Adeline started. Took a breath and straightened away from the bed as the nurse entered the cubicle. “Is she okay?”
The nurse nodded. “It’s the sedative, ma’am. She needs to rest. I don’t think she’ll be coming around again for a while.”
Adeline nodded. “Thank you.”
She stood for a long time afterward, watching her mother sleep. Watching her breathe. She considered the glass wall that separated her mother’s space from those in charge of her care. Adeline had no reason to doubt the competence of any of them. Yet she was scared to death.
She had to go. Prescott and Arnold were out there. Maybe dead. Maybe alive. Those two women needed her to be strong. To find them. To stop this bastard ... whoever the hell he was.
And now she actually had a direction to take.
Adeline kissed her mom’s forehead and walked out into the corridor. Wyatt was speaking to one of the nurses. Adeline headed in that direction.
A big body T-boned her.
“Sorry.” She looked up at the man who had backed into her. Big guy. The uniform indicated he worked for the hospital. The mop in his hand identified him as a janitor. The yellow plastic sign sitting on the damp tile in the middle of the corridor reminded her that it was late, after normal visiting hours, when stuff like this got done. Boy, if her reactions got any slower she would be a danger to herself and those around her. “Sorry,” she repeated. “I didn’t see you.”
“No problem.” He rubbed a hand over his shiny bald head and nodded toward the cubicle she’d exited. “Your mother?”
Adeline nodded. She fought another wave of emotion. “Yeah. She had a heart attack.” Which he likely knew already. This was the cardiac unit.
He glanced at the nurse’s desk. “Don’t worry. She couldn’t be in better hands.”
Adeline told herself he was right. She had to trust these people. “Thanks.” She took one last look at her mom sleeping so peacefully. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to her.”
The janitor gave her a sympathetic smile, then went on about his mopping.
Adeline joined Wyatt at the station and left her cell number with the charge nurse. Grabbing her wavering composure with both hands, she met Wyatt’s expectant gaze. “We have to go to Waveland.”
She didn’t give him time to ask questions. Adeline walked as fast as possible to the stairwell exit. She didn’t have the patience for the elevator. She had to get out of here.
Wyatt didn’t try to slow her or to demand an explanation. He followed, taking the stairs two at a time just as she did.
When she hit the parking lot, she sent him a sideways glance. “Take me to the nearest convenience store.”
“Am I allowed to ask why?” He kept pace with her half run.
“I need a cigarette.”
31
Waveland, Mississippi; 11:58 p.m.
The door had barely opened when Adeline spoke. “Father Grayson?”
Father Floyd Grayson peered over his eyeglasses at Adeline. “You two got any ID?”
Adeline displayed her credentials as did Wyatt. Grayson grunted, then sent her another speculative glare. “It took you long enough to get here.”
“Yes, sir,” she said. “I’m sorry. Remember, I told you we were driving over from Pascagoula?”
“Well, come on then. You’re letting in the cold air.”
Adeline glanced at Wyatt before going inside. So many confusing thoughts were whirling around in her head that it was a miracle she could still string together two words. Wyatt had pulled some major strings to get the information on the priest from the sheriff in Hancock County.
They followed the elderly gentleman into his cozy living room. Took the seats he offered.
The small home was exactly like all the others in the village. Postage-stamp-size yard with a picket fence. Christmas wreath on the doors. Though the priest looked reasonably fit, Floyd Grayson was eighty-six years old and clearly this was well past his bedtime. When Adeline hadspoken to him shortly after ten he had agreed, considering the urgency of the situation, to see her at this ungodly hour.