What Echoes Render Read online

  She sighed and picked up the paperwork on her desk, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand. All she had to do was finish Aaron’s charity case application and she would be more or less done for the day. While an aunt, a sister of Aaron’s mother, had shown up out of the woodwork and was set on helping Aaron as much as she could, hospital stays were expensive. Jesse had spoken to both the aunt and Aaron several times and then sorted out what expenses the aunt could cover and which would need to be put into the application to apply for funds from the hospital. It wasn’t usually her job to do those applications, but there was no way around the fact that she’d taken a special interest in Aaron.

  Thinking of Aaron made her think of Julie and as she signed the documents in all the right places, she wondered how that investigation was going. Jesse hadn’t been downtown all week so she hadn’t seen if rebuilding had started yet, but had heard from Vivi that new windows were in and the interior cleanup had started.

  As if on cue, there was a knock at her door and David popped his head in.

  “Hi, I was in Windsor so thought I’d come down to visit with Aaron and update you on the Spin-A-Yarn investigation,” he said, still standing in the doorway.

  For a long moment, she just stared at him. His friendly expression turned into a questioning one when she didn’t respond—she just hadn’t expected to see him and was caught by surprise.

  “Uh, do you want me to come back?” he asked.

  She shook her head and spoke, finally. “Sorry, I was in the middle of paperwork, plus it’s Friday. My mind hadn’t made the leap from this,” she held up the files, “to arson.”

  He grinned and stepped into her office, closing the door behind him.

  “How are you?” he asked.

  She signed the last of the papers, tucked them all neatly into the file that would be sent to the board for review, then looked up at him. “I’m good. This week has been a lot quieter than last week was, that’s for sure. And you? Is there something going on with Aaron’s case?”

  “Glad to hear your week is going well. And no,” he shook his head and took a seat across from her. “Everything’s fine. I just came by to make sure Aaron didn’t feel too alone, I didn’t know he had family in.”

  That was, well, that was sweet. She cleared her throat.

  “Yes, his aunt came in on Monday. I was just thinking about her. I hadn’t known Aaron’s mom had a sister, so I was a bit suspicious, I admit. But Aaron recognized her. He said she’d always sent him cards and packages on his birthdays, but apparently his mother and her sister were more or less estranged after his mom married his dad.”

  “I’m glad he has someone. It’s going to be a long road.”

  She smiled. “I was thinking the same thing. Have you met her?”

  He shook his head. “No, I stopped by the nurses’ desk and they told me he’d been moved out of the intensive care unit and that his aunt had come. I figured I’d drop by to see you first, then go see him.”

  “Jesse?” The door opened and her assistant’s head appeared. “It’s eleven thirty. If you’re going to be at Carl’s by noon, you should think about leaving.”

  “Or I should already be out the door?” she rejoined with a smile. Her assistant was unflaggingly professional and Jesse was sure that, one day soon, she’d lose Kayla to someplace far more glamorous than Riverside.

  “I’ll get the packages ready,” Kayla said, then closed the door again, leaving the two of them.

  “You’re on your way out?” David asked.

  She inclined her head. “Yes, I’m taking the afternoon off, but before I do that, I need to stop by and visit an old friend. My predecessor had major heart surgery down in the city last week and is back home now,” she spoke as she gathered her jacket, computer bag, and purse. David stood with her.

  “Here you go.” Kayla reentered the room with a huge bouquet of flowers and a box Jesse had previously filled with homemade food items that Carl and his wife Angie could just put in the freezer, then reheat as needed. The box also held cards and small gifts from just about everyone who worked at the hospital during Carl’s tenure—a testament to his leadership.

  “Are you going to need a hand with these?” Kayla asked, eyeing Jesse whose hands were already quite full.

  “I can give you a hand,” David offered.

  Jesse saw just a tiny movement in Kayla’s eyebrow, but her assistant handed the items over to David without a word.

  “Thanks, David, I appreciate it. I just need help out to my car and then I’ve got it,” she said.

  “So, do you have plans after visiting Aaron?” she asked as they left her office and made their way through the halls to the front of the hospital. Not surprisingly, her heart managed to find its way into her throat. Unintentionally, she let out a laugh, mostly at herself. She couldn’t even ask him if he wanted to grab lunch with her without getting nervous—there was no way she’d ever be able to ask for more, as Kit had suggested.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Everything is fine. I just sometimes think I look like I’m moving into or out of this place when I walk around with so much stuff,” she lied, lifting the bags in her hands.

  “Jesse.” A voice called out from behind them. A voice she knew too well.

  As she came to a stop and turned around, David paused beside her. “Dr. Bennet, what can I do for you?” she asked.

  Ken Bennet’s eyes went from her to David then back again. “You left your phone in my office,” he said, holding out the device. “And we didn’t get a chance to schedule a follow-up to our conversation,” he added, his gaze flicking to David again.

  That, of course, had been intentional on her part. Dr. Bennet was a great surgeon but a terrible head of his department. She had enough past history with him to know that the ‘conversation’ he wanted to have would be nothing more than an hour of her listening to him complain about his budget. Or complain about the nurses. Or complain about the hospital’s equipment. Jesse often mused that Dr. Bennet was the perfect example of someone who was incredibly attractive on the outside and incredibly unattractive on the inside.

