Spiraled (Callahan & McLane Book 3) (18 page)

27

Ava jumped as someone tapped on her window. Zander scowled through the glass.

She’d called him from the hospital parking garage, her voice sounding oddly flat and emotionless in her head as she told him she didn’t know what to do. He’d asked a few questions, rapidly understood her situation, and ordered her not to move until he arrived.

It seemed as if she’d hung up five minutes ago. A glance at her clock told her thirty minutes had ticked by.

I’ve been staring into space for half an hour?

She opened her door. “Where’d you park?”

He took her arm as she stepped out, his mouth in a tight line. “We’re going inside the hospital. Did you find out anything about your sister?”

She blinked at him. “No.”

“You don’t know if your sister is alive or dead?”

“No.”

“Did you call Mason yet?”

“No. I don’t know what to say to him.”

A muscle in his cheek twitched. “As soon as we find out what’s happened, you call him.”

She nodded and made her feet move toward the hospital doors.

Inside they discovered that Jayne was alive.

Zander asked questions and pressured the clerk at the computer until he found out Jayne’s medical status. It took another twenty minutes for a doctor to have the time to talk to them. The ER physician took a hard look at Ava, clearly comparing her face to that of the woman he’d worked on. “She cut her arms deep enough to severely damage a tendon,” he said. “I’ve requested a specialist to take a look. And there’s a gash on the left side of her lower chest where it appears she may have stabbed herself. We’ll know more after the CT scan. She’ll probably need surgery for both injuries.”

Ava stared at him, thoughts of insurance, rehab, and costs spinning through her brain.

“At the park, the paramedic administered a medication to offset the respiratory depression she’d caused by taking too many narcotics. We’ve had to give her a few more doses.”

“She anesthetized herself,” Ava said. “Nearly to death.”

“Exactly,” the doctor agreed. “Has she attempted suicide before?”

“She’s talked about it several times, but this is the first time she’s harmed herself. She has a history of mental illness.” Ava’s face burned; she felt as if she were betraying her twin. She knew the doctors needed to know; this was not the time for secrets.

The doctor nodded, his gaze never leaving Ava’s face. “Physically she’s going to be fine; she’s stable and out of overdose danger. The next step is to figure out the best treatment for the arms and abdomen. I’ll get a psych evaluation and see if we can get her admitted to the psych department—at least while she’s recovering from surgery. I want her monitored so she doesn’t damage the surgical sites.”

Ava couldn’t speak. He was absolutely right. Jayne couldn’t be trusted about anything—her health or the safety of the people around her. She felt Zander’s hand tighten on her shoulder, and she wanted to crawl in a hole. High levels of sympathy rolled off the men, and she ached to run away.

Where is my spine?

She should have been grateful that people were working to help Jayne; instead she was embarrassed, as if she’d been the one to slash her wrists and create havoc. She forced a confidence she didn’t feel. “I’m sorry.”

“No reason to be sorry,” the doctor said. “
You
didn’t do this. Clearly your sister needs some help, and I suspect she hasn’t accepted the help in the past?”

“You wouldn’t believe how much help she’s walked away from,” stated Zander.

“Can I see her?” Ava asked.

The doctor paused. “Not yet. Let’s get her tests and evaluations finished. Perhaps later.”

The doctor was called away, and Zander led Ava to an empty waiting room. “You need to call Mason. Now,” he told her with a direct look. “I have my own calls to make.” He held her gaze until she nodded.

Ava sat in a hard chair and listened to the fluorescent lights buzz overhead.

I don’t want to see her.

Shame washed over her, and she slumped in the chair. What good could seeing Jayne do? The doctor said she was out of danger, and she knew Jayne couldn’t care less if Ava appeared. She was getting attention from the doctors and nurses. Ava wouldn’t enter her thoughts until the fuss settled down. Then she’d reach out, seeking sympathy, satisfying her narcissistic urges.

I won’t give in.

In the adjacent hallway, Zander paced as he talked on his cell phone. She tuned out his voice and ignored the pointed looks he continued to give her.

She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and stared at the screen. It felt like a ten-pound weight in her hand. She touched a few buttons and held the phone to her ear, closing her eyes in the bright glare of the overhead lights. Mason answered, and she couldn’t speak.

“Ava? You there? Hello?”

“I’m here,” she whispered, realizing he was on his car’s Bluetooth system.

“What’s wrong?” His voice was sharp, instantly aware. “I’ve got Ray in the car with me.”

“Jayne tried to kill herself today.” Her tongue felt numb. Everything felt numb.

“Jesus Christ. Where are you? Is she okay?”

“OHSU. She’s going to be fine.” Her mouth dried up, and she swallowed hard. “She might need some surgery.”

Mason swore. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, but it’s going to be at least an hour. We left Eugene a while ago.”

“I’m okay. Zander is here.”

“Good. Let me talk to him.”

Ava opened her eyes, blinking in the harsh light to find Zander staring at her from the hall. She held the phone out to him, and he swiftly walked over and took it, stepping away to converse with Mason. She closed her eyes and tipped her head against the wall, not wanting to hear their conversation. She didn’t care what they said. Her body simply wanted to find a dark room and sleep.

What is wrong with me?

Overload. I’m shutting down instead of dealing with Jayne. Again.
I can’t think about her. Or anything.

“He wants to talk to you.”

She forced her eyes open and took the phone. “Yes?”

“Zander’s going to drive you home. I’ll meet you there.”

A jolt ran through her, and she was instantly alert. “I can’t leave. I should stay.”

