Page 96 of The Midnight Club
She could still recall the lethal blade running her through, the way all the breath in her lungs had been pushed out with the force of the blows. The killer’s kiss. She tried to recall that kiss—tried to remember if anything about it was familiar. It was a tender counterpoint to the brutality of his knife.Why?Why would anyone who claimed to love her do that to her?
Obsession …
A scintilla of an idea floated across her consciousness but was soon lost in the dark swirls of coma that took over her mind then and sent her spiraling down into the blackness.
Benoit and Shilohwere the first to arrive in Venice, shaken and disbelieving, then Seth, and lastly Alex and his half-sister, Netta. All of them were pale and sickened by what had happened. Lucia arranged for all eight of them to fly to Florence that evening.
On the plane, they discussed who should go to the hospital. Lucia was adamant. “Ori was my friend long before any of you met her.” There was some anger in her voice, which Lisander, if no one else, understood. He nodded.
“Of course. Then perhaps Alex and I? Seth and Ben—perhaps you could go tomorrow?”
Benoit was texting. He showed them his phone. “I’ve been talking to Maceo via text. He wants all four of us at the same time. I’ve told them Lucia is insisting, and he says that’s okay.”
Seth sighed. “Shiloh, Netta, do you mind if we leave you at the hotel?”
The two women shook their heads. Netta squeezed Seth’s hand, “We’ll be the relief guard,” and grinned at him. Seth smiled at her. “Thanks, Nets.”
Two town carswere waiting for them on the runway. Shiloh and Netta got into one headed for the hotel; the others piled in together to drive to the hospital. They sat in silence as the cab drove through the outskirts of the city.
A nurse greeted them at the reception. “Miss Fernando, you can go straight up to the ICU. Mr. Vaux, Mr. Cantor, Mr. Duarte, Mr. Milland—Mr. Bartoli would like to see you alone. Please come with me.”
The men exchanged glances. What the hell was going on? They followed the nurse up to a conference room. “Please wait here for Mr. Bartoli.”
They were left alone. Benoit frowned at his friends. “What is all this?”
The others just shrugged and, a moment later, Maceo came in. His clothes were still bloodstained, his T-shirt covered in dark brown splotches. His eyes were hooded, angry, grief-stricken.
“Jesus…” Lisander couldn’t help the exclamation; he had never seen his friend so devastated and yet so wild with anger that his whole body seemed to vibrate with it. Maceo gripped the back of a chair for support and seemed to be struggling to speak.
“How’s Ori?” Seth said gently.
“Alive. Just.” Maceo’s voice was gravelly, rasping from fatigue and despair. “She was stabbed eleven times in the belly. They had to remove her spleen and a kidney. Her abdominal artery was damaged; so was her liver. She lost two liters of blood, and she’s in a coma. She may not make it.” He looked up finally, lingering on each of his friend’s faces. “Eleven times. She’s survived rape, abuse, being physically and verbally assaulted, and someone decided she hadn’t been through enough and stabbed her eleven times. A defenseless woman. I just have one question to ask you all.”
His face hard, his green eyes burning with fury, he studied the face of each of his oldest friends and asked the question that had been roiling inside of him for the last twenty-four hours.
“Which one of you tried to murder my beautiful girl?”
Benoit wrappedhis arms around Shiloh’s waist as she hugged him and buried his head in her hair. “How did it go, darling? Did they let you see Ori?”
Benoit shook his head. “No. We just met with Maceo.” He told her about Maceo’s anger, his utter conviction that one of them was responsible for stabbing Ori and killing Viola. Shiloh listened with growing horror.
“He can’t mean it, surely? This is the grief talking, the shock?”
Benoit met her gaze. “I don’t think so,ma chére. I’ve never seen Maceo like that before. So angry, so sure.”
Shiloh was silent for a long time, just holding him. “This is a nightmare.”
“Yes.” He sighed. “And he won’t let any of us near Ori except you, Kate, and Netta. But not yet; she’s in a too delicate condition.”
Shiloh stroked his hair. “It’s not looking good, is it?”
“From what Maceo said, I’m surprised she made it at all.” He described what had happened to Ori and Shiloh looked sickened.
“God.” Shiloh felt nausea rising in her throat. Unconsciously she touched her belly, the bump where their daughter lay sleeping. “Benoit … is there any chance, I mean, do you think there’s any chance one of you could have done it?”
Benoit’s eyes were full of pain when he looked at her. “I don’t even want to think about that possibility but if I’m honest … yes. Yes, I think one of us could have. And, god help me, I think I know who.”
The doctorfinally gave his permission for Maceo to sit with Ori. She had stabilized overnight, but Maceo still had to have his vitals checked to make sure he wasn’t carrying a virus before going to see her. There was so much risk of infection.
