Another Chance (A Penelope Chance Mystery Book 2) Read online

  She could hear nothing but the sirens and the loud patter of the rain. Traffic slowed even more. The sirens stopped, but she could still see the lights flashing through her murky windshield.

  “Dear God, please bless us and keep us safe on this road as we head to our destinations. Please watch over the people involved in whatever is happening ahead and let the ambulances find their way to them in this awful traffic jam. Amen.”

  A dark figure with a road flare waved cars out of the single westbound lane and onto the right-hand side of the road. The cars inched forward at the pace they had been moving before the storm hit.

  Probably just a fender-bender.

  State Road 20 was a primary commuter route for much of the Franklin and Gainesville area to the Atlantic coast. The Department of Transportation had been talking for years about widening the dangerous, hilly and curvy stretch between Gainesville and Franklin. In the past three months alone, Penelope had been called to assist the Highway Patrol in a half dozen accidents on the stretch.

  Just last week a University of Florida student tried to pass another vehicle in a no-passing zone. Her 2004 Toyota Corolla collided head-on with another vehicle, killing both drivers instantly.

  Penelope tapped the gas pedal as the cars in front of her moved past the accident. As she pulled alongside the scene of the wreck, she could see two cars had collided. It looked like the westbound blue Chevy Tahoe truck crossed the center divide and sideswiped the eastbound silver Honda Accord. She sent a silent prayer of thanks upward when she saw that everyone seemed okay.

  Then she saw the little girl.

  She was small, probably five or six years old, and appeared to be unconscious. Her long, black hair streamed behind her onto the wet pavement. Though visibility was low, Penelope could see a woman crouched beside the girl. She recognized the agony of a helpless parent. One of the officers held an umbrella over the child’s immobile body while another was on the radio, probably to the ambulance.

  Penelope knew the drill well—stabilize the victim, administer first aid if necessary, and update the paramedics upon arrival.

  The Highway Patrol seemed to have a handle on the situation. She would not be able to help by stopping and offering her services. Ahead more lights flashed as an ambulance barreled down the right-hand side of the eastbound lane.

  That was all she saw before driving past the scene and continuing to Gainesville.

  CHAPTER 16

  Thirty-five minutes later Penelope arrived at Grace Memorial Hospital. She grabbed the bag with Donny’s dinner, and headed straight for the pharmacy, hoping to get a glimpse of the crime scene.

  Donny stood inside the clinic speaking to an older man in plain clothes. The man was a couple of inches taller than Donny, about six-one, with a face that suggested he’d seen it all. A neat gray beard covered the bottom half of his face and offset his hairline, which had receded. Penelope pegged him to be in his late fifties. As she got closer, she could see his gunmetal gray eyes and the bit of black that leaked into the gray hair above his ears. He wore a beige overcoat like one would see in an old Colombo TV episode.

  As she approached the clinic’s glass double doors, a uniformed officer with a clipboard took a step toward her. Without breaking stride, she gave a nod toward Detective Greene. The officer knocked on the glass door, and Donny gave the officer the “she’s okay” nod. The officer opened the door, and Penelope entered the clinic.

  It looked like a bomb had gone off.

  Papers littered the floor next to the nurse’s station. A chipped cup lay in a puddle of coffee. It had cream caked around the edges and along the bottom, muddling the muted green color of the tile floor into beige. A few chairs were knocked over, scattered like toys in the messy room, and magazines decorated the floor.

  From where Penelope stood, she couldn’t see into the pharmacy where a forensics team hovered over the floors searching for evidence. Behind the bit of counter that was visible, two nurses appeared to be taking inventory.

  It was controlled chaos.

  Penelope’s gaze slid over to the far wall where a smear of blood started at a bullet hole and dragged to the floor in a skewed arch.

  “Detective Ballard, this is Penelope Chance, the officer I was telling you about,” Donny said, snapping her back to reality.

