“Great, you talked to Ken. What did he tell you?”
“He didn’t tell me anything. When he wasn’t in his cell, the guards looked for him. He was found in the shower, stabbed.”
“Oh, my God! Is he dead?”
“No, but he lost a lot of blood. They’ve taken him to the hospital. That’s where I am now. I was hoping he’d wake up in the ambulance, but no dice. The doctor isn’t sure he’ll make it through surgery.”
“Do they have any idea who did this?”
“No. No one saw anything, and Ken really hasn’t been there long enough to make enemies. But he was stabbed with a homemade shank.”
“This is terrible. What are you going to do now?”
“I think I’ll hang around here. If he comes out of surgery, I might get a name.”
“Okay. I’ll close up here and head on over.”
Kate hung up the phone and prepared to clean up her work area and store the evidence she’d been working on. She heard the door open to the lab but didn’t turn around. A heavy blow to the back of her head knocked her down to the ground, but before she lost consciousness, she saw a pair of highly polished shoes go into the evidence area. Then blackness stole over her like a dark shroud.
* * *
Acrid smoke filled her nose. Kate awoke with a ferocious headache. She rolled over to the phone and hauled herself up. Reaching out, she grabbed the receiver and dialed 9-1-1. She weaved her way over to the fire alarm and pulled it.
Moments after, the sprinkler system kicked in and soaked her to the skin. She collapsed into a heap on the floor. She heard the sirens get closer and then booted feet on the stairs. Smoke was heavy in the room, but every time Kate tried to move, her head would spin. “Kate!” Sean O’Neill said, bending down to her. “What happened?”
“Someone hit me. I think they started a fire in the evidence room.”
He knelt down and gathered her into his arms and rose. She clung to his neck, her head spinning and bringing her close to the black maw.
When she hit the fresh outside air, she started to cough, but a paramedic was there with an oxygen mask and put it over her nose.
“Kate! Oh, my God, what happened?” Sienna said to Sean.
“Someone hit her and started a fire in the lab. It’s a good thing that fire didn’t reach the chemicals stored there, or there would have been one hell of an explosion.”
Kate registered that information as she breathed deeply.
“I’m going with her,” Sienna said, flashing her badge. She climbed inside the ambulance and grasped Kate’s hand.
“Is she okay?” Sean asked the paramedic.
“Yeah, she’s stable. Nasty blow to the head and probably a concussion.”
“Who did this to you, Kate?”
“Don’t know.” Her words were muffled behind the mask.
The ride was quick and when they pulled up at the ER door, Jericho was there to greet the ambulance.
* * *
“Katie,” he said softly, grasping her hand, demanding information from the paramedic. The paramedic answered his rapid-fire questions.
They wheeled her toward an exam room and a nurse said, “You’ll have to let go of her, sir.”
Jericho reluctantly did so. “I’ll see you soon.”
Kate nodded.