Echo Of Danger

Carmichaels nodded. “Meaning we won’t know what, if anything, he saw until he comes out of it.”

“Maybe not even then,” Jase pointed out. “People sometimes have no memory of the events leading up to a head injury. And I doubt you can expect much from a five-year-old, anyway.”

“We have to try.” Carmichaels’s tone was mild, but Jase didn’t miss the steel in his eyes. This was a man who would do his job, no matter what anyone said. Still, he’d probably try to do it without antagonizing anyone, which would help.

“As for Mrs. Morris...” Jase began.

“Now, Mr. Glassman, I’m sure a big-city prosecutor like yourself knows we have to talk to her, no matter how inconvenient it might be. This is now a murder case.”

In other words, his reputation had preceded him. It would have been foolish to think otherwise.

“She’s sitting with her son at the moment.” If the chief’s words had been a challenge, he wouldn’t take it up. “I’m willing to ask her to come out for a few minutes, providing you keep it brief. I was with Mrs. Morris the entire time and probably better able to observe the situation, since I wasn’t personally involved.”

“I understand you drove her home from a meeting at the library. You went together, did you?” The chief’s silver eyebrows lifted slightly, as if it seemed unlikely to him.

“No, I just met Mrs. Morris for the first time at the meeting. Afterward, I noticed she was having trouble getting her car started, so I offered her a lift home.”

“And you went into the house with her,” Carmichaels added.

“Only because I noticed the door standing open. We city-dwellers are always on alert for signs of a break-in, as you can imagine.”

The chief nodded, as if satisfied with that explanation. “If you’ll ask Mrs. Morris to give us a few minutes, then we’ll get out of the way.”

Jason frowned as a thought occurred. “Are you leaving someone on duty here?”

“I don’t have a big enough force to spare a man, but I can ask the security guard to check in often. You have a reason to think the child is in danger?” There was an edge to the cop’s voice.

“I’ve only been in town two days. I know next to nothing about the situation, but if the child might be a witness to murder...” He let that trail off, satisfied that he’d made his point.

“We’ll make sure he’s never left alone.” He glanced toward the door meaningfully, and Jase took the hint. He wanted to see Deidre, and he didn’t appreciate being told his business by an outsider. Nobody did, but maybe an outsider saw more by virtue of the fact that everything was unfamiliar.

He slipped into the room, pausing for a moment to be sure he wasn’t startling Deidre or the boy. But Kevin was deeply asleep, his chest barely rising and falling as he slept, and Deidre looked up immediately at the change in light when the door opened.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he murmured. “Chief Carmichaels needs to ask you a few questions. If you’ll just come out for a minute or two...” He could see her instinctive response.

“I can’t leave Kevin. What if something happens?”

“I’ll get someone to stay with him.” But even as he spoke, a male nurse, identification plainly displayed, entered the room.

“I’ll be here with Kevin for a few minutes.” He gave Deidre a reassuring smile. “I’d have to ask you to step out, anyway. And I won’t leave until you come back, okay?”

Seeing she had no choice, Deidre removed her hand slowly from her son. She bent over and whispered something to him before coming to Jase.

“It’s all right,” he said quickly, putting a hand on her elbow. If she got any paler, she’d be whiter than the sheets. “I’ll make sure the cops don’t overstay their welcome.”

She looked up at him then, meeting his gaze with a look of surprise and gratitude that startled him. “You shouldn’t have gotten involved in this at all. If you hadn’t been so kind as to give me a lift, you could have been safely home by now.”

Kind. There was her child lying in a coma, and she thanked him for being kind when he was the one who’d sabotaged her car. He couldn’t feel any lower if he tried.

CHAPTER THREE (#ua9cdbaf1-35e7-5193-8ead-4738655b6416)

“KOMM, NOW, YOU must eat.” Deidre’s cousin, Anna Wagner, pressed a container of hot chicken soup into her hands. “Mamm made it this morning just for you. She didn’t want you eating hospital food.”

Deidre could imagine the disdain with which her aunt had said those words. Amish mothers had a profound distrust of institutional food of any sort.

She didn’t feel like eating, but Deidre obediently put a spoonful in her mouth. To her surprise, her tight throat seemed to relax at the warmth, and she discovered she was hungry, after all. No wonder they called it comfort food.

“It’s great. Thank your mamm for me.”

Anna’s normally cheerful young face sobered as she looked at Kevin. “We’re all praying. And he looks a little better, ain’t so? His color is most natural.”

“I think so.” Maybe it was the effect of the chicken soup, but Deidre dared to look ahead, just for a moment, to the day when a normal Kevin would be clattering down the stairs and sliding across the hall.

She couldn’t imagine getting through this without being surrounded by people who loved and cared about her and Kevin. Anna was getting up, obviously ready to leave, but there’d be someone else in the waiting room, ready to come in and join her silent vigil... Relatives or friends, they’d be here.

Someone tapped softly and pushed the door open a few inches. Jason Glassman hesitated. “May I come in?”

Anna snatched up her bag and kissed Deidre. “Ja, it’s fine. I’m just going.” Cheerful, outgoing Anna gave him a smile that was accompanied by a speculative gaze before she slipped out.

“My cousin,” Deidre said. Realizing the container was empty, she set it down as he approached.

“He looks better,” he said, as everyone did who came in. Some of them were just trying to be encouraging, but Jason had seen Kevin at the worst, and that meant something.

“I think so. But I’d like to hear it from the doctor.”

“I’m sure.” He glanced toward the door. “You have an Amish cousin?”

“I have thirty-four Amish cousins, to be exact. That’s not counting their children.” She took pity on his baffled look. “My father grew up Amish, but he left the church when he was a teenager. He maintained a good relationship with his parents and siblings, and so they’ve always seen me as one of their own.”

“Someone mentioned that you have a business selling Amish crafts. Do you do that with your Amish relatives?” Jason took the chair next to her where Anna had been sitting.

Had he been asking about her? Natural enough, under the circumstances, she supposed.

“Not exactly, although some of them do participate. I do a web-based business that allows Amish craftspeople to sell their products online. My partner is Judith Yoder, my neighbor. Although our family trees probably interconnect if you go back far enough.”

Jason looked from Kevin to her. “I guess this isn’t the best time for small talk, is it? Have the police been back?”

“No, thank goodness.” She edged her chair a little closer to the bed, needing to be able to reach out and touch Kevin.

“They will be.” Jason sounded certain, making her frown.

“What’s the point? I can’t tell them anything more.” Everything she had seen, he had, as well.

“They’re waiting for Kevin to wake up.” He sounded as if that should be obvious. “They’re hoping he saw what happened to Dixie.”

“No.” The word was wrenched from her as her heart cramped. “If he saw that...” She put her hand over Kevin’s as if that would protect him. “No child should have to bear that.”

“I’m sorry. I guess I put that badly. If he saw anything at all when he came down the stairs, it could help the police find the person who attacked your friend.”