Page 44 of Unexpected Danger
Londyn gasped, attempting to inhale full breaths. With effort, she seized the flower vase and whacked him in the side of the head. He bowed over as water and flowers spilled everywhere.
“Knock, knock.”
Dorena entered, a smile pasted on her face. “Oh! Are you all right?” She rushed in Dustin’s direction.
“I’m fine,” Dustin said, still gripping his ear.
“Good. I heard all of the commotion in here. Due to her concussion, we need to let Londyn rest.” Dorena patted Dustin on the shoulder. “You two sure made a mess in here. What’s with the flowers and water everywhere? We’ll have to change your bedding, Londyn.” Dorena shook her head. “Sir, are you sure you’re all right? It looks like your ear might be bleeding.” Dorena scrutinized Dustin at close range.
“I’m fine.” Something unspoken passed between them before Dustin backed toward the door. “Until we meet again, Londyn,”he said, then disappeared so quickly it was almost as if he’d never been there.
Except that Londyn’s throat ached and her pulse refused to return to normal.
“Can you please plug in the phone?” she rasped. “I need to call the police.”
Dorena’s thick black brows knitted. “Sure. But why do you need to call the police?”
“He just attempted to kill me.”
Dorena plugged in the phone. “Do remember that sometimes people with concussions experience memory loss.”
“This was not memory loss. It just happened!” She pointed at her throat. “Do you see a mark here?”
“Not really.” Dorena inspected the area on Londyn’s neck. “All I see is a small scratch, but you had that after your accident.” She reconnected the phone cord to both the phone and the jack.
“Why didn’t you answer the call button?” Her throat hurt to talk.
Dorena narrowed her eyes as though she might be offended by Londyn’s question. Her mouth barely moved as she voiced the words. “We are shorthanded, and I was busy with a patient in room 201 who reacted badly to his medicine.”
Londyn cleared her throat, coughed, then took a deep breath before continuing. “I kept pressing it, and no one came. Are you on duty alone today?”
“Like I said. We are shorthanded. We do our best, but we can’t be everywhere at once.” A flash of irritation flickered in her brown eyes. “You mentioned you’d like to call the police. Would you like me to call for you?” Dorena’s condescending tone reeked of disdain.Or maybe Londyn imagined it?
“If you could just please hand me either my cell phone or the hospital phone.”
Dorena did as requested, but she moved at a snail’s pace. She handed Londyn the hospital phone, the presence of the stretched cord reminding her of how close she’d again come to losing her life at the hands of Dustin Haack. Her arm shook as she moved the handset to her ear.
Slowly and methodically, Dorena pressed 911. “I’ll leave you to call.” With a wave of her hand, she left the room. Londyn thought she noticed Dorena’s shadow hovering near the partially closed door.
Londyn spoke with the dispatcher, who informed her that Officer Robinson would arrive soon. She struggled to her side to replace the phone in its cradle and reach for her cell phone, which was still charging. The railing hit a sore area, and she winced, returned to a resting position on the pillow, then tried again. Finally, she dialed Brodie’s number. It went to voicemail.
She had just placed her cell back on the side table when a plump man in scrubs entered. His hair was styled with a bald spot in the front and stringy shoulder-length hair in the back. He wore thick, black-rimmed glasses and introduced himself as the environmental services aide. He tugged behind him a mop in a portable bucket and carried a canister of antibacterial wipes.
“You want to keep these?” he asked, lifting the heap of flowers from the floor.
“No, thank you.”
He shrugged and tossed them into a trash can on wheels. While at first glance he may seem lethargic, the man was expedient and efficient. He’d wiped off everything, including the phone and its cord, the door handle, bed railing, and the chair in the corner, before mopping the floor and removing the garbage, all before Officer Robinson arrived.
It was then that Londyn realized something disturbing.
There would be no fingerprints to prove Dustin had even been there.
Officer Robinson took Londyn's statement. “We are short a detective right now, but I want to reassure you that we will check out the camera footage and we will catch this guy.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that.”
“Have you told Brodie about any of this?”
