Page 113 of Conrad

No—

She whirled around and took off.

What—

He dropped the bottle and sprinted after her. “Hey!”

She hit the doors, the ones to the street, and exited.

He caught them just as they closed, pushed out.

The wide plaza in front of the hospital teemed with university students.

Beyond, on the street, traffic whizzed by, and he spotted her entering the crosswalk, still at a run.

Sort of a run. Her sling pushed her off-balance. Except, even as he watched, she flung off the sling, left it on the sidewalk, and disappeared into the shadows.

Why was she running? For a second, he debated. Follow her?—

Or stay with Declan.

He stopped, his fist clenched, glanced back at the hospital. What had she been doing in Stone’s cubicle?

What if?—

He spun and took off back to the ER, breathing hard as he pushed back through the doors into the secured area?—

He alerted a couple security guards, but he nearly took out the curtain as he skidded into Declan’s bay.

His boss sat on the gurney, working his running pants back on, his hospital gown discarded in a hamper. “You ready to go?” Declan’s eyes widened. “You okay, Stein?”

Stein’s breaths shoved out hard, and he put a hand to his mouth, glanced around the room.

Had she really stolen the hazardous waste from Declan’s injury? “Was Avery here?”

“Yeah. She stopped in to see how I was doing.”

“Did you see her take something?”

He shook his head. “No. I don’t think?—”

“The plastic bag with all the hazardous waste. Your blood—did she take that?”

Declan frowned. “I don’t know. I thought the tech took that when he left.”

Stein nodded, walked out of the room.

A bin sat across the hallway marked with the Unicode biohazard symbol.

Maybe he’d mis-seen.

Yes.It had to have been her bloody sweatshirt, or the handkerchief she’d used on Declan.

Still, the whole thing sat inside him, a fist.

He turned just as Declan pulled back the curtain. “They discharged me. Let’s go.”

“Yes, sir.” Then he paused. “Is there any reason why someone would want your blood?”

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