Touched by Death (27 page)

Jade cried out. Meg leaned over Dr. Mike. "His
pulse is slow and steady. We need to get him home."

Meg stood and spun around suddenly. "Did you
hear something?"

Jade turned to look at her. She searched the surrounding
rocks and shrubs. "No. What did you hear?"

"Voices."

Dane took several steps toward the main path. "I'm
going to check it out."

Staying on her knees beside Dr. Mike, Jade called
out. "Be careful. Don't forget, Dr. Mike didn't tie himself up."

Dane nodded and loped off.

The two women waited several long minutes. Dr. Mike
moaned again.

Jade turned to scan the area for Dane. "Still
no sign of him. We'll give him a couple more minutes."

Meg glanced at her, a wry look on her face. "Yeah
and then what?"

"Give him a few more minutes?" Jade shrugged,
shifting to stretch her legs out. "I don't know. I can't say I'm
comfortable up here alone like this. Who the hell broke into Susan's
room? Could it have been the same person that did this to Dr. Mike?" She
glanced down at the injured man. "We have to get Dr. Mike down
the mountain somehow. He's our first priority. Will your phone work
up here?"

"Oh." Meg pulled it out and called Dane's
number.

"Dane? Where are you?"

He laughed, his voice easily loud enough for Jade
to hear. "I'm coming around the side now."

Meg closed the phone and turned to look up at the
rocks where Dane was just appearing. She laughed. "There he is
and look who's with him."

Hope leapt in her heart. Jade spun around. She stood
so she could see better. It was true. "Oh, thank God." Jade
waved exuberantly. Dane headed in their direction, with Stephen, Wilson
and Bruce walking beside him.

All four men waved back.

When they reached the women Stephen gave Jade a hearty
hug. "Hi. What a surprise to see you here. And thank God, you found
Dr. Mike. Dane told us all about it."

Jade laughed happily as the three men gathered around
Dr. Mike, pelting Meg with questions. Bruce dropped to the ground beside
Dr. Mike, checking him over. Jade joined Dane a little ways off to the
side and watched the reunion. "Thanks. Where did you find them?"

A grin split his face. "They were walking toward
us on the path. I couldn't help running into them."

"Well, I'm grateful everyone is here. We need
to get Dr. Mike to the hospital – and now." She looked around
uneasily.

"You're really not comfortable up here, are you?"

Jade couldn't help the shiver that slid down her spine.
"Back home I did a lot of day trips. Here, with all the weird stuff
going on – not so much. Besides, whoever tied him up could come back."

Despite her worry, she smiled at the laughing group
in front of them. They really hadn't expected to find Dr. Mike on this
adventure. She could feel the relief in their over-exuberance. But it
wasn't over yet. "Any ideas how to get Dr. Mike down?"

"Hmmm. We could call for help, except we're a
little short on clearings for a chopper to land. There's no stretcher
here and it could be hard to make something like that out of the little
bit of materials we have available. So..."

"Oh. I just might have an answer." Stephen
plunked his backpack down and pulled out a roll stretcher. "Can
we make this work?"

Jade stared. "Why would you carry that in your
backpack?"

His boyish grin burst out. "The handle broke,
so I took it to the hotel to fix in the evening. The thing is, this
one doesn't have a spine board. If he's severely injured, we might cause
more damage this way."

Meg studied it. "Have you fixed the handle?"

He grinned. "More or less."

"We already moved him once… I suggest we try
it. Our options aren't great, otherwise."

Silently, working in unison and using their years
of experience, they stabilized Dr. Mike's head and neck and shifted
him onto the modified stretcher.

Bruce motioned to Dane. Both men took up their positions
at either end of the stretcher and picked it up carefully. Dane called
back over his shoulder, "So are you coming or are we going to have
to wait for you back home?"

Jade shook her head, grabbed the empty water bottles
lying around and ran to catch up. Together with Meg, they slipped past
the three men to take the front position. Stephen and Wilson stepped
in behind. Close enough to talk and far enough away to not be in each
other's way, they managed the path for close to an hour – at which
point they stopped for a short break.

