One More Dance Roxanne Rustand (best non fiction books of all time TXT) 📖

to open his eyes, to call out, but it was as if he were frozen in place, locked in a nightmare that wouldn’t end.

Patty. Oh, Lord, where is she?

Alarm shot through him, cutting through the heavy cotton batting that had filled his brain, making it impossible to think.

Again, hallucinatory images assaulted him from all sides. Screams. Breaking glass. The smell of choking, acrid smoke and burning flesh. And then, like a miracle, he felt something real.

A cool, soft hand, as familiar as the beating of his heart.

A distant voice.

The faint scent of peaches.

Comforting, loving sensations. Only danger was here, too, looming fierce and dark—threatening to destroy everything good and wonderful in his life.

“Patty.” He struggled to say the name louder, but managed only a rusty croak. “Patty? We...we’ve gotta go.”

At a sharp, indrawn breath he managed to pry his eyelids partway open. Hazy images swam within his field of vision. Bright lights. Faces. Tubes and wires and some sort of silver bars fencing him in.

“Mr. Mathers?”

He blinked and the face of a heavyset woman in white came into focus.

“You’re in the hospital ICU. You’ve been heavily sedated, but you’re coming around. How do you feel?”

His throat was raw, thick. He tried to clear it, but that made it hurt all the more.

“You were intubated for a while, so I imagine your throat is pretty sore. Would you like to sit up a little more?” When he nodded, she touched a button to raise the head of the bed a few inches. “We’re going to check you over a bit, and then your wife can come back in. She’s been very worried about you.”

He sank deeper into the pillow and closed his eyes.

She’d been here—he’d smelled her perfume, and he’d felt her familiar, loving touch. Had he called out Patty’s name aloud, or had he only dreamed it? Would Kate even come back in if she’d heard him?

He had to see Kate. Had to warn her, before it was too late.

But the lights started to dim, and he felt himself drift inexorably back into the darkness. He struggled to focus. To keep his brain clear...but quicksand seemed to enfold him, sucking him deeper into oblivion.

Please, God—keep her safe. Please...

KATE PACED THE WAITING room, Jared’s urgent words running through her thoughts in an unending litany. Patty. We...we’ve gotta go, Patty.

Patty had to be the woman who had died in the accident. But why had Jared sounded so urgent, as if they’d been fleeing?

Had they been running away together?

Kate discounted that thought as quickly as it surfaced. He was a good and loving man, honorable above all things. Whatever her first reaction had been at hearing the details of the accident, she knew deep in her heart that he would never just run off with someone. He would gently end one relationship before ever starting another.

So what did that leave?

A troubled client? But there’d been no record of any appointments the afternoon of the accident. Tom hadn’t found any documents that could be associated with the woman who’d died.

A random act of kindness? Had Jared inadvertently become enmeshed in some sort of domestic dispute? But he wasn’t a stupid man. He knew those situations were a great danger to the cops themselves, and he would’ve called 911 rather than playing the hero.

What else could it be?

And then there were the break-ins at her clinic. The anonymous, threatening phone calls. Was all of it related somehow—a plan devised by some angry defendant?

And what about Amy’s flat tire? A coincidence, or had someone visited her place in the early-morning darkness to ensure that she’d be late getting to the clinic?

Kate shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, counting the slowly moving minutes on the wall clock, impatient for a chance to talk to him again. Should she share that name with the sheriff—or should she wait?

She hesitated, then left a message for Tom in case the name might jostle his memory. Finally she dialed the sheriff’s private number. “I’ve got a possible name for you. Patty.”

“Anything else?”

“Jared called out for her, and it sounded like he was in a big hurry.”

“I’ve got a little news for you, too. The car that sideswiped his was probably a ’98 Blazer. Ever had a fender bender involving that make and color?”

“No.”

“Know anyone with a green Blazer?”

She thought for a moment. “I don’t think so, but I don’t really pay much attention to what people drive.”

“One other thing. My deputy found a newspaper delivery guy who claims he saw a Blazer parked about a half mile from your clinic this morning. He figured the car had broken down but didn’t see anyone in it, so he drove on. We’re searching Department of Motor Vehicle records for a car of the same description. Hopefully, we’ll find just a few matches in the area.”

She swallowed hard. “All of this could be connected.”

“If it is, someone has a strong motive for revenge and was willing to kill to get it.”

Kate’s knees turned weak. “But at least Jared’s safe here, for now.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. A deputy is coming over as soon as he can, and I’d advise you to alert hospital security. If someone does come after him, he’d be a sitting duck.”

SHE’D BEEN COUNTING the minutes until she could go back into the ICU to sit with Jared. Now at his bedside, Kate watched the wall clock’s second hand make its way slowly around the dial. Security had been alerted to check all visitors coming into the hospital for anyone suspicious, but where was that deputy? Ten long minutes had passed without any sign of him.

Jared stirred. His eyelids fluttered, and then he fixed his bleary gaze on her. “Kate?”

His voice was just a rusty whisper, barely audible, but she’d never heard a more welcome sound in her life. She kissed his hand, mindful of the IV lines dangling from overhead. “Welcome back.”

He lifted away from the pillow, winced and fell back. “I...have to tell