  Detective Edward Ballard held out his hand, and Penelope shook it. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said. “Detective Greene tells me you work out of Franklin, and you’re studying for the detective exam?”

  “I am,” she said.

  “And you worked with Detective John Riley on the Foster murder case?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Well, it’s about time Franklin had its own detective. So, you’re going to be shadowing Detective Greene for a couple of days?”

  Penelope looked at Donny. He looked back, meeting her gaze with eyes that she knew were telling her to play along. So she nodded affirmatively. “I guess I am.”

  If that was how Donny had gotten approval for her to take a look at the surveillance videos, she wasn’t going to make it difficult for him.

  “Well, you’ll be learning from the best. Tell your Chief Jackson I said hello.” He nodded curtly and walked into the pharmacy. He wasted little time with words. Not the fun and games type.

  When Ballard was out of earshot, Penelope turned to Donny and handed him the bag she had been holding. “Dinner as promised.”

  “What did you bring me?”

  “Homemade sloppy joes.”

  Donny peeked in the bag. “Two of them? Yum!” He unwrapped one of the sandwiches and took a bite.

  “So . . .” Penelope said. “I’m shadowing you for a few days?”

  Donny swallowed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “You want to learn from the best, don’t you?” he said, giving her a wink. “Besides, I had to give him a reason why you’re here. Ballard doesn’t like people trampling through his crime scene. Like I said before, he’s serious about doing things by the book.”

  “Being a fellow law enforcement officer and engaged to a victim isn’t enough?”

  “In a small town like Franklin, maybe. But in Gainesville, things work a little different. You can’t start investigating someone else’s case. There are procedures to follow.”

  Penelope wasn’t used to those types of restrictions. She’d been working in a small town for a long time, and the small town ways meant that she often got to do what she wanted, when she wanted. There was a lot of space for her to stick her nose in any business her gut told her to, and a lot of the officers, including Chief Curtis Jackson, trusted her gut.

  CHAPTER 17

  Penelope followed Donny down a tile-floored hallway to an unmarked door. He held it open and waved his hand toward a little desk with a computer screen.

  She sat carefully in the rickety office chair, doubtful of its sturdiness. Donny pulled up a seat beside her and used the mouse to cue the video.

  The video was taken from the surveillance camera above the double glass door that led into the clinic. It had a wide-angle view of the main reception area, and portions of the waiting room and pharmacy were visible. The video was grainy, black and white, and difficult to make out. She recognized Sylvia Brown, the floor nurse, Tina Shifflett, the medical receptionist, and Deborah Thompson, the pharmacist. She knew the staff well enough to recognize whom she was seeing. Her familiarity with the hospital was an advantage here.

  She saw Sylvia leaning over Tina, who was pointing at something on a clipboard. Sylvia was listening and nodding as her younger colleague went over a checklist of some sort. From the bottom of the screen where the glass double doors led into the clinic, two dark shapes came into view.

  The perpetrators matched the descriptions she had heard from Donny. There wasn’t much about them that was identifiable except for the long, dark coat one of them wore. Penelope jotted a note on her notepad. The perp in the long, dark coat made his way to the pharmacy. As he passed, Sylvia
and Tina froze. Some of the people in the waiting area panicked and threw their hands in the air.

  The perp in the waiting area collected valuables and was rough with the people that did not cooperate.

  The perp in the pharmacy pulled out a black bag and shoved it across the counter. There was a brief back and forth before the perp brandished his shotgun, and Deborah disappeared inside the pharmacy.

  About ten seconds later, Tina leaned on the reception desk, knocking over a stack of paper and a cup of coffee. The second perp waved his gun in her direction and shouted something. There was no audio, but Penelope could see their mouths moving as they yelled. He was probably ordering her to shut up.

  The door from an examination room swung open at the top left of the screen, and Jacob appeared in the doorway. He’d probably heard Tina’s scream. He spotted the second perp and a look of confusion spread over his face. Before he could fully assess the situation, the perp lifted his gun.

