Free Stolen Secrets by Nancy Radke

who at five seven was almost as tall as he— and carried her the rest of the way. She was crying hard, not hysterically, but in a hopeless, heart-wrenching way Ryan had never heard before. It sounded more like the whimpering of an abandoned child than an adult.
    Alison and Robyn climbed into the back, one on each side of her, offering comfort. He slipped into the driver’s seat and put the car in reverse, backing past the mounds of snow-covered vehicles in the parking lot.
    “Thanks,” Robyn said. “I don’t trust even a cab driver on these streets.” She stared forward at Angie, puzzled. “Who’s your friend?”
    * * *
    Turning in her seat, Angie gave her attention to the three in the back. “I’m Angie Reid. I’m Ryan’s new assistant.”
    “I’m Robyn Duvall. This is Alison Stewart. And Mary Brown.”
    Alison lifted a worried, cameo-perfect face and nodded, then sent a quick glance toward Robyn, as if to say, When did this happen ?
    Robyn shrugged and turned her attention back to their distraught friend, while Ryan drove with fierce concentration through the city streets to the freeway.
    Angie looked out the windshield again and watched the guardrail posts whizzing past, the snowcaps still clinging to each section. Only the overhead road signs were bare, testifying to the lingering cold.
    She had never had a family member die. She clutched the silver medal in her palm so hard it left its imprint. She had been upset over loosing her furniture and almost loosing her medal, and here Mary stood in danger of loosing her father. It brought her troubles into perspective.
    * * *
    Hang in there, Warren , Ryan thought. Just hang in there, buddy . He sped down the freeway, Mary’s crying urging him faster. The ride seemed long, but finally he pulled up to the covered ambulance entrance.
    He helped Mary out and held her until the others could steady her. He checked to see that they had all cleared the car, then drove away to park.
    He hurried back through the parking garage and the security checkpoint, to rejoin the group at the nurses’ station. Mary wasn’t with them.
    “How’s Warren?” he asked, while glancing around for Mary.
    The nurse behind the counter looked over at him. “I can’t say. He was hit only once, but at an angle, so the bullet tore through most of his body. I’ve seen our doctors pull victims through with worse injuries. There’s a chance.” She waved her hand toward the back. “They’re still in the operating room.”
    “Where’s Mary?”
    “The nurse in charge took one glance at her, put her in a wheelchair and took her vitals,” Angie answered.
    “We’re treating her for shock,” the nurse added. “It’s slow in here tonight. We put her in a room.”
    “This kind of thing is hard on anyone, but this must be extra hard on Mary,” Robyn said to the nurse. “You need to know her history.”
    “Why?”
    “When she was nine, her mother was killed in the Middle East— raped and murdered. Mary saw it happen. If she’s overly stressed, she reverts back to being nine years old again. It’s happened before. She just opts out. You’ll need to watch her.”
    The nurse nodded.
    “She had just started to live independently of Warren. She moved in with Alison and me last month.”
    Ryan hadn’t known that Mary lived with his sister, but then he hadn’t seen any of them for a while. “Her crying sounded like a child— ” he said.
    “Very unusual,” the nurse agreed.
    “But at least she’s still with us,” Robyn added. “I saw her black out once. She goes unconscious. Just closes out the world and collapses. It’s scary.”
    The nurse nodded. “I’ll let the doctor know. He might want to have her chart available. Do you know who her regular doctor is?”
    “She carries a card in her purse. I can get that.”
    “Please do. Bring it to my station and wait while I check with the doctor. He may want more information.”
    “Sure. Can we see her?”
    “Yes. Second door