They rested a bit as shadows lengthened. After a few
minutes Bruce called for an ambulance to meet them at the lab.

Bruce stood up. "Ready? Let's go."

Stephen and Wilson protested that it was their turn
to help carry Dr. Mike. Dane and Bruce vetoed the switch, citing the
differences in height between the other men as a reason to continue
as they began.

They started off slower this time. Jade led the way,
with Meg following. Her heart lightened when the gravesite came into
view below. She didn't know how the men were holding up, the two carrying
Dr. Mike were doing at least twice the work of everyone else but they
refused the many offers to switch off. At least, Jade thought, going
down was easier than hiking up the incline.

Finally they made it down to the gravesite.

She stopped and wiped her brow. Dr. Mike still hadn't
regained consciousness. "Thank God, that might have been a bad
trip for him if he were awake," she said to Meg. "Am I glad
this day is almost done."

After that, things moved quickly. The ambulance was
waiting at the lab trailers. Dr. Mike was taken away. The others piled into the SUVs and drove out in a procession. Dane turned off
at John's house while the others took a direct route to the hospital.

Dr. Mike was quickly admitted into the ER but they
were told it might be some time before they received news of his condition.

While waiting, Jade decided to wander over to see
Tasha. She didn't really want to see her yet felt compelled to check
on her and Emile. She couldn't find their rooms. Heading to the nurses'
station, she stopped to ask about Tasha. A young, friendly nurse sat
at the computer, her smile a gentle welcome.

"She's been moved to a different ward for assessment."

Jade's face froze. She expected that would happen
only she hadn't thought such a move would be made for another week or
so. "Right. Is it possible to get an update on her brother Emile?
I was part of the team that brought them both in."

The young nurse's face brightened. She flashed her
white smile. "Oh. Now I know who you are." Then her face fell;
she lowered her voice. "Emile didn't make it. He passed away late
this morning."

Jade bowed her head as her heart ached for the family.
Poor Dane. Poor John. And then she began to worry about Dr. Mike. Emile
hadn't looked that bad when they found him and now he was dead. Could
nothing go right for them? "Damn. I'd hoped he'd pull through."

"I think everyone did. I went to school with
him way back when. And we were optimistic here. He started to pull out
of it but like any of these head wounds, you can't count on that."
The nurse smiled sadly, her eyes, huge wells of emotion. "Once
he started to slip, he fell all the way down."

Jade shuddered. "I am so sorry. Has Tasha been
told?"

The nurse took one look around and lowered her head.
"It wouldn't do any good. She's not aware of anything. Can't talk
and isn't responding to treatment at this point."

Pain filled Jade's mind. "Poor John. He lost
his child, his brother-in-law and his wife...well...hopefully time will
help and Tasha will come home someday."

The nurse shook her head. "Miracles do happen,
but I can't say I've seen one this bad pull out of it."

"What's her husband to do then?" Jade couldn't
help herself from asking even though she knew there was no answer.

The nurse lifted her face and stared, her gaze somber,
wise – and directed right into Jade's eyes. "There's only
one thing he can do – start over. This family is gone."

Dane stood in front of the kitchen door to John and
Tasha's house. He really didn't want to go inside. Physical exhaustion
pulled at him, the kind he hadn't experienced since his football-playing
days. Carrying Dr. Mike down had been hard work.

Now he had to deal with John.

He poked his head into the kitchen. "John? I'm
back. I'm going to wash up. See you in a few minutes." Closing
the door, he headed to his small cabin for a quick wash and clean clothes.
His shoulders ached.

Damn.

He wanted to go home. He needed to stay – but
he didn't want to be here anymore.

Except for Jade. If she stayed then he wanted to stay
for a little while longer, for her. It could take that long to settle
his affairs here anyway. And then he wanted to return to his old life
– in Seattle. His house, his comforts. His home.

