Page 53 of Double Take
Because you haven’t come down off your high horse long enough to get to know me.Lainie bit her lip on the response. “Well, I do. Only I prefer camping, not glamping.”
“Like in a tent with no running water?” Bridgette actually looked intrigued.
“Yes,” Lainie said, starting to get amused at the whole conversation. “Exactly.”
Bridgette shuddered. “I’ll pass, thanks.” She went back to her computer and Lainie edged toward the locker room.
Allison cleared her throat. “Dr. Maloney said if I saw you to ask you if you’d be interested in teaching a suicide prevention class to a group of high school kids.”
Lainie smothered a sigh and stopped her escape attempt. A very worthy cause, but ... “When?”
“In a couple of weeks.” Allison glanced at the calendar, but it was Bridgette’s sudden stiffness that caught Lainie’s attention.
“Uh, I’m not sure, to be honest. I have some stuff going on right now and adding anything else to my calendar is probably not a good idea. If he can find someone else to do it this time, I’ll take the next one.”
“Didn’t do my sister any good,” Bridgette muttered.
Lainie and Allison exchanged a look. “What do you mean?” Allison asked. “I know your sister passed away, but are you saying—”
“I am. She killed herself. Over a man. Or rather a woman whostoleher man. Someone who lured him away from her. Elle had her issues, but she seemed to finally be in a good place when all of that happened. And it sent her spiraling. She didn’t deserve that.” She sniffed. “She turned the gas on in her home and breathed it until she was dead. So preach all you want to about suicide prevention, but if someone wants to kill themselves, a stupid program isn’t going to stop them.” She grabbed her laptop and walked away.
“Oh boy,” Allison said. “Now I feel like a jerk.”
“I’m sorry about her sister, but don’t let her make you feel like a jerk. These programsdohelp people. I’m just sorry she can’t see it.”
“I agree. She’s just hurting.”
And hurting people hurt others.
Lainie pushed Bridgette to the back of her mind with effort. “In answer to your question, I’m still waiting on Kenzie to get back to me about what her location vote is. But I think we’ll wind up at the place near Looking Glass Mountain.” Assuming her life was hers once again. She wasn’t going camping—orglamping—while trying to dodge someone out to hurt her. She wondered if Nichelle had called James yet. She was tempted to call the woman herself but would refrain. James would handle it.
“Oh, that’s a good one. And not too far from here.”
“Exactly.” She shoved stray strands of hair behind her ear. “I’ll catch up with you a little later, okay?”
“Sure.”
Lainie hurried down the hall, impatient to get everything in place so she could stop worrying about it. Not that she would.
Once in the locker room, she let her gaze scan the area. “Savannah?” Two nurses she often worked with greeted her, then slipped out the door. “Savannah, you in here?”
The stall door to the end toilet opened and a woman with long reddish-blond hair stepped out. Lainie gaped. “Wow.”
“Hi, Lainie, I’ll take that reaction as a compliment.”
“How did you... ?” She waved a hand at the woman’s disguise.
“I found your hospital picture online and James sent me a recent one he took.”
When had he taken her picture? Lainie hadn’t noticed him doing so. Which was kind of freaky. She pushed that to the “unimportant things” corner of her mind and rubbed her hands together while blowing out a slow breath. “All right, what now?”
“You stay here while I walk out the door, get in your car, and drive to your house.” She held out a bag. “While I’m doing that, you put this on.”
“What is it?” She opened the bag. A wig, an oversized fall sweater, a pair of glasses with clear lenses, and a baseball cap. “I guess you’re not the only one leaving here in disguise.”
“Exactly.” The woman patted Lainie’s arm. “I’ll see you when we have this creep in custody.”
Yes, Lord, please. Let thiswork.“Thank you for doing this,” she said, her voice low.