“Hey,” he whispered. “Looking good.”
“Don’t try to talk.”
“Star?”
“They moved her back to her cell.”
“Call lawyer. See her.”
“Who’s her lawyer?”
“Serena Ellison.”
“I’ll call her and make arrangements. Don’t worry about anything. Just get well.”
He squeezed her hand. “I will.”
“Take care.”
She kissed his cheek and left. They wouldn’t let anyone stay long in ICU.
He did look better. Barring some infection-or attack-he would recover. She allowed herself to be cautiously relieved.
In the waiting room she saw Cindy and Kevin in a knot of people-two men and a woman, all of whom favored Frank. His family. She started to avoid them, but Cindy saw her and motioned her over.
She was being exceptionally friendly since their encounter at the museum. Diane felt a little guilty for coming down so hard on her.
“These are Frank’s two brothers and sister. Frank’s the baby of the family. Diane Fallon is the new director of the museum in town.”
“Frank’s said a word or two about you,” said one of the brothers.
Diane thought his name was Henry. Frank and Hank. That must have been a kick in school.
He took her hand and shook it. “Rather nice words too.”
“How did Frank look to you?” asked his sister, Ava. She had her hands on Kevin’s shoulders. Both of them looked at her anxiously.
“He’s doing very well. It was good to see him today. He is so much improved over yesterday.”
Relief swept across all their faces, especially Kevin’s. “But he’s still in critical care,” said Ava.
“That just means he has good insurance,” said Diane, and both of his brothers nodded in agreement. “But I think they might be moving him to a private room soon.”
“I heard you had also been attacked,” said Cindy.
“What, you too? Were you there?” asked the other brother, Linc. Frank, Hank, and Linc. Diane almost smiled as the names ran through her brain.
“This was a separate incident. I was mugged outside my apartment. My purse was stolen,” she added. The last thing she wanted to do was share her suspicions with his family.
“My God,” said Ava. “This must be a crime wave.”
“Just unlucky,” said Diane, but she could see the brothers looked doubtful. If Kevin weren’t there, she felt they would ask her questions.
“How long are you going to be in town?” she asked.
“Long enough to see that Frankie’s okay,” said Henry. “Mom and Dad don’t travel well, and we need to tell them in person that he’s going to be all right.”
“Please come to the museum. It’s not open to the public yet, but most of the exhibits are in place. I’d love for you to see it. We’re very proud of it.”
“Yes, do,” said Cindy. “We’ve seen some of it.”
“That would be nice.” Ava looked at Kevin. “Maybe we can go by later on.” Kevin nodded.
“The herpetology curator installed some live exhibits yesterday. You might enjoy seeing those. Snakes and lizards,” she added.
“Yeah,” said Kevin. “Cool.”
“I hope,” said Diane, and they all laughed, a bit disproportionately to the actual humor of her statement. It was a laugh that gave a small bit of relief from worry.
“I need to get to the museum. It was very nice meeting all of you.” She stepped away, wanting to leave before they could think of any more questions.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” said Linc.
Chapter 32
She wasn’t going to be able to make a clean getaway from Frank’s family. She smiled, pleasantly, she hoped.
“Are you all right?” Linc asked after they were out the door. “You’re pale, and I noticed you’re limping.”
“Limping? I hadn’t noticed.”
“Slightly favoring your right side. The others may not have noticed.”
Diane remembered that one of Frank’s brothers was a doctor specializing in sports medicine.
“You’re the doctor?”
“That’s me.”
She briefly described her injuries, downplayed her pain and added that she was fine.
“You should be home resting. I’m serious.”
“I can’t now. There’s too much to do.” She suddenly felt overwhelmed and tired, and the day was just starting. “This is my car.” She took the keys out of her jacket pocket and clicked the lock open.
“I wanted to talk to you about Frank away from Ava and the others. I sense that there’s more to this. All the police said was that he was held up at an ATM just outside the hospital here.”
She pointed to the bank machine to the left of the entrance.
Linc looked the most like Frank, especially the eyes. Frank’s eyes were dreamy, amused, sexy, angry, reflecting perfectly whatever mood he was in. Right now, Linc’s eyes wanted answers.
“Yes, that’s what they believe.”
“But you don’t.”
“No. But I have no proof.”
“I know about his friends being killed. Now he’s shot and you’re attacked. This all seems a little too much for coincidence.”
“It does to me too.” Diane hesitated.
“Is Frank still in danger?”
“I don’t know. But if someone could always be with him for a few days until I can get someone to guard his room. .” She let the sentence hang.
Linc took a breath and stepped back. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I’m serious. I just don’t know if I’m right. This may be nothing, and I may just be paranoid.”
“You’ve both been seriously attacked. It gives your paranoia credibility. I need to know more about what’s going on. Let me take you to dinner.”
Diane thought for a moment, trying to organize her day in her mind. “Meet me at the museum this evening- around six thirty or so. We’ll have something delivered.” She scribbled her cell phone number on the back of one of her museum cards before she handed it to him. “Tell the guard on duty to give me a call when you get there.”
He thanked her and opened the car door. Frank had a nice family. She envied him.
“Diane,” said Andie. “How is Frank? We just heard. My God, first you, and now him. What’s happening?” Andie’s perpetual happy smile was turned down in a frown. She stood behind her desk, holding a folder to her chest like a shield.
“Frank’s doing well,” said Diane. “He’s still in intensive care. How are things here?”
Andie’s face switched from concern to horror. “One of the snakes is missing.”
“Damn. How did that happen?”
“They don’t know. He just wasn’t in his terrarium or whatever that thing wrapping around the room is. They’re looking for him, but the snake guy said he could be holed up between the walls and we may not be able to
