BIG SKY SECRETS 03: End Game (16 page)

“You think it’s a mistake, too?”

The dog looked out the window and whined louder.

Now Scott saw the reason—Megan’s golden retriever was sitting in the shadows of the porch. The old dog woofed and Jasper answered with a series of eager barks.

“Traitor.” Resigned, Scott opened the door and Jasper bounded out after him to race up the stairs and sniff noses with his new pal.

Megan appeared at the door a moment later, a voluminous white apron wrapped around her trim waist and a set of oven mitts on her hands. “Sometimes Buddy just sits out here at night and barks when the bats swoop by, but I
thought
I heard something different. Welcome.”

Her auburn hair was lit to a gold-edged nimbus by the light behind her, her voice was low and warm and inviting. And just like that, his doubts melted away. “I found you with Google Maps on the computer…sort of. Things got a little sketchy in the dark, though, once I got out in the country.”

“Everyone has trouble. It’s not the map program’s fault, it’s that the numbering system out here is a little wonky. And one of the roads got washed out last year but was never replaced. I hope you’re hungry.”

“More so by the minute. Something sure smells wonderful.” He walked up the steps to the broad covered porch. She’d set up a table out here, with a pair of flickering candles smelling of cinnamon and a bouquet of wildflowers in an old blue canning jar. A pair of faceted water glasses sparkled in the candlelight. “And this looks beautiful.”

“I don’t entertain very often. You’ll have to forgive my china—I have just a partial set of my grandmother’s so it doesn’t all match.”

He laughed at that. “I’m glad you haven’t seen my kitchen, then.”

She disappeared into the house and brought out pitchers of raspberry iced tea and lemonade.

“Let me help carry.”

“Nah, just pour. Tea for me, but I made both just in case. I’ll be right back.”

She returned in a few minutes with a big wooden bowl of raspberry and almond spinach salad. “I didn’t even think to ask you what you like. Please, don’t hesitate to turn anything down.” She looked up at him and grinned. “So have a seat. I’ll only be offended if you try to suffer in silence.”

He watched her serve the salad with deep pleasure. “Well, the first course is definitely a work of art.”

She took a seat across from him. “Thanks. I—”

From somewhere in the cabin came the sound of her cell phone. “I’m sorry. I should probably get that.”

She returned a minute later, her face pale. “This is awful. I hate to do this—but I think I need to make a quick run into town.”

“Trouble?”

She tipped her head in acknowledgment. “You probably read in the paper about the semi accident, and the old fellow who was hurt. His daughter just called.”

“The paper said he was in a coma.”

“There are also some…other issues, so the hospital has been on alert to watch for any unexpected visitors. Someone snuck into his room earlier tonight, then disappeared before security arrived. They notified the daughter and now she’s in a panic because she’s out of town for a few days and can’t check on him.”

“She can’t talk to the nurses?”

“She already did.” Megan’s mouth tipped in a wry smile. “But she’s really worried anyway.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“You don’t have to. If you want to stay and eat your salad and just relax, I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”

He stood, taking in the concern in her eyes, and gave her a quick hug. “You went to a lot of work, so we should enjoy this meal together. We can take my truck, if you want to.”

“We’d better take my patrol car. Though after twelve hours in it today, I’d hoped it could stay parked awhile. Here, we can leave the dogs inside while we’re gone.”

He helped her put the salad and beverages back in the refrigerator, then followed her out to the car.

A deluge of memories hit him when he slid into the front passenger side door. “Whoa.”

She gave him a knowing glance as she turned on the ignition. “Miss this?”

He sat silently for a minute. “I didn’t think I ever would. But just climbing in gave me that old surge of excitement. The longing for a hot call. A big case. Something really challenging. Exciting. Dangerous, even.”

“I know. It hits me every single day. The hardest days are when I have to end up at a desk.”

They drove in companionable silence, the empty, black velvet ribbon of highway melting beneath the tires. She pulled up at the E.R. and frowned as several staff hurried past her front bumper. “This is the night entrance. It’s usually quiet out here this time of night unless a patient comes in, but—”

Several others came out of the hospital and hurried in another direction. She stared after them as she got out of the car. “You can come in or wait. Your call.”

An older nurse appeared at the glass doors. She squinted out into the darkness, then came running out to Megan’s door. “He’s gone. Oh, my—I don’t know how it happened—but Carl Wilson is gone.”

Megan stepped out of the car to face her. “He passed away?”

“No—no—he’s gone. And it’s as if he vanished into thin air.”

S
cott followed as Megan hurried down the hall of the E.R., past the four exam rooms to the handful of rooms allocated to the hospital.

She was firing questions at the nurse as she strode through the E.R. “Have you checked every room, Bonnie? Under beds? The storerooms and closets? Maybe he awoke and became confused.”

“We’ve gone through the entire hospital, yes,” the nurse said breathlessly as she trotted to keep up with Megan’s long strides. “And now we’re searching the grounds. We called the sheriff’s department just a few minutes ago. You sure got here fast.”

“I was already on my way. Carl’s daughter called me and said she was worried about her father.” She pulled to a stop at the open doorway of Carl’s room, then looked over her shoulder at the nurse and nodded toward Scott. “This is Scott Anders. He lives outside of town now, though he’s on leave from a police department in the Chicago area.”

Bonnie looked at him with new respect, sparing him a quick, strained smile before turning back to Megan. “It’s unbelievable that Mr. Wilson could be gone. He wasn’t even conscious, far as we knew. He hadn’t spoken a word, nor opened his eyes. We’d checked in on him ten…maybe fifteen minutes earlier to changes his IV line.”

“How many people are on duty right now?”

