Outside The Law. Michelle Karl

Wayne looked Noel up and down with a grimace. “You do look like you need to get to the hospital and get checked over. You were inside the car at the time of the crash?”

      “Yes.” Noel looked pointedly at the officer he’d thought he’d gotten along with the day before. “We need to go.”

      Wayne glanced back at the other policemen setting barriers around the crash and directing traffic. “Technically, you should get checked out, too. We can deal with reconstruction later. If Miss Browder dies, we’re going to need to do a lot more than just take a few photos. I hate to admit that I was in the wrong, but it sure looks like someone wants Miss Browder out of the way. Guess she was right to be concerned, but I tell you, it’s a stretch to think it has anything to do with her brother, and the captain agrees with me.”

      “She’s not going to die.” Noel pointed at the police cars in the intersection. Officer Wayne needed to stop talking and have a cop drive him to the hospital. He ground his teeth and touched his coat pocket, where his newly presented badge reminded him of what he’d devoted his life to. “She can’t.”

      Not when I’ve just found her again.

      * * *

      Noel slipped in and out of consciousness as he reclined in the hospital chair by Yasmine’s bedside. The clock above the door read quarter to nine in the morning. He’d hoped to catch up on sleep as he waited for updates, but with nurses constantly coming and going and his mind racing to make sense of events, rest was a long way off.

      Yasmine’s aunt had already visited and authorized him as a family visitor, and Noel had promised to call her as soon as the doctors or nurses bothered to tell him how Yasmine was doing. She looked pale and attached to too many tubes. His only consolation was that the hospital café opened at nine. He planned to imbibe at least two espresso shots and a large black tea so he could be functional as soon as Yasmine woke.

      He stood, stretched, then crossed the room and opened the door, checking to make sure the officers stationed at either end of the hallway were still there. He’d send them on their way once the risk of falling asleep at Yasmine’s bedside had passed, but he was deeply grateful to Officer Wayne for convincing the captain to station two patrol guys here this morning. Both Wayne and the captain had agreed that three successive attempts on Yasmine’s life were no coincidence. They’d expressed a need to talk to her as soon as she awoke, but Noel wanted to talk to her first.

      She had information about her brother’s death that obviously hadn’t been taken seriously, that hadn’t been included in the official reports. Daniel Browder had been killed in a workplace accident, Officer Wayne had said yesterday, showing him a file full of reports from various investigative parties. Daniel had worked at Newtech Inspections, a facility that manufactured and tested military equipment under contract with the Department of Defense. The entire facility underwent a workplace safety inspection after Daniel’s death and the incident had been ruled a tragic accident. Newtech Inspections hadn’t been deemed at fault.