  “Thank you.” She took her phone from him. “Kayla can schedule something. Call her and she’ll take care of it,” Jesse said, knowing full well that Kayla would be careful not to find an open spot for Dr. Bennet for several weeks. Not that her calendar was actually that booked up.

  Dr. Bennet looked about to protest, but she cut him off. “I’m running late for my visit with Carl, Ken. Call Kayla, please.”

  The surgeon’s mouth pursed but then he gave a terse nod and turned to walk away, in the process almost running into a woman pushing one of the food carts. Jesse braced herself for the explosion she expected to come from Dr. Bennet’s lips, likely blaming the woman for being in his way—he wasn’t known to be forgiving, or even very rational—but to her surprise, all that came were some irritated mumbles as he stalked off.

  Jesse turned to give the woman with the cart an encouraging smile but saw that she’d just ducked her head and carried on, leaving Jesse and David standing in the middle of the hall.

  David shrugged in response to her what-can-you-do shrug then gestured for her to continue on down the hallway.

  “You asked if I have plans after visiting with Aaron,” he said as they entered the lobby area of the hospital. “I have to be back at the firehouse tonight, but I have a couple of hours.”

  They scooted past a young woman carrying a toddler toward the intake desk and an old man with a walker being helped by a nurse. As they stepped outside and headed toward the parking area, Jesse took a deep breath and inhaled the crisp spring air.

  “Carl lives just on the other side of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge,” she said. “I’m not going to stay longer than half an hour. Do you want to grab some Mexican food around one-ish?” she asked as they approached her car. There, she’d done it. But just what had she done?

  They reached her car and she saw him frown as he studied i
ts chipped paint.

  “That sounds good,” he replied, almost as an afterthought. “Are you going to get this repainted?” he asked.

  She opened the trunk and dumped her computer bag in, then she took the goods from David and set them gently beside her bag.

  “I think I’ll have to or it will just get so much worse this winter,” she answered, trying to sound as casual as David. “I know it’s a long way off since we’re just heading into summer, but I may as well. Um, do you know the restaurant I’m talking about? It’s the only Mexican one in town. It’s on Phillips Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues.” In for a penny, in for a pound.

  His eyes left her car and looked straight into hers. He nodded. “I’ve never been there, but I know where Phillips Street is. It should be easy enough to find.”

  “Great.” She opened her driver’s side door and threw her purse across into the passenger seat. “I’ll see you at one?” When he didn’t immediately answer, she turned and looked up at him. He was watching her.

  “See you at one,” he repeated, his eyes not leaving hers. She managed a nod then climbed into her car, shutting her door behind her. He stepped back as she started the engine. Watching him in her rearview mirror as she drove off, she knew he didn’t leave the parking lot until after she’d pulled out. He was a gentleman in so many ways. But with the way he looked at her sometimes, she knew he could also be anything but.

  ***

  David was still on her mind as she pulled onto Route 23A and headed back toward Riverside. She’d had a nice visit with Carl and his wife, Angie. She was happy to hear, and see, that her predecessor and former boss was doing much better than she’d expected. His spirits, always high, were what she’d expected, but it was nice to see that he was healing physically, too. And as for Angie, she seemed to be taking everything in stride, trying not to hover, but also trying her best to keep her overactive husband mostly inactive.

  Jesse switched on the radio as she noticed a bank of dark clouds moving in from the south. She wasn’t exactly surprised to see a storm coming; she’d thought it had smelled a bit like rain earlier. But still, the day had started out clear and sunny and she hadn’t brought an umbrella. As the first drops began to fall and the weather station sited a series of moderate to severe thunderstorms moving in her direction, she flipped on her wipers.

  Within minutes, the sound of the rain on her car was deafening. She no longer needed the weather report to tell her what was happening, so she turned the radio off and focused on driving. Her whole life she’d experienced these kinds of intense storms—storms that lasted anywhere from five to forty minutes. They’d blow in with startling intensity and blow on up, usually northward toward Albany or the northwest corner of Massachusetts. Sometimes there wouldn’t be any damage, but sometimes they’d leave downed power lines or toppled trees. Judging by the looks of it, and sounds of it, she wouldn’t be at all surprised if this one left some wreckage behind.

  She gripped the steering wheel and cursed the fact that she was behind a semitruck; not only did it block her view of the road ahead, it also kicked so much water up onto her windshield that it was almost impossible to see more than a few feet in front of her.

  Glancing at the clock on her dashboard, she realized David was going to be at the restaurant waiting for her in twenty minutes. She might make it on time but was more likely going to be five or ten minutes late. Still, he didn’t seem the type to mind too much, and as her car slowly paced the miles toward the bridge, she found herself looking forward to having a margarita to kick off her weekend almost as much as she was looking forward to seeing David.

  She glanced in her rearview mirror and could see more clearly looking backward than forward. Behind her was a large blue ancient-looking SUV, possibly an old Suburban. It looked steady as a rock and she gave a fleeting thought to the wisdom of buying a small Subaru. But she loved her little car and it got her everywhere she needed to go, so she took her eyes from the behemoth behind her, refocused them on the semitruck ahead, and thought about David.

