‘Excuse me.’ A doctor came into the room. ‘Are you Ford’s parents?’
‘She is,’ Joseph said, when Daphne didn’t turn or respond. She stood by Ford’s beside, still stroking his forehead. ‘This is Daphne Montgomery and I’m Special Agent Carter with the FBI.’
‘Ma’am?’ The doctor touched Daphne’s shoulder and she turned then, her face composed. ‘I’m Dr Rampor. I wanted to let you know that your son is stable and that we don’t see any long term damage from the exposure. He does have some injuries, but none are life-threatening.’ The doctor smiled kindly. ‘He’s a lucky young man.’
Daphne nodded. ‘Thank you. What injuries?’
Joseph tucked her under his arm. The trembles had become pronounced and he wondered how she was even standing up.
The doctor met Joseph’s eyes, deeply concerned. ‘Is she all right?’
‘It’s been a long day and a half, Doctor,’ Joseph said. ‘She’s holding.’
‘Well, if we need to treat Ms Montgomery, we certainly can.’
‘I’m fine,’ Daphne said coolly. ‘And I’m right here. Please, just focus on Ford.’
‘Of course. Your son has a laceration on the back of his head, some abrasions on his face. Nothing needed stitches. Do you have any questions for me?’
‘When will he wake up?’
‘I would think soon. There don’t appear to be any injuries that are causing him to sleep. It’s more likely that he’s simply exhausted. We’ve administered an IV with some antibiotics in case there’s any infection associated with the head injury. Everything else is just fine.’
‘Thank you,’ Daphne said. She turned around, leaned over the bed rail, touched her forehead to her son’s. ‘Ford. I’m here. It’s Mom.’
Joseph drew the doctor out into the hall. ‘Did you find any needle marks?’
‘We did, but I was hesitant to mention them in front of the mother,’ Rampor said softly. ‘Several needle marks around the neck. And taser punctures. Two sets.’
‘Two sets? Are you sure?’
‘I see a lot of taser punctures in the ER,’ Rampor said, ‘so yes, I’m sure. One set in the middle of his back are starting to heal over. The set on his thigh are fresher.’
‘How much fresher?’
‘Hard to say exactly. Maybe as long ago as last night.’
That didn’t make sense. ‘After he was out in the snow or before?’
‘I’d have to examine the affected area under a scope to know that and even then I may not be able to tell. Is it very important?’
‘I don’t know. It’s something Ford can answer when he wakes up. Did you do any tox scans?’
‘Yes. We found very high levels of ketamine.’
‘What about fentanyl?’
‘We didn’t test for that.’
‘Why did you test for the ketamine, doctor?’
‘Because of the way he woke up the first time – terrified and out of control. He’s a big kid. It took three of us to hold him down.’
‘Emergence phenomena from the ket,’ Joseph murmured. Hallucinations were a common side-effect, especially when used at sedative levels.
‘I’d say so. He was screaming “Kim” and “Heather”.’
‘Heather? Maybe MacGregor? That’s Kim’s last name.’
‘Could have been, I suppose. We were too busy holding him down to dissect what he was screaming.’
‘When did he wake up?’
‘About a half hour after the EMTs brought him in. I hesitated to tell his mother, but we had to sedate him. But the sedative should have worn off some time ago.’
‘What if the ketamine was mixed with fentanyl?’
‘Then his sleeping so much longer would make sense.’
‘He was probably dosed with a fentanyl-ketamine cocktail at the same time as the second taser attack. The question is why.’
‘That and how did you know about the ketamine in the first place?’ Rampor added.
‘One person was murdered at the scene where Ford was abducted. Our ME found traces of fentanyl and ketamine in the victim. It made sense that Ford was drugged up at the same time so that he could be transported. But why he was dosed again, so close to being found . . . that makes no sense. Not yet, anyway.’
‘If you think I should tell Ms Montgomery about the extra sedation, I will.’
‘No, as long as he wakes up soon. I don’t want her to have to worry about why he was dosed a second time. Let her be happy that she has him back.’
