EXCERPT FROM BETRAYED - A romantic suspense novel | Page 52

MORGAN ST. JAMES

He continued, “I’ll be by to pick you up shortly, Mrs.
Murphy. Please be ready.”
Maude’s hand trembled as she lowered the receiver, then
called out, “Get down here, Mary Margaret!”
Laurel’s sister bounded down the stairs two at a time.
“That was the police. They may have found your sister. The
detective is coming to take me to the hospital. It doesn’t sound
too good. Don’t give me no guff. You’re staying home.”
~~~~

Maude pulled back from the detective who steered her
toward the hospital room, but he urged her on. He said the girl
was raped and beaten and the thought of that terrified her. “We
need positive identification, Mrs. Murphy. What you see may
shock you, but I’ll be with you. It’ll be okay.”
Once inside the room, she clutched at Detective Larson’s
arm, overwhelmed by the heavy medicinal smell. A tube
attached to a bottle was strapped to the good arm of the girl in
the bed. The other arm was encased in a cast reaching almost to
her shoulder.
Matted black hair fanned across the white pillow,
highlighting discolored swollen eyes and a smashed nose that
was all but lost in her purple and yellow face. Underneath the
bruises, she was deathly pale.
As the horror of the figure in the bed penetrated Maude’s
consciousness, she sagged against the detective. “I-I’m not sure
that’s my Laurie.” Her eyes clouded over with tears when she
took a closer look. As much as she tried to deny it, there was no
doubt. The tragic figure was her daughter. She nodded. “Yes,
it’s her, Detective Larson. That’s my Laurie. This is all my
fault.”
The detective caught her as she pitched forward and helped
her to a chair. At first she wailed, “Laurie, Laurie, what have I
done? What have I done to you, my baby?” Then she became
belligerent. “Detective, they got a tag on her bed callin’ her Doe
Twenty-Seven. That’s no Doe laying there! It’s my girl. My

46