Page 121 of Putting Out
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Luke rushed up to the third floor of the hospital to find Reilly sitting alone in a waiting room with a neglected cup of coffee in her hands. He was worried and more than a little irritated at how long it had taken him to get to the hospital.
The security people had stood around for hours looking for ways to blame anyone but them. The local police, who showed up to process the scene, seemed to think Luke had more answers than the actual footage of the event.
Birdie, to put it quite literally, was having a bird. Play was postponed for the remainder of the day and Saturday’s round would finish early Sunday morning.
Luke caught up with Mark who had spent his time being debriefed by the local detective. Before Luke could get him alone to talk about where the breakdown in protection had occurred, Mark was already looking to leave. He’d been called back to the Atlanta office to file a report since he’d fired his weapon resulting in a fatality. Luke got the impression since he wasn’t working a true case, he was going to have some explaining to do. That was Leonard’s problem as far as Luke was concerned. If he’d gotten a hold of the bastard before he stabbed Kenny it wouldn’t have been issue.
Luke had gotten a good look at the stalker before they removed the body: small, bald, and paunchy. He wasn’t threatening at all except for the knife.
Inside the clubhouse there had been mass confusion mixed with morbid curiosity and Luke seemed to be at the center of it all as the last representative of the Carr family. Pierce had taken Odie back to the house in Savannah to keep them both out of the storm. Then there had been a tearful Erica, who had tackled him in an attempt to get information on Kenny’s condition. Luke had told her she was going to have to wait with everyone else until he knew something.
Finally, he extracted himself from the mess only to find an encampment of reporters and cameramen waiting for him outside the emergency room. He’d bullied his way through a gauntlet of microphones, questions and cameras until he found himself press-safe within the confines of the hospital.
“How is he?”
Reilly glanced up and he could see the shock of the day had yet to fade. Her lips were pale and he’d wished he’d brought a blanket or at least worn a coat he could give her. Instead, he sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer against his body.
“They removed the knife,” she said dully, resting her head against his shoulder. “It didn’t hit anything major. Just cut through some muscle they had a name for. They’re stitching him up now so I haven’t been in to see him. The nurse said they’re going to want to keep him overnight for evaluation to see if there’s any infection. Otherwise they think he’ll be ready to go home in a day.”
“That’s good. He’s okay.”
“He’s okay. I’m a mess. This was my fault. I didn’t take it seriously enough. We should have called the police. He was after me, and Kenny got in his way.”
Luke considered how much to tell her. He’d watched footage of the event over and over again while waiting to speak to Mark. The man who had attacked Kenny was identified as Neville Walters, a recent outpatient from a mental health facility in Omaha, Nebraska. He was killed by the bullet Agent Leonard shot into his heart.
The one thing clear from the two minutes of footage — he was not trying to hurt Reilly. His target had been Kenny.
He thought about what he would want to hear if he were in her shoes and figured it would be the truth.
“He wasn’t after you. He was after Kenny.”
Reilly pulled away and looked at Luke with shock.
“A cameraman caught the whole thing on tape. Kenny was the target. After he stabbed him, he said something to you. After Kenny fell to his knees, he leaned over and talked to you. What did he say?”
He could see Reilly reaching back for the memory.
“Something about an angel. The angel told him he had to do it.”
Luke nodded. “He was being treated for a mental condition. He hadn’t been back to see his doctor since after you made your announcement. The detective working the case contacted his physician. He’d never shown any aggressive behavior prior to this but had exhibited signs of becoming fixated on various celebrities and people in the media. It’s doubtful he would have hurt you, but he must have decided Kenny was the one thing preventing him from getting to you.”
Reilly shrugged limply. “It’s still my fault.”
“I’m not going to justify that with an answer. You’ve had a rough day, so I’ll let the pity thing slide. They’re going to let you in to see him shortly and if you say anything like that in front of him, he’s going to kick your ass.”
Reilly leaned her head back on his shoulder. “You’re so mean to me.”
“You can’t blame yourself,” Luke said. “You know it. The guy was a nut. He followed you around and now he’s dead. Kenny’s going to be okay and that’s all that matters. It’s over.”
He felt her head bob on his shoulder a couple of times as if accepting the clear-cut facts.
“And you’re going to play tomorrow,” Luke finished.
She pulled away from him. “I can’t play! Are you heartless? My brother is in the hospital and you want me to play?”
“Your brother is recovering. He’ll want you to play more than anyone and yes, you need to do this. You’ve come too far. It’s more than a tournament, a major or a first-time event. It’s not even about you competing with the men or beating the men. It’s bigger. People are looking to you for all sorts of things. Strength and courage. You can’t let some twerp with a switchblade stop you.”