‘He really is lucky. If he hadn’t been discovered when he was and by whom, we could be talking about the loss of several toes, at the very least. But he was found by a retired nurse who knew what to do. By the time the EMTs arrived, she was warming the boy’s extremities according to best practices.’
‘I’ll make sure Ms Montgomery knows. I know she’ll want to thank that person when she’s feeling more like herself.’
‘Call me if she needs anything.’
Joseph thanked the doctor and went back into Ford’s room, pulling up a chair to the side of the bed and gently pushing Daphne into it. ‘Don’t worry, honey. He’ll wake up soon and you’ll take him home.’
Again the nod. ‘I’m fine, Joseph. Really. You go do what you need to do.’
He kissed the top of her head. ‘All right.’
He stepped back into the hall and was joined by two men in suits. They introduced themselves as Agent Kerr from the Pittsburgh field office and Detective McManus from Wheeling PD. They’d shaken hands when the elevator door opened and out walked Deacon Novak, sunglasses shielding his eyes.
More than one of the nurses gave Deacon the up-down once-over, fanning themselves as he walked by, but he behaved as if oblivious. Joseph had witnessed the women in VCET flirting shamelessly with Deacon, but the guy let it roll off his back.
Joseph didn’t see it, but more power to the guy if he had it.
‘How is Ford?’ Deacon asked, peering into the boy’s hospital room.
‘He hasn’t regained consciousness yet,’ Joseph said, ‘but he’s stable. Gentlemen, this is Special Agent Novak. I’d like him to work with you in your investigation. We need to know where Ford was being held. Two others are still missing.’
‘Happy to have the help, Novak,’ Agent Kerr said. ‘Ford Elkhart appears to have been pushed out of a vehicle into the yard where he was discovered. The woman who lived there was on her toes. She saw him lying there, saw the tire treads on the road were filling up with snow, so she grabbed the shower curtain out of her bathtub to lay over the tire prints.’
McManus smiled a little. ‘That’s Miz Cornell. She really loves her TV cop shows. She covered the tracks before she covered the boy. Tire tread suggests we’re looking at a van, an F150 cargo model. I’ve got photos you can take to your lab.’
Joseph frowned. ‘The black van.’
‘You know of this van?’ Kerr asked, and Joseph nodded.
‘Black van with a hydraulic lift that’s leaking oil and hydraulic fluid. It’s been used in several crimes back in Baltimore.’
‘That’s what we found on his clothing, hydraulic fluid along with a few carpet fibers,’ Kerr said. ‘What doesn’t make sense, then, is who dumped him and why.’
‘He’d been walking a long time,’ Detective McManus said. ‘We figured he’d been picked up from the side of the road somewhere and dropped in Miz Cornell’s yard. But why would someone do that? We assumed it was a good Samaritan who didn’t want to get tied up in the investigation because they had something in the van they didn’t want the cops to see. Pot, pills, whatever.’
‘But if it was the van you all know about,’ Kerr added, ‘why drop him off at all?’
‘And why drug him up and tase him before dropping him off?’ Joseph said. ‘The doctor just told me that he was brought in with ket in his system. He woke up violent.’
‘None of this makes sense,’ Deacon agreed. ‘But we might be able to match the tire prints, just to find out if it’s
the same van, or the same type at least. Carter, did we get any prints from the floor of the Timonium house?’
‘Brodie got dirt from the treads. She may have gotten a print, too.’
‘I’ll call her,’ Deacon said. ‘Were you able to tell where the van came from before it dropped Ford off?’
‘Not really. We followed the tire tracks from Miz Cornell’s to the main road, then lost them,’ Detective McManus said. ‘We think Ford walked along the road for a long time, so we know the general direction he was coming from before he got picked up. But before that, he walked through the woods.’
‘Why?’ Deacon asked. ‘Why do you think he walked through the woods?’
‘For one, the road he was on originates in the wildlife management area. He had to have come through there. The burrs on his jeans confirm it,’ McManus said. ‘He could have walked through that wildlife management area for miles without seeing a soul. He had to have been on a road when he was picked up because that van wouldn’t have functioned off-road. If we can find where he was picked up, we can try using dogs to track him to where he started.’
