Echo of Danger Read online

  Since they both knew Eli and Judith had the happiest of marriages, Deidre didn’t think Eli needed any prompting. “You be sure he knows how much I appreciate it. Do you have a ride home? I could ask...”

  “It’s all settled. One of the ladies from your church offered to drive me. I hear they’ve all been standing by to take turns doing whatever needs done.”

  Deidre nodded, and the tears she hadn’t allowed herself to shed for Kevin filled her eyes at the kindness. “So many people have helped me since this happened. I don’t know how I’ll be able to thank them all.”

  “Seeing Kevin well is all the thanks anyone needs.” Judith glanced at the clock that was mounted above a mirror on the far wall. “I should probably go down. I don’t want her to have to drive around waiting for me.” She studied Deidre’s face. “If you want me to stay...”

  “No, no, I’ll be fine. I’m just eager to talk to the doctor. She said they’d probably let Kevin wake up today if all continued to go well.” Her heart lurched at the thought of seeing his eyes open, of knowing he recognized her. “Please, go on home. I’m fine now.”

  Judith embraced her. “We are all praying,” she whispered. And then she was leaving, passing Pastor Adam in the doorway.

  “I don’t want to intrude, but I had to see how Kevin’s doing.” He gave her a tentative smile. “Better?”

  “I think so. The doctor should be in soon, so...”

  Adam nodded. “I understand. I’ll leave you.” But he didn’t. He stood there awkwardly for a moment, and then he came closer and put his hand on her shoulder. “You know how much I...we all care. If there’s anything, anything at all, just...”

  He sounded so eager to help that Deidre wished she could think of something for him to do. “I’ll call you, of course. Thank you, Adam.”

  He nodded, patted her shoulder. “I’ll go now. Be sure you call me.”

  Finally he was gone. Alone with her son, Deidre wrapped Kevin’s hand in both of hers. “You’re going to wake up soon.” She kept her voice soft. “All the boys and girls from your kindergarten class have made cards for you. When you open your eyes, you can look at them, okay?”

  She heard the door and stopped, but Liz Donnelly just smiled and nodded. “It’s okay to talk to him. But right now Dr. Jamison and I want to have a few words with you.”

  Jamison followed Liz into the room. He stood silent for a moment, studying a chart he carried, and Deidre’s heart began to thud. At last he looked up and focused on her.

  “As we explained to you earlier, the reason for the sedation was to allow the brain time to rest and recover by reducing swelling.”

  He seemed to expect a response, so she nodded.

  “All of the tests we’ve run are looking good, so we’ve ordered to stop the sedation. Once your boy wakes up, we’ll be able to assess the situation in a different way.”

  “Does that mean you’ll be able to tell if there’s been any permanent damage?” Her throat tightened as she said the words, and her hands felt clammy.

  Jamison looked at Liz, as if passing the question off to her. Liz came and sat down knee to knee with Deidre.

  “We just don’t know. Once Kevin is awake, we’ll want to see if there are any overt signs of damage. But signs can be very subtle, and there’s also the fact that he might demonstrate some impairment at first and then have that completely disappear as his brain continues to heal.” She patted Deidre’s hand. “It’s a game of wait and see at this point, but we’re agreed that we don’t see any indication of trouble now.”

  Deidre managed to nod. What it boiled down to was that they really didn’t know. But when she looked at Kevin, his cheeks rosy as they always were when he slept, she found it impossible to believe he wouldn’t simply be himself when he woke.

  “When do you think he’ll wake up?”

  Liz glanced at her watch. “Anytime in the next hour or so. You can talk to him the way you were, but don’t make any other effort to rouse him. It’s better to just let him come out of it gradually on his own.”

  Again Deidre nodded, but with a flicker of irritation. What did they think she was going to do—try to shake him awake?

  “Good.” Liz rose, and Dr. Jamison was already halfway out of the room. “We’ll leave you with him, then. When he starts responding to you, just ring for the nurse and have her page me. I expect to be here in the hospital.”

