Page 42 of One Night Years Ago

“A bird?”

Before the girl could reply, the door opened and the nurse strode in.

“What are you doing, Sheriff?” she complained.

Natalie jumped back from the bed.

“Was it a bird?” she whispered, but the girl wasn’t looking at her anymore. Her eye was closed once again.

“Is she okay?”

The nurse checked her over quickly. “She’s fine. She shouldn’t have woken up. She’ll sleep until the afternoon if she’s lucky.”

Natalie nodded. “I don’t want anybody getting close to this room. I’ll send Susan over to sit with her until she wakes.”

Then to the girl, she said, “He can’t hurt you anymore. You’re safe.”

In the car on her way to the station she called Rob. “Rob, I’ve just been at the hospital. The girl’s alive. She’s going to be okay.”

Rob breathed a sigh of relief.

“But we still don’t know who she is. I didn’t recognize her, but I have a set of initials from a bracelet she was wearing. We’re going to need to—”

“Felicia Robinson,” her deputy interrupted in his deep voice.

“F.R. Felicia … how do you know?”

“Mrs. Robinson just called in a panic. Her niece is spending the summer with her. She went out last night but never came home. I was going to head out to see her, but—”

F.R.

Natalie knew Mrs. Robinson. She was a retired schoolteacher. “I’ll stop by and see her now. Thanks, Rob. Oh, and could you please ask Susan to come to the hospital until Felicia’s aunt gets there? I don’t want her to be alone.”

“Consider it done, Sheriff,” he said.

Chapter 17

Natalie

“Mrs. Robinson? Do you have a picture of Felicia?”

The old woman took a picture out of her purse. “Here it is. We took this last week. I was just going over to the station to drop it off. I spoke to that nice tall young man who works there.”

“Chief Deputy Hope?”

“That’s it. He said he’d help me.”

Natalie glanced at the picture. It was definitely her, though it was heartbreaking to know that the smiling, exuberant young woman posing in the picture could be the same one lying so quietly on the hospital bed.

“We found her, Mrs. Robinson,” she was quick to add, reaching over to grab the old woman’s arm. “She’s been hurt, but she’s alive. Come with me. I’ll take you to the hospital now.”

“Oh God.” Mrs. Robinson scrunched up her face as if in pain. “Are you lying to me? Is she … dead? I know police do that sometimes, to ease the shock.”

Maybe on TV.

“Felicia’s alive, Mrs. Robinson.”

The old woman sniffled. “I’m sorry. I know what happened to poor Jill’s daughter just last week. And I know what happened to you so many years ago. That animal got out of prison and now it’s all starting again.”