Chapter Seven #3
“Harlow?” Stella prompted. “What else did Bale have to say? And was it only Bale, or did Sean send you something as well?”
“Bale. Sean has been avoiding me. I think he’s been avoiding everyone. If I’m being honest, I told him I thought he was a complete jerk for what he did to poor Chelsey Sarten. He’s on the no-date list of every nurse who works at the hospital.”
“Bale is too,” Vienna admitted. “We might turn into gossips in the break room. When any traveling nurse or new hire comes and is single, we make it a priority to have a conversation where the nurses can overhear us about those two men and the way they treat women.”
“You two.” Zahra shook her head. “You can’t be trusted together.”
Laughter floated around the table at Zahra’s self-righteous tone. She could be counted on to lead the conversation if she thought any of the nurses or young women using one of the gyms they frequented were falling for Sean’s good looks.
“What?” Zahra demanded.
Harlow waved her innocent expression away. “Every single one of your friends at this table has your number, Zahra. We aren’t buying what you’re trying to sell.”
Zahra flashed a faint grin that made her look mischievous and attractive as only she could. “I do try to keep my reputation intact.”
Harlow loved the laughter Zahra generated within the group.
She was always willing to laugh at herself.
Harlow felt Zahra had taught her that valuable trait.
Harlow had been raised to be a perfectionist, to never make a mistake in public.
As a child, she’d been severely punished when she slipped up outside the home, where someone could observe her basically acting like a young girl.
No loud laughter, no running or jumping, always appearing to be calm and sweet, no matter what was happening around her.
She’d met Zahra in college and had been drawn to her almost from the very beginning, mostly because Zahra lived her life in the moment, finding humor in everything.
Harlow had learned to have fun around her.
They became roommates and spent a lot of time together, including climbing and bouldering as well as backpacking.
Harlow hadn’t wanted to go home on her breaks, and neither had Zahra, so they planned vacations together.
“Have no worries,” Stella said. “Your rep is sacred to us. None of us will rat you out to the world.”
Zahra waved her hand in the air as if to dismiss the subject. “What else did big bad Bale have to say to you, Harlow?”
Harlow had hoped they would all forget she’d confessed to three letters from him. “The second one informed me Bale was going to demand a formal investigation. He said I would lose my license.”
Zahra rolled her eyes. “Like an investigation conducted by his corrupt uncle, the sheriff? As if Sam, Zale and Rainier would ever allow that to happen. He’s just posturing, trying to scare you.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong. Lawyer wasn’t even my patient once he left the ER. I was never responsible for his care, so Bale can investigate away.”
“What he can’t do is try to talk about you,” Stella said. “He can’t spread rumors that you had something to do with Lawyer’s death.”
“Who knows what that odious man is capable of?” Harlow said.
“His third letter,” Zahra prompted.
“It wasn’t a death threat. I’ve gotten death threats. His was more along the lines of ‘I hope you die, bitch.’ ”
Shabina gasped aloud. “You seriously gave that to Rainier, right?”
“It was in a file I turned over to him, so yes.”
“And to think I’ve been feeling sorry for him,” Shabina said. “I had no idea he was still up to his old tricks. He’s left me strictly alone.”
“Honey, no one is going to mess with you ever,” Vienna declared. “I think Zale is intimidating and Sam can be when he wants to, but Rainier is in a different class altogether.”
Shabina didn’t deny it, but she was clearly unhappy that Bale hadn’t turned into a good citizen. “Do you want me to ask Rainier to talk to him, Harlow?”
“No. Rainier has enough on his plate if he’s had to lock down his private medical center. I think the biggest question we have, other than trying to figure out what is killing people in Knightly, is how are we going to get to Raine?” Harlow said. “I don’t like that she’s alone.”
“We did make plans to visit her on our regular day to get together,” Stella reminded. “I already told Sam we were meeting at the medical facility and we’d need a helicopter ride to get to it.”
“I told Zale as well,” Vienna said.
“Rainier knows we’re supposed to meet there instead of at Harlow’s.
I arranged for transportation for us ahead of time,” Shabina added.
“He hasn’t said we can’t go. If he tries to do that, I’ll object.
He always listens when something is very important to me.
This is important to all of us, and he’ll know that. I doubt he’ll stop us.”
“I hope you’re right,” Harlow said. “I detest that she can’t reach out to us. She must be feeling very alone and cut off.” Her heart ached for Raine.
Shabina lifted her chin. “We’ll get to see her,” she assured.
Harlow liked that she sounded so confident.
Rainier was a man who appeared as if he would run roughshod over his wife, yet Shabina held complete conviction that he would find a way for all of them to visit Raine despite the lockdown.
Would she have that same confidence in Wilder?
That he would find a way to put her first?
She knew she had the type of personality to put him first. To find ways to make him happy.
That trait was deeply embedded in her character.
It was one of the reasons she was so careful around others.
She could so easily get walked on if a man knew she would go that extra mile to please him.
Wilder? Sometimes he had such pain in his eyes.
Most of the time he was arctic cold, a glacier, but once in a while, she could see hell in his eyes.
He’d blink, and it would be gone. She would doubt she truly saw that deep, lingering pain until she was alone in her bed, replaying the moment.
She found herself thinking about him and that look far too often.
“Are you even listening, Harlow?” Zahra demanded. “I’m spilling my deepest fears here, and you’ve got a smarmy look on your face.”
“Smarmy?” Harlow’s eyebrows shot up. “No one says smarmy, Zahra. No one even knows what it means anymore. You’re dating yourself.”
“It means pay attention when I’m telling you that you’re the one giving me nightmares now.
I’ve got a fear of bears and snakes. Now I have to worry about mutant snakes.
I can’t get the idea out of my head. Just like killer bees that are taking over the world, the snakes probably have dens, a hundred dens with a new species.
Mutant. Venomous. Very aggressive. So aggressive, just the vibration of you walking can set them off.
” Zahra groaned and covered her face with both hands before resting her head, face down, on the table.
“Good grief,” Stella said. “Now I’m going to have nightmares. I’ve never given much thought to snakes. One just exercises care during the season, but…” She trailed off.
“A mutant snake may not have a season,” Zahra stated knowledgeably.
“Thanks a lot. I already have tons of nightmares,” Stella said. “The serial killer kind, although he or she is still a ghost. Nevertheless I wake up and it isn’t good. Poor Sam.”
“You’re still having nightmares about a serial killer?
” Harlow asked, that strange, ominous feeling suddenly overtaking her.
For a moment, she thought she saw a shadow pass through the café, a dark portent of death.
She didn’t have precognition. She didn’t see into the future.
She’d never looked at someone completely healthy and predicted their death.
Yet she found herself shivering, suddenly worried about her friends. About Wilder.