Save Me, page 6
Lainie’s shoulders slumped. “Thanks. I’ve never experienced anything remotely close to this, and it’s getting scary. These are the times when I wish to God I still had Hunter Gray in my life,” she said, and then went quiet, shocked that she’d actually spoken out loud.
Charis stilled. This was the first time any of them had ever heard her mention a man.
“So, he’s the reason you don’t date?” she asked.
Lainie nodded.
“I’m so sorry. What happened?”
“Our fathers happened. They were stepbrothers who hated each other, and Hunt and I committed an unpardonable sin. We fell in love. Life happened. And we lost each other. I don’t know where he is. I don’t even know if he’s still alive in the world...if he even lived to become a man, but he was my everything. He stood between me and our fathers’ hate until they broke me, and when that happened, I think it broke him, too.”
Charis was horrified. “Here I am all gushing about my happy life and pending marriage, and you’re living with this. I’m so sorry. That’s the saddest thing I think I’ve ever heard.”
Lainie shrugged. “It is what it is. Look, I would appreciate you keeping this to yourself. Hospital gossip is deadly. I don’t want this to be my identity because it’s not. That was me at eighteen. I’m neither broken nor helpless. All I want is Justin Randall to leave me the hell alone.”
Charis nodded. “I promise. And I’ll talk to our supervisor, too.”
“As long as he doesn’t find out that I’m the one who ratted him out, it should be fine,” Lainie said, but those were famous last words.
The next day, Lainie clocked in, locked up her things and was on her way out of the break room when Justin walked up behind her.
“Hey Lainie!” he said, and gripped her shoulder hard enough it physically stopped her in her tracks.
She jerked, then shoved his hand away. “What the hell, Justin? You scared me half to death! Don’t sneak up on people like that, okay?”
She knew the minute she said it that he was angry, because his eyes narrowed, and the smile on his face turned into a thin-lipped grimace.
“Sorry! Didn’t know you were so touchy. I know you’re off tomorrow, and so am I. I thought it would be fun to—”
Lainie held up her hand. “Justin, just stop. I’m not interested in dating anyone. Period. I don’t intend to hurt your feelings, but let’s not have this conversation again, okay? Now, I have to hurry, and that’s not an excuse. I’m doing MRIs all day today, and we don’t keep people waiting.”
“Yeah, sure. No problem. I understand,” he said, and walked off.
Lainie breathed a quick sigh of relief, thinking he’d finally gotten the message, and hurried up the hall.
Her first patient, a fortysomething woman named Renee Reilly, was already in tears from the fear of the test itself, when Lainie arrived, but she quickly launched into patient mode and began talking her down.
“Hi, Renee, I’m Lainie, your MRI technician. We’re doing an open MRI with contrast today, right?”
Renee nodded. “My doctor explained the process. I’m just scared.”
“That’s fair, and I certainly understand. We can talk while I start your IV so we can begin the drip for the contrast.”
“Yes, okay,” Renee said, and closed her eyes as the needle went in.
“There we go,” Lainie said, as she taped it down, and started the drip. “This will take about twenty minutes or so to finish. Are you cold? I can get you a blanket.”
“A blanket would be good,” Renee said.
Lainie got a fresh one from the warmer and tucked it around her. “I’m going to be just inside the lab here getting things ready. I’ll check back with you in a few minutes.”
Renee stifled a sob. “I have cancer. I just know it. The women on my side of the family all die from it. I have three children still at home. They’re going to grow up without me,” she wailed.
Lainie paused, then pulled up a chair and sat down. “I’ve been at this job in one capacity or another for almost nine years now, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about medicine, it is that we never assume anything, okay? The only man I ever loved had a saying that always made me laugh. ‘Darlin’.” She paused and smiled. “He always called me darlin’. Anyway, he would say, ‘Darlin’, you never want to borrow trouble. The only safe thing to borrow is eggs and butter.’”
Renee smiled through tears. “Sounds like a wonderful guy.”
“The best,” Lainie said. “Now, let’s just get through this test, and then you go home and take your kids out for pizza tonight. I believe in using every day to make memories. Nobody knows what their tomorrow will bring. I don’t know what awaits me, any more than your doctor knows what awaits him. One day at a time, honey. One day at a time. How about some music while you wait?” she asked.
Renee squeezed Lainie’s hand. “Yes, please, and thank you for that.”
“Absolutely,” Lainie said. “What kind of music do you like?”
“Music from the ’80s.”
“You got it,” Lainie said, slipped headphones on her, pulled up the proper link and started it playing.
When Renee gave her a thumbs-up and closed her eyes, Lainie slipped into the control area, and began checking the orders to confirm the imaging required for the test.
When it finally came time for Renee to be moved into the open MRI, she was calm enough to follow all the directions. It would be an hour-long process of immobility, flat on her back, with the thump and pulse of the machine around her upper body being drowned out by Bon Jovi singing in her ears.
When the test was finally over, Lainie helped Renee out of the machine and then helped her sit up. “Everything okay? Are you dizzy sitting up now?”
