Out For Justice (20 page)

Chapter Thirty-Five

“What am I missing here?” Karen rubbed her fingertips along her temples.

“Let’s break it down.” John Hendricks pulled out a pen and drew a few circles on a pad of paper. “You got the murder victim. We know we can link him to his parents here.” He drew another circle next to the boy’s, drew a line to link them, and wrote in the parents’ names. “Then we got your suspect here.” Hendricks drew another circle and wrote in the name of Raymond Alan Thomas. “Now the suspect is linked by a fingerprint.” He drew a line linking the two circles and wrote the word ‘fingerprint’ along the line.

Karen added, “We have Maggie Morris, linked to Thomas. And now we can add the hiking boots we found at the house to her link. So put a dashed line from her to the victim. And write boots along it.” Karen ran a hand through her hair and pushed it away from her face. Damn, she still needed to make an appointment to get her hair cut.

“What about a link between Thomas and the parents?”

“We did background checks and haven’t come up with anything.”

“So all we have is a fingerprint that puts Thomas with the kid, and a footprint found at the scene?”

“Yeah, that’s about it.”

“Didn’t you have a John Doe with a similar footprint?” Hendricks drew another circle and linked it with a dashed line to the little boy’s circle. He wrote ‘footprint’ along the line.

“Yeah. Parker and Connelly found the print next to their John Doe out on the causeway. I haven’t heard back from them about it. Let me give them a call and see what’s holding them up.”

“Get on it.” Hendricks threw down his pen. “Hey, did you see the paper this morning?”

Karen shook her head.

“We’re getting some good coverage about our missing suspect. The reward just went up. If he’s out there, someone will spot him and turn his ass in just for the reward.”

“I hope so.” She rubbed a hand at the back of her neck. “I’m heading for the hospital. I’m gonna try and talk to Maggie again and see if she remembers anything. I’ll check on Sam while I’m there.”

“Yeah, sounds like a good idea. See if you can lean on this Maggie a bit. She might remember more than we think and just doesn’t want to talk about it.” Hendricks grinned. “Keep it light, but watch her.”

“Will do.” Karen shoved her chair away from her desk and grabbed her purse out of her desk drawer. She checked to make sure her cell phone was attached to her belt.

While she walked to her car, Karen dialed Mike’s cell phone number.

“Connelly here.”

“Mike, it’s Karen.”

“Hi.”

“Hi, I’m calling about the footprint on the Hunt case. Did we get a match on the boots?”

“I received a batch of reports yesterday, and I’m going through them today. I’m sure the report is in there.”

“I hope so. I just found another pair of hiking boots at the Thomas house. A smaller pair, I’m thinking they were Maggie Morris’. I’ve turned them over to FDLE to identify a substance I found on the boots.” Karen found her car, got in, and started it up.

“Good. I hope FDLE is getting to their cases quicker. They’ve been behind for a while now.”

“They didn’t give me an exact day when they’d get back to me. But there were a lot of people working in there.” Karen drove out of the parking lot and headed toward the Interstate.

“You sound like you’re in your car. Are you on your way home?”

“I’m in my car, yes, but I’m not on my way home. I’m heading for the hospital to see if I can get anymore out of Maggie and check on Sam.” Looking behind her, Karen signaled to merge into the traffic speeding by on the highway.

“If you get a chance to see Sam, tell him I said ‘hello’.”

“I will. I hope he’s conscious. It’ll be good to have him finally out of the woods.”

“Um, Karen, I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but what were you doing at the suspect's house? Alone?”

“Mike? What the hell?” Karen bit out the words. “This is my job. My number one priority is to catch the son of a bitch who put Sam in the hospital and who possibly killed that little boy.”

“That's right. Your partner is already in the hospital because of this maniac. I don't want to see you end up there too.”

Karen swung the steering wheel to the left to avoid a driver changing lanes. “I won't.”

“Just follow procedures. Use your partner.”

“Don't tell me how to do my job, damn it. We're sleeping together. You're not my boss.”

“Shit. I knew this would get complicated.”

“It's not complicated at—stay in your own lane, asshole!” Karen leaned on the horn while she verbally assaulted the driver next to her. She rolled her shoulders. She didn't need this right now. What she needed to do was get to the hospital without anymore interruptions. Traffic or boyfriend-wise. “Mike, just let me do my job.”

“Karen, I—”

“Look, Mike, I'm driving. I have to go. I need to concentrate.”

“Right. Okay. Fine then.”

Karen heard the clip of each word, but she didn't have the time to deal with Mike at the moment.

“Bye, Mike.”

Karen ended her call and tossed her cell phone onto the passenger front seat. She followed the now familiar exit for the hospital and after a series of long traffic lights she pulled into the hospital parking lot. Finding a parking space was difficult, but she managed it and parked her SUV.