  She’d been surprised when he’d stopped in to see her—that he’d even come by the hospital at all. Her impromptu invite to a late lunch hadn’t been well thought out and seemed to go against everything she’d been trying to tell herself, everything she’d told Kit. A restaurant not three miles from the hospital was pretty conspicuous. But then again, nothing had happened between them, so at this point, a lunch could easily pass as quasi-professional or friendly.

  The road rose up as it approached the bridge and she fell back from the semitruck a bit hoping to gain some visibility. Behind her, the driver of the SUV must have been thinking the same thing because it dropped back as well. Following the Suburban was a string of cars, but because of the weather, no one seemed anxious to speed up or pass.

  From her position well behind it, she watched the semi get blown around by the winds that blew at much higher speeds over the bridge. She felt her own car being buffeted by the same weather, but not having a trailer attached, it managed much better than the truck, although they both made it across the bridge without incident.

  Letting out a small breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, she watched as the semitruck pulled into a small diner with a big parking lot just over the bridge. She couldn’t say she blamed the driver for needing a break. Those truck drivers had way more experience than she ever would, but still, she wouldn’t want to handle such a big rig in the kind of wind this spring storm was bringing. Especially when the storm was likely to blow over in only a few more minutes.

  Jesse had been focusing so much on the truck in front of her that she was startled when she glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the blue Suburban riding her tail. Apparently, the driver was no longer bothered by the weather and felt a sudden need to hurry.

  Not at all interested in having a car that close to her bumper on a wet road, Jesse’s eyes scanned the side of the road for a place where she could pull over and let the SUV pass. She didn’t have that far to go before she’d need to turn north off of Route 23 to head into Riverside, but given her druthers, she’d rather not continue with such an aggressive driver behind her. Unfortunately, after the diner where the semi had pulled off, there didn’t seem to be any other spots to pull over. The shoulder was fairly narrow on her side and beyond the shoulder there was just a ditch and then a field, which left her with almost no room to maneuver. She let out a small huff of frustration and then forced herself to let it go. Her turn was less than a mile away; the driver behind her would just have to deal with it.

  Or so she’d thought.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of blue over to her left. Her head whipped around to the driver’s side window, and to her horror, she saw the front end of the massive automobile coming up next to her. On instinct, she slowed down to allow the SUV to pass. The road had only two lanes and was an easy one to speed on. But it was also a gently winding road with a double yellow line. Not that the driver of the SUV seemed to care much about either the speed limit or the no-passing zone as it came alongside Jesse.

  Slowing down more and inching her way to the side of the road a bit, she thought about stopping altogether, then dismissed the idea. There were too many cars behind her. She also thought about speeding up and forcing the SUV to come back in behind her rather than continuing alongside her as it was doing now. But driving aggressively wasn’t all that appealing to her at the moment, so she opted to slow down just a little bit more, hoping that the driver, who Jesse could barely see, would finally pass her and continue on his or her way.

  But the Suburban’s pace slowed to match hers. The driver didn’t seem interested in passing or falling back and the vehicle just maintained its position right beside her. It was the first sign that something wasn’t quite right and, for the first time since she’d noticed the SUV, Jesse began to get nervous. It was one thing to deal with a driver who felt the need to speed or drive somewhat recklessly. It was another thing entirely to f
eel like someone might actually be trying to scare or harm her.

  Looking in her mirror again, she saw a couple of cars still behind her and hoped their drivers were noticing what was going on. Maybe someone would call the police—at the very least, maybe someone would get the SUV’s license plate. With one hand on the steering wheel, she fumbled in her purse and pulled out her phone. Hitting the button to bring it to life, she keyed in her password and started to dial 9-1-1. Maybe she was overreacting, but something just didn’t feel right.

  And then she saw another semitruck. Only this one was headed right toward them.

  CHAPTER 8

  LIKE A DEER IN HEADLIGHTS, Jesse froze for a split second. The SUV was still beside her, and heading in their direction, in the same lane as the SUV, was the semitruck. She dropped her phone and gripped the steering wheel with both hands. She had enough presence of mind not to slam on her brakes, but she did take her foot off the gas.

  In retrospect, she wasn’t sure if that been a good idea or not. Because when the SUV sped up and swerved back into her lane, its back end rammed the front left side of her car and she didn’t have the power or control to get out of the spin caused by the impact.

  Her fingers strained against the leather of her steering wheel as she battled for control of her vehicle. She hadn’t been going very fast, not in the rain, but on the wet road, her driving skills were being ruthlessly challenged. In a blur, she saw flashes of blue and heard the horn of the semi and sound of rubber skidding across pavement. The next thing she knew, the car slammed into something solid and came to a sudden stop. Stunned by the impact, the only thing Jesse was able to immediately grasp was the feel of her seatbelt straining against her chest and the airbag cushioning her cheek.

  She sat still—hands on the steering wheel, chest pressed against the canvas of the belt, eyes closed—for a long, long moment.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Is she hurt?”