Written in Stone (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

emotion in check.
    “What is it?” Rawlings was suddenly at her side. He stroked Haviland, trying to soothe the agitated poodle.
    “Hope,” she whispered, her voice catching. “A long shot, but it’s better than nothing.”
    By this time, the paramedics had strapped Talley to a stretcher and were loading her into the ambulance. Olivia’s phone rang seconds before the gurney disappeared into the back of the vehicle.
    “It could be malignant hyperthermia,” Billinger said and rattled off a list of symptoms.
    “That’s got to be it!” Olivia’s exclamation sounded more like a sob. “Can she survive?”
    “Yes, if she’s given a particular drug very quickly.” Billinger sent a text containing the name of Dantrolene, a muscle relaxant, and Olivia rang off. She’d thank him later.
    “WAIT!” Olivia dashed after the paramedic who’d just climbed into the passenger seat. She told him why Talley was suffering and showed him the text message. “Remember the name of this drug and go!” Slamming the door, she watched the ambulance pull away in a cloud of dust.
    Millay jogged after it for a few paces and then her shoulders drooped and she slowed, momentarily hiding her face in her hands. Roughly brushing the tears from her cheeks, she swiveled and scanned the faces of her friends until her gaze landed on Olivia.
    “What did you tell that EMT?” Her eyes shone with anger. “What do you know?”
    Olivia took Millay’s hand and told her about her conversation with Emmett Billinger. When she was done, she handed Millay the water bottle from her purse. “Drink that. We’ve got to keep it together for Talley’s sake. We can dissect this whole thing at the hospital, okay?”
    “She can’t die,” Millay said in a very small voice.
    It was highly likely that she would, but Olivia refused to consider the possibility. “No, that won’t happen. Not this time.”
    There was no need to round up the rest of the Bayside Book Writers. Harris had already grabbed Millay’s messenger bag, and without another word, he, Laurel, and Rawlings hurried toward the parking lot. Fletcher, Annette, and Harlan were also in motion.
    “I hope there’s a quiet corner in the ER’s waiting room,” Rawlings said after the five friends had piled into Olivia’s Range Rover. “It’s time for the lawyer and the tribal chair to spill their secrets. I don’t care if I have to drag in every sheriff’s deputy, every cop, and all the park rangers in the state of North Carolina to make those two realize I mean business. They’re going to tell us everything. Or else.”
    From the back of the car, Haviland growled his agreement.
    * * *
    At the hospital, Rawlings remained in the ambulance bay and immediately contacted the Craven County Sheriff’s Department about collecting Talley’s purse and having her inhaler tested. He offered the full resources of the Oyster Bay Police Department and asked to be included in the investigation. Olivia didn’t know what was decided, but left Haviland and the keys to her car with the chief. She needed to be in the waiting room, sharing in the wordless dread that had rendered everyone silent.
    Fifteen minutes later, the sheriff himself arrived. Watching through the front windows, Olivia saw the sheriff hand Rawlings a take-out coffee cup. The two of them sat on a bench facing the parking lot and talked for the better part of an hour. Then Rawlings put Haviland in the back of the Range Rover and he and the sheriff made their way inside the hospital.
    The two law enforcement officers entered the waiting room at the same moment Fletcher appeared through an entrance at the other end.
    “She’s going to pull through!” he announced, his relief evident. “The doctors don’t want us celebrating just yet because they don’t know what the full effects of her ordeal will be, but for now she’s stable and that’s excellent news.”
    The Bayside Book Writers jumped up and hugged each other and then included Annette and Fletcher in their embraces.
    “Let me call Judson,” Fletcher said after detaching himself from a teary-eyed Laurel. “I know he’s worried sick.”
    Rawlings hadn’t participated in the rejoicing, opting to watch Fletcher and Annette from a distance. Olivia knew that he was now 100 percent cop. His feelings over Talley’s prognosis were carefully camouflaged, and the moment Fletcher pocketed his cell phone, the chief and sheriff gestured for the attorney to join them at a small