  “All right.” Much as she liked Liz, she was ready to have her go. Talking about the possibilities of difficulties with Kevin’s brain made them uncomfortably real.

  But apparently she wasn’t destined to be alone with Kevin, because no sooner had the doctors left than Jason came in. “You haven’t been left by yourself, have you?” He seemed to echo her thoughts.

  She managed a smile. “You just missed Pastor Bennett. And Judith was here before that.”

  “Good.” Apparently he, like everyone else, thought she needed company. He looked at Kevin and nodded, as if pleased with his appearance. “What’s the verdict? Are they waking him up today?”

  “Yes.” There was a world of relief in the word, but it was tinged with anxiety.

  Jason seemed to pick up on what she didn’t say. He studied her face and then came to sit next to her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She shook her head, trying to deny the longing to spill out her worries and fears.

  “There must be something, or you wouldn’t look that way.”

  She couldn’t help smiling at his words. “You’ve only known me a few days. You can’t possibly know what my expressions mean.”

  “Granted, it hasn’t been long, but they’ve been eventful days. You get to know a lot about people when you see them in a crisis.” Jason’s face tightened, making her wonder what had induced that grim look.

  “Kevin’s going to wake up soon.” She squeezed the small hand that lay in hers. “When he does, we’ll have an idea of whether there’s any permanent damage. And we’ll know what he remembers.”

  That was on everyone’s mind, it seemed. The police, of course, but maybe also the person who’d attacked Dixie. Was he still here in Echo Falls, waiting? Or had he fled? Surely that was what he’d have done.

  “Whatever happens when he wakes up, at least you’ll have him back again.” He put a hand on the back of her chair rather than on her shoulder, as Adam had done.

  She blinked back sudden tears. “Yes. Maybe I’ll be able to take him home soon. I won’t know what to do when we get back to real life.” She gestured to their surroundings. “This...all of it...doesn’t seem real.”

  Jason seemed to consider her words. “It’s not normal, anyway. Well, today is the first step back. By the way, Judge Morris sends his apologies. He wanted to be here this morning, but he had to be in court.”

  So that was why Jason had come. It wasn’t anything personal. Surely she wasn’t disappointed. She couldn’t be relying on the man. She barely knew him.

  “I’m sure. I’ll call and give Sylvia the latest news once Kevin is awake.”

  Sylvia hadn’t come to the hospital to see Kevin, and Deidre had been glad for that. It wasn’t that Sylvia didn’t care; it was that she was too fragile emotionally to be helpful.

  Kevin’s hand stirred in hers—just a butterfly touch at first, then a definite movement.

  “Kevin.” She leaned over him. “Baby, are you awake?” She sensed, rather than saw, Jason snap to attention next to her. “Kevin?”

  Nothing happened for a minute that seemed to last forever. Then Kevin moved, wiggling a little as he did when she woke him for Sunday school. His forehead wrinkled.

  “Wake up, baby,” she said, keeping her voice gentle. “It’s time to get up now.” They were the same words she said every morning.

  And, just like all those other mornings, Kevin blinked
and opened his eyes. At first he stared, seeming puzzled, at the ceiling. Then he focused on her face. His blue eyes widened and he smiled. “Mommy.”

  She’d never heard anything better in her life. It took a giant effort to keep her voice calm, her manner casual. “You awake, baby?”

  “Sure.” He started to get up, then stared at the tube leading into his arm. “Mommy?” His voice shook. “What’s happening, Mommy? What’s that thing?”

  “It’s okay.” She eased him back on the pillow, putting her arms around him. “You had a little accident and had to come to the hospital. But you’re getting better now.”

  “Oh.” He settled down but still looked troubled. She thought he was trying to remember. “Did I fall out of the tree? That’s what happened, right? You told me not to climb so high, but I wanted to see.”

  “Climbing the apple tree, you mean?” At a movement from Jason, she glanced at him. “That morning,” she said quietly. “Is that what you remember, Kev?”

