Fallen Angel (Hqn) Read Free Page B

long. And they were put there on purpose, cut clean, right along the edge of the scapula.”
    “That’s where all the blood was coming from?” Declan asked.
    Stephen nodded. “Most of it. Some from the head wound. But those weird incisions… Any deeper and the tendons would have been cut through.”
    “Jesus. What else?”
    “Tox screen shows a significant amount of drugs in her system. Hallucinogens. Peyote, belladonna, something else we haven’t identified yet. And plenty of tranquilizers, too. She should be dead just from that, frankly.”
    Declan ran a hand through his hair. Amazing that the girl had lived. “What kind of damage do you expect when she wakes up?”
    “ If she wakes up. It’s still too early to say. We’ll run some scans today before the leg surgery. There’s definitely brain activity, but will she come out of this whole, with her mind intact? We just don’t know. I’d sure like to know what the hell happened to her, though.” The doctor paused, massaged the back of his neck for a moment. “I know we’re a small town, but this is the strangest damn case I’ve ever seen. Oh, and by the way, those pentagrams on her hands? When we washed her off, we found that beneath the paint they’ve been tattooed there in red ink. And from what I can see, the tattoos have been there for years.”
    Declan’s mind was working at a hundred miles an hour suddenly. “Do you think there’s any chance she did this to herself?”
    “I don’t know what to think. Maybe she’s one of those people who are into weird stuff. Witchcraft. But she couldn’t possibly have put those cuts on her own back. We may never know if she doesn’t wake up.”
    Declan nodded, but his mind was already elsewhere. He had to get ahold of the sheriff, find out if he’d discovered anything new looking around the beach and the cliffs. Find out if there’d been any kidnappings in the area lately. See if there were any APBs out that matched the girl’s description. He’d talked to Tim last night before those children in state police uniforms had shown up, told him everything he’d seen, brainstormed with him, but they’d come up with nothing. He knew Tim would be doing everything he could, but Declan wanted to look into this himself. Do it right. This case would be too much for a small-town sheriff’s office to handle. They didn’t have the staff, the funding, to investigate this kind of case. And as much as he hated to admit it, he knew his father could help. Oran had connections he didn’t.
    “I have to go order some pre-op tests, Dec,” Stephen said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. Declan flinched. He didn’t like people touching him. Couldn’t stand it.
    “Yeah, sure. Thanks for the information.” He drifted back across the hall to watch her through the open door to her room. He couldn’t bring himself to go inside.
    Too close.
    No, better to watch from a distance. Better not to allow himself to get too near her, where his body could respond to her again. She really had the most beautiful face he’d ever seen. And he couldn’t get the image of her bare breasts, ripe and pale in the morning light, out of his mind.
    Sick bastard.
    Yes. But any man would have to be crazy not to respond to a woman who looked like she did. Innocent and so damn lovely it almost hurt to look at her. When had he ever used the word lovely? But it fit. She really was some ethereal creature, like a fallen angel tumbled from the sky.
    Her monitors gave a beep and he saw that her pulse and respiration had sped up. He stepped into the room, found himself at her bedside before he had a chance to think about it. He knew the nurses would come if she were in any danger. Maybe the change in her heart rate meant she’d wake up soon?
    She was even prettier up close. Skin like pale satin. Flawless. He wanted to touch her. Wanted to reach out and stroke her cheek with his fingertips again. He remembered exactly what it felt like, but he forced his