Page 66 of Countdown

Barbara stepped back. “All done, big guy. You only needed ten.”

Only ten.

Vince threw his good arm across his eyes. “I feel a little sick. Think I’m just going to stay right here for a few minutes.”

“Want some Zofran?” Barbara asked. “Could be the local giving you some trouble.”

“No, I’ll be okay. I don’t need anything that’ll make me sleepy. Oh wait. Your phone is in that vest pocket. You need it.”

She retrieved it and stuck it in her scrub pocket.

At the knock on the door, Raina opened it to find a hospital worker with a bag in her hand. “Raina Price?”

“Yes.”

“Someone dropped this off for you. Said it was stuff left on a boat?”

Her purse and everything in it. What a relief. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” She left and Raina looked inside the bag. Everything was dry. She pulled out the picture she’d taken from the car wreck and stuck it in her pocket. She closed her eyes a moment and pulled in a deep breath. Okay, then. It was now or never.

Raina walked back to the bed and patted Vince’s hand. “You stay here. I’ll be back shortly.” If she didn’t take care of this now, she’d chicken out—or revert back to making googly eyes at Vince. And that wasn’t going to happen again.

She fingered the photo in her pocket and knew she’d have to resist smacking the DUI dude in the face with it. No, she’d keep her cool and let him know her thoughts from a victim’s point of view. He was probably going to prison for a while, so she’d give him some things to think about while he was incarcerated.

“Be careful, please,” Vince said. “Watch your back.”

“Always.”

The door burst open and Penny’s wide eyes landed on Raina, then Vince, then back to Raina. “What in the world? Y’all are just trouble magnets of the most powerful kind, aren’t you?”

Raina snorted. “You’re one to talk.”

Penny waved a hand. “Aw, that’s all in the past. I haven’t had a lick of trouble since Rabor’s been behind bars. But I’m not here about me. I’m here about you.” She hugged Raina and gestured to Vince. “I can’t believe all of this.”

“I know,” Raina said, “but right now, I don’t have time to worry about someone out to kill me. I have an errand to run, so...” Another delay and shewouldlose her nerve. But she wasn’t going to keep the picture, so that meant she had to go visit the owner and give it back to him.

“And I have to get back to work,” Penny said.

“I thought you weren’t working today? What happened to taking Holt to Columbia?”

“I thought I wasn’t working as well, but tell that to the sick pilot. Holt found another ride.”

“Sorry.”

“Me too.”

“Hey, do you have a spare pair of shoes in your locker? I can’t keep walking around in these little booties.”

“Yes, boots. What size you wear?”

“Seven and a half.”

“They’re sevens.”

“I’ll make them work.”

“Then have at it.” She gave the locker key to Raina. “Just leave it at the nurse’s station. Gotta run.” And then she was gone.

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