Trumped Up Charges Read Online Free PDF Page B

the chapel. New anxiety struck the second she got off the fourth-floor elevator. Officer Grummet, the cop who’d given her the third degree earlier, stood in the hallway just past the nurses’ station.
    She’d had enough of him and his accusatory tone. He hadn’t directly called her a suspect but his mannerisms and pointed questions had made it clear that he suspected she knew more than she was saying.
    She’d always been a rotten liar.
    Grummet started walking in her direction, but his gaze was focused on the shapely nurse who was standing at a patient’s room door a few feet in front of him.
    Matilda ducked into an empty room and waited until he’d passed and had ample time to board the elevator.
    She was only a few feet from Janice’s room when she heard a familiar voice. She turned to find Hadley rushing toward her, a nice-looking man keeping pace. Hadley pulled Matilda into a heart-wrenching hug that had Matilda struggling to hold back tears.
    “Any news?” Matilda asked when Hadley’s arms dropped back to her side.
    “None. No leads and no contact from the kidnapper.”
    “That will come,” Matilda said, expressing more hope than confidence.
    Hadley stepped closer to the man. Matilda figured he was a detective, since she was pretty sure that Hadley wasn’t in a relationship. Janice frequently lamented the fact that Hadley showed no interest in having a man in her life.
    “Have you seen Mother?” Hadley asked. “Is she awake?”
    “I can’t say. She was still in recovery when I went down to the cafeteria for coffee and a sandwich. After that I stopped in the chapel for a few minutes. I’m on my way back to her room now.”
    “Did you by any chance talk to Dr. Gates after surgery?”
    “No,” Matilda said. “The nurse said he’d talk to you when you got here. Are you going to tell Janice about the abduction?”
    “Yes. I hate it, but she’s the only one who can give us the names of everyone who has a key to her house.”
    “She’ll handle it,” Matilda assured her. “When the going gets tough, your mother is always tougher. And far better she hear it from you than from anyone else.”
    “I know. But I’d hoped she wouldn’t have to hear it at all. I keep praying the police will call and tell me that they’ve arrested the kidnapper and that Lacy and Lila are safe and on their way home.”
    “You keep on praying and trusting in the Lord, Hadley. Half the city of Dallas is praying right along with you. Even the ones who don’t pray are on the lookout for your two sweethearts ever since that first AMBER Alert was released. People around here come together in a crisis. That’s the Texas way.”
    “I know,” Hadley said. “You’d think the cops would have a decent lead by now.”
    Dread swelled inside Matilda like a pot of soaking beans. “If you don’t need me anymore, I think I’ll go home for a while.”
    “Of course. You should. I’ll be okay. I have Adam.” She touched the man’s arm. “Sorry I didn’t introduce him sooner, but this is Adam Dalton, an old friend. Adam, this is Matilda Bastion.”
    Matilda recognized the name immediately. She’d never met Adam, but she knew that he and Hadley had been engaged for a few months several years back. Janice had never approved of the relationship and Matilda figured she’d had something to do with their breakup.
    She sized him up while they exchanged a greeting. The fact that he was standing by Hadley in a time of crisis was good enough for Matilda.
    She looked up as a middle-aged nurse approached them.
    “Is one of you Hadley O’Sullivan?”
    “I am,” Hadley answered.
    “Dr. Gates would like to speak to you. He’ll meet you in your mother’s room.”
    Matilda said a quick goodbye and made her exit. If this was bad news, she didn’t want to hear it. Today was already hell enough.
    * * *
    H ADLEY LOOKED UP as the doctor joined them in her mother’s room. She was only vaguely aware of Adam standing beside her, but glad