Vanishing Girls

Chapter Seventy-Eight

The next day, Josie sat next to Luke’s hospital bed, holding his warm, meaty palm in hers. They had moved him to a step-down unit, given him a private room, and taken away most of the equipment needed to keep him alive. Now he only had to wear the standard monitoring devices that checked his heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation. All his numbers were stable. Carrieann said he had woken up the day before, briefly, while Josie was at Ray’s funeral. He had asked for Josie. Carrieann hadn’t told him anything, just that Josie would return soon. Then he had fallen back into a deep sleep. Now Josie waited. She could wait as long as she had to. Isabelle Coleman had been found and reunited with her family. The FBI was handling the Gosnell mess, which would likely take months. Ray had been laid to rest. She would have to attend Wayland Harris’s funeral in a few days, which was going to be a spectacular affair befitting her beloved chief. But other than that, she was free to sit with Luke and wait for him to come around. Noah could handle things at the department for a few days.

Josie was watching Luke’s chest rise and fall, her mind back on the conversation she had had with Lisette on the way to Ray’s funeral. Aside from her obvious grief over Ray’s death, Lisette was right. She did seem more at peace. Lighter. Josie would even venture to say happier. She kept thinking about the sparkle in Lisette’s eyes. The flash of triumph.

He’ll never make it to prison, Lisette had said with confidence. He’s too sick.

I mean, we caught her outside of his room a couple of times, just standing there, staring at him. I don’t think it’s healthy. Last night, one of the night shift nurses found her inside his room, standing over his bed.

Oh, Josie dear, he did pay. Don’t you give him another thought. Things have been set straight.

“Hey.” Luke’s voice cut through her thoughts. His hand squeezed hers gently. She looked over to see him smiling wanly at her.

She stood and leaned over him, holding his hand against her chest with both of hers. “Luke,” she breathed. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”

He blinked a few times. “Fuzzy,” he said. “What the hell happened?”

“You don’t remember?”

“No, I remember leaving work, walking to my truck, that’s all. Carrieann said someone shot me.”

Josie nodded. “I’m so sorry.”

He opened his mouth to speak but the effort of the few words he’d already said seemed to wear him out. “It’s okay,” Josie told him. “Just rest. I’m not going anywhere. There will be plenty of time to fill you in later. We got the shooter. Everything is going to be okay.”

He closed his eyes. “I know it will be,” he said. “You’re here now.”