He understood her concern. He usually took the limo and used one of the company’s drivers. But he didn’t have time to wait. “I’ll take the BMW,” he said. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
He would be. On more nights than Ula knew about, he took the car and drove until nearly dawn. But he was always careful to be back home before sunrise. It was an odd life. While he didn’t have the supernatural powers, he understood the vampire’s fear of daylight. The difference was he wouldn’t turn to dust. He would merely horrify those who had the misfortune to see him.
“Don’t wait up,” he said, and grabbed the keys dangling from the hook by the back door. He walked into the garage and moved to the large dark sedan. In a matter of minutes, he was heading east down the winding road. Twenty minutes later, he was on the freeway, driving north toward the valley.
It was well after midnight and there weren’t many cars on the road. The BMW ate up miles, the quiet power of the vehicle reassuring him that he would soon be there. Questions raced through his mind. What had happened? Was Cathy all right?
Even as that worry formed, he pushed it away. Shehadto be okay.
The answering service was on Ventura Boulevard, just east of the 405 freeway. He exited and turned onto the street. Up ahead fire trucks filled the two right lanes. Red lights flashed in the darkness. He saw several emergency vehicles, including police cars and ambulances. Despite the late hour, a crowd had collected. Stone parked as close as he could, then got out and started to walk.
The building stood tall but damaged in the illumination of streetlights. White smoke drifted out of broken windows. Hoses ran across the sidewalk, and water spilled out the front door, then flowed to the gutters. Several police officers held back the spectators.
Stone forced himself to move through the people. He was grateful for the night and for the fact that everyone was staring up at the building. He inhaled the smell of smoke, charred wood, plastic and other materials he couldn’t identify. The fear was still there, and with it concern. He had to find out about Cathy.
He made his way to the front of the crowd. A young police officer stood facing the building. Stone tapped him lightly.
“Excuse me,” he said. “I’m trying to find out about a friend of mine.”
“If you’re not a relative, we can’t give out any information,” the officer said without looking at him.
“I understand. I don’t need details, I’m just concerned. I was on the phone with a woman. Cathy Eldridge. She works for an answering service in that building. We were talking when the alarm went off. I stayed on the line with her while she called 911, and then we were cut off. I want to make sure they got her out safely.”
The policeman turned toward him. He was young, not yet thirty. His gaze swept over Stone’s face, lingering for a moment before moving on. “Two security guards and a woman were taken to a local hospital. That’s all I can say.”
“No one died?”
“Not that I know of.”
Some of Stone’s tension eased. She wasn’t dead, but she was injured. He considered asking more questions, but didn’t think he would get any additional information from the cop. He turned his back on the man. It didn’t matter. He could still learn what he needed to know. His hope had been to save time.
He’d nearly made his way out of the crowd when someone touched him on the sleeve. He glanced to his right and saw a young woman staring at him. She was barely out of her teens and judging by her tousled brown hair and mismatched clothing, she’d been awakened by the disturbance.
“I heard you talking to that cop,” she said. “They took your friend to the hospital up on Van Nuys Boulevard. The EMT guys were yelling that as they loaded her in the ambulance.”
“Thank you,” he said, and gave her a quick smile. “You’re very kind.” He turned toward his car.
“No problem. I hope your friend is—”
When he’d turned, he’d shifted to the left, exposing that side of his face to the streetlight The young woman gasped and stepped back involuntarily. Stone kept on going as if he hadn’t noticed.
It took him less than ten minutes to find the hospital and park in the nearly empty lot. The night staff was slightly more cooperative than the police officer had been and allowed him to wait while Cathy was examined. He settled in a shadowed corner of the emergency-room waiting area. There were plenty of magazines, along with a television. He ignored both and concentrated on Cathy, willing her to be all right. People arrived with friends and relatives as the results of other disasters filtered in. He watched, wondering when her friends would start to arrive. A young couple showed up, and he thought they might know her, but they were there to visit the woman’s grandmother.
Time crept along. Stone wanted to pace to ease his restlessness, but he didn’t dare. Instead, he sat quietly and wondered about the quirks of fate that had brought him to this place. He hadn’t been in a hospital in a couple of years. He didn’t like the memories the smell evoked.
Three hours later, a pretty nurse with curly dark hair and eyes the color of chocolate collapsed next to him. “I’m working a double shift,” she said, and sighed. “So forgive me if I don’t speak in complete sentences.”
“You have news for me?”
She nodded and rotated her shoulders. “Cathy Eldridge is one lucky girl. Right now she’s being moved up to a room. I have the number.” She dug around in the pocket of her blue scrub pants, then handed him a slip of paper. “They’re only going to allow family in for a couple of minutes tonight.”
He met her steady gaze. “Did I mention we were cousins?”
“I figured it was something like that.”
“So she’s okay?”
“Like I said, she’s lucky. She didn’t breathe in too much smoke. She’s got a bump on her head that we’re hoping is going to turn out to be an inconvenience, but nothing serious. But we’re waiting for her to regain consciousness. She wrenched her knee. That’s a problem. The ER doctor thinks she’s going to have to have surgery and some rehabilitation. However, the prognosis is good.”
