Evie returned with a sheet and a lightweight towel. David folded it into thirds, the idea to wrap it across Maggie’s eyes. Evie offered the clip from her hair to fasten the towel in back.
John returned, and with Evie’s help they held the sheet up in front of the bed.
David took a final look, nodded. “That’s going to work. I’ll come out with her and go straight down to the vehicle. Evie, if you could act as front guard, catch the doors for me—and John, if you could bring blankets from the safe room since she won’t have a coat or any shoes. The car’s going to have a chill to it. And if you could take a quick look around to see if there’s anything she might have been writing on in the safe room she would want brought out with her, we then can leave the place to the cops.”
“I’ll do that,” John agreed.
“Smile, David,” Evie reminded him. “She needs to see all is well in that first glance.”
He took a deep breath, let it out, smiled. “A good suggestion.” He stepped into the closet and punched in the code known only to three people. The mechanism released, and the door smoothly moved to the side. Maggie was sitting on the floor, a deck of cards in hand. She’d been eating chocolate. A smudge of it was at one corner of her mouth.
“Hey,” she said, her smile wobbly.
He made sure she couldn’t see past him as he lowered himself to her level. “Hey back.”
“You’re early. It’s been only an hour.”
Her eyes shifted over his shoulder, tension rapidly returning to her posture.
“Someone died, Maggie.” His hand covered hers. “We think we know who he is, a very bad guy from Indiana. We’re going to get you out now so the cops can do their job.”
“I didn’t hear gunfire,” she whispered.
“You wouldn’t have heard even that in here. When we know for certain who he is and why he was here, I’ll tell you.”
He held up the blindfold. “I don’t want you having this image in your mind. And I’ll carry you out to the car since there’s broken glass lying around.”
She closed his hand around the fabric. “I’ll keep my eyes closed.” She stood with him and kept her eyes fastened on his face. “It’s no big deal, the decision about knowing.”
“Then let’s get out of here, Maggie.”
He lifted her easily into his arms. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, tucked her head against his neck and closed her eyes. “Promise me something, David?”
“What’s that?” He stepped out of the safe room, then out of the closet. He picked his way carefully across the room to avoid the blood.
“Let’s restock with something other than chocolate. I’m sick of it.”
He dropped a light kiss on her hair. “We’ll do that, my Maggie.”
Twenty-Four
David Marshal
Maggie was nearly asleep, David’s hand gently stroking the back of hers. Only when her breathing had turned deep and slow did he lift his hand and whisper, “Sleep calm, Maggie.” He dropped a soft kiss on her forehead and eased away from the bedside, leaving the adjoining bathroom light on with the door cracked an inch.
He stepped into the hall where he could still see her, watched for any signs she might be falling into a difficult dream. Her thumb twitched occasionally. He hoped she was going to get at least a few hours of sleep. Charlotte and Bryce had a lovely home, quiet, peaceful, exactly what Maggie needed.
That Evie was leaning against the hallway wall quietly waiting—had been for more than forty minutes—didn’t surprise him. She could be empathetic in a profound way when the situation required it. That Evie had also been working by phone and text, he didn’t need to ask. “Tell me what else we’ve learned,” he asked in a low voice without moving his gaze from Maggie just yet.
“First, Sharon wanted me to pass on her relief that Maggie got to the safe room in time. Sharon, Theo, and Taylor are available for anything you need—anything, anytime. They’re just staying off your phone, as you’re already drowning in more pressing priorities.”
David felt himself relaxing as the bigger world settled itself around him. “Give my thanks to them when you can, Evie.”
“Paul is at the scene to divert press attention toward his FBI team tracking down Andrew Timmets, avoiding headlines like Maggie’s boyfriend confronts Maggie’s killer.”
David smiled at the description. “I’ve got to appreciate friends who step in to take the bullets for me. I’m going to owe Paul at least a nice steak for standing in front of the media storm tonight. They’ll have that headline or one like it before long, if there’s a decent investigative journalist putting together the names of the smothered college students.”