Roll the Dice by Mimi Barbour Page A

less than a week.” Many used loud
tones, fear lacing their voices.
    Crime scene investigators showed up and the picture taking, finger
printing and analyzing of trace evidence started. The yellow tape appeared and
so did Darlene.
    Surprised to see her, Aurora stood and approached. Why the hell hadn't
they made her go for treatment?
    Screaming, the girl had to be held back by two cops who had a fight on
their hands. It wasn’t until Aurora stepped in to take over that she calmed
down.
    “He’s alive, Darlene. They’re getting him ready to take to the hospital.
He talked to us.”
    “I want to see him.” Darlene slapped at the hands holding her back.
    “No time, they need to take him now. Kai will go with him. He seems to
relate to him somehow, and he’s stronger when they’re together. I’ll take you
with me. We’ll get there just as quickly with the siren on. Go, get dressed.”
    “I refused to leave the house earlier. I’ve been waiting for word about
Wayne. Sitting and praying. I took the pills the ambulance guys recommended for
my headache. They must have put me to sleep. Then the noise woke me up.” She
rambled and couldn't seem to stop. Her hands pulled on Aurora's sleeves as if
her agitation needed a physical outlet.
    “It’s not your fault, Darlene. No-one thought he’d try something like
this right under our noses.”
    “How did you know? Did someone call?”
    “No. I just followed up on a suspicion. I was right.”
    “Thank the Lord, he’s still alive. If you hadn’t of found him, he might
have died all alone.”
    "He's not alone now, and he isn't going to die
    ***
     
    Once the nurse allowed that Darlene, and only Darlene could see her
brother, Aurora decided, since she was in the hospital anyway, she’d check out
her new godson in the nursery. She took the elevator to the right floor and
stepped towards the area where walls of murals depicted it to be the baby ward.
    The swing door opened soundlessly, and she was just in time to see a
large man wearing a sweatshirt, hood up over his head, swagger up to the wall
of glass, only to bang his arms against it.   Trained to read another’s body language, this guy’s behaviour screamed
of suffering. Being near him, she could almost smell his pain.
    The disparaging sound she'd made over his reckless behaviour had come automatically;
she hadn’t stop to think. Then felt sorry in case the man had lost a baby or
something terrible. From the way her stomach behaved, the waves radiating from
him made her believe something bad had happened.
    The small noise caught his attention. He turned slightly without showing
his face then started to walk away, almost running. At first, she didn’t think
anything of it, figured he didn’t want to be disturbed. A father who’d suffered
a loss would want to be alone, wouldn’t he?
    A peek through the glass proved there were only two female babies in
cots and that the Ashton baby must be in his Mom’s room. Maybe she'd visit. All
of a sudden she had a need to lean against the wall for support.
    Her nerves exploded, heralding a crisis. From the moment she'd entered
the area, her ears had started doing their thing. Trying to stop the blasted
clanging, she breathed deeply and forced herself to relax—except her body
revved up even more. Something about that dude’s size and manner made her
re-evaluate.
    Shit!   It couldn’t be. But it
was…Rhondo. She took off at a run, gun pulled out and down by her side.
    She stopped at the junction in the hallway in time to see the gray
sweatshirt disappear around the corner at the far end. Her conscience reminded
her to call in for assistance. It irritated the hell of her because even those
few seconds would slow her down.
    A quick glance told her that no one had noticed anything unusual. Being
late, there wasn’t much activity in the wards.   Therefore, to yell for someone to call 911 would electrify everyone and
ramp up the situation, not something she wanted to