Page 50 of Lies Beneath Secrets (Skeleton Crew #1)
CHAPTER FIFTY
Lauren
Warmth surrounds me like a giant blanket, engulfing me. Keeping me safe. A steady beeping rhythm fills my ears as my eyes crack open. Tugging at my hand stops me from trying to push myself up the bed. That’s when I notice I’m hooked to an IV. Something is clipped onto my finger. I turn my head to see two bags hanging from a metal IV rack; that’s when I realize I’m in a hospital room. When my gaze lands on a large bouquet of flowers, my memory decides to flood back to me.
The gunshots.
Blood.
I take off the little finger clip and push myself up, doing my best to get the blanket off my legs. Pain in my back freezes any movement I try to make, and that steady beeping I heard when I woke speeds up. “Fuck,” I hiss and lie back onto the bed. Only seconds later, a nurse comes inside the room.
“Trying to make an escape?” she asks, coming to my side and taking hold of my hand to put the clip-like thing back into place. “Leave that one on there,” she tells me, then looks over a monitor. “I need to check your bandages.”
“What happened?”
“You were shot, dear. It collapsed your lung. The young man you came in with was also shot. He is doing just fine.” The memory of lying on a couch while two people stood over me comes back. One of them must have been Kaleb. Someone stood behind them, holding a stuffed black horse. Then more gunshots.
“Gabby? Where is she?” I try to get up again, but the nurse gently holds me to the bed.
“Your daughter? She’s just fine. I sent her and your husband down to get something to eat. Poor thing looked famished but refused to leave your side. I had to convince that man of yours to take her out of the room for a little bit. I don’t think he has slept since he’s gotten here either.”
“My husband?”
“Yes, dear,” she assures me. “Now I need to go on to the next patient. Do you promise to relax? They’ll be back soon.” I nod my agreement and watch her leave the room. I try to do what she says and relax into the bed. The steady rhythm of the beeping lulling me off to sleep again.
“You’re one lucky bitch.” My eyes fly open, meeting King’s harsh glare. He steps closer to me, hand engulfing my mouth before I can let out a scream. “How are you going to get out of this one? No guardian angel to help you now.” His hand then goes to my throat, squeezing hard, bringing his other one to join in. My hands claw at his, doing their best to pry his fingers away. I only can get my grip on one of them before it slips back. Then I try for his face, his eyes the target this time. Its only small scratches I can do until the fight in my limbs starts to fade. My heart hammers loudly in my ears as the pressure in my throat intensifies. I can’t live through a gunshot only to be strangled by this man. There’s no way.
As my vision begins to darken I catch a glimpse of Con behind King, knife to his throat.
“Guardian angel is right here,” Con says before dragging the knife across King’s throat, blood spilling all down his chest and onto my bed. King sputters and coughs as he tries to now clutch at his own throat, desperately gasping for air.
I do my best to fill my lungs again, all the while Con bends down over King, watching him as he struggles to take his last breaths. “You lost, motherfucker,” Con says and stabs him once again, this time in the chest. King’s eyes widen, then slowly drift shut. “Got off easy, you prick.”
“Con,” I rasp, his name burning my throat.
“We need help in here!” Con yells out the door, then comes to my side to press a button. “You okay, baby?” I do my best to nod as he cups my cheek in his hand. Screams fill the room when the nurses rush inside. “He was choking her,” Con says, then steps back for them to look me over. At first, they’re reluctant to come into the room, but his glare must be enough to scare them into checking me over.
“For fuck’s sake, Con,” I hear from the doorway. “Do you know how much paperwork this one is going to cause?” The voice is familiar.
“Officer Heinz?”
“Hey, Lauren. Glad to see you’re alive.” I glance up at Con, who gives me one of his classic shrugs, then over to Officer Heinz, who looks over King’s lifeless body. All the while, the nurses ask me questions and check my vitals. When they seem to be satisfied, they leave me alone. Not long after, they’re back, helping me out of the blood-soaked hospital gown and into a clean one. Then they wheel me out of that room and into another one at Con and Heinz’s request since my room is a ‘crime scene’ now.
“Where’s Gabby?” I ask once we get settled.
“She fell asleep in the cafeteria. I paid off a nurse to let her sleep in one of the rooms. Siena is in there with her,” Con tells me, coming to sit in the chair next to my bed.
“What about Kaleb?”
“He’ll be okay. The bullet went through and didn’t hit anything important. He got released a couple of days ago.”
“A couple of days ago? How long have I been out?”
“Only three. You had a long surgery, but it went well. The recovery will just take some time. I’ll be here for you.” He pauses and takes my hand in his. “If you’ll have me.”
“Have you?”
“King is gone,” he says as if that will explain everything.
“Did you catch Eli?” Con shakes his head and sighs. “Okay.”
“Okay?” he asks, seemingly puzzled by the word.
“I want to join the club, Con. I want help tracking down Eli,” I swallow, “so I can kill him.”
Con and Lauren will return in book number two