Page 38 of Graced
“Norris!That was Nash.Welsh is on his way over to the hospital right now!”
“He is?”
“Nash was on the phone with him when Welsh lost his color sight.Welsh is heading over to the hospital.Get Grace out of there, Norris!Do whatever you have to do, even if you have to grab her and drag her away from there!”
The line suddenly went dead.Norris couldn’t tell if Rhyne had ended the call, or they’d lost connection.It didn’t matter.Shoving his phone into his pocket, he headed for the front doors when a familiar voice behind him froze him in his tracks.
“What are you doing here so early this morning, Norris?I though you only worked the evening shift.”
CHAPTER19
Attack
Norris jumped back and nearly out of his skin.Gasping for breath, he glared at Welsh as he mentally steadied himself.
“Shit, Welsh!That’s a good way to scare a man half to death!”
Welsh grinned, and it wasn’t a pleasant sight.“Guess I’m gonna hafta do it twice then in order to succeed.So answer the damn question.What are you doing here so early?”
“I have to see the comptroller.There’s a deduction on my paycheck I don’t understand, and I want her to tell me what it’s for,” Norris shot back, grateful that a past occurrence suddenly popped into his head.It made his excuse sound convincing.Turning the tables, he stared back.“What areyoudoing here?Is it your day off?”
“Nah.I called in a fake sick leave.I have a few things I needed to do today.”
Welsh moved past him without any further explanation.Norris followed the man inside.
Stopping by the front desk where the pink ladies usually sat, Norris watched Welsh approach the admissions office.This was it, he told himself.He was about to witness a kidnapping, and there wasn’t a fucking thing he could do about it.
Unless maybe…
A sudden sense of purpose filled him.Jerking his phone from his pocket, he hit the redial button.
“What?”Rhyne answered.
“Welsh’s here,” he whispered then hung up.It was all he needed to say.
Across the way, on the other side of the elevators, was the fast lab.Norris strode purposefully toward it, hoping he wouldn’t alert the guy.Once inside, he ignored the two waiting patients and went straight to the storage room as Nora hurried after him.
“What the hell are you doing in here?”she demanded.
“There’s a man out there who’s going to try and abduct Miss Lockhart.I need to find something to stop him.Where’s your sedatives?”When the woman continued to stare at him in disbelief, he yelled, “Tell me!Where are the sedatives?”
Rather than tell him, she pointed to a nearby cabinet.Finding it unlocked, he grabbed the first vial and an empty syringe from a drawer, threw her a hasty word of thanks, and rushed out.
He emerged from the lab in time to find Welsh gone.Confused, Norris scanned the lobby when he heard screaming coming from the inner admissions office.
Dashing toward the sounds of a struggle, he managed to remove the cap with his teeth, jab the needle into the vial, and draw the contents into the syringe.Armed, he ran down the short corridor and entered the first cubicle where he half-jumped, half-slid over the desk to reach the rear of the office.
The screams had stopped, but he could hear someone whimpering.As he neared the small room the women used as a lounge, he could discern movement in the hallway.Then he heard a deep voice whispering.
“Scream again, and I’ll break your fucking neck.”
There was scuffling.Whimpering.More sounds of a struggle.
Knowing how sensitive Rhyne had said their hearing was, Norris took that opportunity to move in and prayed Welsh would be too involved in trying to contain the woman to realize they weren’t alone.
He took a quick peek around the corner to see what the situation looked like.Welsh was crouched on the floor, his back to Norris.He had Miss Lockhart in his arms, trying to contain her as she struggled in his grasp.
Holding the syringe in his right hand, Norris raised it above his head and jumped the man, plunging the needle all the way into the guy’s neck, below the skull and next to the spine.
