Page 45 of Tom's Chance
“Why didn’t you go there?”
“Because I knew I couldn’t help, so Lorissa was called in. I don’t know if you know this, but she’s a veterinarian as well as a farrier.”
“What’s that?”
“She works on the horses’ hooves.”
“Ah, so that might be why we have these strange tools at the accident site.”
“Yes, if they look like sharp knives and hooks, that’s what she uses to trim the hooves.”
“Thank you for clearing that up. I’ll finish up here and one of us will meet you at the hospital to tell you what happened. I can’t say anything more. Oh, just one more thing, where were you last night?”
“I was at Erin’s Way until sometime between seven and seven-thirty, I drove the fifteen miles to Lorissa’s home, which is The Old Atherton Place. I fed her cat and dog, checked on their litter, used the bathroom, then dished up the food in the crockpot. I worked on paperwork until I got the call from Lorissa between ten and ten thirty. No, no one can confirm it. I fell asleep on the couch with Rose and Baby snuggled up to me.”
“Who are they?”
“Rose is a Yorkie, Baby is a Himalayan cat. They belonged to Mrs. Bickers.”
“Shit, okay. I’ll see you at the hospital.” She hung up and Tom stared at the screen on his dash. He hung up the phone and settled into the rest of the drive. As soon as they arrived, he parked, and waited for Duane to do so too. While Duane helped Laurie, Tom helped Lois. Together the four of them walked into the emergency room.
“Help you?” A security guard stopped them.
“My daughter was brought in a couple of hours ago, we only got the call, and it took us some time to get here. We live over in Fool’s Gold.”
“Name of patient?”
“Lorissa Gibson.” Laurie answered and Tom swore she aged right before his eyes.
“She’s up on the fifth floor. Who is everyone here? Only family will be allowed in to see her.”
Duane took up the conversation then, and labeled everyone as he pointed at them, starting with himself. “Step-father, mother, grandmother, fiancé.”
“Okay, you can go up. Do you know where the elevators are?”
“I do,” Tom said, and with his hand still on Lois back, he led the way. They exited the elevators and after giving them their information, they were told they had to wait until at least eight when visiting hours would start. The most frustrating part was that no one would tell them anything. Both Duane and Tom looked at their watches and saw it wasn’t quite seven thirty, so they went to look for some coffee. A nurse had brought some papers for them to fill out and Laurie started doing that. Because Tom had been there several times before, he knew right where to go, and they were back in the waiting room in under ten minutes. The four of them sat there in silence as they waited. There was no activity until a little aftereight, the door opened, and a nurse and Sparrow walked in at the same time.
“Gibson?” The nurse called out and they all rose to their feet. “I can only allow two people at a time back.”
“Laurie and Lois,” Duane said, and kissed the side of Laurie’s head. “We’ll go in when you get out.”
As soon as they left, and the door closed, Duane turned on Sparrow with his hand out. “Duane Manchester, former FBI.”
“Scott Gould’s brother? Working for Erin Riceman?”
“Yes. What can you tell us?”
“It’s not pretty.”
“We figured that, but what happened?”
“We’re still piecing it together, at first we thought it was a drunken hit and run, but then we started digging into the drivers of the other vehicles.”
“And?” Tom demanded impatiently as Sparrow pulled her notebook from her pocket and only glared at him as she flipped through the pages.
“First, let me tell you, even though I don’t know the extent of Ms. Gibson’s injuries, I do know that she was the only survivor. There were three vehicles involved, and though this is all speculation right now, I think this all stems around you, Stolls.”
“Me? What the hell did I do? I’m trying to establish a relationship with Lorissa. I can assure you I hadnothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, to do with her accident.”
