A New Journey (Second Chance #3) (3 page)

Elliot was so relieved when he looked up and saw Karla standing there that tears filled his eyes. “What happened?” She asked.

“We were waiting in line for snacks and drinks, but Maddie had to use the bathroom so she went while we held our place in line. When we got to the counter, before we could order, there was an explosion from somewhere down the hall. Elliot pushed me down, but something hit my head and his arm got pinned under a popcorn machine. They won’t let us go toward the bathrooms to find Maddie.” Malinda told her while tears flowed freely down her face.

“I’ll go find her.” Kiara said from behind Karla and she started in the direction of the bathrooms.

“Hold it right there, young lady.” A mall security officer said from behind her.

Kiara stopped and turned to face him. “Are we really going to do this again?” She asked with a note of sarcasm in her voice.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I can’t let you down that hall. Only emergency personal is allowed down there.”

“My friend was in the bathroom when the explosion happened and I haven’t seen her since. If I can’t go look for her then you get your butt down there and find her because one way or another, I am going to know if she’s alright.” Kiara said in an irritated tone.

“I’ll go check on her.” Trent said from behind Kiara. “What’s her name?”

“Madison Carpenter.” Kiara answered him. “She’s Elliot’s friend and they were here together.”

“Is Karla here?” Trent asked and Kiara pointed to where Karla was sitting on the floor with Elliot and Malinda. “Okay, can you go wait with them? I’ll find her, Kiara. Tell Elliot not to worry.”

“Like that’ll happen.” Kiara said as Trent walked down the hall towards the restrooms.

****

“Madison?!” Trent yelled out as he approached the restrooms. “Madison Carpenter?!” He stopped moving when he heard a noise that sounded like crying coming from the other side of the ladies restroom door. “Madison?!” He yelled again and strained to listen.

“Help me! Can someone please help me?!” He heard a small voice say from the other side of the door.

“Madison? Is that you?” He asked loudly.

“Yes, my name is Madison and I’m trapped in here.”

“Okay, Madison. My name is Detective Trent Greeves and I will help you. Can you see the door?”

“Yes, but part of the ceiling collapsed and is blocking it.”

“Okay. Are you hurt?” Trent asked, she sounded okay, but that didn’t mean anything.

“I think my leg is broken.”

“Okay, sweetheart. You hang tight and we’ll have you out in no time.”

“Please hurry. I need to find my sister and friends.” She said and he could hear the tears in her voice.

“Your sister and friends sent me to find you. They’re a little banged up, but they’re okay.” Trent told her as he pulled out his cell phone.

“Thank God.” He heard her say in a relieved voice as John answered.

“McGraw.” John said in his usual gruff voice.

“John, I have a little girl, approximately thirteen years old, trapped in the ladies restroom. The door is blocked and she thinks her leg may be broken, but other than that she sounds like she’s alright. Can you send a crew back here to get her out?”

“Sure can. They’ll be there in a minute. Her name isn’t Madison Carpenter by chance is it?”

“Yes it is, why?” Trent asked, although he had a pretty good idea already.

“Karla is out here giving the rescue squad hell because they aren’t looking for Madison.”

“That’s our Karla.” Trent said with a chuckle.

“Yes it is. A crew is on the way as we speak and should be there in just a few minutes.”

“Thanks, John.” Trent said and hung up the phone. “Madison?” He called out to her again.

“I’m here.” She answered back.

“A rescue crew is coming to get you out. Are you doing alright?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m great. Just hanging out here on the bathroom floor.” Madison said in a sarcastic voice.

  Trent chuckled and looked over just as the rescue crew stopped beside him. “She’s hanging in there.” He told the leader of the crew. “Madison, the rescue crew is here. I’m gonna stay here until you’re free though.”

“Ummm… Detective Greeves, I’m not alone in here, but I think the lady with me is dead. Part of the ceiling hit her in the head.”

“Okay, Madison, we’ll get her too.” Trent told her and nodded to the rescue team to start cutting through the wooden door.

Five minutes later Trent followed the rescue crew into the bathroom and saw Maddie sitting on the floor beside a shattered toilet. Her blonde hair was streaked with dirt and had pieces of ceiling tile and insulation in it and her face was covered in dust from the collapsed ceiling, but she looked alright.

“Hey, Madison.” Trent said as he kneeled down beside her. “You have some people really worried about you.”

“I was here with my sister and our friends Elliot, Jason, Dana and Nathan; are they all okay?”

Trent nodded as the paramedics came through the opening in the door and started checking Madison for injuries. Once they had her leg stabilized they loaded her on a board and lifted her off the floor. “Detective Greeves?” She asked before they slid her through the opening to the paramedics on the other side. “Thank you for finding me.”