“No one’s been brought into the E.R. tonight, so the E.R. nurse and I both cover the hospital side, plus the skilled and long-term beds. We call in more help if things get busy. We also have two nurse’s aides, plus a housekeeper.”

“No receptionist?”

“She leaves at eight-thirty, when visiting hours are over. The calls just route to the nurse’s station after that.”

Megan glanced at her watch. “Then she left about a half hour ago. Before Carl disappeared?”

Bonnie nodded, her face pale and tight with worry. “We usually have a security guy who doubles up as an orderly when need be, because the place is so small. But he went home with the stomach flu early in the evening.”

“So where were all the staff members during that time frame?”

“Paula—the other nurse—and I were changing a catheter on one of the skilled patients down the other hall. Ed can be combative, so it takes two and it’s still quite a battle sometimes. The aides were on the long-term unit helping everyone get ready for bed. The housekeeper was on break.”

“What about the doors?”

“Everything is locked at eight-thirty. You can exit but not enter—except the E.R. entrance.”

“Alarms?”

“Always on down the long-term hallway. Automatically set everywhere else at eight-thirty, though on all of those, you can touch a button set high on the door frame that will let you out. And if someone goes through the E.R. entrance, we hear a bell and they are caught on the security camera—like the one at the front door. We’ve got TV monitors at both nurse’s stations.”

“So a weak, confused man technically couldn’t leave the building without setting off an alarm.” Bonnie nodded.

“Carl’s daughter called me to say that a stranger was spotted in the vicinity of his room earlier.”

“That’s right. He isn’t allowed visitors, period. Paula saw someone at his doorway. When she hurried down the hallway to stop him from going in, the man just took off.” Bonnie shook her head in disgust. “We’ve had that happen before, though…someone coming in as a visitor, then scouting rooms for needles and meds as if we’d be careless to leave any of that stuff lying around. One day, someone even stole some purses.”

At a commotion behind them, Scott turned and saw three deputies at the E.R. entrance talking to an agitated woman in a nurse’s uniform.

“Wait here,” Megan said to him as she went to join them.

He watched her speak to them, feeling an unexpected sense of pride in her professional demeanor as she clearly took command of the situation. Then two of the deputies went back outside and the taller, older of the three followed her up to Carl’s room.

She quickly introduced Scott to the deputy, Jim Rigby. “Wes and Ewan are organizing a search outside and are alerting the dispatcher. Jim and I want to search the hospital. Scott can come with me. Okay?”

The nurse nodded. “I just hope we can find Carl soon. He must be very weak—he hasn’t been on his feet since the accident.”

“Can we play back those security tapes?” Jim asked.

“I…I think so. They feed into both nurse’s stations, but the main unit is in the security office.” She pulled a heavy key ring from her pocket and fumbled through it. “I’ll go let you in.”

“And I’m going to search Carl’s room.”

Scott watched from the doorway as Megan meticulously searched the room Carl had been in. “You’d be a good homicide investigator,” he said quietly.

“With the limited size of our sheriff’s department, we have to do everything. You just never know what the next day will bring.” She smiled briefly. “I’m sure this is the complete opposite of the extensive staffing and specialization you’re used to.”

He thought of the turmoil back in that Chicago suburb. His traitorous former partner, and the two fellow cops who had resisted his determination to uncover the truth. Proving they’d all been involved in a complex drug scheme had been the death knell of his ability to work in that precinct. “It wasn’t…what you might expect.”

She gave the room a last glance. “I don’t see anything here. No signs of struggle. Nothing out of place. It’s as if he simply got up and checked out after a nice nap…or someone kidnapped him. But how easy would it be to get past the staff and cameras, lugging a grown man?”

“Not very.”

“I’m going to search the hospital wing. Want to help?”

“Absolutely.”

“Sorry about your dinner. By the time we get done here, the salad will be limp, and the entrée will be petrified.”

“I know it would’ve been wonderful. The next time around it’ll be my turn. Maybe I can take you out to dinner? I’ve heard the Cove is right on the water, and it’s supposed to be excellent.”

Her green eyes sparkled. “I’d like that.”

He felt an inordinate amount of pleasure at her response. “Good. So, lead the way, Officer. Let’s get this guy found and back to bed where he belongs.”

An hour later, every room, every closet and the hospital grounds had been thoroughly searched.

Four patrol cars slowly, methodically cruised through town for hours after that.

But there wasn’t a single sign that Carl Wilson had ever existed.

Sunday dawned with lightning spearing through the roiling clouds overhead, and heavy thunder that shook the earth. Rain slashed at the windows, rattling the panes. After being out late last night, leaving the delicious warmth of her down comforter had taken a concerted effort.

But now, walking up the wide steps of the Community Church amidst a sea of brightly colored umbrellas, she was thankful she’d made it. With her varying twelve-hour shifts, it wasn’t always possible to attend.

As always, a sense of deep peace drifted through her as she stepped inside the old church with its towering white steeple and beautiful, burnished woodwork.

Pastor Fields stood just inside the door, greeting everyone with a hug or a handshake and a beaming smile, helping with raincoats and umbrellas as his flock came in one by one and stamped the rain from their feet.

“Megan.” He smiled warmly, his white hair in cheerful contrast to his rosy cheeks. “
Wonderful
to see you on this beautiful day.”

“It is a beautiful day. I love the rain.”

He leaned closer and winked. “There’s a young man here this morning…he arrived just a few minutes ago. I believe I’ve seen you with him in town.”

To Pastor Fields, anyone under the age of sixty was a young man, and he was forever playing genial match-maker for his flock. Happily married for over fifty years, he was certain he was going to find the perfect young man for her. She smiled back. “I’ll be sure to look for him.”