Connections of the Mind Read Free Page B

had a point. “I’ll call you later or tomorrow after I meet him. Promise.”
    Her stomach growled, but the way it flip-flopped, eating before she met Jeremy wasn’t an option.
    May as well get it over with. Rebecca grabbed the phone off the charger and hurried to her car. Just like Mr. Prior said, the street leading to the hospital was up a long hill. She parked, got out, and breathed in the fresh autumn air. The hospital sat nestled among the pine trees on the hill, high above the town. A gazebo sat in front of the woods. Nice.
    Normally, she would have checked it out. For some reason gazebos fascinated her. Something romantic about them. No time to check it out now; meeting Jeremy took top priority.
    Her stomach clenched as she hurried through the entrance and stopped at the information desk. “Excuse me. I’m looking for a patient, Jeremy Marlin.”
    The volunteer punched the information into her computer. “I’m sorry, Miss, Jeremy Marlin has been released.”
    “Oh, uh…thank you.” Why hadn’t she thought of that? After all, he’d been shot just a couple of days ago, why wasn’t he still in the hospital? But that could be a good thing. It meant he wasn’t seriously wounded.
    Disappointed at the news, Rebecca knew she couldn’t put off meeting him. Time for plan B. “Can you tell me where the police station is?” Darn it, she wanted to get this over and done with.
    “Go back down the hill. Turn left. At the first light, turn right, that’ll be River Drive. About a quarter mile or less, you’ll see it on the right. You have to go past it to turn in the drive.”
    “Thanks.” Rebecca left the hospital. Okay, now what was the plan to convince the chief of police to give her Jeremy’s address? She looked at her watch. Seven o’clock already. Maybe it was best to wait and tackle this tomorrow. Her stomach growled again, demanding food. There was a pizza shop in town and feeding herself suddenly became more important. Right, who was she kidding; this was a stall tactic. But still it was getting late.
     
    The smell of rich tomato sauce, blending with garlic and other spices increased her hunger, when Rebecca entered the small pizza shop. A man on roller blades sped toward her, nearly knocking her down when she opened the door. Spinning around, she looked up at him and grabbed his arm to steady herself. He darn near knocked them both over. Dark hair fell across his face, almost hiding deep-set coal black eyes,
    “Oops, sorry.” He caught her arm. “I didn’t see you. Have to get these pizzas delivered.” He dropped her arm and rushed out, knocking her into the “Seat Yourself” sign.
    “No problem.” Rebecca steadied the sign. The guy disappeared. Good grief, what the heck was his hurry? The small restaurant gave her a warm feeling. Although brightly lit, a candle sat in the middle of each red-checkered tablecloth. Typical, old-fashioned Italian restaurant. Not very original but cozy none-the-less.
    A jukebox played country music in the background. Most of the tables held customers, but Rebecca spotted one in the corner, set apart from the others. No more than she sat down and a waiter appeared and handed her a menu.
    “Can I get you something to drink?”
    “Diet soda.” Rebecca opened the menu and studied it. Everything sounded good, but anything spicy this late in the evening, she’d never sleep. Not that she probably would anyway, but no sense adding heartburn and indigestion to the mix. Still, the aromas of all the sauces made her mouth water.
    The waiter brought her drink. “Ready to order?”
    Throwing caution to the wind, she looked at him and smiled. What the heck, she’d be up all night anyway. “Yes, I’ll have the spaghetti and meatballs, Italian dressing on the salad.”
    He wrote the order on his pad. His dark good looks weren’t lost on Rebecca. Not that he was old enough for her. Dark, wavy hair fell across his forehead, not too long, but long enough to look sexy. His