“To do what? Wait around for hours? They’re going to do what needs to be done, and I doubt Jayne will be in any condition to hold a conversation with you. Zander says you’re practically falling asleep. It’s late. I’ll meet you at the house, and we’ll both go back in the morning.”

“I don’t think—”

“I’m calling this one, Ava.” His fierce tone made her stop, and she waited for her anger to rise at his high-handed attitude.

It didn’t come.

He’s completely right.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“I love you,” he stated. “But I’ll be damned if I let you sit in a hospital waiting hand and foot on a sister who doesn’t give a shit about you or anyone else.”

“You’re right,” she said quietly. “I know. And I love you for it.”

“I’ll see you at home.”

Ava noticed Zander was taking his time leaving the hospital, and she realized he was stalling to let Mason get home before he dropped her off. She wondered if that had been Mason’s idea or his.

Either way, she didn’t want to sit alone in an empty house, so someone had made a smart decision.

She stared out the window of Zander’s car. Eleven
P.M.
The bright sign of a bar briefly flashed as they sped by, and she was bowled over with the need for a drink. A big one. One with lots of alcohol and fruity syrup that would drown all thoughts of her twin. One that would put the world on pause and let her take a break before it restarted.

Is that what Jayne wanted? A break? An escape?

Ava understood. Every cell in her body comprehended how Jayne had felt before she swallowed the pills and slashed at her wrists and stomach, and the clarity of the understanding rattled her to the core. Most days Ava had a tight grip on the dark areas of her mind, but tonight they had burst open, and she was fighting to close them back up.

Jayne had lost the fight years ago.

The battle raged in Ava’s mind and the air in the car turned oppressive, dense with stress. The holes in her mind were treacherous and icy and deep, and they beckoned her to enter, making promises of ease and relaxation. An escape. Tempting her with a blissful nothingness.
You can go back to reality whenever you want.

A lie.

Once she stepped over the line, every day of her life would be a fight like Jayne’s.

“What’s happened with the shootings?” she asked Zander, scrambling for a new chain of thoughts to distract from the beckoning chorus in her brain. It felt as if she were swimming upward through dark waters, holding her breath as she searched for the surface.

“We found Justin Yoder on video as he entered the bathroom before the shooting at Rivertown Mall.”

She broke through the water’s surface. Her brain snatched his statement and started to analyze, shoving her dark thoughts into a closet. “You could tell it was him? So now we have proof that there were two men that day? What time did he go in? Was he already dressed in black? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Her mind buzzed with a million questions, and she held tight to the fresh grip on sanity.

Even in the dark car, she could see the wry look Zander gave her. “It didn’t seem like the right time to bring it up. He went in about ninety minutes before the shooting started and yes, he was wearing black. No mask. He wasn’t carrying anything, so possibly he had the mask tucked inside his jacket.”

“I knew our theory was right.” Relief rocked through her. “Now we need to figure out how on earth our mystery shooter recruited three young men to go along with his plans.”

“And stop the next one.”

She took a deep breath. “Absolutely.”

“We went back a few days of video to evaluate the camera angles near the bathroom. We figured there had to be some sort of reconnaissance before the shooting.”

“And?” His tone told her he had more good news.

“Four days before the shooting we’ve got Justin Yoder and a tall guy with a cap in the area. Together.”

“Together, like
 . . .
”

“Christ, no. I mean they were talking and had purposefully met up. We found them near the bathroom. The second guy was gesturing like he was giving Justin directions. Justin nodded and asked questions. They spent a good five minutes in that area, looking around and pointing at the various shops and even at the roof line.”

“Pointing at the cameras?”

“They did, but they were also indicating other spots. It really made my skin crawl to watch it. I felt like the second guy was pointing out places where a sniper would be.”

“But there was no one up there the mornings of the shootings,” Ava said. “At least not that we noticed. Are you saying there might have been others watching from up there?”

“I don’t know. It was really odd. The two of them were laughing and grinning like they were planning a party.”

Ava’s stomach churned. “You could see the other guy’s face?”

“No. Every time he pointed up, he carefully kept his chin down, never lifting his face where the camera could see it. We’ve got views of the lower part of his face, the back of his head, and some partial side shots, but we can’t see the upper half of his face. We need it.”

“It’s definitely the same guy I talked to that morning?” Ava asked. The memory of his face was a blur to her. The adrenaline from the shooting and worrying about Misty had wiped her mind of his image.

“Yes. And we tracked them on a few other camera views. Near the movie theater and down the main aisle. They were clearly making plans and followed the same path as the gunman that day.”

“But they looked like they were planning something fun?”
Who plans a terror act and laughs while doing it?

“Yes. It makes me wonder if Justin Yoder didn’t know what he was getting into. He didn’t act like someone who knew he’d be shot in the head in four days.”

“We’re missing something,” Ava said slowly. “Logically, Justin thinks something else is going to happen and is excited for the plan, but how did our mystery man keep Justin from mentioning it to anyone? There were shots and screams and terror for a solid five minutes before Justin was shot in the head. The other men in that bathroom didn’t see or hear Justin. What made him cooperate?”

“That’s what everyone asked after seeing those clips today. No one has a good theory.”

“We need to know more about the three young men.”

“We’re digging,” said Zander. “But nothing has turned up yet. The only thing in common so far is that they’re male and they died the same way.”

“And they agreed to our mystery shooter’s plan.”

Zander pulled into the driveway of her house. Mason immediately stepped out of the front door and strode toward her side of the car. His shoulders were stiff and rigid. The outdoor house lights shone on his face, illuminating a clenched jaw. Guilt swamped her for worrying him. She stepped out of the car and was pulled into a tight hug.