Two Guys Detective Agency Read Free Page A

a hysterical laugh.
    Oakley leveled his dark-eyed gaze on her and took her arm to help her into the seat. “Sully’s going to be
    fine.”
    “Of course he is.” The alternative was simply incomprehensible.
    Oakley ran around the car and slid into the driver’s seat, snapping his seatbelt into place and slamming
    his door in one motion. “Has he been ill?”
    “Just a cold,” she said cheerfully, gripping the box of Kleenex. “He’s been working too hard, he’s worn
    down.” Her throat convulsed. “Was it his heart?”
    “The EMT’s were treating it as a heart attack, yes. But Sully is young and St. Joe’s is a good hospital.”
    He drove cautiously through the neighborhood. “I guess the kids are already at school?”
    She nodded. “I’ll have to go pick them up if…if Sullivan has to spend the night in the hospital and
    wants to see them.”
    “They’re getting big, I’m sure.”
    “Yes.”
    “You look good.”
    “No, I don’t…but thank you.” When she’d first met Sullivan and his friend Oakley, they had both vied
    for her attention. But she’d been afraid of Oakley’s bad boy reputation, had chosen Sullivan’s happy-go-
    lucky charm instead. She turned her head and hated the worry she saw in his eyes. “Just get me there,
    Oakley.”
    He nodded, then turned his attention back to the road. At the mouth of the neighborhood, he turned on
    the siren and pushed the speed limit.
    Linda forced complete emptiness into her head. She had a sense of landmarks passing as they left the
    Tates Creek area and traveled toward downtown, but little else registered until the hospital loomed in front
    of them. It was only then that her vital signs went haywire. Her own heart began to beat uncontrollably and
    she couldn’t seem to get enough air. Oakley pulled the car into a spot for emergency vehicles and was at her
    door before she could release her seatbelt. His haste both reassured and frightened her, but she took his arm
    gratefully as he hustled her into the crowded emergency room waiting area and to the check-in counter.
    “Sullivan Smith,” he said, flashing his badge at the two women at the counter. “He was just brought in,
    presented with a heart attack.”
    One of the women moved to a computer screen. Suddenly Linda felt a touch to her arm. She turned to
    see Klo Calvert, an attractive woman in her mid-fifties, who was Sullivan’s secretary at the agency. She’d
    been crying. Linda’s breath rushed out as the woman clasped her hands.
    “Oh, Linda — ”
    “What happened, Klo? Were you with him?”
    Klo shook her head and teared up. “We didn’t have any appointments. Sullivan told me to take the day
    off. Stone called me — he was with Sullivan.”
    Linda hadn’t noticed the man standing nearby. He stepped up and nodded in greeting. She’d met Stone
    Calvert in passing. He was Klo’s nephew who worked at the gym in the strip mall where the agency was
    located. Stone was a beefy guy, fortyish, with a shaved head. He’d spent some time in jail or prison,
    something like that — which explained the wary glance he gave Oakley. She recalled that Stone sometimes
    worked for Sullivan. Observing the man’s bulk, it occurred to her he had probably provided muscle for
    Sullivan.
    Had Sullivan needed a muscle man?
    “What happened?” she asked Stone.
    “I wasn’t there when he collapsed,” he said, his voice as gravelly as a state road. “He asked me to meet
    him this morning, and when I got there, I found him lying on the floor in his office. He couldn’t speak, but
    he was conscious. I called 911.”
    “Thank you,” she murmured and inadvertently reached out to touch his massive arm.
    He seemed at a loss for words, so he simply nodded.
    “Mr. Smith was just admitted,” a woman behind the counter said, pulling Linda’s attention back to the
    moment. “He’s in ICU on the second floor.”
    Her breath rushed out in relief — he was alive. Still… “Intensive care? How is