  Penelope flinched, and her chair creaked.

  She saw the first shot fired. Jacob flew backward as he took the hit. A gray patch grew on his shoulder, and he sank to the ground, leaving a streak of blood on the wall. Above his head was a hole where the bullet had come to rest.

  Seconds later a patient emerged from the examination room. The perp took aim and Jacob pulled his patient to the ground. The second bullet bit another hole into the wall, and the patient dropped unharmed to the floor.

  Penelope breathed out a shudder.

  The first perp came out of the pharmacy. The black bag, now bulging, hung from his arm. He had Deborah in a chokehold with one arm, and he held a shotgun in the other. Deborah’s face was contorted with fear.

  Just then, Jacob slowly got up and moved toward the perp with his hands stretched in front of him. He was doing his best to talk the robber down.

  Penelope silently scolded him for placing himself in harm’s way, and at the same time she admired his strength in a stressful situation. He inched his way closer and both perps seemed to be frozen. Whatever Jacob was saying appeared to be working.

  The first perp released his hold on the pharmacist and tossed her to the ground. In the same motion, he swung his shotgun and hit Jacob in the head. The second perp fired a third shot, and Penelope tried to keep her composure as Jacob crumpled to the floor.

  She had to remain professional. It’s just a video. Jacob was safe. She reached for the cell phone in her purse and switched it from vibrate to ring—a reminder to check on Jacob.

  The perp that had clubbed Jacob stared at his gun and then at his partner. He looked down at Jacob’s lifeless body as if he felt sorry for what he had done. Penelope made a note of it.

  A dark pool of blood turned the floor black around Jacob. The second perp rushed toward Jacob and pulled off his watch and rifled through his pockets. The first perp grabbed his partner by the sweatshirt and yanked him toward the door, and they disappeared out of camera range.

  Penelope glanced at the video timestamp—all of this happened in less than two minutes. She paused the video and took a shaky breath.

  “You okay?” Donny asked.

  Despite Jacob’s claims to the contrary, he had been injured pretty bad. Seeing her fiancé get shot like that filled her with fear. “I’m fine,” Penelope said. She closed her eyes and prayed. “Lord, thank you for sparing Jacob’s life and the lives of everyone involved.” More determined than ever, Penelope asked, “Are there any other angles? I noticed two other cameras in the clinic. Do we have that footage?”

  “We do.” Donny took the mouse and opened two additional video files. “The clinic has three cameras, one in the pharmacy, one in the waiting area, and the third in the main clinic—the one we just watched. We can watch all three in sync.”

  Donny’s fingers ran over the keyboard and then the three videos were split across the screen so they could be viewed simultaneously. Some of the other videos showed what they hadn’t seen before, but there was nothing noteworthy.

  Penelope carefully watched the second perp. “Donny, look at the way this guy is moving.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Something about it is off. Can you see it?” The perp moved around the clinic, collecting valuables. “Anything?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I don’t see it.”

  She replayed the waiting area video to get a better look at the second perp. “I don’t know Donny . . . my gut is telling me something is off about this guy.” It was like an itch she couldn’t scratch.

  Penelope clicked the replay button and watched the entire scenario play out for a third time. She flinched at the violence of the attacks on the pharmacist and on Jacob, but it was a little easier to watch this time. As soon as the perps ran out the door, she replayed it a fourth time.

  She was about to play it a fifth time when her phone rang.

  CHAPTER 18

  When Penelope walked into the hospital lobby to take the call, she saw the forensics team in the clinic packing up for the night. The veteran detective was nowhere to be seen.

  “Doug?” she answered the phone.

  “Aunty Penny?” Trevor’s shrill voice came through the speaker and Penelope smiled.

  “Yes, Trevor.”

  “I woke Uncle Jay-Jay up and asked him his questions. He was grumpy.”

  “How did he do?”

  “He got five gold stars.”

  “Did he remember all the words?”

  “Yep.”