  He frowned. “I remember climbing up high in the tree. That’s all.”

  Kevin was making up his own story about what had happened. It was a story that probably seemed normal and comforting to him.

  Comforting because he didn’t know how he got hurt. Here was the answer everyone had been waiting for. Kevin didn’t remember anything about the attack on Dixie. However the police might feel about it, Deidre couldn’t help but be relieved.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  FROM WHAT JASON had seen during the time he’d spent at the hospital, Kevin awake was going to be quite a handful. It would try everyone’s patience keeping a lively kid like that quiet. But it was a lot better than watching him lie in the hospital bed unconscious.

  Sitting unobtrusively while Deidre talked to the doctor, Jason had come away with an answer that troubled him. From what the pediatrician had said, she hadn’t been at all surprised that Kevin didn’t remember what had happened in the hours prior to his injury. Apparently that occurred often with head injuries. So for the moment, Kevin could be of no help at all to the police. Chief Carmichaels would be disappointed.

  But there was also the possibility that the memory would come back as the child’s brain healed from the trauma. And if it did, what then?

  Deidre had wanted to reject that result. Her fear had been palpable. But he couldn’t entirely dismiss the judge’s comment that something Deidre had done had put Kevin in danger.

  Not intentionally, he was sure. He’d seen enough of her devotion to the boy to know that. But what did he really know about her?

  For that matter, what did he really know about the judge? This situation was becoming more uncomfortable by the moment. He’d been desperate enough and raw enough emotionally to grab at the lifeline the judge had offered him. But the strings attached to that offer were pretty ugly when viewed impartially, and right at the moment, he didn’t see a clear way out of the position he was in.

  He’d nearly reached the edge of town, where the row of graceful old Victorian houses petered out and farmland took over. He’d offered to pick up some toys to keep Kevin occupied, so he had a legitimate reason for going into Deidre’s house alone. He had the key she’d lent him so that he could complete his errand.

  Pulling into Deidre’s driveway, he parked and slid out. The front door was locked, of course, but it responded readily to the key.

  His fingers closed over the key as he stepped inside. Would the judge expect him to take advantage of the situation to have a copy made? Possibly. But even though his values had taken quite a battering during the events of the past six months, he wasn’t willing to compromise them that much.

  He spared a flickering thought for Leslie, who hadn’t had any such compunction, and then dismissed her. Maybe it was a good sign that he’d been too busy to think of her more than once since he’d arrived in Echo Falls.

  Jason came to a halt in the living room and had a cautious look around. The previous time he’d been here, he’d been focused on the emergency and the need to act. He’d barely been aware of the surroundings. He looked first at the spot where Dixie James had lain, on an area rug in front of the sofa. That rug was gone now, maybe to the police lab or maybe disposed of, and in its place was an oval braided rug, whose mellow colors blended with the blue upholstery on the sofa and chairs.

  The room seemed furnished for comfort rather than style, as if a family had acquired pieces they liked over a couple of generations. A child’s toy airplane nosed against a framed photo of an older couple on an end table, and several magazines had slid to the floor from an overburdened rack. It wasn’t messy, just lived-in, he supposed.

  He could imagine it annoying the judge, though. He’d already noticed that everything in the office had to be exactly the way the judge liked it, down to the way the pens were arranged on Evelyn’s desk.

  He moved through the adjoining dining room, where tulips drooped in a vase, dropping their petals onto the polished surface of the table, and on into the kitchen. Deidre had apparently resisted the current urge toward steel appliances and granite. The cabinets were painted wood, and geraniums bloomed in a pot on one windowsill, while what were probably herbs grew on the other.

  Beyond the kitchen he found what must be the headquarters of Deidre’s business. On one side, shelves and racks held packing supplies, while two walls were covered with shelves holding a variety of handcrafted items—everything from placemats to quilts to wooden toys and more. He zeroed in on the computer at one end of a long wooden table.

