Page 28 of Night Fall (The Quantico Files 1)

Alex had stopped a few feet from the bed, trying to acclimate herself. Years of working with the FBI had placed her at quite a few horrific scenes with mangled bodies and the evidence of man’s hate. But this was the first time she knew the person lying in the bed. Nettie was such a kind, gentle woman that somehow the realization that someone had this much cruelty in their heart struck her like a slap in the face.

She walked up next to the bed. “Nettie,” she said softly, “it’s Alex. How are you feeling?”

Nettie blinked several times as if she couldn’t see clearly. “Alex?” she whispered through her bruised lips. It sounded more like Aless,but Alex nodded.

“Yes, it’s me. I was told you need to talk to me.”

Nettie sighed deeply and nodded. Then she reached for Alex’s hand and mumbled something Alex couldn’t understand. She leaned closer, trying to hear.

“Say it again, Nettie. I missed what you said.” She looked back at Logan, who’d been staying back so Nettie wouldn’t see him. Now he took a step closer.

“He ... he...”

“He?” Alex repeated.

Nettie nodded slowly. “Here.”

Alex looked around. Here where? Wondering if Nettie meant there was something she wanted her to hear, she said, “I’m listening.”

Nettie suddenly thrashed in the bed as if in frustration. “He...” she said again. “He...”

“Not much longer,” Ruth interjected. “She needs to rest.”

Frustrated by her inability to understand whatever Nettie was trying to say, Alex reached into her jeans pocket and took out her sketch of the man she’d remembered. She held it in front of Nettie’s face.

“Do you recognize this man?” she asked Nettie.

Her eyes grew wide, and she nodded.

“Who is he, Nettie?” Alex asked. Even if she didn’t know his real name, anything she could tell them might help to determine who was responsible for the attacks.

“No ... no...” She started to breathe quickly as if she couldn’t get enough air. “He...”

“I think you need to go,” Ruth said. Alex noticed her watching the numbers on the monitor next to Nettie’s bed. It was obvious she didn’t like what she was seeing.

Alex, not knowing what else to do, leaned down once more, putting her ear next to Nettie’s mouth. “I can’t understand you, Nettie,” she said quietly. “Try one more time.”

Nettie was trying to talk, but she couldn’t seem to catch her breath. “He ... here. He ... here...” Suddenly, she bolted upright in the bed, her eyes full of some unseen terror. “He’s here!” she gasped. “He’s here!” Then she collapsed back on the bed, and the machine next to her began to beep loudly.

“Out now!” Ruth commanded them. She pushed a button near the bed, and immediately they heard a voice coming from a loudspeaker in the hall. “Code blue, room 7. Code blue, room 7.”

Ruth pushed them into the hall. Several medical personnel ran into the room and pushed a large cart next to the bed. Alex and Logan hurried toward the ICU’s exit to the waiting area. Mike had come in from the front desk, and when he saw them, he jogged over.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “Is Nettie okay?”

Alex shook her head. “I think she’s in trouble, Mike.”

They stood off to the side, waiting to see what would happen. A few minutes later a doctor walked out of Nettie’s room. Behind him, the same medical personnel who’d rushed in came out and walked past them.

“You’re the FBI agents who spoke to Nettie Travers?” he asked.

“Yes,” Alex said. “Is she okay?”

“I’m sorry, no.” His eyebrows knit together in a tight frown. “Can you tell me how she acted before we were alerted to a problem?”

Was he blaming them? “She was trying to tell us something,” Alex said. “It seemed important. Then she sat up. It was like she was ... I don’t know. Shocked?”

“In pain?”

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