Gypsy Magic - J.R. Rain Page 0,64

what happened?” Roy asked.

“No,” I started and shook my head as I looked from him to the door to my room and back at him again. “I’m surprised they let you in.”

I mean, he wasn’t family, and we weren’t even dating… and last I’d checked, hospital workers weren’t going to just let anyone in. So, how had he managed…

He chuckled. “I can be… persuasive.”

An absurd little pang echoed through me. Why wasn’t Marty standing at my bedside? Hadn’t we been together when... and then it all fell in on me—everything that had happened leading up to this point.

I sat up straighter. “Oh my God,” I hissed. “Danny Clemmons pushed me!”

Roy leaned over and deposited a Styrofoam to-go soup container on my bedside table. He strained the limits of the chair, looking about five seconds away from hulking out and breaking the fragile thing. He seemed utterly relaxed, and even so, his muscles bulged beneath his flannel shirt. Dressed like he was, he really did look like he was auditioning for the part of the paper towel man.

“I think you’re confused, Poppy,” he started and looked at me with a piteous expression. “Danny Clemmons is dead.”

“But,” I started and shook my head.

“You slipped and whacked your noggin and then you passed out, so Marty called for an ambulance. And now here you are.”

“I know Danny’s dead,” I said, and couldn’t help the agitation that crept into my voice. The heart monitor picked up its pace, reporting the rising tempo. “Why do you think I was there with Bailey and Marty? We were trying to make contact with him.”

“Why?” Roy asked, frowning.

“Well, eventually to cast him out.” I took a breath. “Except, I don’t think he can be cast out. His wasn’t an ordinary death.” I shook my head as I looked up at Roy and found him studying me.

“Wasn’t an ordinary death?”

“No,” I said and shook my head again. “He was frightened to death.”

“I thought he had a heart attack?”

“That’s the story, but it doesn’t mean it’s the truth.”

“And what do you believe the truth is?” Roy asked, leaning back in his chair as he continued to stare at me.

“Um… what are you doing here again?” I asked, not meaning to sound rude, but there it was.

Roy inclined his head to me, something flickering in the back of his eyes that I couldn’t quite read. “I came here to warn you to leave this whole… case alone.”

“Leave it alone?” I repeated, shaking my head because I didn’t understand. Why would he care about this case? Apparently he did—enough to come visit me in the hospital. Or maybe it wasn’t the case he cared about...

He nodded. “You’re in over your head, Poppy.”

“What does that even mean?”

One of my hands seemed to be bound by wires, so I raised the other to knead my temple. My head throbbed in time with my heart, and even the low light trickling in from the hall hurt my eyes.

“There are certain… things going on in this town that should be left well enough alone,” he said.

“Things as in murder?” I demanded, getting defensive and angry all at the same time.

“Things,” he finished and then just studied me for a few seconds. “I came by once I heard you got hurt because I wanted to warn you.”

“Warn me about what?”

“Not to put your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

I glared at him. “And why are you getting yourself involved in this?”

“Because I want to be involved… I don’t want to see anything… bad happen to you, Poppy.”

“Something bad happen to me?”

“Haven Hollow isn’t like other towns,” he started.

“You know about what happened to Danny, don’t you?” I demanded, narrowing my eyes at him.

“I don’t know what happened to Danny, other than he died from a heart attack. What I do know is that strange things happen to people in this town who ask too many questions. And I would hate for you to become one of those statistics.”

I swallowed hard. I wasn’t sure if he was warning me or threatening me. “Where’s Marty?” I asked. “Or Bailey? Or Finn?”

Roy nodded. “Your son is here. Marty took him to the cafeteria to get something to eat.”

And it was then that I wanted to turn to the next question in my mind. “What are you doing here, Roy?”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

I eyed him narrowly. “How did you even know to come to the hospital to begin with?”

Roy shrugged. “Haven Hollow is a small town. News travels