Joseph looked over his shoulder at Daphne. She was bowed over, one of Ford’s hands sandwiched between hers. ‘I need to do a search of your archives.’ He turned back to McManus. ‘It’d be a thirty-year-old case.’
‘Her cousin’s abduction,’ Deacon murmured. ‘Daphne went missing too.’
‘When she realized we were coming into Wheeling, she was not happy. Apparently she lived around here when it happened. Where can I check old property records and police reports, Detective?’
McManus handed Joseph a business card. ‘If you call the main number and ask for Junie Bramble, she’ll get you what you need. She knows those archives like the back of her hand and can save you hours.’
‘Thank you. It’s too much coincidence, Ford turning up in the same area where Ms Montgomery and her cousin were abducted.’
‘Agreed,’ McManus said. ‘If you can’t find what you’re looking for, I know a few of the retired cops who didn’t move to Florida. They’d be happy to bend your ear about any thirty-year-old case you want.’
Joseph gave him one of his cards. ‘Can you put them in touch with me? I’d like to talk to them regardless of what Miss Bramble finds in the archives. Keep me in the loop as you search, I’ll do the same.’
Deacon looked in on Ford again. ‘He gonna keep his fingers and toes?’ he asked quietly.
‘Doc said yes. I’m going to stay with her in case Ford wakes up.’ Joseph hesitated. ‘Be careful out there, Deacon. I don’t like that we were drawn out this way.’
‘I hear you. You too. She’s the target. He’s just the lure.’
‘I know.’ And the knowledge made Joseph’s blood run cold. ‘I wish I knew why.’
Baltimore, Maryland, Wednesday, December 4, 3.00 P.M.
Clay tossed his hat on his desk and sank into his chair, gratefully accepting a cup of coffee from Alyssa. ‘It is cold out there,’ he said, wrapping his hands around the mug.
‘It can get to fifty below if it wants,’ Alyssa said with a big smile. ‘Ford’s found.’
It had been a call he would never forget. Daphne had called him first. Even before she’d called Paige. Well, Paige technically knew already because Carter had told Maggie, who’d called Simone and Paige was standing right there. But the thought was sufficient. Her son was safe and Clay’s and Daphne’s friendship was mending.
He’d been on his way to Philly to speak with the MacGregors when he got the call. He’d cried like a baby and was mostly not ashamed to admit it. ‘Hopefully Daphne will bring him home soon. Hopefully we’ll have found Kim before then.’
Because the girl has a helluva lot to answer for.
‘Did you find out anything from Kim’s parents in Philly today?’ Alyssa asked.
‘Not much, but at least it wasn’t a wasted trip. I got the name of Kim’s first roommate at the university. The roommate remembered her getting arrested and the conviction. She went to court with Kim for moral support. She said that a week later Kim met this guy named Doug who made her nervous – the roommate, not Kim.’
‘Why did Doug make the roommate nervous?’
‘I couldn’t get her to say exactly. I think it had something to do with sex and she wasn’t comfortable talking to me about it.’
‘You want me to follow up?’
He frowned. ‘Yes. I’m not sure why I didn’t just ask you to talk to her to begin with.’
She patted his knee. ‘You’re still a little rattled from yesterday, big guy. Kim was red hot and ready for revenge after her plea bargain with Daphne and Doug reeled her in like a fish. Eighteen-year-old girls can be so stupid.’
Clay bit back a smile. ‘So says the twenty-year-old girl.’
‘I can’t help being twenty. But at least I’m not stupid.’
‘No, you’re not. Talk to the roommate, see what you can find.’
She started for her desk, then came back to give him a peck on the cheek.
‘What was that for?’ he asked gruffly.
‘You looked like you could use it,’ she murmured. ‘For what it’s worth, I think Stevie will come around.’
He tried not to be annoyed with Alyssa for prying. ‘Alec has a big mouth.’
‘He never said a word. Didn’t have to. That you would run to her when she woke up was a given. That it didn’t end well is written all over your face.’
He looked away. ‘Wonderful.’ Then, because he was a fool, he asked, ‘Why do you think she’ll come around?’
‘Because she’s not stupid. And I’ve seen how she looks at you.’
