Red Velvet Cupcake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #16)(87)

“Okay,” Hannah said, already going through the possibilities. “Tell Barbara thank you. And please call me if she thinks of anything else.”

“I’m only here for another ten minutes or so. Then another nurse comes on.”

“Okay. Ask Barbara to call me if she thinks of anything else. Write down my cell phone number for her before you leave.”

“All right, but I’m not sure. . . .”

Jenny’s voice trailed off and Hannah knew she didn’t want to express any doubts about Barbara’s ability to call while Barbara was listening to their conversation. “I understand,” Hannah said, “but it’s worth a shot. She called me before and she might be able to call me again.”

“I’ll give Barbara your cell phone number before I leave,” Jenny promised. “Have a good night, Hannah.”

“I will if Andrea ever comes back here,” Hannah said, watching as rain began to pepper the penthouse windows.

“Where are you?”

“At the penthouse in the hotel.”

“The penthouse? What are you doing up there?”

“Andrea and I needed to check something out, but she got called away.”

“You must be investigating.”

“You’re right, but it didn’t work out the way I hoped. Have a nice night, Jenny. I’ll talk to you soon. And don’t forget to give Barbara my number.”

As Hannah hung up, another flash of lightning streaked across the sky. Almost immediately, rain began to hit the windows, harder and harder until it formed sheets of water. The lights flickered again, and Hannah fervently wished that Andrea would hurry so that she could go home to her familiar condo and Moishe. And just as she wished it, the lights flickered one more time and went out.

“Oh, great!” Hannah groaned, hoping against hope that the emergency generator would kick in. She waited a full minute, but nothing happened. It was apparent that the new generator in the bowels of the basement wasn’t yet operational.

Hannah stuffed her cell phone into the pocket of her summer-weight jacket and sat down on one of the expensive leather couches that Doctor Bev and Roger had ordered. The power was out and there was nothing to do but watch the summer storm rage outside the windows.

Think about something else, her mind told her and Hannah did. She thought about Barbara’s father, underground in a cave or cavern, surrounded by rabbits. Andrea had mentioned something about rabbits when she was describing the basement. Accompanied by the booming of thunder, the startling flashes of lightning, and the drumming of rain against the windows, Hannah thought back to what her sister had said. Every time you come around a corner, you expect to see a mole, or a rabbit, or a groundhog.

Hannah let her mind roam freely. Hallways like narrow tunnels. Interconnected. Moles. Groundhogs. Rabbits. Barbara had said that her father was surrounded by rabbits in a . . .

“Warren!” Hannah shouted, startling herself. “It was a rabbit warren! Her father’s name is Warren!”

How many men named Warren did she know? Hannah thought about that for a moment. There was Warren Strand-berg, the minister of the Bible Church in Lake Eden, but he’d only been here for ten years or so. She wasn’t sure where he’d lived before he came to Lake Eden, but unless he was from one of the neighboring towns, it was unlikely that he could be Barbara’s father.

There was Warren Frank, the son of the man who owned the bait shop at Eden Lake. He was in his mid-thirties and couldn’t possibly be Barbara’s father.

Warren Drevlow was a possibility. He was the right age. But Hannah wasn’t sure how long he’d been in . . .

Her cell phone rang, interrupting her train of thought. She retrieved it and answered, “Hello?”

“Hannah! It’s Barbara!”

“Hi, Barbara.” Hannah was pleasantly surprised. Barbara had managed to punch in the correct numbers for her cell phone. “Is Jenny still there?”

“No, she left. I’m all alone and my brother tried to kill me again!”

“What?!”

“You’ve got to believe me, Hannah. This time I’ve got proof. He put something in my bag.”

“Your bag,” Hannah repeated and then she gasped. “Do you mean your IV drip bag?”

“That’s right, but don’t worry. I pretended I was sleeping and I had my arms under the sheet. The minute he touched the bag I pinched off the tube.”

“That was quick thinking!”

“Thank you. I knew what he was going to do because he said, Say goodbye, Sis. Now I’ll be rid of you for good. And then he put something in the bag. And then, when he left, I pulled out the needle.”

Hannah swallowed hard. What she’d just heard was truly frightening. “Ring for the nurse, Barbara. And if there’s an emergency button, hit it! Don’t let anyone hook you back up to that IV drip.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t. And I won’t let them throw out the bag, either. I want Doc to test it to see what my monster brother put in there.”

“That’s smart, Barbara.” Hannah was impressed with Barbara’s presence of mind. “Did you see your brother’s face? Can you describe it for me?”

“I can’t describe him, Hannah. I only had my eyes open a tiny bit. And I can’t remember his name, but I remembered my silly picture for him.”