Laura Caine was a master of manipulation and charm. She had learned at the knee of the best, after all. Braeden, in his prime, would easily have been able to convince a snake it could fly. And Laura had been an extremely apt pupil. So it was that she managed to convince her doctors of her sanity. Sweet smiles and saccharine lies, combined with a large dose of insincere sincerity, got her moved to a lower security room. Once there, it was less than nothing for her to slip her bonds, spit out the medication she had stored under her tongue, and make her way out of the hospital undetected. Just over one day after Peter's release from the hospital, Laura Caine made contact with long time conspirators and kicked her plans into motion.
*******
Annie had a sudden nagging feeling that she was being watched. Turning from the stove, she approached the door to the living room and addressed the source,
"Peter, you're awake. Good. What do you want for dinner tonight, sweetie?"
Peter laughed. "How did you know I was awake?"
"I can feel you watching me, darling. Besides, it has been nearly an hour since you dropped off and that is about the longest I have ever known you to nap during the day. You're too much like Paul that way."
She smiled as she felt her son moving toward her. He wrapped strong arms around her for a hug and she responded in kind. She sensed less tension in his stance, and maybe even a little less hurt in his heart. She reached up to touch his forehead, feeling for a fever, and brushed back the stray wisp of hair that invariably fell over his forehead.
"You haven't answered me. What do you want for dinner?"
Peter shrugged, "Whatever."
Grinning, she playfully swatted his shoulder. "Whatever, hmm? Well, I may have just developed a sudden craving for rice."
Her son wrinkled his nose and snorted, "Blech. Ok, ok, you win. Um, how about spaghetti with that great meat sauce you're so famous for."
"Done. Go ask your sister if she could come down here for a minute, hmm?"
Peter took a few steps into the living room and yelled up to his sister,
"Kel?"
"What?"
"Mom wants you to come here a minute."
Annie winced and thought, 'I should have expected that. Children never learn'.
"Peter," she reprimanded, "I could have done that!"
"Ooops. Sorry."
Annie very much doubted that but let it go for the time being. When Kelly came into the room she asked her to go to the grocery store. They had not had a chance to stop on the way home from the hospital and the pantry and refrigerator definitely needed to be stocked up with Peter staying a few days. She handed Kelly a list and a check and sent her off.
"Mom, I could have gone."
"Not likely, kiddo. Grocery shopping hardly falls under the category of 'rest and relaxation'. Speaking of which, back to the couch with you."
Grumbling under his breath that he was not an invalid, Peter complied. A few minutes later, Kermit let himself into the house. He stopped briefly to kiss Annie and say hello before making a beeline for the living room.
"You look nice and comfortable there, kid. Feeling better?"
"Yep. I am feeling just fine. If it weren't for a certain over protective group of friends and family, I would be up and about as we speak," he growled. The extended period of inactivity was beginning to make the younger Detective a bit grouchy.
"Um hmm. Well, you do have us and that's not gonna change anytime soon. So get used to it, comprende?"
Peter sighed. "I'm sorry Kermit. I don't mean to take any of this out on you. It's just been a really trying few days, ya know?"
"Oh yeah. Look, Peter, don't sweat it. We all know where you're coming from and that you're likely to be a real pain in the ass for the next couple of days. Fact is, we would worry about you more if you weren't," Kermit grinned and ducked the pillow that was suddenly launched at his head.
*******
Laura watched as a young brunette got into the car and drove away and knew that only Peter and Annie remained in the house. She began to get out of her rental car when she spotted a lime green convertible pulling into the driveway. "Damn," she started to curse under her breath. The man she had seen in her son's hospital room climbed out of the car and made his way up to the house, where he knocked once and entered. Laura leaned back into the driver's seat and contemplated her next course of action.
'It's only one man,' she thought, 'I suppose that won't be too much of a complication.'
Reaching into her purse, she checked once more to be sure her gun was loaded and stepped out of her car into the street. She looked back into the car window to check her reflection. The long blonde wig looked completely natural and the sunglasses hid most of the defining features of her face. She rumpled her shirt just a tad more, adopted a frazzled expression, and moved cautiously toward the house. She knocked loudly, desperately, and bit the bottom left corner of her lip as the door swung open.
*******
Dr. Murphy was baffled. No one on his staff had any idea when the patient may have left her room or where she might be at the moment. A full search of the ward, and then of the entire hospital, had proved fruitless. Cursing silently, he decided that there was no choice but to alert the police. He dialed the 101st and asked to be connected with Capt. Karen Simms.
*******
Inside the Blaisdell house, Kermit was moving to answer the door.
"I'll grab that, Annie," he yelled into the kitchen. He pulled open the door just as the phone rang.
END Part 5
