Page 21 of Unexpected Danger (Mountain Justice #2)

This time, Londyn pressed and held the call button. There was no way Dorena could be the only nurse on duty today. And where was Brodie?

Dustin stood so close she could smell his cologne mixed with a hint of body odor. He snapped the phone cord again before pushing the button that lowered the rail on the right-hand side of the bed.

Her pulse surged, and she felt the thundering rhythm of her heartbeat in her throat.

“If only you had agreed to date me,” he hissed. “You know I love you.” Dustin planted one knee on the bed beside her and folded himself forward. He pressed the cord against her neck.

Londyn attempted to push him away, inadvertently jerking the arm with the IV, causing her to wince in pain as it pinched the skin at the access point. But she was no match for him, especially given her weakened state.

He pushed harder on her throat. She choked and gasped for breath. Lord, please help me!

Mr. Brenneman’s words again came to mind. “When your life is in danger, remember many things can be weapons.”

Londyn wriggled and attempted to put a hand between the cord and her neck.

She kicked her legs and writhed. With her other hand, she felt around on the table, the tips of her fingers grasping for the pen while she attempted to retain consciousness.

She rolled it toward her, but it flipped from her fingers.

Londyn strained and tried again while attempting to squirm from Dustin’s grasp. He pressed harder.

Finally, she wrapped her fingers around the pen, and in a burst of adrenaline, she aimed for his eye.

“Nice try,” he growled, turning his head.

She aimed a second time for his neck, but he lowered his head to avoid her attack, causing her to jab him as hard as she could in the cartilage of his upper ear.

“Ah!” He screamed and released the cord. He clutched his ear while uttering a stream of profanities.

Londyn gasped, attempting to inhale full breaths. With effort, she seized the flower vase and whacked him in the side of the head. He bowed over as water and flowers spilled everywhere.

“Knock, knock.”

Dorena entered, a smile pasted on her face. “Oh! Are you all right?” She rushed in Dustin’s direction.

“I’m fine,” Dustin said, still gripping his ear.

“Good. I heard all of the commotion in here. Due to her concussion, we need to let Londyn rest.” Dorena patted Dustin on the shoulder.

“You two sure made a mess in here. What’s with the flowers and water everywhere?

We’ll have to change your bedding, Londyn.

” Dorena shook her head. “Sir, are you sure you’re all right?

It looks like your ear might be bleeding.

” Dorena scrutinized Dustin at close range.

“I’m fine.” Something unspoken passed between them before Dustin backed toward the door. “Until we meet again, Londyn,” he said, then disappeared so quickly it was almost as if he’d never been there.

Except that Londyn’s throat ached and her pulse refused to return to normal.

“Can you please plug in the phone?” she rasped. “I need to call the police.”

Dorena’s thick black brows knitted. “Sure. But why do you need to call the police?”

“He just attempted to kill me.”

Dorena plugged in the phone. “Do remember that sometimes people with concussions experience memory loss.”

“This was not memory loss. It just happened!” She pointed at her throat. “Do you see a mark here?”

“Not really.” Dorena inspected the area on Londyn’s neck. “All I see is a small scratch, but you had that after your accident.” She reconnected the phone cord to both the phone and the jack.

“Why didn’t you answer the call button?” Her throat hurt to talk.

Dorena narrowed her eyes as though she might be offended by Londyn’s question. Her mouth barely moved as she voiced the words. “We are shorthanded, and I was busy with a patient in room 201 who reacted badly to his medicine.”

Londyn cleared her throat, coughed, then took a deep breath before continuing. “I kept pressing it, and no one came. Are you on duty alone today?”

“Like I said. We are shorthanded. We do our best, but we can’t be everywhere at once.” A flash of irritation flickered in her brown eyes. “You mentioned you’d like to call the police. Would you like me to call for you?” Dorena’s condescending tone reeked of disdain. Or maybe Londyn imagined it?

“If you could just please hand me either my cell phone or the hospital phone.”

Dorena did as requested, but she moved at a snail’s pace. She handed Londyn the hospital phone, the presence of the stretched cord reminding her of how close she’d again come to losing her life at the hands of Dustin Haack. Her arm shook as she moved the handset to her ear.

