There wasn’t a doctor in Hamlet anymore. Doctor De Angelis moved out of town shortly following his wife—no, no his ex-wife, she remembered—his ex-wife’s murder. If a local needed medical care, it was at least a half hour’s drive to the next county. If it was an emergency, they prayed like hell and sped like Satan himself chased behind their vehicle.
Oh man, oh man, ohman.
They didn’t cover anything like this in her training. She saw the help wanted sign posted at the station house, got an application from Willie Parker, promised she was fit enough to do the job, and was deputized. She was thrown on patrol, partnered with Ethan more often not, and just tried to do what the sheriff and Ricky did.
What would they do now?
Natalie gave Grace another shake, rougher this time.
Grace let out a soft whimper.
Good. Okay. That was good.
Lifting Grace’s arm, she settled it over her shoulder and behind her neck, holding onto the outsider woman by her fingers. They were clammy and cold. Natalie tried not to notice that as she stood up, taking all of Grace’s weight. She wanted the other woman to stand on her own. No dice. Grace was like a wet noodle, limp and weak. She leaned into Natalie as she struggled to support her.
Natalie gritted her teeth, adjusting her hold on Grace’s arm before she joined her on the ground. “Come on. Let’s
get you out of the grass. That sound alright?”
Somehow she got through to the dazed outsider. Thank the friggin’ Lord. As Natalie dug in her heels, Grace nodded, then shifted until she was standing unsteadily on her own two feet. Natalie half-dragged, half-guided Grace up the steps, leading her to the other end of the porch.
Once Natalie helped Grace slump onto the porch swing, she unclipped her radio from the back of her jeans, knowing she had to. A quick turn of the knob, setting the right channel, and she broadcasted a call. “This is Deputy Newton. I have a situation over at Ophelia—”
Her buzz was cut off almost immediately by Sheriff Collins.
“Maria? What happened to Maria?”
Though she called on the Hamlet Sheriff Department line, she expected Willie to answer, or maybe Ethan. Ricky was off today; besides, he was notorious for keeping his communicator closed to all lines except his personal channel. And Sheriff Collins was usually too busy for buzzes unless they were on his emergency line.
Then again, everyone in Hamlet knew that he had a pretty serious thing going with Maria De Angelis. Of course, he would think the worst when she said she was at Ophelia.
She quickly signaled back. “Negatory, sir. It’s her guest. Grace. She’s gone pale all of a sudden, real shaky-like. I thought for a second she was gonna faint on me, so now I’ve got her resting on Ophelia’s swing. She’s not responsive, though, not really. If you ask me, it’s like she has the fear of God in her and it doesn’t… doesn’t seem right. I’m sorry, Sheriff. I didn’t know what else to do.”
The crackle of static, then, “You did the right thing, Deputy. Stay where you are, keep an eye on her. I’ll take care of this.”
“Yes, sir.”
The red light on her communicator blinked off. Sheriff Collins had switched from the Hamlet Sheriff Department’s channel.
Natalie kept the radio in her hand as she went back to check on Grace; if she heard any of the conversation between Natalie and the sheriff, she didn’t show it. Like before, she was staring at the piece of paper in her hand as if it held all the answers in the universe—and they were bad answers.
What did it say? Natalie had to know. Whatever it was had to be the cause behind Grace’s strange behavior.
“What do you got there?” she asked softly. “Can I see?”
Grace’s lower lip trembled. With a sharp shake of her head, she tucked the card stock closer to her chest.
Just when Natalie was about to pull rank and insist as a HSD deputy, the sound of a door opening had her glancing toward the front of Ophelia. A flurry of Italian announced who it was seconds before Maria burst out onto the porch, dashing to the swing. She had the handle of a battered, old baseball ball clutched tightly in her right hand, dragging it behind her as she rushed toward her guest. Natalie just managed to avoid being hit with it.
As soon as Maria reached the swing, she crouched down in front of the outsider. “Grace, sweetie. Sly buzzed me and said you’re not doing so well. What’s wrong, amica? You tell Maria, and I promise I’ll understand. You know that. Non sei solo. Yes?”
Grace blinked slowly, finally tearing her blank gaze away from the paper in her hand. When she saw it was Maria, she gasped out a short breath and, before anyone could react, she threw her arms around the statuesque beauty.
Natalie backed up further, shuffling her sneakers in her haste to get away. She tried not to take it too personally that Grace accepted Maria’s support so readily, but the scene from the last time they met still haunted her. The outsider had seemed on the verge of accepting her apology before she got sick or whatever—and maybe she still would—but it was obvious that Grace’s relationship with Ricky wasn’t the only one she forged in the short time she’d been in town.
She felt like she was intruding. Sheriff Collins must have buzzed Maria after her open-air call. Made sense. Since she was inside Ophelia, she was already on-site; having had Grace as a guest all this time, she knew her better than most. And, Natalie had to admit as she watched Maria rub Grace’s back in gentle circles, the other woman seemed to be getting her color back some now that Maria was there.
But she was a deputy, whether on duty or off. Sheriff Collins gave her an order. Stay where you are. That’s what she would do until relieved from her duty.