Midnight Caller. Diane Burke

      Carol’s face flushed. Before she could reply, a male voice interrupted.

      “I thought I saw the three of you over here.”

      “Hello, Robert.” Erin smiled at the six-foot-tall man and watched in amusement as Amy reached out her arms to him. He lifted the child, held her in the crook of his arm and didn’t offer a word of protest as she tousled his hair with her hands, laughed and did it again, entertaining herself as if she had invented the game.

      “Good to see you, Erin. How have you been?” he asked.

      “Just fine, Robert, and you?”

      “Good.” His eyes no longer held the traces of hurt and anger she had seen after their breakup. With a sense of relief, she realized something else, a sparkle, a genuine happiness seemed to reside there now.

      “We’re watching the clown show,” Carol said. “Or, at least, we were.”

      The show was over and the clown gone.

      Erin glanced at her watch. “No wonder. Look at the time. I have to get back downstairs. It’s almost time for shift report. I want to get home before Tess puts Jack to bed.”

      “I’ll be down in a minute,” Carol said. “I have to wait for Sue to come back from the restroom.”

      Erin nodded and slipped away from the group. The elevator was packed to capacity and a second group waited to board. Not wanting to wait, Erin slipped into the stairwell and took the steps two at a time. She had just cleared the second landing when she heard the heavy metal door slam behind her. She smiled. She wasn’t the only one too impatient to wait.

      Erin exited on the ground floor. A quick glance at her watch made her increase her pace. Her fifteen-minute break had quickly stretched into twenty minutes. Erin needed to hustle and get back to the ER.

      The hospital was in the process of building a new facility out near the interstate. The grand opening was set for this summer, but some offices had already been moved and a couple wings of this building already closed. Erin rushed past a door leading to one of the empty wings and then turned around and went back. This wing cut right across the middle of the ground floor. If she took this shortcut, it could save her valuable time she would otherwise spend racing like a rat in a maze through the other corridors. She’d end up in the same place anyway, but this route would get her there in half the time.

      Erin warred with herself. She was the kind of person who followed the rules. She didn’t claim to be sick when she wasn’t. She didn’t cheat on her taxes. She stopped at red lights. She did her best to live a good, clean, socially obedient life.

      Except for her love of speed. Erin could almost feel an accelerator pedal beneath her foot and grinned.

      Ignoring the Caution—Do Not Enter sign, she glanced both ways to make sure she wouldn’t be observed breaking the rules and slipped inside. It took her eyes a second to adjust. Instead of the bright fluorescent bulbs throughout the hospital, this area was lit by single bulbs placed strategically along the way. Erin began walking down the dimly lit corridor.

      Furniture, file cabinets and medical equipment waiting for transfer to the new facility loomed on all sides of a small walkway and cast monstrous shadows on the floor. The silence made Erin uneasy. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea. She increased her pace. A rustling sound behind her made Erin pause. Was someone else in this deserted part of the hospital? She stood still and listened.

      Nothing.

      She continued moving toward the exit.

      Bang. The sound of metal hitting the concrete floor echoed through the room. Erin’s heart slammed against her chest. Someone was in here with her.

      “Hello. Is anybody there?”

      Silence.

      Why didn’t they show themselves? Her breathing quickened and her pulse raced.

      Rooted to the spot, she stared into the darkness. She thought she saw a furtive movement in the shadows.

      “Hello?”

      Ice-cold fingers of fear crept up her spine. Erin wasn’t stupid enough to stand around in the darkness waiting for answers that didn’t come. She sprinted toward the exit and burst through the door. Never before had she been so happy to see the ebb and flow of people moving through the corridor.

      What was the matter with her? Since when was she afraid of the dark? That’ll teach her to break the rules. She collapsed against the wall, leaned her head back and tried to catch her breath.

      “Miss Erin? Are you okay?”

      Erin glanced up. Lenny stood beside her, holding blood specimen tubes housed in plastic bags in both hands.

      Erin’s chest heaved from the exertion of the last few minutes but she managed to smile.

      “I’m fine, Lenny.” She pushed off the wall, grateful to see the entrance to the ER straight ahead. “Just getting a little exercise on my break.” She nodded and hurried past him.

      The rest of her shift passed without incident. After report she waved at Carol and said goodbye to her peers. Erin hurried to the lobby. Her nerves were still on edge and she’d be glad when she was home. She rummaged around the bottom of her purse for her keys and stepped outside. Pausing for a moment in the entranceway, she glanced up.

      God, it’s so beautiful tonight. Look at those stars. I’m constantly in awe of Your breathtaking creations.

      The breeze ruffled her hair. She shoved her hands into her jacket pocket but couldn’t find her scarf. She fumbled in her purse, admonishing herself for the hundredth time for owning a purse without separate compartments, and came up empty. Where is it? She chewed her bottom lip. Think. When was the last time you had your scarf?

      She shuffled the purse contents. Cell phone. Wallet. Lipstick. Tissues. Paperback.

      This color looks good on you, brings out the color of your eyes.

      Tony. The silk scarf slipping ever so slowly through his fingers. She stared into her purse. The scarf was gone.

      Lost in thought, she walked to her car and almost missed the item tucked beneath her windshield wiper. Erin pulled out the dead, withered rose and opened the small white note wrapped around the stem. She held it under the lamp light and read it. Then, read it again. Her fingers trembled and the note slipped to the ground.