Page 19 of Fatal Witness

“Sure did.”

And alerted the possible intruder, who would have beat a hasty retreat. If that was the scenario, Hayes may have saved Mae’s life.

His cell rang. Alex. He pressed the answer button, surprised he had service. “I found her, but I think she’s had a stroke.”

“I’m on my way. The hospital called—they’ve dispatched an air ambulance. Was there any sign of an intruder?”

“I’m not sure. We won’t know anything until Mae can tell us what happened.”

“Where are you?”

“With Mae. She crawled through a tunnel in the briars where it looks like she had the stroke.”

“Stay with her. I’ll see you in a few.”

Mark pocketed his phone and looked back at Mae. Her lips moved and he leaned closer.

“D-D—”

“Don’t try to talk.” He rubbed her right hand with his thumb. “I’ll ask you a question, and you just squeeze my hand once for yes, twice for no. Can you do that?”

She nodded, but Mark felt no pressure from her fingers. “Let’s try that with your left hand,” he said and switched hands.

Nothing wrong with Mae’s strength in that hand. “Good. Did someone attack you?”

Two squeezes. “Okay. Did someone break into your house?” One squeeze. “Did you see who it was?” There was a hesitation, then two squeezes.

“Head hurts,” she whispered. Her hand loosened in his, and she closed her eyes.

“I hear the chopper coming in,” Hayes yelled.

Mark crawled out of the tunnel just as the chopper landed, and soon paramedics hiked toward him with a scoop stretcher.

“Pretty sure she’s had a stroke,” he told them. There was a short window of opportunity to bust up blood clots that caused strokes. “Do you have the clot-buster drug on the chopper?”

The lead medic shook his head. “No. Too dangerous for us to administer. Dr. Wexler will make that call if she needs it.”

Ten minutes later, the paramedics brought Mae out of the thicket strapped on the yellow board. Mark didn’t like how pale she was ... and dazed. Mae was a friend, and he didn’t want to lose her.

10

Alex’s cell rang as she turned onto Eagle Ridge Road. Nathan. Her adrenaline spiked again as she thumbed the answer button. “You’re waiting for me, aren’t you?”

“It’s after ten. Is there a problem?”

They’d been engaged since Christmas and had fallen into a comfortable pattern—coffee around ten most mornings at the Bean Factory Coffee Shop. “Afraid so.” She explained about Mae. “Mark thinks she’s had a stroke. He also thinks that because her door was open and she called 911, that someone may have broken in. I’m on my way to her house, and the CSI team will check it out as soon as they finish with a break-in at the drugstore.”

Another call buzzed in, and she glanced at the screen. Ben Tennyson. “Can I call you back? I tried to call the mayor earlier since Mae is his aunt, and he’s ringing me.”

“No need. I’ll meet you at her place,” he said. “And be sure to count your fingers and toes when you finish with Ben.”

“Nathan!” Alex shook her head. The two men were like nails on a blackboard to each other. She switched over to the mayor’s call. “Thanks for returning my call, Ben.”

“What’s up, Sheriff?”

“I’m the chief deputy,” she reminded him.

“Just until the next election.”

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