Decker moved away from the bed as the EMTs crowded around Mitzi, who had started to shake violently and then suddenly slumped over. One of the EMTs sprayed Narcan into her nostril. She didn’t move for a long moment, and then she sat straight up and let out a lungful of air.
“Okay, ma’am, just relax. We’re going to take you to the hospital to get checked out.”
“W-what?”
Then she went limp again and fell over sideways.
“Shit,” said the EMT. He sprayed another shot of Narcan up her other nostril.
She stirred but did not come fully back.
They started a saline drip line and put a blood pressure cuff and pulse monitor on her.
“Her pressure and respiration are really low,” said one of the EMTs. “Critically low. I think she took something more than was in that bottle. Let’s roll. Now!”
They were loading her onto a gurney when Decker noticed something.
“Wait a minute, where’s her husband?”
“Who?” said one of the EMTs.
“Her husband. Tall guy. He let you in.”
“Nobody let us in. The front door was open. We just followed the noise to back here.”
Decker ran out of the room, down the hall, and out the front door. A late-model Audi 8 had been parked in front when he’d gotten here. It was no longer there.
He looked up and down the road fronting the house.
Brad Gardiner was gone.
And Decker had no clue why.
Am I ever going to get out ahead of this damn case?