Until Dark - Mariah Stewart [95]
“And you’re all right?”
“Thanks to Miranda, yes. Everything happened so quickly. The commotion on the steps . . . the gun going off . . .”
“She shot him?”
“I don’t think she hit him, there wasn’t any blood, except for on the newel post, which was apparently hers. It was so dark down at the bottom of the steps. She called to me to turn the lights on, but he must have blindsided her. By the time I got the lights on, he’d hit her in the head and she went down and I ran down the steps and grabbed her gun but he was gone.” Kendra swallowed hard. “It all happened so fast. . . .”
“How did he get in?”
“What?”
“I said, How did he get into the house?”
“I don’t know. The dead bolts were on, and the windows were latched. Nothing was unlocked. I spoke with the police earlier, right after they arrived, and gave them a quick statement, then drove directly here, to the hospital. Maybe by now they’ve figured out how he entered, but I’ve been with Miranda for the past several hours, and frankly, I’ve been more concerned about her.”
“Where’s her gun now?”
“The police have it.”
“Look, I’m going to be meeting with the profiler at eight this morning, then I’ll be on my way up there. I may not get there until tonight. Is there a safe place for you to stay? They’ve already dispatched agents to your house and to the hospital, but I don’t suppose you’ll want to stay at the house. I don’t know how long you’ll want to hang around at the hospital.”
“I can go to Selena’s,” she told him.
“She’s right down the road from you?”
“Yes.”
“We can have someone watching that house as well. Who’s there, who can go with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Who are the agents there at the hospital?”
“Oh. Well, there’s a tall guy with dark hair whose name I don’t know, and an agent named Will.”
“Will Fletcher?”
“I didn’t catch his last name.”
“Big guy, good-looking?”
“Very.”
“Swell,” Adam muttered under his breath.
“What?”
“I said, ask him to go with you when you leave to go to Selena’s and just stay there until someone can arrive to stick with you until this is over. John can have someone assigned by this afternoon. We’ll send someone to meet you at the house. I suspect Will might want to stay with Miranda but he can spare a few hours to watch over you until a replacement gets there.”
“Are they an item?”
“Not in the traditional sense of the word.”
“Okay. I’ll take Will wherever I go.”
“Just be safe, will you, until I can get there?”
“I’m all right, Adam. Nothing happened to me. But I feel so guilty that Miranda was hurt because of me.”
“Miranda was doing her job,” he replied levelly. “And thank God she’s as good at it as she is.”
There were voices in the background, and she could tell that Adam had placed his hand over the phone. When he got back to her, he said, “Kendra, I have to take a call. Promise me that you’ll stick close and take care until this is over.”
“Are you crazy? Of course I will.” She hit the end button. She intended on being damn careful.
Kendra stepped onto the elevator, followed by Will Fletcher, her new and somewhat reluctant guardian. Reluctant, she suspected, only because it was obvious that he hadn’t wanted to leave Miranda under guard of another agent, especially an agent he didn’t know and trust. But orders were orders, and Will did seem to be making an effort to be courteous and companionable.
Kendra, on the other hand, was impatient to leave the confines of the hospital. With the arrival of Miranda’s parents, she felt like a fifth wheel. Add to that the fact that the Cahills’ daughter had been injured trying to protect her, and Kendra’s level of discomfort had risen throughout the morning. She’d called Selena, but there’d been no answer. She could be seeing patients, as she often did at home. Kendra left a message on the answering machine that she’d be stopping by within a half hour.
“I hope you don’t mind stopping at my