Finding Grace: A Novel (42 page)

"My God, they're dead! They're both
dead!"

He shoved standing bodies aside, muscling
his way into the little room…where he found Grace and Toby lying
near each other on the floor. Both were still and pale…white as
death, lying in pools of blood. Pete was next to them, moving from
one to the other, saying their names and giving them a shake in a
futile attempt to stir them. Henry went forward just a few steps
before he fell to his knees beside her.

“
Jesus, God
Almighty!”

The blood was all over, her entire
midsection soaked with it. He put his fingers to her neck, trying
to find a pulse. It was there, but faint.

Pete was beside Toby, looking for the same
sign of life, his voice trembling. “I can’t feel anything! Boss, I
think he’s dead!”

Henry looked up, seeing the people staring
with terrified looks, and his anger and panic exploded.

"Why are you just standing there like dumb
sheep! They‘re bleeding to death, for Christ‘s sake! Somebody call
an ambulance!”

He looked down at Grace, terrified at the
thought that she might be dead before help could arrive. Her still,
silent body made it all the more frightening, and where he had been
afraid to touch her a moment before, now he found himself lifting
and holding her, hoping to feel some movement.

Oh God, she’s going cold!

Each passing second was draining the life
out of her…and he knew it. But he refused to give in to death.

“
Get me something to cover
them with!”

Someone rushed out and came back with two
blankets. He snatched one up and wrapped her in it…and he heard a
little moan come from her lips. It was the sweetest sound he’d ever
heard. Her eyes opened slightly.

But then he saw the blankness. The lifeless
stare. He shook her, breathing fast…verging on madness.

“
No, don’t do this. Don’t
go.”

Another little gasp. A flicker of hope…and
he clung fiercely to it.

Finally he could hear the sound of sirens,
but he took no moment to relax. He lifted her fully in his arms,
her weight so incredibly slight. “We have to get them out of here.
Somebody help him, quickly.”

He nodded towards Pete, and Thomas rushed
forward to help lift Toby from the floor. Together they hurried to
the stairs and down them, where ambulance workers and policemen
were just coming through the doors. With Pete and Thomas right
behind him, Henry rushed to place Grace on the stretcher. Feeling
her weight slip from his arms, he felt a cruel pain at the sudden
empty sensation. Now the feeling of helplessness began to set in.
He followed along as they carried her out the door to the waiting
ambulance. The other stretcher carrying Toby was loaded already and
on its way to the hospital. A moment later Grace was put in the
other ambulance.

Just as he was about to jump in with her,
someone called his name and he turned to look. It was an officer
he’d seen around the neighborhood, though he could not recall his
name at the moment. The man looked anxious, his breathing
rapid.

“
Mr. Shaw, they have a man
in custody. He turned himself in right away. He was begging for the
police to take him in.”

A violent urge welled up inside him.

“
Where is he?” He did not
have to hear the name to know who had done this deed

“
They’re taking him to the
station right away,” the officer said.

“
Take me to him,
now.”

The officer nodded, leading him to a police
car. He wanted desperately to ride to the hospital. But she was in
the hands of doctors now, and there was nothing he could do to
help. But he would avenge her, even it meant murder. He asked
himself…Should he make it slow and painful, or just snap the son of
a bitch’s neck like a chicken? Either way, Charlie Hillard would
pay for what he had done, and he would find joy in every minute of
the suffering.

* * * * *

At the station, he stood at the desk as an
officer took down his statement. "I want all contact through me,"
he told them. "Miss Langdon's sister-in-law is expecting, and I do
not want her to answer the phone and hear any of this. Anything
they need to know, I will tell them."

Even as spoke, all he could only think of
was getting his hands on Charlie.

The bastard is here somewhere.