‘She doesn’t look at me.’
‘Oh, yeah, she does. I saw her at the Halloween benefit Daphne did for the center.’
Stevie had come as Mata Hari and Clay had had a hard-on for days afterward. He got one now, just remembering. Discreetly he lowered his coffee mug to his lap, but not discreetly enough because Alyssa’s eyes sparkled.
‘She watched you, Clay, like she wanted to gobble you up. So give her some time.’
She walked out, but Alec showed up as soon as she was gone. ‘Got something.’
Clay scooted his chair so that his legs and his lap were under the desk. ‘On what?’
Alec sat on the edge of his desk as Alyssa had done. ‘Thefts from gun safes. There haven’t been too many and they’re spread out – one each in Maryland, DC, Northern Virginia, eastern Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. After Ford turned up there, I added West Virginia to my search radius. I looked for insurance claims that were either rejected or that resulted in a police inquiry.’
‘Not going to ask how you got into the insurance database.’
‘That would be wise on your part. I called each person who filed a claim, saying I was an internal auditor for the insurance company and was reopening their case. Two of the four talked to me, both of them were wives of cops. Both had weapons stolen. Neither of them used a cleaning service, but both had A/C work done which included having their ducts cleaned out.’
Clay sat back, impressed as hell. ‘What’s the name of the company?’
‘Two different companies, both legit. But the cops both got a flyer in their mailboxes offering a “special”. The number didn’t belong to the real companies and neither had offered a special. Both said the team that came was a man and a woman. Woman was Kimberly MacGregor. The man fit Doug’s, five-nine, totally average description.’
Excitement buzzed down Clay’s spine. ‘Get me the information. I’ll give Carter a call. He can get a sketch artist out to those two homes. If they saw Doug, they can provide a description. Hopefully we can get a likeness of this guy that’s more helpful than we’ve had so far. Good work, Alec.’
‘Thanks. How will you hide that I got information through . . . inventive means?’
‘I’ll think of something. Don’t worry.’
Wheeling, West Virginia, Wednesday, December 4, 3.30 P.M.
After De
acon had left with the locals, Joseph returned to Ford’s room. Daphne sat still as a statue in the plastic chair, her hand over Ford’s. He knew she wouldn’t leave her son to sleep in a proper bed, so he mentally urged the boy to wake up fast.
Standing behind her, he rubbed her shoulders, satisfied when she dropped her head, elongating her neck. In minutes her tight muscles began to loosen.
‘You need to sleep, Daphne.’
‘I need him to see me when he wakes up. Then I’ll sleep.’
‘I was in the hospital for three days once, unconscious,’ he said. ‘My mother talked to me. I remember just wanting to hear more, to get closer, and I woke up. So maybe you should talk to him.’
She looked back at him, eyes wide. ‘What happened to make you unconscious for three days?’
‘Skateboard accident when I was a kid. Once I finally woke up and Mom knew I wasn’t going to die, she ripped me a new one. I wasn’t wearing a helmet.’
‘I would have ripped you one, too.’
He grinned. ‘Yeah, but I didn’t fall until after I’d popped an Ollie and ridden the rail all the way down the middle school steps. Totally worth it.’ His grin faded. ‘Except for how much I scared my mom. I always hated that I’d done that.’
‘I suspect she’s forgiven you,’ she said with a smile, then turned back to her son. ‘With Ford it was always the horses, which I suppose was my fault. I took him to the stable with me from the time he was an infant. When he was five he saw a jumping competition and he was hooked. My heart would routinely stop, watching him compete.’ She stroked the boy’s hand. ‘He loves to fly.’
‘Talk to him about the horses or Simone’s gigantic Christmas tree. Just talk to him.’
She did, but the topic she chose was the women’s center that she and Paige were building, the one for which she hosted all those fundraisers. At first he listened with half an ear, thinking instead about all the colors she’d worn to those charity events, how bold she’d looked among the sea of little black dresses. How alive.
And then he remembered all those hours he’d watched her from across the room, imagining peeling those bright dresses off her body. Imagining all the things he’d do to her if she were only going home with him. To his bed. If she were his.