Free Night Chill by Jeff Gunhus Page B

head and went for the door. The nurse from the front desk stood in the hall, clutching her book to her chest. Jack nodded in her direction as he walked out of the room but the nurse stared down at the floor.
    Served him right, he thought. After all, he had lied to her to get into Huckley’s room. He turned to say something, an apology, anything, but she looked horrified. That’s when it hit him. The nurse wasn’t mad, she was scared of him.
    Jack wanted to say something to make it better, make her understand that he wasn’t the dangerous one. It was her patient in room 320 that she had to worry about. But everything he thought to say sounded crazy so he gave up and let Janney escort him to the elevator. The doors closed and he and Janney rode down in silence. Jack winced as he thought of explaining his little adventure to Lauren.

 
    EIGHTEEN
     
    The girls ran down the hall toward the exit to the parking lot. They had already said their good-byes to the nurses and now they were ready to go home. Lauren walked quietly next to him. And she wasn’t happy. Jack was trying to explain why he had gone the to Huckley’s room in the first place, but he couldn’t find the right words. And the more he tried, the more irrational the whole thing sounded.
    “Look, I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have gone up there,” he finally said.
    “You’re right about that,” she snapped. “You told the nurse that I asked you to go there. It’s so unprofessional.”
    “I know. It was stupid. I’m sorry.”
    She shook her head, still angry, but reached out and took his hand as they walked. “You’ve been through a lot. Maybe this thing shook you up more than you thought. You know, dragged out some old demons.” Jack didn’t meet her eyes. “They said you were screaming?”
    “I wasn’t screaming.”
    “They said--”
    “I told you. When I saw him, it just brought the experience back. It was like a hallucination. I panicked. Now it’s over.”
    “O.K.” She squeezed his hand. “We are going to talk more about this, but it can wait. Let’s just get home.”
    Together they walked out of the hospital and hurried to catch up with the girls already climbing into Lauren’s Volvo station wagon. Jack remembered with a groan that he had to get a rental car the next day and call the insurance company about getting his car repaired. As he went over the mental list of the next couple of days of errands ahead of him, thoughts of Nate Huckley, car accidents and kidnapped women faded into the background. And that was exactly where he wanted those thoughts to stay.
    “I’ll drive,” he said. He appreciated that Lauren didn’t hesitate but tossed him the keys without comment. After making sure the kids were buckled up, he started the car, shifted the automatic transmission into drive and wound his way through the parking lot.
    “Lights,” Lauren reminded him.
    Jack grinned at her. “Got it under control.” He flipped on the lights. “Let’s go home,” he called out.
     
    The man watched closely as the Tremonts left the hospital. They’d left later than he planned but he wasn’t worried about the delay’s impact on his schedule. Everything was still a go.
     It was an interesting turn of events, the involvement of this Jack Tremont character. He hadn’t been on any of his lists until the accident but Tremont had the man’s interest now. It was still too early to tell, but the man felt that finding Tremont might turn out to be stroke of luck. And it was about time he caught a break. After months of reconnaissance, he was getting impatient for action. 
    The man exited his car. The dome light of course had been disconnected so as not to draw attention to his vehicle. He zipped up his black windbreaker and jogged across the parking lot. On the slim chance the security guard had deviated from his usual schedule and was walking the perimeter, the man had chosen his wardrobe to make sure he fit the part of a casual jogger.