'What makes this one any different from any of the others?'
'Ryan took something called ep. . I can't remember the name of it. The doctor wrote it down.' Daisy dug around in her layers of clothes, searching through her pockets. She handed a crumpled piece of paper to Gretchen. 'That's the thing he inhaled.'
Gretchen couldn't believe her eyes. It couldn't be possible. 'Epinephrine?'
Daisy snapped her fingers. 'That's it.'
'Are you absolutely sure that's what the doctor said?'
'It's his writing. The doc wrote it down for me.'
'And he said Ryan inhaled it?'
Daisy nodded. 'That's exactly what he said.'
'Are you sure he didn't say Ryan injected it?'
'No, he inhaled it.'
Gretchen rubbed her eyes and studied the dirty paper again. 'His aunt died from a severe allergic reaction,' she said. 'Sara might have lived if her epinephrine wasn't missing. That's the medicine she needed to overcome the reaction. Without it, she died.'
'I didn't know anything about that,' Daisy said. 'You think Ryan stole it from her so he could get high?'
'I don't know. I've never heard of such a thing,'
Gretchen said. She remembered saying almost the same thing when she learned that Charlie had died from a nicotine overdose.
'Drug addicts will try anything to get a rush,' Daisy said. 'The doctor said the same thing you just said. He'd never heard of it, either.'
'What does Ryan say when he's awake?' Gretchen nodded toward the sleeping bag.
'He doesn't say anything. He was conscious enough to help me get him into a wheelchair at the hospital, but that's the last time he's been awake. Getting him to Nacho's wasn't easy at all.'
'We have to take him back to the hospital. He's very sick.' Gretchen pressed her fingers against his cold flesh again.
Daisy shook her head and crossed her arms. 'Don't worry about him. He'll recover.'
'You don't understand,' Gretchen said. 'I can't find a pulse.'
28
Daisy hadn't returned the wheelchair after abducting Ryan from the hospital. She had stashed the getaway vehicle behind a pylon. Gretchen and Daisy would have had a hard time moving him without it, and they were determined to change his location before help arrived. Nacho's carefully hidden home had to remain their secret.
After using Gretchen's cell phone to call in the emergency, the two women wrestled Ryan's limp body into the wheelchair and pushed it up the hill. He weighed very little. Ryan Maize must have used what little cash he was able to panhandle to buy drugs, not food. His face was drawn, with dark circles under his eyes; his body wasted away to the point of starvation. He didn't respond in any way when they lifted him. If he was alive, it wasn't by much.
'I thought I was doing the right thing,' Daisy said with a catch in her voice. 'I wanted to help him the same way you help me.'
Gretchen nodded in understanding. An ambulance siren pierced through other night sounds. 'Go away and hide,'
she said to Daisy. 'I'll think of something to tell them.'
What could she possibly say? What had compelled Daisy to take Ryan from the hospital? If he died and the police found out, they would blame the homeless woman for his death. Gretchen chewed the inside of her lip while Daisy ran back down the hill and disappeared into the night.
She maneuvered the wheelchair over the curb and followed along the edge of the street, traveling as far as possible from Nacho's house before the ambulance would find them. She was tired of ambulances and police, and especially detectives. It took a special kind of person to do this sort of work every day, and she didn't think she had whatever it was. If Charlie's son died, she was finished, no more involving herself in things that she couldn't possibly understand or prevent. From now on, she'd leave the dark side of humanity to people better suited to handle it. She'd follow the sun-climb Camelback, work out with her doll club group, and confine her curiosity to the finer points of doll restoration. No more running off into the dark, chasing cold trails into blind alleys. Gretchen stopped the wheelchair and laid her palm on Ryan's chest. She felt for movement. Nothing. A fire truck and an ambulance turned onto the street running parallel to the viaduct. Gretchen pushed the wheelchair toward them and flagged the vehicles down when they came close enough. The firemen had Ryan on the ground in a matter of seconds, starting oxygen and taking his blood pressure and pulse.
While Gretchen watched, she worked on a believable story. If she said she found him lying on the street, they wouldn't have his medical history. What if there was a drug to counter the effect of the epinephrine overdose?
Gretchen came forward. A woman hooking Ryan to a heart monitor glanced questioningly at her. 'He overdosed on epinephrine,' she said.
The woman looked startled, like this was the first time she'd ever heard of that. 'How do you know?'
'Um. . he told me before he lost consciousness.'
'Thanks. We'll take care of him. He's stabilized,' the woman called to another paramedic. 'Let's get him on a cot.'
Gretchen still stood close to the huddled group. 'You mean he's alive?'
'He's alive. Could you step back, please?'
Gretchen stepped out of the way and watched them load Ryan into the ambulance.
Soon she was alone on the street, the darkness closing in around her. She hurried toward her parked car. She and Daisy had pushed Ryan three blocks from the enormous girders that supported Nacho's home. Her subterfuge had been unnecessary. None of the rescue workers had asked who she was or where she came from. Or why she was standing in this desolate spot in the middle of the night. Neither the firemen nor the ambulance crew had questioned her about anything at all. Daisy was safe for the moment, Gretchen hadn't had to lie, and Ryan was alive.
Yes, everyone was safe for the moment.
Everyone, that was, except Gretchen. Because Detective Matt Albright's unmarked car was parked behind hers. The detective leaned against the hood of his car, waiting for her. The expression on his face was unreadable. Gretchen didn't feel friendly. The night had been long and complicated, and she needed to sleep. 'Detective Albright,' she said as formally as possible, with enough frost in her voice to freeze his private parts. At least she acknowledged him. He didn't even deserve that after leading her on. Matt arched one of his eyebrows. 'It appears to be quite a night for you,' he said.
Gretchen unlocked her car. Did the man ever sleep? He seemed to pop up at all different times of the day and night.
'What's wrong with Ryan Maize?' Matt asked.
'Epinephrine inhalation.'
'Ah,' he said, like he knew exactly what that was.
'How did you find me?'
'I happened to be driving by and saw your car.'
'Not a very likely story.'
'You're a very suspicious woman. Want to go to the hospital with me and follow up on his condition?'
'It's two o'clock in the morning.'
'I hadn't thought of that.' Matt pushed off from the hood and strode around to the driver's side of his car. He opened the door. 'I'll call you later with an update.'
'You're going?'