“No, I feel fine,” Renee said.
“Good. Now, what are you doing this evening?” Lainie asked.
Renee grinned. “Having pizza with the family at Famous Pizza and Subs.”
“Yum! Eat a slice for me!”
“Count on it,” Renee said, “and thank you.”
Lainie helped her into a wheelchair, and signaled for the waiting orderly to take her out.
Before her day was over, she’d done three more MRIs, and was emotionally exhausted. Dealing with patients’ stress was always more complicated than the actual act of her job. She knew the job and did it well. She just never knew what drama, if any, the next patient might bring.
She finally clocked out and was walking across the parking lot when she saw Charis, and waved.
“See you tomorrow!” Charis called.
“My day off! I’m hiking Beaver Brook Trail tomorrow!”
Charis rolled her eyes. “Better you than me. Some of us are going to Adelitas tomorrow evening for drinks and tacos. Seven o’clock. You’re invited!”
“Deal!” Lainie said. “See you there!”
“Yay!” Charis said and did a little two-step as she got in her car and drove away.
Lainie envied Charis’s ebullience as she was driving away, unaware Justin Randall had overheard everything, including her hiking destination.
Chapter Three
Even though it was her day off, Lainie had set the alarm the night before. She wanted to be on the trail just after sunrise. It was her favorite time of day to begin a hike. The air was still cool, and she’d be on her way back down by the time the day was heating up.
She’d packed her backpack the night before with protein bars, snack packs, first aid, bear spray and a hunting knife. All she had to add were water bottles, and did so before zipping it up.
After checking the weather report for the day, she opted for long pants, sneakers, thick socks, a long-sleeve T-shirt and a flannel shirt to use as a jacket. She had her hiking pole, and a compass, a cell phone, and a charger stick in her pack, just in case.
She put her long hair in a ponytail at the back of her neck, and tied a bandanna around her forehead. Her sunglasses were already in the car, and after a quick breakfast, she headed out the door.
Traffic was already moving at a steady pace as she wound her way west out of Denver and into the foothills toward her chosen hiking path. She liked the Beaver Brook Trail for a number of reasons. The likelihood of running into a lot of other hikers at this time of morning on a weekday was slim, and that suited her.
She was already anticipating the hike as she arrived at the parking area below the trailhead. Pleased that there were no other vehicles around, she got out, dropped the car keys in her pocket, shouldered her backpack, reached for her hiking pole and started up the trail.
* * *
JUSTIN RANDALL HAD no idea what time of day Lainie liked to hike, but he was betting it was early. He had the GPS in his phone already set, and was hoping to beat her there, find a secluded place to park and wait for her to arrive. As he drove across town, he quickly learned it was cooler than he’d expected, and was wishing he’d worn long pants instead of hiking shorts. But he would warm up as he hiked, and was making good time through traffic when the truck in front of him blew through a red light.
It hit two cars making opposite turns in the intersection, which threw them into other cars, and by the time the crashing and skidding was over, four cars, a police car, a delivery van and the truck were in a tangled mess at the four-way light.
Traffic came to a halt. There was no way to back up, and no way to move forward. Justin was cursing his luck as police and emergency vehicles began arriving, but there was nothing to do but wait. It took almost an hour before a lane had been cleared for traffic to detour on a nearby street. He had to reset his GPS to get where he was headed from another direction, and by the time he reached the trailhead, the one positive of his morning was that her car was the only one in the parking lot. He laid his hand on the hood, but it was already cool, which meant she’d been gone for some time.
He didn’t know if the trail forked, and if it did, which way she would go. He was angry and frustrated, but changing his plan never occurred to him. He was hell-bent on one destination, and that was to get between her legs. So, he shouldered his pack and took off up the trail at a trot.
* * *
A CARDINAL WAS flitting from tree to tree along the path Lainie was on, and after a while, she decided it was following her. Delighted, she began talking to it as she went, fantasizing about how and why it was happening.
“I see you...flying from tree to tree along my path. Have we met before? You’ll have to excuse me. I’m terrible with names.”
A flash of red shot across her line of vision about twenty feet in front of her, and landed on a low-hanging branch. It was the cardinal. She watched as it turned its head one way, and then the other, before dropping to the ground below, where it promptly gobbled up a bug.
“The mighty hunter scores!” she said, as the bird flew back into the tree.
She glanced at the sun, guessing it must be nearing 10:00 a.m. by now, and paused to take a drink.
The cardinal flew off as she began moving again, and for a while, she thought he’d finally flown away. It wasn’t until the bird suddenly reappeared that she paused, curious as to what it was doing.
It was that pause that saved her.
In that moment of silence, she heard footsteps on the trail behind her and glanced over her shoulder, expecting another hiker. There was a man behind her, hoofing it up the trail at an unusually hasty pace, but when she saw his face, a wave of panic rolled through her.
Justin Randall!
She shouted at him, angry that he’d made her afraid. “Justin! What the hell are you playing at? There are laws against stalking, and I’ve made myself perfectly clear.”