But he didn't want to return to it empty. Again his
thoughts jumped to Jade. He was determined to explore a relationship
with her. And if it worked out…

He was almost done here. He was only here for his
brother. He knew it; his brother knew it and neither one voiced it.
He'd stay as long as John needed him. An idea flitted around in his
head. Maybe he could convince John to return to Seattle with him? At
this time, he couldn't see John leaving Tasha but if there was no improvement
over the next month then maybe...

John had some hard decisions ahead. Dane frowned.
How was this going to play out? John hadn't been able to make the easy
decisions. How was he going to make the hard ones?

And had anyone seen Peppe? Or was he still missing?

And what the hell are we going to do about that if he is?

And what had happened to Dr. Mike? Dane hoped he'd
be fine. The injuries hadn't looked too severe. Then look at Emile's;
that hadn't looked bad either. He hoped the good doctor had regained
consciousness by now.

That one really bothered him. As did the thought of
someone breaking into the hotel bedrooms. Who and why would someone
want to tie Dr. Mike up then abandon him in a cave? Was someone targeting
the team? Or was some 'crazy' out there wandering around and attacking
people and the hotel break-in an isolated incident. Given the poverty
here, that was most likely.

That the attack on Dr. Mike could have been Emile
or Peppe hadn't passed him by. That Emile had been injured and in the
hospital looked bad, pointed to his guilt because no one came back for
Dr. Mike. Maybe it was Emile. That certainly reinforced that he was
likely the culprit. Dane just couldn't imagine why Emile would do something
like this though and he didn't know how to broach that possibility with
John either.

Something had shifted – Dane didn't get it.
His life had been calm and quiet before the mortuary team arrived. Now
it was almost as if the grave being opened had poisoned everything and
everyone.

H
ungry, tired and now showered, all team members arrived
for dinner on time. Except Bruce, who'd stayed at the hospital with
Dr. Mike.

Jade walked in as the first plates came out of the
kitchen.

Her stomach growled as the smells of delicious food
reached her nose. She groaned and grabbed her chair. "Or Lord,
thank you for this food. I am so hungry."

"When are you
not
hungry?" Stephen grinned and passed her the first
bowl. "Everyone has taken some of this dish, so help yourself."

She grabbed the bowl.
Fish.
She took several large pieces and motioned for the next
dish to be passed her way. Finally, with much joking, all of them ended
up with full plates.

"By the way, I sent an email to Tony, updating
him on Dr. Mike's rescue and current condition." Meg chuckled at
the horrified looks shot her way. "Maybe now we won't have to worry
about training Dr. Mike's replacement."

Everyone groaned. "That's not funny."

Meg piped up. "Speaking of which, Tony wants
us to increase our productivity."

Outrage rippled through the room.

"Increase?" Stephen barely managed to get
the word out through his stuffed mouth.

Forking up another bite, Meg said, "He's hoping
we can reduce our time here by a week or two?"

"Really?" Jade didn't think that would be
possible...unless the right DNA results came back soon.

Susan, looking better after a long nap, asked, "What's
the rush?"

Meg shrugged. "I don't know. He didn't say."

Just then Bruce walked in. A chorus of questions filled
the air. Holding up his hand he ticked off on his fingers as he gave
information. "Dr. Mike is fine. Has a sprained ankle. They're keeping
him overnight for observation. They aren't expecting any problems. He
did regain consciousness but was asleep again by the time I was allowed
in to speak to him…so no, we don't know what happened to him. He did
say Emile's and Peppe's names."

Jade stared at him. "I don't know what possible
motive either of them would have to hurt Dr. Mike and now that Emile's
dead, we might never know. Depends if we can get any answers from his
father."

Bruce filled his plate then answered questions as
he ate. He pushed his empty plate off to one side and faced the group.
"And there is one other thing we need to discuss."

Jade knew what it was. She'd been waiting for it.
She refilled her plate, stuck her tongue out at Stephen for laughing
at her and waited for Bruce to speak.

"I stopped in at the police station to update
them on Dr. Mike. They weren't thrilled, obviously. However, the authorities
have agreed to look into the skeletons with the chains..."

"Yeah!" Cheers erupted around the table.

Jade waited. This still didn't feel like a cheering
moment. She studied Bruce's face. "But?"