Chapter 7 #2
“Said the group has been there for years without any serious trouble even though the FBI had looked into them a few times. He also said he’d deal with trouble if it happened.”
“He will. I heard that one of the city men was connected to the mob?”
“I told him. That got his attention.”
“But he probably also said as long as they stay to themselves on their property—and they’re not hurting anyone or doing anything illegal that he can tell—there’s not much he, or anyone else, actually can do.”
“Exactly. And he’s right. He has to be able to prove it.”
“All right, well, I’ll let Ollie know we’ll set up a time for her first lesson when she’s feeling better.”
“It won’t take long.” He sighed. “I need to share something with you. Ollie has Addison’s disease. She probably just overdid it on the court with Piper.”
“Ohhh.” Compassion softened her features. “I see.”
“Yeah.”
Piper stepped into the room. “I tried to tell her to take it easy.”
“It’s not your fault,” Sully said.
“I know, but I wish she’d listen a little better.”
“Did Hannah listen when she was fourteen?”
Piper snorted. “Good point.”
Addison’s disease wasn’t fatal unless untreated, but it could leave someone feeling extremely fatigued, weak, and lightheaded—especially under stress. And Ollie had definitely been under stress.
“Gotta be telling all my secrets, huh, Sully?” Ollie asked from the hallway.
He closed his eyes and said a quick prayer for patience before opening them and turning. Maya stood behind the teen with a grimace on her face.
Ollie looked paler than before, her earlier post-exercise flush replaced with a wan complexion. “Not to everyone,” Sully said, “just people who are going to be in direct contact with you and may need to act accordingly.”
She cut her eyes at Maya. “You mean like waking me up when I’m trying to sleep, insisting on checking my pulse, and asking me a bunch of questions?”
“I apologized for that,” Maya said, sounding distinctly unapologetic.
Ollie rolled her eyes but didn’t fuss at either of them any longer. “I still want to learn,” she said to Elena. “Just maybe start tomorrow?” She slid her gaze to Sully, then Piper. “If we’re still here.”
“We’re still discussing,” Sully said.
Maya placed a gentle hand on Ollie’s shoulder. “When did you last take your meds?”
Ollie shrugged her off, then sighed. “Sorry. I’m just annoyed at myself. I took my meds last night, but I . . .” She hesitated. “I don’t think I did this morning.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, looking about twenty years older than her fourteen years. “I’ll go do that now.”
“Good idea.”
“Tomorrow,” Ollie said to Elena. “If we’re here.”
“Sure,” Elena said. “Get some rest.”
Ollie disappeared in the direction of her room, and Maya frowned, then shook her head. Elena glanced at him, then Maya. “Want me to talk to her?”
Sully nodded. “Yeah. Just reassure her if you can.” Reassure her that he would do whatever it took to keep her safe. Even if it meant making her mad.
Elena stood outside the closed door, wondering if the timing was right to talk to Ollie. Then again, it didn’t seem time was their friend, so . . .
She knocked.
Nothing.
She knocked again.
Heard rummaging and a thump. Then a low groan. “Ollie? You okay? It’s Elena.”
Silence, then the door cracked. The girl’s pale face had lightened another shade. Ollie stepped back. “Might as well get this over with.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to intrude. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.” While the words were true, they were still an excuse to lay eyes on the teen without coming across as being suffocating or overprotective. Because she clearly did not appreciate that.
“It’s not that.” She swung the door open and stomped to the bed where she’d dumped the contents of her backpack.
“I can’t find my medication.” She turned and met Elena’s gaze.
Tears welled and she swiped them away with one hand and took a deep breath.
“I had them in the side pocket of my pack. That’s where I keep them.
They’re always there.” She flung a hand at the offending pocket. “And now they’re not.”
“Could they have fallen out?”
“Of a zipped pocket?”
“Maybe you forgot to zip it?”
Ollie scowled. “I know I’m fourteen so I’m supposed to be dumb and make stupid mistakes. And I’m not completely innocent of those things. But my meds are one thing I don’t make mistakes with.”