“You’re very welcome, sweetheart.” He said with a smile and followed behind the group as they took her to the stretcher waiting at the end of the hall.

“Maddie!” Mallie yelled when she saw her twin being carried out into the open.

“I’m fine Mallie. I think my leg is broken, but I’m fine.” She reassured her sister. “Can you call dad? He’s at work, but I think I can get them to take me to his hospital.”

“They’re waiting for all of you.” Leslie said from beside Malinda. “I called Andrew and he talked to your dad. I’m going to call him back now that they’ve found you. Your dad is worried sick.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Peterson.” Maddie said as tears started running down her face. “I think the lady that was in the restroom with me is dead. I tried to pull her into a stall when the ceiling started falling, but I wasn’t quick enough and I fell.”

“Madison,” Trent said from behind her. “She’s alive. She’s unconscious, but alive.”

Maddie buried her face in her hands and starting crying at his words and she continued to cry all the way to the hospital.

When the ambulances arrived at the hospital Andrew and Ron met them at the bays. “Who’s worse?” Andrew asked the paramedics.

“Her name is Helen Martin, according to her ID, and she’s unconscious with head trauma. She’s twenty–three years old and lives in Hermitage.”

“Okay, I got her. Ron, you can take Maddie and Elliot and Mallie can go with Karen and Brenda. They’ll keep us updated.” Andrew said as he led the paramedics down the hall and into a curtained off room. Once they had her on the bed he started examining her.

Ron led them to the room next to that one and got Maddie situated on the bed. “Madison, care to tell me what happened?” He asked his daughter as he started examining her.

“We were waiting in line at the snack counter; Jason, Dana and Nathan had already went into the theater to save our seats, but I had to go to the bathroom. Mallie and Elliot said they’d order everything and when I came out I could help them carry it all in so I went to the bathroom. I was just coming out of the stall when I heard the explosion and everything started falling around me. I saw the lady walking toward the exit and I tried to grab her, but I wasn’t fast enough so I crawled under the sinks to protect myself from the falling ceiling.”

“How did you hurt your leg?”

“I thought it was over so I crawled out to check on the lady. Another part of the ceiling fell so I tried to dive out of the way, but again, I wasn’t fast enough and it hit my leg. Daddy, I think it’s broken.”

“I think it is too, but I’m going to get an x-ray of it to see how badly.”

“Dr. Carpenter?” They heard a voice say from the other side of the curtain.

“Yes?” He answered.

“We have six more busses headed our way. One of them is a young girl with severe trauma to her lower extremities and we’re going to need you. Dr. Peterson said to let you know they’re two minutes out.”

“I’ll be fine, Daddy, go. They need you and anyone can read an x-ray film.” Maddie told him when she noticed the look on his face. He was torn between helping her and his duty as a doctor.

“I love you, Madison. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He said and kissed her forehead before he walked out of the room.

Five minutes later Elliot and Mallie walked in the room. “You’re okay.” Mallie beamed at her twin. “I was so worried.”

“I’m okay. Are you two okay?” She asked when she noticed Elliot’s arm was in a sling and Mallie had a thick bandage on her head.

“We’re good.” Elliot said with a grin. “I have a dislocated elbow and Mallie has stitches in her head, but no permanent damage.”

“I’m waiting on x-ray, but I’m pretty sure my leg is broken.” Maddie told them then looked at her hands. “I was so scared. I thought I was going to die in that bathroom.”

They were all quiet for a minute before Elliot spoke. “Maddie, I thought we were all going to die. The explosion happened in the theater at the end of the hall next to the men’s restroom so you were closer than we were to it, but things started falling out there. Mallie was hit in the head by something and my arm was caught under a popcorn machine. Then we couldn’t find you, Jason, Dana or Nathan and we freaked out a little. When Jason, Dana and Nathan came out of the theater covered in dust, but not hurt, we started panicking.”

“Then Karla showed up.” Mallie told her. “She had her friends with her and they made them look for you. Apparently she knows a couple of the cops that were there.”

“Captain McGraw and Detective Greeves are the ones who helped Karla almost two years ago.” Elliot explained and the girls nodded. They knew part of the story, but never asked about the rest.

“Karla really came through for us.” Mallie said with a grin. She really liked Elliot’s older sister.

“Karla is the best.” Elliot said with a smile.

“Aww, thanks, little brother.” Karla said from the edge of the curtain. “I looked in your room and you weren’t there so I came looking for you. I wanted to let you know we’re here and Dad said you and Mallie are fixing to be released.”

“Karla, thank you for helping us today.” Maddie said from the bed. “Without you I don’t know how long I would have been trapped in that bathroom.”