Slowly and methodically, Dorena pressed 911. “I’ll leave you to call.” With a wave of her hand, she left the room. Londyn thought she noticed Dorena’s shadow hovering near the partially closed door.

Londyn spoke with the dispatcher, who informed her that Officer Robinson would arrive soon.

She struggled to her side to replace the phone in its cradle and reach for her cell phone, which was still charging.

The railing hit a sore area, and she winced, returned to a resting position on the pillow, then tried again.

Finally, she dialed Brodie’s number. It went to voicemail.

She had just placed her cell back on the side table when a plump man in scrubs entered.

His hair was styled with a bald spot in the front and stringy shoulder-length hair in the back.

He wore thick, black-rimmed glasses and introduced himself as the environmental services aide.

He tugged behind him a mop in a portable bucket and carried a canister of antibacterial wipes.

“You want to keep these?” he asked, lifting the heap of flowers from the floor.

“No, thank you.”

He shrugged and tossed them into a trash can on wheels.

While at first glance he may seem lethargic, the man was expedient and efficient.

He’d wiped off everything, including the phone and its cord, the door handle, bed railing, and the chair in the corner, before mopping the floor and removing the garbage, all before Officer Robinson arrived.

It was then that Londyn realized something disturbing.

There would be no fingerprints to prove Dustin had even been there.

Officer Robinson took Londyn's statement. “We are short a detective right now, but I want to reassure you that we will check out the camera footage and we will catch this guy.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that.”

“Have you told Brodie about any of this?”

“No, I haven't seen him since he left early this morning. I expect him back anytime.”

“All right. I’ll brief him. How’s your throat?”

“Still sore.” Londyn gently massaged it with her hand.

The door opened, and Dorena walked in. Her eyes flitted between Londyn and Officer Robinson. “Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.” She slowly backed toward the door.

“You have perfect timing,” said Officer Robinson. “I was just about to come find you and ask you a few questions.”

“Me?” Dorena’s voice rose several octaves, and she fiddled with her lanyard. “Why would you need to ask me questions? What’s going on?” Either Dorena was a gifted actress, or she truly did not know why Officer Robinson was there.

“I need to mention that I will be recording this conversation.”

Dorena nodded and fidgeted with the stethoscope around her neck.

After securing Dorena’s full name and information about where she lived and how long she had been an employee at Pronghorn Falls Memorial, Officer Robinson began her formal questioning.

“Ms. Siegler mentioned that a man attempted to strangle her with the phone cord earlier today.”

“That is awful!” Dorena held a hand to her mouth. “Officer, I just figured that she was having confusion because she suffered a serious concussion in the car accident she was involved in.”

“Did you notice the mark on her neck when you examined her after the occurrence?”

Dorena took several steps forward and squinted in Londyn’s direction. “No, I didn’t notice.”

“Do you know a man by the name of Dustin Haack?”

“I don't.”

“Did you see the man who was in the room with Ms. Siegler?”

Dorena nodded. “I think so. He's a sheriff, isn't he?”

“Not him. The one who was in here about forty-five minutes ago.”

Several seconds ticked by before the dawn of realization occurred. “Oh, him. No, I haven't ever seen him before. I just—uh—assumed he was Londyn's boyfriend.”

Officer Robinson continued her line of questioning. “Ms. Siegler mentioned that she pressed the call button numerous times to get your attention, but no one arrived.”

Dorena pressed her thin lips into a fine line, causing them to nearly disappear.

Finally, she spoke. “We are short-staffed today, so if she did press the button multiple times, I do apologize. In addition, we had a patient with a severe allergic reaction to their medicine. Please accept my apology.”

Officer Robinson scribbled something in her notebook. “Explain to me the protocol for cleaning up a patient's room.”

“Sure. We do have some guidelines for that, and since Ms. Siegler does have a few open wounds from her car accident, she is vulnerable to infection. Whenever someone is vulnerable to infection, that necessitates us cleaning the room more often. For whatever reason, the vase with flowers in it was on the floor, the water spilled, and the plastic vase was broken with pieces everywhere. This necessitated us to call housekeeping and have them come and clean. We have a strict policy here to maintain cleanliness.”