The Girl and the Field of Bones (Emma Griffin FBI Mystery Book 10), стр. 64
“This is Agent Emma Griffin, in urgent need of an ambulance,” I tell them before the dispatcher even has a chance to respond. I give her the address. “Hurry. Please.”
When we get to my car, I open the trunk and pull out my first aid kit. It has a tourniquet inside, and I'm able to secure it into place around her thin upper arm. One arm stays tight around her, propping her up as we sit on the hood of my car.
“Stay awake,” I say. “Stay awake, Lilith. Don't let them take you like this. Don't let them have you. If you leave like this, you are offering yourself over to them. Don't let them. They've had enough. They have taken enough from you. Stay with me.”
I keep talking, rocking her gently back and forth so the movement will jostle her awake if she lets herself drift off. I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't even know if any of the words even go together or form coherent sentences. All that matters is that she hears my voice. She knows I'm here. She's not alone. I won't let her be.
It seems to take forever, but finally, the ambulance screams into her yard, and the team I sent away earlier rushes out.
“She slit her wrist,” I tell them. “The cut goes nearly to her elbow. It's wrapped in a jacket, and I applied a tourniquet.”
“Good job,” one of the EMTs says. “We can take it from here.”
As they are loading her into the back of the ambulance, Lilith reaches for my hand. I take hers and squeeze it.
“They'll take care of you. You're safe with them,” I say. She nods but doesn't let go of my hand. "Can I ride with her?"
When they agree, I climb up with them and sit beside Lilith, gripping her hand as they fit an oxygen mask over her face and call ahead to the hospital to prepare a trauma team.
As soon as we get to the hospital, the doors fly open. They run her into the back so fast I barely catch a glimpse of her before she disappears behind the double doors. I walk slowly inside.
“Ma'am, are you all right? Do you need help?” a nurse asks, approaching me.
I look down at the blood covering me.
“No,” I say. “It's not my blood. Thank you.”
Sitting in the waiting room, I call Dean and Sam. Tears are streaming down my face as I talk to Sam.
“I'm coming to get you,” Sam says. “Just wait right where you are. I’ll be there as soon as I possibly can.”
Time is glacial. Half of me waits for any word about Lilith. Half of me waits for Sam. The clock ticks. At some point, I manage to clear my head enough from the shock to go to the restroom and wash off some of the blood from my face and hands. I return to my chair, the dull throb of pain in my shoulder growing louder and louder with every second.
Finally, the doors open, and he runs inside. I want to jump into his arms, but I don't have it in me. I don't need to. He drops to his knees in front of me and gathers me against him.
“I'm going to take you back to the hotel,” he says.
“I have to be here for Lilith,” I say.
“Emma, you need to get home now. I’ll let them know to get in touch with you as soon as they know anything about her,” he says. “You need to rest.”
“Before we go, there's somewhere I need to stop,” I say.
“Emma…”
“Sam, I need to do this.”
Sam frowns but nods. I can tell it’s breaking his heart to see me like this, to go along with this, but he does it anyway because he loves me. And I love him.
“Where do you need to go?” he asks.
“To the precinct. I need them to know I have a name for the body wrapped in the sheet in the cornfield,” I say. “It's Lindsey Granger.”
“Are you sure?” he asks.
I nod. “Lilith told me she could never escape the reminder of what she did. But it was right there all the time. That's because her husband did have a mistress, and she was buried right by the cornfield, where she was forced to work every day.”
“She killed Lindsey Granger?”
“No,” I say. “I'll explain everything to you. But I need crime scene pictures. I need pictures of the skeleton.”
There's no way I can get out tonight. The only thing ahead of me is a long shower, and as much sleep as my body will give me. I know it's not going to be deep or restful. I'll be waiting every second for a phone call from the hospital. Dean is by Xavier's side, but Lilith is alone. I want her to know she hasn't been abandoned again.
The next morning, I wake up with every inch of my body in pain. My head throbs and swims. My mouth and throat feel sticky, as if I haven't had anything to drink in months. But I still pull myself out of bed. I have to. This has waited long enough.
Taking the pictures Sam brought me, I start the long drive. Sam knows where I'm going. I don't look in the rearview mirror, but somehow, I know he's there. Maybe somewhere in the distance. But he's there.
When I get to Rachel Duprey's office, I walk up to her receptionist and ask to see her.
“She doesn't wish to speak with you,” the receptionist says.
“Try again, please,” I say. “Tell her I need to speak with her about Lindsey's sheet.”
With a confused look on her face, the receptionist picks up the phone and calls into Rachel's office. Seconds later, the door opens, and Rachel storms out. Gone are the