Justin began smiling and waving his hands. “Lainie! Wait! It’s not what you think!” Then began moving faster, to get to her before she bolted.
She’d already dropped her backpack and was fumbling for the bear spray when he started running. Her hands were shaking as she popped the top, and got one good spray toward his face, before he knocked it out of her hand.
He had closed his eyes at the last minute, but the spray still went up his nose, and all of a sudden, the inside of his nose was on fire and his throat was swelling. When his eyes began to burn and his vision blur, he swung a fist at her face. One punch landed on her cheekbone below her eye, and another missed her face and hit the side of her neck.
And just like that, Lainie was back in her bedroom with her father, fighting for her life. She couldn’t let Justin Randall knock her out. She had no chance of getting through this alive unless she stayed conscious.
She was still in a panic when he grabbed her by her arms and took her down, straddling her lower body and pinning her arms above her head.
But Lainie was fighting for her life, kicking and thrashing beneath him, and in one brief moment when he let go of her hands to rip at her clothes, she stabbed her fingernails into his face, and raked them all the way down his cheek and neck, plowing furrows into his flesh, then began kicking and scratching at his neck and arms until her hand was slick with his blood.
“You bitch,” he roared, and then threw back his head and laughed. “I knew you’d like it rough!”
She dug her fingers into the ground, intent on throwing dirt in his eyes, and felt a softball-size rock beneath her palm instead. She grabbed it without hesitation and swung it at his head. The crack when it hit was the sound of sticks breaking.
He grunted and fell backward, stunned by the blow. She rolled to her knees, grabbed the same rock with both hands and smashed it down onto his mouth and nose. Blood spurted from his lips, as he spit out a tooth to keep from swallowing it. He had both hands on his face, rolling and moaning, as Lainie leaped to her feet and started running.
She went flying down the trail, leaving everything behind her but the car keys in her pocket, knowing she had to outrun him to survive, and run she did, until her side was aching and every breath she took was like swallowing fire.
She didn’t know he was behind her until she began hearing curses and shouts. She looked over her shoulder in horror. He was covered in blood, carrying both backpacks and her hiking pole, and running like a man possessed about a hundred yards behind her.
Hope sank. “God help me,” she mumbled, and ran faster.
It wasn’t until she was started down a steep drop on the path that she realized she was in what hikers called “the blind spot.”
She couldn’t see him when she looked back, which meant he couldn’t see her either. And it was becoming all too clear that he was going to catch her before she ever got to her car. At that moment, she remembered something Hunt used to say.
When faced with a hard decision, do the unexpected.
So, she faked her death.
She yanked off her sneakers, then threw one partway down the slope along with her flannel shirt, and left the other one in the path. Then she dropped and rolled in the trail to make it look like she had a bad fall and rolled off into the canyon below.
Still in her sock feet, she leaped across the path on the other side and ran deep into the trees and brush before pausing to get her bearings. She couldn’t keep going down, because that’s where he was going, so she hunkered down and began moving in a crouch back up the mountain, and never looked back.
* * *
THE LAST THING Justin expected to see was one of Lainie’s sneakers on the trail, and then he saw where she fell and looked over the slope, saw her flannel shirt first, and then the other shoe.
Holy shit. The bitch fell off the mountain.
He let out a sigh of relief, and then realized he was still carrying her things. The first thing he did was wipe his prints off her hiking pole before he tossed it down the slope, and then he slung her backpack down with it.
His whole face was on fire. He could feel the furrows she’d left on his face and knew he had to get them treated, but he stopped long enough to use a bottle of his drinking water to wash off what he could of blood and bear spray.
He was confident animals would destroy her body, but his DNA was all over her clothes and backpack, so he began concocting an alibi on his way to his car.
They’d gone hiking together and were surprised by a bear. He was trying to protect her when the bear knocked them both down. He sprayed the bear, got caught in some of the blowback, and was unaware that she’d been knocked over the side of the mountain until after the bear ran away.
Then, he sat in his car and watched TikTok videos until his phone went dead, and his wounds wouldn’t be fresh, before driving himself to the nearest emergency room. He staggered in, claiming he’d been knocked unconscious after a bear attack, that his hiking partner was missing, and he’d found a shoe in the path and seen some of her gear on the downslope. His best guess was that she’d fallen off the path into a canyon, but he was too weak to search on his own, and when he got to his car, his phone was dead, so he drove himself to the ER.
Within the hour, both the local police and the Denver Park Rangers were in ER taking his statement, while a doctor and nurse continued to clean up his wounds. They put four staples in his head wound, reset his broken nose and told him to see his dentist, and to drink his meals through straws for the next couple of weeks.
A nurse was swabbing out the scratches as he continued to answer questions, but she wasn’t buying the whole story. So, while the police were still questioning Justin, she signaled for the doctor to come out into the hall.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Those scratches on his face and neck don’t look like bear scratches. They look like fingernail scratches. And he has them on his wrists and neck, and upper arms, too. If his hiking partner is missing, he might be the reason why.”