Except she couldn’t remember if she’d taken her meds that morning.
Ollie cut her a sideways glance. “And before you go thinking I forgot whether I took them this morning or not, I took them.”
Okay, that was a little disconcerting. “Mind read a lot?”
“No, but it’s what I’d think if I were you.”
“If you didn’t forget, why did you say you couldn’t remember?”
“I just wanted out of the kitchen. I said the first thing that popped in my head.”
At least that tracked with her age.
“When did you last see them? This morning’s dose?”
“Yeah.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “And I put the pack right back in my bag, I swear.”
“Then let’s search your room.”
“I did.”
“While I believe you, if we both go over the room one more time, at least we can say we searched.”
“Fine.” They both looked for several minutes, then collapsed onto the bed. “Told you,” Ollie said.
“Okay, then there are only a few options as to what happened to it.”
Ollie nodded. “I didn’t put it back and laid it somewhere else, I put it back but didn’t zip the pocket and it fell out, or someone took it out.”
Elena didn’t want to go where that last statement would take them. It was bad enough she’d thought it, but to have Ollie once again echo her thoughts . . .
“Well, I don’t think someone took it out,” Ollie said. “At least not intentionally. Or at least I don’t want to think that.” She bit her lip. “But both packs are gone.” She rubbed her eyes. “I really don’t want to believe someone would do that. And how would they even know they were there?”
“Where did you have the backpack? At the gym, right?”
“In the locker.”
“Did you lock it?”
Ollie shot her a thin smile. “No. I wasn’t really worried about someone stealing it. Not here.” Her jaw hardened. “Lesson learned.”
“But . . . that just doesn’t make sense for someone to steal it. Why would . . .” She snapped her lips together. Some people didn’t need a reason.
“Then again, it is steroids.” Ollie narrowed her eyes. “You got addicts here?”
Ugh. “Yes. Former addicts, but . . . yes.”
“And former addicts have been known to relapse.”
She wasn’t wrong. “I’ll see what we can find out. We have cameras. We’ll see who went in and out of the gym during the time you were there.”
“But who would know? We haven’t told anyone about my disease, so there’s no reason for anyone to think I’d have drugs on me. You only just learned about it.”
She raked a shaky hand through her hair, and Elena’s nursing instincts kicked in. “We’ll figure it out. In the meantime, why don’t you lay down and rest while I let the others know. We’ll have to get you more meds.”
“I feel so stupid.” Ollie flopped back onto the pillow.
“Don’t blame yourself. Seriously. Stuff happens. It’s just a problem to solve.”
“But a problem I created if no one took them. And even if someone did take them, I was the one who had them on me unsecured in a place where addicts are. I mean, it’s not like they’re opioids or something, but still, when you don’t have anything, steroids will do.”
“Ollie,” Elena said, placing a hand on her arm. “Please. No self-blame. You have enough to deal with, without that. Now, do you mind if I check your pulse?”
“Sure.” Ollie flung her arm out in Elena’s direction. Elena started the timer on her smartwatch and took the girl’s pulse. “It’s a little faster than it should be.”
“Where can I get more meds?” she asked, fear in her pretty eyes. “If I don’t take them on time, I’ll get dizzy and nauseous, and I absolutely hate that feeling.”
“I know. We’ll work that out. You just stay here and we’ll get your meds ASAP. There’s a pharmacy in town. Maya is a doctor. I have no doubt she can write the script. Easy peasy.”
Hope flared. “Really?”
“Really.”
Ollie closed her eyes with a sigh. “Oh, thank goodness. I forgot Maya could do that. That’s a huge relief.”
“Rest. I’ll fill in the others.”
“They’re going to think I’m so stupid,” she muttered. “But even worse than that, they’re going to think I’m irresponsible.”
“They won’t. I promise. Accidents happen. We all misplace things.”
“Not my meds,” she said.
Elena patted the girl’s leg. “Rest for now.”
Ollie gave a grunt in response that Elena took as agreement. She rose and walked back into the kitchen, where she found Piper, Maya, and Sully in quiet discussion.
Sully looked up. “How is she?”