She looked up as he leaned over her, the needle poised in his right hand. 

“Time to become beautiful,” he said before he plunged the needle into her arm.

Shaye jolted awake in the dimly lit room, momentarily panicking until she realized where she was. She glanced at her watch and couldn’t believe it. Almost 8:00 a.m. Between doctors, nurses, and the occasional police guard drop-in, it had been a hectic night. Eleonore had arrived about thirty minutes after Shaye, ready to raise hell and call up the National Guard. Shaye had talked her off the ledge—a turn of events she found rather ironic—and finally convinced the psychiatrist that both of them could not share the one uncomfortable chair in hospital room and that Corrine would need someone at home with her the next day. Someone who could listen to her for hours at a time because there would be no end to the complaining once Corrine was at home and got indignant over the whole thing. Eleonore would have her hands full.

At some point, the room traffic died down, and when Shaye dozed off, the nurse must have turned off the overhead light. Now the lights above Corrine’s bed and light emitting from the monitors were the only things illuminating the room.

Shaye rose from her chair to check on Corrine and was relieved to see her mother’s chest rising and falling naturally. The bruises had darkened overnight, leaving her perfect white skin marred, something that would plague Corrine until the bruises went away. Her mother always insisted on looking her best. She wouldn’t leave the house without makeup or with her hair in a ponytail. Shaye assumed it was a carryover from the way Corrine’s mother had raised her. She had to assume because Audrey Archer had passed away when Corrine was not yet a teenager, so Shaye had never met her. But through Corrine’s stories, she almost felt she knew her.

Corrine stirred and her eyes fluttered open. She looked confused at first, but then her gaze locked on Shaye. “I forgot where I was for a moment,” she said. “How long have I been out?”

“It’s almost eight a.m., so quite a while. How do you feel?”

“Like I fell down a flight of stairs. You know, I did this when I was twelve and I don’t recall it hurting that bad then.”

“I hear that’s what happens when you get old.” Shaye struggled not to smile.

“Old? Old! We’re practically the same generation.”

“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that.”

“Shaye Archer!” Corrine stared at her in dismay. Finally, Shaye couldn’t hold it any longer and the grin she’d been holding in broke through.

“Shame on you,” Corrine said, “picking on me when I’m hooked to machines. You just wait until I get out of here.”

Shaye laughed and pressed the call button for the nurse. “How about we find out when that will be?”

Corrine’s mouth quivered and she smiled, then she put her fingers on her cheeks. “Oh, that smarts. How bad is it?”

“The truth?”

“No, I want you to lie to me so I can be even more upset when I look in a mirror.”

“It’s not pretty, but I don’t think anything will scar.”

“Give me a mirror.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now.”

“Okay,” Shaye said as she dug a compact out of her purse, “but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She opened the compact and handed it to Corrine.

Corrine held up the mirror and her eyes widened. She turned her head from side to side, studying the damage, then clicked the compact shut and handed it back to Shaye. “It’s not as bad as I feared, but makeup is not going to cover this.”

“I could get you a ski mask. Quite fashionable among skiers and criminals.”

“They’re horrible for your hair. I think I’ll just deal with people asking me ‘how does the other guy look?’ for a couple of weeks.”

A nurse walked into the room and smiled. “Make sure you tell them he looks worse,” she said.

Shaye moved away from the bed as the nurse checked out Corrine. “You look good for a woman starting fights in abandoned buildings. I’m going to send the doctor in.”

“Thank you,” Corrine said as the nurse left. She looked up at Shaye. “I want out of here.”

“I know you do, but you have to listen to the doctor. That’s what you always told me.”

“How did you grow up to be such a nag?”

“I had a good teacher. As soon as the doctor gives you clearance, you’ll be lounging on the couch at home, driving Eleonore crazy.”

“Eleonore?”

“She insists that staying with you during the day is how she can help most. Grandfather will be back from China sometime this afternoon, and he’ll be stopping by. I’ll be there tonight.”

“And today?”

“I have to work. I need to get answers for Emma before…”

Corrine frowned. “Before something worse happens to her than happened to me.”

Guilt rocked Shaye. The only reason Corrine lay here in that hospital bed was because of Shaye’s case. Logic told her she wasn’t responsible for the actions of a madman, but in her mind, it didn’t lessen her culpability. If she hadn’t taken the case, Corrine wouldn’t be in danger. Even worse, she was hiding the reason for the attack from Corrine, and even though it was for her own good, Shaye had her own reasons for keeping the information secret. All Shaye wanted to do was help Emma, but she still felt selfish for hiding things.

Maybe because deep down, she knew that helping Emma also helped herself. Proved that she could do the job she so desperately wanted to excel at. Proved that she could find answers when the police had given up. She held in a sigh. In a couple of days, she had created weeks of issues to talk over with Eleonore. The woman was probably going to have to double her sessions.

Shaye placed her hand on Corrine’s arm. “The first thing I’m going to do this morning is talk with a detective about Emma’s situation. I might have enough evidence now to get the police involved.”

Corrine’s relief was apparent. “Thank God.”

“It’s not a sure thing, so don’t celebrate yet. But I’m trying to shift the responsibility where it belongs as soon as I can.”

“Is Emma okay?”

“Honestly, no. She’s exhausted, terrified, and probably hasn’t slept one good hour in weeks. I don’t know how much longer she can hold up.”

“If I can do anything, let me know. We have facilities for women…if she needs somewhere to get off radar for a while.”

Shaye leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

Corrine smiled. “Probably, but I’m always happy to hear it some more.” She sobered. “You be careful, Shaye. None of us are exempt from violence. You know that better than anyone. I just got a harsh reminder.”

“I’m taking every possible precaution.” Except dropping the case.

Corrine nodded but didn’t look convinced. Shaye didn’t blame her.

She wasn’t convinced, either.

###

Emma jumped up, banging her elbow into something hard and immovable. She panicked for a moment before she realized she was on the floor in her hotel room bathroom and that immovable object that had just assaulted her was the cabinet. She rubbed her elbow, then pushed herself up from the floor. Her clothes and the towels were still scattered across the tile where she’d dropped them the night before. She picked her watch up from the counter and stared at it in disbelief. It was almost 8:00 a.m.

She’d slept on that floor all night.

That explained the catch in her neck and tugging she felt in her lower back. She was in good shape, but maintaining one sleeping position for hours on cold, hard tile would put a strain on anyone’s physical fitness. She rolled her head around and her neck popped, relieving tension all the way down her spine.

She looked at herself in the mirror and almost didn’t recognize the woman looking back at her. Her normally light skin was completely devoid of color, and her eyes were sunken into her head, dark circles surrounding them. She’d lost weight and her already-thin cheeks were starting to look gaunt.