Page 72 of Wanted by the Lawman

CHAPTER 24

WYNN’S BREATH WHEEZED from her chest. She had a hard time drawing in her air.

“I bet you’d like to take a sip of this, wouldn’t you?”

She saw that he held an inhaler in his hand, but it wasn’t hers, and he was grinning from ear to ear. He apparently got off watching people suffer.

“I think now might be the time for me to tell you where you’re at and why.” He strolled over, dragged the chair from the desk and placed it next to the bed and took a seat. He set the nebulizer on the table like cheese to a mouse. As she started to reach for it, he slapped her hand. “No, no, my dear. Listen only.”

She drew her hand back. Wynn had to count on Zander finding her. He would, she knew he would. He’d search every nook and cranny of Crooked Creek until he did. But what if she wasn’t in Crooked Creek? She would find out…

“This room,” he encompassed the space with his hands gliding through the air. “This was her bedroom, our bedroom. My wife. She and I lived here, and we were happy. So many plans had been created here.” He investigated the distance and it seemed his mind wandered. “It was even here that she told me she was pregnant. I can’t begin to describe how happy I was. She was my everything and soon our circle would be complete.” He leaned forward, his eyes glazed. “The economy was bad and I didn’t have the painting jobs I once did. I could no longer afford insurance. That meant we had to pay for her treatment out of pocket. Oh, I don’t want to leave out the most crucial part of the story. She had asthma. I’m sure you understand how important treatment can be.”

Wynn sat up, leaning against the wall, feeling too vulnerable lying down, and she was having difficulty breathing. He didn’t seem to care as he retold his story.

“She was almost six months pregnant when she started getting sick. I’d drained our savings account paying for her prescriptions. I tried everything, even got a job at a factory, but because she had a previous illness, she couldn’t get coverage with my plan. I took her to the emergency room, but they refused to keep her more than two days. They said she was well enough, but I knew it was because she didn’t have insurance. It all comes down to money.” His gaze met hers a mere second before he drifted again. “One night she woke me up and she couldn’t breathe. We tried everything. The inhaler. Nothing worked. I held her, feeling the spasms rack her body as she drew in each breath, each one deeper and shallower. I counted the seconds, anticipating hearing the sirens in the distance that could mean she’d live. But the only sound that filled the room was the gasping of my dear’s breaths. They became farther and farther apart as she clung to life. And then I heard the last labored breath before she went limp in my arms. That was the moment my life ended.”

“Jeff, I’m sorry, but she wouldn’t want you hurting others.”

He jerked his head her direction, nailing her with a scowl. “You’re sorry? Don’t enlighten me and think that’ll work. I didn’t want to kill anyone. I really didn’t, but as I watched woman after woman walking in and out of the hospital, getting the care they deserved for their asthma, it made me angry. To the point that I had an insatiable hunger to watch them take their last breath, right here, just as my dear did long ago.”

“Her death was painful, and you have every reason to be hurt and angry, but these women, they didn’t deserve to pay for what someone else did.”

All life seemed to leave his eyes. “This wasn’t for spite. This is to show the world that insurance companies are only out to line their pockets. Doctors, nurses, they’re all the same. They take an oath to heal and yet they let a woman, pregnant, go home to suffer.”

“This isn’t the way. Think of what your wife would want.” Wynn’s chest ached. She looked at the inhaler. It was within reach, but she couldn’t fight him for it. She was too weak.

“How does it feel to be granted air? It’s free and yet, not everyone can breathe freely.”

She concentrated on the beats of her heart, keeping her breaths slow.

“If the victims had asthma, why the syringes of heroine?” She wanted to know the truth and to keep him talking. She prayed Zander got here before it was too late.

Lansing reached into his pocket and took out a full syringe. “I have one for you too. I have a sliver of compassion left in me. As their lungs start to collapse, I like to sweep in and offer peace. This,” he held up the syringe, “offers comfort, unlike what my wife had.”

“You’re not shooting me with that,” Wynn said.

“Don’t fight, my dear. Struggling only makes it harder. You should be thanking me anyway. If it wasn’t for me, you’d be half way across the state with that ex of yours.”

“You were a sick man before your wife and you’re using her death as an excuse to kill innocent people. But whether you admit it or not, none of their deaths, or even mine, will satisfy the urges you have buried inside of you. If you truly loved your wife, in her memory, you’ll stop this madness.”

He seemed to wrap his head around her words and then he shook his head. “Too late to turn back now.” He got up and left the room.

She heard his footsteps in the hall. Her eyes automatically found the inhaler. Was this a joke?

Looking at the closed door, she reached for the nebulizer, shook it, and looked at the meter. It was empty. With a groan, she threw the container against the wall. The man had lost his sanity.

Without making any noise, she got up from the bed. Wynn wouldn’t just lie down and die or make this easy for the deputy. She looked around the room. Searching each drawer of the dresser and nightstand, she found nothing she could use as a weapon. Hurrying to the window, she groaned in frustration. There were bars on it, of course. He’d thought of everything, but she wasn’t his first victim.

It was dark outside and she couldn’t see anything in the distance.

Her only hope was that Zander would find her soon.

Going back to the bed, she sat down on the end. She wondered what Zander was thinking? Was he frantic? She hoped he didn’t believe she had left on her own free will, but if Lansing hadn’t grabbed her purse, then Zander would know she wouldn’t leave without her nebulizer.

~~~**~~~

“You think this is where he’s keeping her?”

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