Deadly Games - Cate Noble [29]
Jesus. Had he really been obsessed with one woman all this time?
Yes. In the last four years barely a day had gone by that he hadn’t thought of Gena. Great. So he needed therapy, too. But first he had to get her to a safe place.
He watched as another police cruiser pulled into the parking lot. The amount of law enforcement in the area should have made him feel more comfortable, and maybe it did. Marginally. With two people dead from the fire, new faces in town, Rocco’s included, were being carefully scrutinized, so it was unlikely Minh Tran’s men had stuck around.
Still, Rocco wasn’t completely comfortable. He’d give Gena a little space, but he wasn’t leaving the hospital without her.
He headed into the lobby, took a seat where he could watch the elevators.
Tugging out the brand-new Blackberry he’d just picked up, Rocco checked his e-mail, including spam, but found nothing new from Minh Tran. Or Travis.
What had happened to Maddy now that the deadline had passed? Had Tran’s crony called Rocco’s cell and reached Travis Franks instead? If so, what had Travis done? Had he been able to reason with Maddy’s abductors?
Rocco punched in Travis’s number. The call went straight to Travis’s voice mail.
“Damn it, T. Call me.” Rocco paused but didn’t disconnect. “Dante filled me in about you and Maddy. If I had known … Look, I’m still worried as hell about Maddy, as a friend. You, too, for that matter.”
He ended the call and then dialed Dante’s cell phone.
“How’s Gena?” Dante asked as soon as he answered.
Rocco sidestepped the question. “The woman who was with her last night just died.”
“Ah, hell. I’m sure Gena wasn’t happy to learn it involves the Agency. When are you returning?”
“Gena has some things to wrap up here at the hospital. We’ll go by her place on our way to the airport. What about Taz? Any luck finding him?” Rocco replied.
“No. Two women picked him up hitchhiking in Eastern Kentucky. Gave him a lift to Johnson City, Tennessee. They contacted the police after seeing the news bulletin. We’re headed to Tennessee next. Max has had a couple of blips of telepathic contact with Taz, but nothing significant. The toll it takes on Max concerns me, but he won’t back off.”
Rocco grunted. “Sounds like someone else I know. Keep me posted.”
As he disconnected, Rocco watched two grim-faced sheriff’s deputies enter the hospital and head toward the elevator. Did they want to interview Gena, too?
Wanting to reach her first—to warn her or to rush her?—Rocco headed for the administration offices just around the corner.
He nodded at the receptionist. “I’m looking for Gena Armstrong, from the women’s shelter. We were supposed to meet in the lobby, but—” He shrugged. “Could you call ICU and see if she’s still up there?”
“It might be faster if I paged her,” the woman said. “ICU has been swamped.”
Rocco waited while the woman made the announcement. Within moments, her phone rang. He moved closer, eager to hear where Gena was.
“Thank you for letting me know.” The woman hung up before addressing Rocco. “That was one of the ER nurses. She said Gena took off a little while ago. Said she was going to make arrangements for her friend who died from burns.”
Damn it! Rocco never should have let her out of his sight. “Call her back and ask if she knows how Gena left. By car? Taxi?”
The woman rolled her eyes but did as he asked. A few moments later she told Rocco, “She said Gena insisted she was okay to drive herself.”
Rocco thanked the woman and raced out of the hospital. When he reached his rental car he punched Gena’s home address into the GPS unit.
The good news was she didn’t have that much of a head start. Fifteen, twenty minutes. And if she had caught a glimpse of herself in one of her car’s mirrors, he’d bet she’d gone home to clean up before going anywhere.
Hopefully, he’d cut her off there. No harm, no foul.
If not … he didn’t know