“Trent and John would have found you. They’re two of the best.” Karla told her with a grin. “They found me after all and I didn’t even know I needed to be found.”

“Still, if you hadn’t been there they wouldn’t have known to look for me. They would have searched the areas, but not specifically for me and that makes a difference. When Detective Greeves called my name outside that door I was relieved. I knew I’d be alright.”

“I’m glad I was there to help.” Karla told her then grinned. “I thought John was going to punch that mall security officer when he wouldn’t let us through.”

“I would have loved to see that.” Elliot said with a grin.

“Okay, kids, party’s over.” Nathan Parks said as he walked through the door with the x-ray machine. “Anyone who doesn’t need an x-ray needs to step outside for a minute.”

“We’ll be back when he leaves.” Mallie told her sister and gave her hand a squeeze before they all walked out into the hall.

“She’s going to be alright.” Karla reassured Mallie as she stood there and looked at the closed curtain.

“I know. I was just so worried about her and now I don’t want to be separated from her at all.”

“I know how you feel.” Karla said and rubbed Elliot’s hair and for once he didn’t duck out of her reach.

Later that afternoon, after they all got home, Trent stopped by the house. When Karla answered the door she immediately stepped aside and let him in. “Hey, Trent.” She said once the door was closed behind him. “Mom and Dad are in the kitchen.”

“Okay. Wanna come?” Trent asked.

“You know I do.” She answered and led the way into the other room.

“Andrew, Leslie, how’s Elliot?” Trent asked as soon as he walked into the kitchen.

“He’s doing pretty well. Aside from a dislocated elbow and a few bruises he’s fine.” Andrew answered. “Now I’m assuming you’re here about the explosion.”

“You assume correctly. I need to ask Elliot a few questions and then I’ll tell y’all what happened.”

“I’ll run up and get him.” Karla volunteered and was gone before anyone could say anything.

“Can I get you a cup of coffee or something else to drink while we wait?” Leslie asked Trent.

“Sure. I’ll take a cup of coffee, black please.” Trent answered and Leslie hopped off the bar stool and poured him a cup, She was handing it to him when Karla and Elliot walked into the kitchen.

“Detective Greeves, Karla said you wanted to see me.” Elliot said as he sat down at the table. Karla walked to the refrigerator, grabbed two cans of Coke and sat beside Elliot before Trent started talking.

“I just need to ask you a few questions about what happened today.” Trent said as he sat on the chair opposite Elliot.

“Sure, but I don’t remember seeing anything.” Elliot told him with a look of confusion on his face.

“You may not remember seeing anything, but you may have seen more than you think you did.” Trent said and Elliot shrugged his shoulders. “I just want to ask you a couple of questions. If you didn’t see anything that’s okay. When you went into the theater did you see anyone acting nervous?”

“No, but I really wasn’t paying attention to anyone except my friends.”

“Madison said she saw a man that kept looking around, but she thought he was looking for someone.” Karla told Trent.

“Yeah, I saw him too. He was wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt.” Elliot told him. “I saw him again while we were in line for snacks. He was with a woman and they were walking back toward the restrooms. Now that you mention it, I never saw them come out.”

“Okay, do you remember anything else about those two?”

“She was wearing blue jeans and a black tank top. She had long, dark hair but that’s all I remember.”

“Wait a second.” Karla interrupted them. “I saw her too. Before you went into the theater Callie, Rylee, Kiara and I were in the food court and we saw you waiting in line at the ticket counter with your friends, but I wasn’t going to bother you so we decided to head to the dress shop. She had a really big bag with her, like a beach bag type bag and she was walking toward the theater. We passed pretty close to her. Close enough that I noticed she had brown eyes and a nasty looking scar on her left cheek.”

  “Her name is Helen Martin, according to her ID, and she’s the lady who was trapped in the restroom with Madison.”

“Oh my gosh.” Karla said in shock.

“What do she have to do with the explosion?” Leslie asked Trent.

“We think the man she was with is Mitchell Torretto. He’s wanted in several states for theater bombings that have killed hundreds of people. We were very lucky today, no one was killed, but a lot of other theaters haven’t been so lucky.”

“Oh my gosh.” Karla said again and shook her head. “I have been following that story for weeks. The police have labeled him The Theater Bomber, but he’s concentrated mostly up north. Places like New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. I never thought he would come this far south.”

“None of us did either, but the profile fits. He always gets a local girl to help him smuggle the bomb in and he always leaves her behind right before the bomb explodes. This time the scapegoat was Miss Helen Martin, a twenty-three year old who was recently kicked out of her parents’ house. That’s his MO, he preys on a young woman who is down on her luck and takes advantage of her. He messed up this time though. Miss Martin didn’t die in the explosion like the others have.”