Alarums. Part 42

The siren was a deafening shriek.

She went for the knife.

She tugged it out of Harrison 's chest.

Bodie tensed for the attack.

Melanie pushed the knife slowly into Harrison 's throat. Clutching it with both hands, she worked its blade back and forth. Her long black hair swayed in front of her face as she rocked above him, putting her weight into the cutting.

'What's wrong?' Pen asked.

'Nothing.' Bodie stroked her head. 'Everything's fine.'

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

'No funny business,' Pen said. She was in bed, naked except for her white shorts, a white bandage beneath her left breast, and a white cast on her arm. The discarded sling lay rumpled on the sheet beside her. 'I am, after all, an invalid.'

'You look valid.' Bodie cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and gently thumbed the nipples. Pen squirmed.

'You can validate me later,' she said. 'This is serious business.'

'Of course.'

Bodie's hands went away. Pen raised her head off the pillow. With an open hand, she lifted and flattened her breast and peered over it to see what he was doing. 'Be gentle,' she warned, smiling.

Bodie picked at a corner of the tape with his fingernail. 'Difficult to concentrate,' he said, 'when beholding such a vision of loveliness.'

'Yep. No doubt.'

He pulled the tape slowly, watching the adhesive lift her skin and peel away from it.

'Owooo.'

'Maybe one quick yank.'

'Don't you dare.'

'We should really change this bandage more often than the one on your back. Such scenic surroundings.' The bandage came off, revealing a four-inch laceration cross-hatched with st.i.tches.

'Yuck,' Pen said.

'Coming along nicely.'

'Easy for you to say. I'm the one looks like the bride of Frankenstein.'

'You look terrific. It gives you character.'

'Sure.'

Bodie unrolled a pad of cotton and gauze, snipped off a section slightly longer than the wound, and taped it into place.

'Good job.' She released her breast and lowered her head to the pillow.

Her fingers had left faint red prints on her creamy skin. Bodie watched them fade.

I'm gonna cut off your t.i.ts!

'What's wrong?' Pen asked.

'Melanie. She keeps coming back.'

'Yeah.'

'I wonder how she's doing.'

'I don't know,' Pen muttered. 'At least she probably won't have to stand trial. That would've been tough, nothing going for her except Joyce's confession.'

Bodie put a hand on Pen's belly. He lightly stroked the smooth skin. 'Do you suppose they're treating her okay?'

'It isn't the Hilton. Later on, maybe we can get her moved to a better facility.'

'At least she nailed those two.'

'I wonder if it was worth it.'

The telephone rang. 'I'll get it,' Bodie said. He patted her belly, then stood and hurried toward the kitchen. Suddenly scared. Pen had changed her number. Only the police, the people at Melanie's psychiatric ward, and the hospital had the new one. The call had to mean trouble. He picked up the phone. 'h.e.l.lo?'

'Is this Penelope Conway's residence?' asked the male voice.

'Yes, it is.'

'May I speak to Miss Conway?'

'Who may I say is calling?'

'This is Dr Herman Gray of the Beverlywood Medical Center. I'm calling about Miss Conway's father.'

Bodie's stomach clenched. 'Just a moment, please.' He let the phone's handset dangle by its cord, and hurried back to the bedroom. Pen was sitting up.

When she saw Bodie, the color left her face.

'It's Dr Gray,' he said.

She clamped her lower lip between her teeth.

Bodie followed her to the kitchen. He stood behind her while she picked up the phone. He put a hand on her bare back. He stared at the bandage over her right shoulder blade.

'This is Pen Conway,' she said.

She listened.

'Oh my G.o.d,' she said, and began to cry.

'What the h.e.l.l happened to you?'

'What the h.e.l.l happened to you?' Pen retorted. Then she fell to her knees beside the bed and, weeping, kissed her father.

When her mouth left his, he said, 'Hey, you're getting me wet, babe. Turn off the fountain.'

'G.o.d, Dad.' She kissed him again.

His hand came out from beneath the sheets and stroked her hair. 'Sure is good to see you again,' he said. 'Good to see anything, for that matter.'

'How do you feel?'

'Like I was. .h.i.t by a locomotive.'

'It was a car.'

'So I hear.'

Pen wiped her eyes with her left hand.

'So what's your excuse?' Whit asked, glancing at her cast.

'I fell down some stairs.'

'Klutziness must run in the family, huh?' Bodie saw a glint in the old man's eyes. 'Any negligence involved?'

'Just my own.'

'Awwww. We'd have some great personal injury suits, both of us, if onlya'

'Those are the breaks,' Pen said.

'No pun intended, huh?' Then he said, 'Owooo,' an echo of Pen when Bodie had pulled the tape from her chest.

'Dad, I want you to meet Bodie.' She smiled over her shoulder at him. Tears were shimmering in her eyes.

'I thought Bodie was a town in Wyoming. You don't look much like a town.'

'Welcome back, Mr Conway.'

'You banging my daughter?'

'Dad!'

'h.e.l.l, I know you are. I can tell by the look of you. You look okay to me.'

'Thanks, sir.'

'Make it Whit.'

'Whit.'

'You drink?'

'I polished off most of the beer in your refrigerator.'

'Make sure you restock it before I come home. Recuperation is thirsty work.'

'Right.'

'Speaking of home, how come you're both here and Joyce isn't?'

'She doesn't know you came out of it,' Pen said. 'Not yet. We'll tell her as soon as we see her.'

'You do that. Tell her to get her sweet buns over here.'

'I will.'

'What about number two daughter?'

'She was here for a few days right after the accident. It looked like you might be the same for a while, so she went back to school. She has her cla.s.sesa'

'Well, that's all right. I'm glad she thought enough to come over.'

'She was awfully upset, Dad.'

A smile drifted over his lips. 'That's good to hear. Melaniea we've had our share of troubles since your mother pa.s.sed away.' He shook his head. 'She doesn't care much for Joyce, I'm afraid.'

'She loves you a lot.'

'h.e.l.l, I think I'll go out and pay her a visit once I'm on my feet again.'

Bodie held Pen's hand as they left the hospital. The morning sun was bright and warm, and he watched the way Pen's gleaming hair stirred in the breeze.

There was sorrow in her eyes.