  He switched it on. Deidre apparently hadn’t seen the need to password protect it, and he easily accessed the files. The computer seemed devoted to the business, though, with sales records, addresses, sample newsletters and photographs of items offered for sale.

  Searching her email was similarly nonproductive—it contained only correspondence related to the business. If Deidre had personal emails, she obviously kept them elsewhere.

  Glancing at his watch, he retraced his steps and started upstairs. He couldn’t take too long completing his errand, or Deidre might become suspicious. Still, he might not have another chance to prowl around her house undetected.

  The police would have gone over the stairs with meticulous care, but as far as he knew, there had been no indication that Kevin’s injury had been anything other than accidental. He’d started down the stairs, tripped and fallen. Whether he’d tripped in shock from what he’d seen was an open question.

  Four rooms upstairs. Which one was Kevin’s was obvious—typical little boy’s bedroom, decorated with train wallpaper and bright curtains to match. The items he’d come to fetch would be there, but for the moment, he wanted to see the rest of the upstairs. There was a guest room and next to it what might have been a study for Frank, furnished with bookshelves and a desk. He considered taking the time to search the desk, but if Deidre were hiding anything about an affair, it was unlikely to be there.

  Her bedroom was the likeliest place. He moved into the room, feeling like an intruder. But that was part of the job, wasn’t it? Like the living room, this room had an air of permanence, as if the furniture had stood where it was for a lot of years and was comfortable there.

  Jason dismissed the thought. This was no time to get nostalgic for a permanence he’d never experienced. He went quickly to the dresser, a massive affair of highly polished maple, and pulled open a drawer. Moving quickly, he felt under clothes, looking for any crinkle of paper or odd shape.

  In the third drawer he found it—a sheaf of something under the drawer liner. He drew out the bundle. Cards, greeting cards, stretching back over the years, it seemed. A birthday card signed “Mommy and Daddy,” a graduation card, several Valentine cards. He opened one that read: “I don’t know what I did to deserve someone like you. You are my strength.” It was from Frank.

  Feeling like a Peeping Tom, he shuffled through the re
st and came up with nothing. As he put them back into place, he felt something else, something tucked back into the corner under the paper. He was reaching for it when he heard footsteps on the stairs.

  Closing the drawer as quietly as he could, he managed to be in the center of the room when Judith Yoder appeared in the doorway. She didn’t look surprised, but then she’d have seen his car in the driveway. But she did look suspicious.

  When she didn’t speak, he hurried into speech. “I’m glad you’re here. Maybe you can help me. Deidre asked me to pick up a few things for Kevin, and I haven’t been able to spot the first one on the list. Do you know where his handheld electronic game might be?”

  The suspicion in Judith face wasn’t allayed. “Not in Deidre’s bedroom.” She jerked a nod toward the next room. “Komm. It’ll be in here.”

  He was very aware of her covert glances as she took the list from his hand and began collecting the items. A couple of small toy train pieces, a few books, a pack of crayons, the electronic game.

  “Thanks. I’m afraid I’m not up on little boys’ toys.”

  Judith tucked everything into a bright tote bag. “Please tell Deidre I’ll be in later this afternoon.” She handed him the bag. “Let me see you out.”

  He’d gotten the bum’s rush a few times in his life, but never with so much politeness. Judith closed the door firmly behind him, and he headed to his car.

  So she’d be seeing Deidre this afternoon, would she? What exactly would she have to say about this little episode? It seemed to him that his relationship with Deidre Morris might be ending sooner than either he or the judge had expected.

  * * *

  A FEW DAYS LATER, juggling a backpack and a shopping bag provided by the hospital, Deidre ushered Kevin into the house at last. It had seemed like forever, and she wondered how long it had felt to Kevin. She kept a close eye on him as they walked into the living room. Would being home bring back memories?

  But Kevin seemed perfectly normal. He spotted Judith coming out of the kitchen with Benjamin and rushed over to them.