“It’s fine. I think it will do him good to know you’re here. I talked to him, and there was some response in his heart rate. See if he reacts to you. While you’re with him, I think I’ll go get a cup of coffee in the cafeteria. Meet me there when you’re finished.” She smiled at Glenda and Michael. “It was nice meeting you, and good luck next fall on the football team, Jeremy.”
She turned and hurried out of the waiting room before they could say anything more. At the elevator she punched the button and waited for it to stop at her floor. She groaned inwardly and wondered why Glenda’s words had upset her. It wasn’t as if she and Seth were ever going to get back together, but somehow it had rankled a bit when Glenda spoke of trying to fix him up with her friends.
Callie bit down on her lip and shook her head. She was being ridiculous. Seth was the man she had loved once, but he was only a friend now. She stared down at the floor and rubbed at the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks.
The elevator door opened, and she stepped inside without looking up. The door closed, and she reached over and pushed the button for the basement level where the cafeteria was located. Behind her someone coughed, and she jerked in surprise. She hadn’t noticed anyone at the back of the elevator when she stepped in.
Before she could turn around, a voice she’d heard once before drifted to her ears. “Well, Miss Lattimer. This is a surprise. I didn’t expect to run into you today.”
Startled, she whirled around and gasped when she saw Lieutenant Marty Weaver standing at the back of the elevator. “Lieutenant Weaver,” she said, “I didn’t see you.”
He smiled and straightened up from leaning against the back wall. “You looked a bit upset when you got in. I hope your uncle isn’t worse.”
She eased to the far side of the elevator and shook her head. “He’s not worse, but he hasn’t regained consciousness. I’ve just been in to see him. What are you doing here?”
“I came to interview a victim of a robbery yesterday. I just got through and was about to go back to the station. Are you leaving?”
His eyes narrowed, and his gaze swept her. Something about the way he looked at her made her skin prickle. “N-no. I’m going to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee. Seth is going to meet me there in a few minutes.”
He glanced at his watch and smiled. “A cup of coffee sounds good, and I have a little time before I need to report back in. Mind if I join you?”
Callie searched her mind for a reason for wanting to be alone, but she could think of nothing. “I guess not.”
The elevator came to a stop on the ground floor. He smiled and gestured as the door opened. “After you, Miss Lattimer.”
Callie straightened her shoulders and headed into the cafeteria toward the coffee machine, but Lieutenant Weaver’s voice behind her stopped her. “I’ll get our coffee. You find us a table.”
With a nod she glanced around the cafeteria and spotted a table in the center of the room. She’d just slid into her chair when he ambled up to the table with two cups in his hands. He set them down, placed his hat on the table and dropped into a chair. She took a sip from her cup and stared at him over the rim.
He was younger than she had first thought yesterday, probably mid-thirties. His dark, curly hair had some streaks of gray around the edges, but it added a distinguished look. But it was his eyes that made chills run down her spine. She had always believed the old saying that eyes were the windows to the soul, but when she looked into Marty Weaver’s, they appeared completely blank.