He ran a weary hand over his face, turning
his head to look around…and a distance away, he saw him - being led
by two officers. He did not pause for the slightest moment. He
moved with animal speed as a leopard in the grass would swoop in on
its prey. His attack was so swift the officers hardly had time to
react. He spoke no words, letting his fists beat out their brutal
message several times before the men managed to peel him away, and
that with superhuman effort.

"This son of a bitch shot two of my workers,
and I want him dead! I'll kill him myself!"

He fought the hands that held him back,
watching as the other men took Charlie away. Just before they took
him around the corner towards incarceration, he shouted at the top
of his voice.

"She was mine first! No one else will have
her! Not you, not anyone!"

Henry tried to lunge forward, but was held
back…and then Charlie vanished from sight. Seeing him taken away,
the madness in Henry seemed to fade enough for him to gain some
control, and he shook off the hands of the officers. Having seen
for himself that Charlie was locked up…having had a brief taste of
physical vengeance, he was ready to finish his business here and be
gone to the hospital. And, he realized with dread, he would have to
tell the Langdon’s what had happened.

The officer gave him a ride back to the
club, where the crowd of employees were waiting for information.
They surrounded him, asking question after question. But as they
closed in on him, he suddenly boiled over in anger.

“
What the hell happened in
there? How in God’s name can some nutcase walk in a building full
of people and not one God-Damned person notices anything! Tell me!
HOW!”

Their faces were awash with different
expression. Concern…confusion…fear. Deep down, he knew they weren’t
to blame. He shook his head, eager to escape their questions…and
yet he told them what he could.

“
I don’t know anything yet.
I’ve got to get to the hospital. As soon as I find out anything,
I’ll let you know.” He gave orders for one of his partners to see
that the place was closed for the night. Then he got in his car and
drove away.

* * * * *

Before making the evil journey to the
Langdon’s, he had to pull himself together. When he got home, he
went upstairs to bathe his face and change out of his dress
clothes. Standing before the sink he looked in the mirror and saw
his own appearance. The paleness of his face was almost staggering.
But it was what he saw on his shirt that nearly buckled his
knees.

There was blood all over
him.
Her
blood.
Suddenly he saw it on his hands too, from where he’d picked her up.
Yanking furiously at the buttons of his shirt, he worked to get it
off fast, and if he’d had a fireplace he would have burned it. Then
the sight of his stained hands took hold of him, and he turned on
the faucet and seized the soap, scrubbing his skin until it was
raw. But after a few mad moments, the soap suddenly fell from his
grip. He let the cold water run through his fingers before burying
his face in his hands, tremors shaking him as he pressed his face
against his palms.

Oh God, what if she died?

Just the thought of it nearly brought him to
his knees. In his mind he tried to envision a world without her,
and it was like looking into a fog. All he could see was a gray
emptiness, devoid of life and sound, and his head spun from the
disorientation. And if she lived, then what? How could he face her
again when he’d failed her so miserably? His fingers clutched at
his hair, pulling it in agonized frustration.

I’ve nearly killed her. I was supposed to
take care of her, and now she lies helpless because of me.

He was hateful in his own eyes.

He wanted to sink to the floor and weep. But
he knew there was something more important that he had to do.

Five minutes later he stood on the Langdon’s
front stoop. For several long moments he paced back and forth,
holding an anxious hand over his mouth. A light in the living room
was on. It glowed through the front window, but instead of being a
welcome, it was now just a chilling reminder of what he was about
to do. He let out a breath that trembled, lifted his hand, and
knocked. There was a long moment of silence, and then the door
opened, and it was Jack. They looked at one another…and Jack could
read the trouble in Henry's eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, fear in every line
of his face.

Henry knew he could not delay the truth, and
stepping forward, his head lowered slightly, he heard himself say,
"Grace is in the hospital. She's been…" He paused, unsure of how to
continue.

Jack's expression grew darker, more
frenzied. "What? She's been what?" He seemed to know what Henry
would say, and needed only to hear it.

“
She’s been shot. Charlie's
been arrested for it."

