Deadly Touch - Heather Graham Page 0,102

him awake and aware and responsive, I suggest you come in the morning,” the doctor told Axel over the phone. “He was intubated so he’s really not responsive yet.”

“Thank you. It’s important. I’ll probably come in tonight, anyway. Sit and wait,” Axel said. “If that’s all right.”

“It’s fine. He’s doing well. We brought him around several hours ago now, but sometimes they sleep.”

“Understood. I appreciate it. He may be all we have.”

Andrew was standing next to him. He repeated what he had learned.

“Well, here’s hoping he does know the truth. He could have just been another victim. Upset because he lost someone who had enchanted him, making a fuss and, therefore, somehow, ended up being a danger?”

“One way or another, we need him to tell us what the hell happened.”

“If he knows.”

“I’m sure he knows.”

His phone started ringing again and he answered it.

It was Angela.

“I think I might have something. Maybe a link that means nothing, but a bit of a link, anyway.”

“And that is?” Axel asked. He frowned, trying to pay attention. Titan was with him, had been following every step.

Now, he was suddenly whining.

“Titan, shh!”

“What’s up?” Andrew asked, frowning, and watching the dog’s behavior.

Angela was still speaking, unaware Axel’s attention was then divided. “A patient of Dr. Wong was one of your ‘people of interest,’” she said. “At least, I think it was him. I called Wong himself for his old records. And about a year ago, he had a patient named F. Peters. Now, there could be several, but I have a feeling it might be your man, Frank Peters. Which would, at the least, connect him to Jennifer Lowry.”

The dog was really whining, tugging at his leash. And though they’d told Axel they’d be in the building until he returned, his distant cousin and the park ranger were outside the building, chatting as they headed toward Jeremy’s fire pit.

“Hey!” they called.

He stuffed his phone into Andrew’s hand and shouted out to them. “Hey, where’s Raina?”

“Oh, I checked on her a few minutes ago. She was just fine—but we’re starving,” the park ranger called to him.

Axel had been right outside the damned building. The women leaving Raina on her own shouldn’t have been so unnerving. But Titan was suddenly pulling and snapping at his leash.

And Frank Peters had been at the fire pit.

He grabbed the phone back, gave Titan his lead and raced after the dog as the animal flew toward the building. He had to wait for Axel to open the door.

Axel did.

He was barely aware of Andrew shouting out to him, demanding to know what was going on.

The dog made a beeline along the hallway to the showers, but then came to a dead stop, barking in confusion.

Then Axel saw it—new, along with several refurbishments to the building.

A door marked Fire Exit.

Titan raced in that direction.

Axel’s mind raced, too. It could be something else. Frank could still be sitting by the fire. Raina could still be dressing after a long shower...

He screamed her name. There was no answer.

Titan was barking furiously.

He burst through the emergency door.

The second he stepped out, he heard the loud whirr of an airboat, a gigantic fan burning its way over water and swamp grass, heading deep into the Everglades.

Nineteen

The burlap was itchy, suffocating.

And Raina couldn’t understand why she was wearing it.

She had seen one of her captors.

One of them. There were two. Well, she had known there were two...and maybe more.

Maybe different people at different times.

Or maybe the same.

She didn’t know. Maybe she never would. Or maybe they would tell her—before they killed her.

How far were they going? Where were they going? On the one hand she knew her dog well, and if Axel didn’t realize she’d been abducted, Titan would.

They’d be coming for her.

How? They were in a tangle of hammocks and water and swamp and sawgrass. She thought about throwing herself over the side. But now, her hands were bound. If she threw herself over the side, she could die a more dreadful death. Things she knew streaked through her mind. She was unlikely prey for a gator—not really bite-size. Since the python and boa invasion, food was scarce and all creatures were going for what they could get.

Then, of course, there were the snakes...

What the hell, why not make it difficult for them?

The airboat began to slow; they were coming to a stop somewhere. Did they predetermine their places of murder? Or were they random?

There was a bump.

An aggravated voice rang out.

“What the hell? Can’t you drive?