Dying Scream Read Online Free PDF Page A

accident. I hoped Craig had told her something about Minor.” His relationship with Adrianna was ancient history and as far as he was concerned didn’t impact the case, so he kept it to himself.
    The Minor case had been the excuse Gage had given the department, but in truth he’d needed to know Adrianna was okay.
     
    When he’d found her, Adrianna had been standing at the glass window of the small neonatal unit at Mercy Hospital staring at the babies. Thick blond hair swept over straight narrow shoulders and accentuated a high slash of cheekbones bruised by the air bag. She’d worn a robe. Her face was scrubbed clean, pale.
    Gage cleared his throat. “Adrianna?”
    Adrianna didn’t look up at first.
    “Adrianna?”
    Sharp sapphire eyes met his and then darkened with confusion. “Gage? What are you doing here?”
    The nurses had told him she’d been three months pregnant and had miscarried after the accident. Despite their history, his heart ached for her. “I’m here on police business. Your floor nurse said I could find you here.”
    “Oh.”
    “What are you doing down here?”
    “Looking at the babies.” Adrianna glanced back at the infants on the other side of the glass. She was tall for a woman, maybe five foot eleven. Her straight-backed posture telegraphed her pain.
    He slid his hand into his pocket so he wouldn’t be tempted to touch her. “I heard about the accident. The baby. I’m sorry.”
    For a brief instant, pain glistened behind the ice.
    “How are you doing?”
    “I’ll survive,” she whispered.
    He searched for something comforting to say but feared any words would sound ham-fisted. “What do the doctors say about Craig?” He couldn’t bring himself to say “husband.”
    Adrianna turned her gaze back to the infants. “I’m waiting on the last round of tests.”
    “I know this must be tough.”
    “Tough?” A bitter smile twisted her lips and for the first time he glimpsed the anger and fear behind the facade. “I lost my son. My husband is hooked up to a breathing machine and God knows how many monitors. I’m waiting for the doctor who is supposed to tell me if Craig is going to be a vegetable or not. Tough? Yeah. It’s tough.”
    Gage’s arms ached to hold her but remained at his sides, stiff and tense.
    Adrianna’s fingers clenched a shredded tissue in a white-knuckle grip. The nurses had said that some of Craig’s friends and associates had drifted through but none had stayed long, and they’d sensed Adrianna was more of a comfort to Craig’s friends and coworkers than they to her.
    “Do you have any family or friends that can come sit with you? Your mother?”
    Adrianna sighed. “Thank you for asking, Gage, but I’ll manage.”
    In that moment the barriers dropped. Tears brimmed in fragile eyes and spilled down her cheeks. And whatever anger or chip he’d carried washed away. He leaned into her a fraction and in an even voice whispered, “You don’t look so fine.”
    His tone was riddled with pity and sadness. And that had her swiping away the tears. “It’s one foot in front of the other now.”
    There was no self-pity in her voice. And that was what got to him. “When’s the last time you ate?”
    A half smile was weak and apologetic. “I don’t remember.”
    “Let me get you something. There’s a coffee shop in the lobby. Let me help.”
    As if she’d realized how close she’d been to surrender, she stiffened. The ramparts slammed back in place. “No, I’m fine, Gage. Please just leave. I don’t want your help. You don’t belong here.”
    Behind the nursery’s glass walls a baby began to cry. Adrianna turned from him and looked through the glass.
    Forcing his mind to business, he cleared his throat. “I’m investigating the disappearance of a woman. Rhonda Minor. She worked for your husband. She’s been missing a couple of months.”
    “Craig told me that you’d been stopping by the gallery a lot lately. That you kept questioning him about