He watched as Jack took a slight step back,
shaking his head in denial. For several moments he just stood
there, staring with empty eyes as the words registered. Henry
looked over Jack’s shoulder and saw Alice appear in the foyer
behind her husband.

“
Jack, what is
it?”

He turned to her, looking at her for a long
moment, before he went to her.

Henry watched as Jack took his wife by the
hand, telling her that something had happened to Grace, but not
wanting to give all of the truth at once. But Alice demanded the
truth, and as Jack slowly spoke the words to her, Henry saw the
lady’s hand come up to cover her mouth. He waited for the explosion
of tears, the doubling over of agony, or the cry of denial that
would come from her lips. But he was stunned and amazed when she
rushed forward and demanded that she be taken to the hospital
immediately. But Jack refused.

“
I don’t want you there,
seeing her that way! I won’t have you putting yourself and the baby
through that hell!”

“
Better there than here,
waiting and worrying myself crazy!” Alice shouted back at him.
“That is a kind of hell, Jack Langdon, and I won’t stay here for
it. Now you either take me to that hospital, or I’ll take myself!”
She meant it. Henry could see it in the set of her jaw, the
firmness of her stance, and for a moment he fell in love with
her.

“
Get dressed as quick as you
can,” he said. “I’ll drive you.” He turned and hurried out the
door, across the street to his car, and pulled it quickly to the
curb of the house. A few minutes later the couple was rushing out,
Jack helping his wife in and then climbing in to sit beside her. A
moment later they sped away towards the hospital.

* * * * *

Henry’s foot was nearly on the floor as he
drove, his eyes intense and focused on the road ahead, and his
voice was raw as he told Alice what had happened. Jack sat silently
beside his wife, refusing to look anywhere but out the window. He
was quiet and still as the grave, and no amount of questioning or
prodding could get him to speak. But in his eyes there stirred a
deep, black fury, and both Henry and Alice could feel the tension
and anger emanating from him.

Henry’s rage had simmered down into a deep,
painful, and numbing worry. What would happen when they got to that
hospital? What soul shattering news would be waiting for them? All
he could do was silently pray, over and over, for a miracle, as the
helplessness dug deep into his soul like sharp claws.

Inside the hospital, the three of them
hurried to the desk where a nurse was sitting, and Jack was the
first to demand her attention.

"Nurse, excuse me," he said quickly. When
the woman did not turn right away, he began banging on the desk
impatiently. "Nurse!" he shouted, and now the woman turned to look
at him with an odd expression.

"Can I help you?"

"My sister was brought here and I want to
see her.”

"The name, sir?"

It was Henry who stepped forward now.

"The shooting victims from the theatre. The
lady and gentleman were brought in about an hour ago."

Instantly the woman's face lit with
recognition and concern. "Oh, yes. Dr. Brown has been asking about
relatives or friends. I'll get him right away."

She hurried away, and the three took to
walking to and fro in front of the desk. Alice took a seat in a
chair, her hand resting on her belly, and Jack came and quickly sat
beside her.

"Are you all right?" he asked, the concern
on his face intensifying.

She reached up to rest a hand on his cheek.
"We're fine. And Gracie will be fine. I know she will be." Jack put
his arms around her, and they held each other close.

Henry listened to her encouraging tone of
voice, and shook his head. He had seen what she had not…the blood,
the coldness and paleness of her skin. The image was seared in his
mind, and as he thought of it again and again, his hand came up
over his mouth to stifle a shudder of fear and horror. For what
seemed like an eternity he paced the floor. Then at last, they
heard the tread of heavy footsteps, and looked up to see the doctor
approaching. Jack and Alice rose to their feet, coming to stand
beside Henry as he reached out to shake the doctor's hand.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Are you a family member?"

"We are," Jack declared, stepping forward
with Alice next to him, and he moved Henry to the side so he might
speak to the doctor more closely. "I'm her brother."