Private Affair(87)

“We’ve got to be quick,” he told his partners as he dressed. “This guy has killed at least five or six people.”

“If he wanted to kill Olivia right away, he could have done it here,” Shane pointed out.

“Yeah, but why don’t I find that reassuring?” Max snapped as he thought about what the bastard might want with her. He knew what had already happened to her at that damn cabin.

He started for the door, then stopped. “Oh shit. Something else I forgot. They took away my wallet, phone, and car keys when they admitted me, not to mention my gun.”

“I have them too,” Jack said, hefting a briefcase.

“Thank God.”

Max took back his belongings, and the three men exited the room. As they approached the nurses’ station, a dark-haired man wearing a white coat stepped into their path, his gaze fixed on Max.

“Mr. Lyon?”

“Yeah.”

“I am Dr. Applebaum,” he said. “I looked at your chart, and I do not advise your leaving the hospital at this time.”

“I have business to attend to,” Max snapped.

“And you have fifteen stitches in your arm, which could pull out if you don’t take it easy.”

“Okay, I heard your warning,” Max answered. “Now I have to leave.”

“At least let me…”

Max stepped around him. “No time. We’re trying to save a life.”

Jack looked back. “Sorry. Wild horses couldn’t keep him here.”

Shane had already pressed the elevator button. When the car arrived, they all stepped in, Max feeling the disapproving looks of the doctor and nurses on his back. In some corner of his mind, he knew they were right. He could end up doing himself serious damage. Yet he simply couldn’t stay here and let others look for Olivia.

Another thought struck him. “Shit.”

“Now what?” Shane asked.

“My damn car. It’s about a block from where I was cut.” He looked hopefully toward Jack. “You didn’t bring it over, did you?”

“Um, I figured you’d get a ride back to the hotel with one of us. We’ve got two cars here,” Jack said. “Either Shane or I can take you over to where you left yours.”

“Which means we’re going to have to separate,” Max said, letting the implications sink in and realizing that they couldn’t simply rush off. “We’d better do some planning before we leave.”

The three of them found a quiet corner in the waiting room.

“The reason this is going to take three of us is that there are three likely locations where Olivia might be held,” Max said, focusing on the logic of this mess as they stood facing each other. “Larson’s house. Masters’s house, and that cabin up by the dam. I’m betting that’s going to turn out to be it, but we have to check the other two places, in case one of them had plans to hole up at home.”

“I’ll take Larson’s house,” Jack said.

“I’ll go to the cabin,” Shane said.

“No. I’m going there. You check out Masters’s.”

Shane gave him a doubtful look. “You’re not exactly in fighting shape.”

“Unfortunately,” he conceded. “If you don’t find Olivia at either suspect’s house, you can join me at the cabin.”

He could see his friends didn’t love the arrangement, but he wasn’t going to budge. He was pretty sure Olivia would be at the cabin, and he wasn’t going to waste time getting there.

Outside, he and Shane went to the latter’s car. Jack climbed into his own vehicle, and they went in separate directions.

Shane glanced at Max’s pale face. “Listen, I was thinking about what that Dr. Applebaum said.”

“Don’t tell me to go back to the hospital,” Max shot back.

“I’m not. But he talked about the stitches in your arm. If you drive, you could start bleeding again before you get to the damn cabin. And if you pass out, you’re not going to do Olivia any good.”

“I’m not going to fucking pass out.”

“Yeah, but why don’t we both take a quick trip to Masters’s house. If he’s not there, we go to the cabin. Unless Jack calls us with better information.”

Max clenched his fists. That could be wasting precious time, but he knew his friend was right. If he got to the cabin and passed out or started bleeding, he’d be putting Olivia in even more danger.





Chapter 26


Olivia woke feeling cold and confused. It took a moment for her to remember what had happened to her, and when she did, she shuddered. Smelling dampness, she opened her eyes and found herself in a small room lit by an electric lantern on the floor in one corner. It had a floor made of plywood strips. The walls were the same material. When she looked up, she saw the ceiling was just dirt. Below her was a bare mattress that was dirty and stained. It looked like it could have been here for years.