be infected or something. But I guess not, because he moved around pretty well. He kept calling the big guy Cruz, I think. Cruz only called him Colonel. No name.'
'Fallows,' Tracy gasped. 'My God.'
'Go on, Sally,' Eric urged.
'Like I said, it all happened so fast. They marched into the room, shined their flashlights into Jenny's face. Then the colonel, what'd you call him?'
'Fallows.'
'Yeah, well, he asks her in a real sweet voice, like he was her uncle or something, if her name's Jennifer Ravensmith. Jenny doesn't answer him at first. The colonel pats her on the head, smiles, and…' She burst into tears, shook her head wildly, unable to go on.
Eric kneeled beside her, patted her on the head. When he spoke, his voice was soft and gentle. 'I know, Sally. It must have been horrible for you. But you've got to go on. Just a little more.' He lifted her head, wiped some of the tears from her eyes.
'Like I said, he was stroking her head, smiling at her, when suddenly he turns to the big guy, Cruz, and says, 'Kill her.' Just like that, still smiling.'
'What did Cruz say?'
'That's another spooky thing. He doesn't say anything. He just nods, walks over to Jenny, and starts strangling her as simply as if he'd just been asked to pass the salt. I don't know what got into me, but I screamed and jumped at him, trying to pry his fingers from her throat. He looked at me like I was a pesky gnat or something, reached up, took a handful of my hair, and tossed me head-first into the wall. I sank to the floor kind of dazed, but I saw the rest. The colonel tells him not to strangle her, that strangling didn't make enough of a statement.'
'Enough of a statement?' Eric repeated.