  She could hear his smile through the phone. Trevor was a little ray of sunshine.

  “What words did you give him?”

  “Cat . . . and pen . . . and shoe . . . and book . . . and truck. He remembered them all!”

  “That’s great little buddy. Can I talk to Uncle Jay-Jay?”

  Trevor yelled something and handed the phone to Jacob without saying good-bye.

  “Hello?” Jacob’s voice crackled, and the knot in Penelope’s stomach untangled. The video footage had reduced her to a twisted mess of nerves and fear, but hearing Jacob’s voice was soothing, like the sun breaking through the clouds after a storm.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked.

  “Tired,” he said, stifling a yawn. “Trevor made sure of that. But I’m feeling fine. How are things going over there?”

  “It’s going alright. I’ve seen the footage, but there’s little to go on. I feel like I’m missing something.”

  “When will you finish up?”

  “Soon. I’ll be staying in Doug’s upstairs guest bedroom so I’ll check on you at midnight.”

  “Okay,” Jacob said, already sounding like he was falling asleep again. “Don’t work too late. Save some of that energy for wedding planning next week.”

  She had almost forgotten she was supposed to be on vacation next week. “I will. I promise.”

  “I love you,” Jacob said.

  “I love you back,” she answered.

  Penelope hung up and returned to the small security office. She found Donny rubbing his eyes behind the computer screen.

  “Find anything else?” she asked.

  Donny shook his head. “I think we should wrap this up, call it a night. It’s getting late.”

  Penelope glanced at the screen. What good would it do to watch it again? She was sure she’d seen it all. But still, what if she missed something? Something that she could use.

  Donny must have known what she was thinking. “Come on, Penelope. It’s ten thirty,” he said. “Unless you’re hanging around me for another reason?”

  Penelope wondered what defense she could plead for smacking a fellow officer who flirted too much.

  Finally, she nodded and said, “Fine, let’s wrap it up.”

  “We’ll get these guys, Penelope.”

  She hoped he was right.

  PART TWO

  CHAPTER 19

  Early Saturday morning, Penelope woke from a troubled sleep. She had spent the night in Doug’s upstairs guest bedroom, and it took her a few seconds
to become oriented. She’d had a nightmare about yesterday’s robbery.

  In her dream, Jacob was in a coma and wouldn’t wake up. His doctor wore black and looked a lot like Nurse Bonnie. Penelope suspected she was keeping him in a medically induced coma and just as she was about to confront her—she woke up.

  Just a dream, that’s all.

  She said a short prayer but the images of the dream stayed in her mind. She didn’t feel rested at all. Her eyes were gritty, and a dull headache pulsated between her temples.

  Her cell phone vibrated on the nightstand. The caller ID read Dr. Wonderful, her pet name for Jacob.

  “You’re up early,” she said. “Is everything okay?”

  “I’m not going to lie. I feel like a train hit me. But I’m lucky and grateful to be alive.”

  “I’m grateful too, Jacob.” Her eyes welled up with tears. Jacob was right. All that mattered was that he was alive, and everyone was safe. “How did the rest of your night go?”

  “I remember you checking on me at midnight, but that’s about it. I think everyone conked out after that.”

  “No one else checked on you?”

  “If they did I don’t remember.”

  Penelope sat up in bed. “Is Trevor downstairs with you? I’d like to thank him for taking the first shift.”

  “I don’t know. I’m not at Doug’s.”

  Penelope stilled. “You’re not downstairs? Where are you?”

  “I’m at the Franklin Clinic.” Jacob’s voice sounded distant.

  Her chest constricted, and her jaw clenched. “At work? Jacob, you need to be resting! You were shot, and you sustained a severe concussion,” she said, her voice rising. She made a conscious effort to calm down.

  “I know that, Penny. I’m not here for work.”

  “Then why are you there?” Unable to sit any longer, Penelope got out of bed and paced the room.

  “That’s what I was calling to tell you. Someone returned my belongings.”