Mary Ellen Porter - Into Thin Air

A few seconds later, Wallace returned. “Looks like you’re clear to go, Laney. Once the nurse gets back, I’ll roll you out and—”

“How about you take Rose, and I’ll take Laney?” Grayson suggested.

“Now, wait just a minute,” Rose protested. “I’m staying right here with my niece until she leaves this building.”

“Rose,” Laney interrupted. “Don’t argue. Just do what you’re asked so we can get things moving. I want to get out of here quickly, and I don’t really care how it happens.”

Rose’s face softened. “Of course, love. But don’t you worry. I’ll have Tommy bring me to your house. I’ll be there when you get home.” Rose began to turn away but stopped. “Oh, I almost forgot, I brought you some clothes and your spare house keys. They’re in the bag on the bed. Do you need help dressing?”

“I’ll manage.”

“Then I guess I’ll see you at home. Come on, Tommy.” She grabbed Wallace’s arm and dragged him to the door.

“That’s your cue to leave, too,” Laney told Grayson quietly. She’d regained some of her color, but she still looked too fragile for Grayson’s liking. He wasn’t completely happy that she was being released tonight. He would have preferred she stay in the hospital under guard until they found the kidnappers, but since that wasn’t going to happen, escorting her home was the next best option.

“I thought we agreed that we’re going together.”

“We may be leaving together, but I’m not putting on my street clothes while you’re standing in the room.” She reached into the bag Rose had brought and pulled out what looked like a huge pink sweater. “Great,” she muttered.

“Don’t like the color choice?”

She turned the sweater so he could see the front. A giant white poodle with fuzzy yarn fur stared out at him.

“Nice,” he said, swallowing a laugh.

“If she brought me the matching leggings...” She pulled out bright pink leggings covered in white dog bones. “She did.”

“A Christmas gift?”

“Birthday. Two years ago. Needless to say, I’ve never worn them. Typical Rose, bringing them for me when she knows I have no other option but to put them on.”

Grayson smirked. He wasn’t into fashion, but even he could see why a person would not want to be caught dead in that getup.

Then the smirk died on his lips, the thought sobering him instantly. The truth was that if he wasn’t vigilant, that is exactly what could happen to Laney Kensington.

“You have options,” he said. “It’s that or the hospital gown. Pick your poison.”

“Right.” She pulled the outfit to her chest. “I’ll change in the bathroom.”

It took her longer than it should have. She might have told the doctor she was feeling okay, but Grayson wasn’t buying it. Her eyes had been glassy, her complexion still a little too waxy. If she passed out in the bathroom, he wouldn’t know it.

“Laney?” Grayson rapped on the door. “You okay?”

“Fine.” She opened the door, her body covered from neck to ankle in pink and white.

He shouldn’t have smiled. He knew it, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“Wow,” he murmured as she met his gaze.

“And not in a good way, right?”

“You almost make it work.”

She offered a wan smile and sighed. “I’m not worried about making it work. I’m worried about everyone in the hospital catching a glimpse of me in it. If we’re trying to slip out of here undetected, this outfit isn’t going to help.”

“I can fix that,” Grayson said, shrugging out of his jacket and setting it on her shoulders. She slipped her arms into the sleeves, and he tugged the hood up over her hair, his fingers grazing silky skin.

That he noticed surprised him. Since Andrea’s death, he’d devoted himself to his job. There wasn’t room in his life for anything else.

He stepped back. The jacket hung past Laney’s thighs, the sleeves covering her hands.

“It’s a little big,” he said.

She scowled, pulling at the pink leggings. “Not big enough, I’m afraid.”

He laughed. “Well, at least the poodle is covered.”

“There is that.” She grabbed Aunt Rose’s bag from the bed. “Do you think if I press the button, the nurse will come any faster? I’m ready to get out of here.”

“You can give it a try,” he responded. He was anxious to leave, too. He had an uneasy feeling that said things weren’t going to go down as smoothly as he wanted them to.

Laney jabbed the call button. “Really, I think a wheelchair is silly. I’m perfectly capable of—”

The lights went out, the room plunging into darkness. No light seeping in under the door. No light filtering in from behind the curtain. When he’d driven in, Grayson had noticed construction signs for a new wing—perhaps the power outage was related to that. Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford to assume anything.

“What’s going on?” Laney whispered.

“I don’t know,” he responded, grabbing her hand and pulling her close to his side. “But, I can tell you this. We’re not waiting for the wheelchair.”

FOUR

Laney’s nerves were on edge, her vision adjusting to the darkness as Agent DeMarco guided her toward the door. It flew open as they reached it, and Detective Jensen barged in. The door slammed shut behind him. “What do you make of this, DeMarco?” His voice was low and tense. His hand rested on his holstered revolver.

“Could be a power outage from the construction that’s going on or—” the agent glanced at Laney “—something less innocuous. It’s hard to say, but I don’t like it. We need to get Laney out of here.”

“You have a plan for doing that without attracting too much attention?”

“Laney and I will leave now, through the hospital service entrance on the ground floor. I’ll take care of getting her home. You call Chief Andrews and fill him in. We’re going to need a couple of guys down here to investigate—we need to know for sure what caused this outage.”

“Do you really think this power failure could be connected to the kidnapping?” Laney interjected. “It seems like that would be a lot of trouble to go through.”

“How much trouble is too much trouble if it’s going to keep a multimillion-dollar operation running?” Agent DeMarco asked.

It was a good question. One that Laney couldn’t answer. Agent DeMarco struck her as levelheaded and calculated, completely focused on the investigation. If he thought the hospital’s power failure could be staged by the kidnappers, she wouldn’t write off the idea.

“Are you sure you don’t need me for backup?” Detective Jensen asked, brows furrowed in concern.

“I’d rather you stand your post. Act like you’re still guarding the room. Make note of everyone that comes by—hospital employee, electrician, patient—everyone,” Agent DeMarco replied.

“Will do.” Detective Jensen pulled the door open, stepping out of the way, and Agent DeMarco pressed a warm hand to the small of Laney’s back.

“Stay close,” he said as he led her into the hall.

She didn’t need the reminder. She planned on staying glued to his side until they exited the building. The emergency generator must have turned on. The hallway wasn’t quite as dark as the room had been. A row of red lights illuminated the area, providing just enough light to see down the corridor to the dimly glowing exit sign.

A nurse made her way down the corridor, peeking into rooms as she went, calling reassurances to patients, inquiring about the occupants’ welfare. Other than that, the hallway was empty, the stillness of the hospital unsettling. Agent DeMarco took Laney’s elbow, urging her toward the stairwell.

“We’re going to have to take the stairs,” he said, wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to his side, the protective gesture somehow reassuring. “We’re on the eighth floor, do you think you’ll be able to make it?”