Determined to get some answers out of Maggie, she focused on finding her room and developing a list of questions she wanted to ask. There must be something she could say that might help trigger Maggie’s memory, PTSD or no PTSD. Maybe if she talked about Sam. That might do it.

Karen walked into Maggie’s room. The woman lay back on the hospital bed, absently changing channels on the overhead television.

“Maggie?”

“Mmm?” Maggie turned her head to see who was at the door.

“Hi, I’m Detective Sykes. Remember me?”

“You’re the police?”

“That’s right. I’m here to ask you a few questions, is that okay?” Karen stood next to the bed and looked down at Maggie. The bruises and cuts on her face stood out against the paleness of her skin.

“Questions? Sure, I guess. I don’t know how much help I can be. The doctors say I can’t remember much because of the shock.” Maggie turned off the television and laid the remote control on her bedside table.

“Well, let’s start out with a few simple questions and then we’ll go from there.” Karen took out her notebook and flipped to a blank page. “How far back can you remember? Do you remember with whom you were living with before you were brought to the hospital? Do you know whose home you were in?”

Maggie screwed up her face as if trying to remember. Wrinkles appeared between her eyebrows and in her forehead. “Living with? I’m not sure. I think I was living with a man.” Maggie paused. “Yeah. I think I was living with a man.”

“That’s good, Maggie. Do you remember who this man was?”

Maggie scratched the top of her head. “Who? Maybe. I dunno. Everything’s all scrambled up in my head. If I go back in my mind, I think I was living with another guy before this one. But we got in a big fight and I left.” Taking a sip of water, Maggie tried to focus on the question. “But this guy, he wasn’t like the others. We did stuff.” Maggie lifted the hand with the IV inserted and stared at it. She paused for several seconds. “Yeah, I think I remember doing stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” Karen reined in her frustration at the lack of direction in Maggie’s answers.

“I dunno. Just stuff.”

“Did you have fun with this guy? What kind of fun things did you do?”

“I don’t know how much fun we had. I’m trying to remember. It’s hard, you know?”

“I know, Maggie. But it’s real important that you remember. We want to find the man that did this to you and to my partner, Sam. Do you remember Detective Anderson, Maggie?”

“Detective Anderson? Who’s Detective Anderson?” Maggie looked at Karen with round, wide eyes.

“He was with you the day you were attacked. Detective Anderson was there to arrest the man you were living with.”

“The man I was living with? Why would he want to do that?”

“We have reason to believe that the man you were living with may have been involved in a homicide.” Karen debated with herself about how much to tell Maggie. She hoped that by telling her as much as she could, it might jog her memory.

“A homicide? Do you mean murder? Someone I was living with murdered somebody?” Maggie held a hand to her heart. Her chest heaved as her breathing came fast and shallow.

“Calm down, Maggie. Don’t get yourself all worked up. You’re safe now, here in the hospital. They won’t let anyone hurt you.” Karen looked toward the doorway hoping a nurse would wander by. Getting Maggie all worked up wasn’t her main objective. She wanted to possibly shock Maggie into remembering something, but she didn’t want to give her a heart attack in the process.

“But murder? That’s serious stuff.” Maggie lifted her glass to take a drink then sat it down again. “What about that detective? The one you said got attacked too. How’s he doing?”

“He’s in the Intensive Care Unit, here in the same hospital. He’s been beat up pretty bad.”

“Does he…does he know what happened to him?” Maggie kept her eyes down as she asked her question.

“He’s been unconscious since they brought him in. The doctors say he’s coming around, so I’m hoping to talk to him after I finish here talking to you. He might be able to tell me who did this to him.”

Maggie’s head swung up. “He can tell you that?”

“I hope so.” Karen watched Maggie’s face change expression. Her eyes went blank before her eyelids fluttered closed, and her mouth turned down into a frown.

“Could you go now? I’m real tired, detective. I don’t think I can answer anymore questions.”

“I’m sorry, Maggie. I didn’t mean to tire you out. I’ll leave now and let you get some rest.” Making a final mark in her notebook, Karen snapped it shut and put it back into her pocket with her pen. “You take care of yourself. And don’t worry about a thing. We’ll find the person who did this to you.”

Maggie lifted her hand slightly in a halfhearted wave. She leaned her head back on the pillow and sighed.

Turning to go, Karen stopped and asked over her shoulder, “By the way, Maggie. Do you like to hike?”

Maggie opened her eyes. “Hike? I don’t know what you mean?”

“We found a pair of hiking boots in your house. I was wondering if they were yours.” Karen watched Maggie carefully to see what her reaction would be.

Maggie closed her eyes and rested her head back against the pillow. “Boots? I dunno. I don’t remember.”

“Well, don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s nothing.” Karen bit the inside of her lip. Was she going to keep running into brick walls when it came to Maggie Morris? Karen walked out of Maggie’s room and headed toward the elevators to take her to the Intensive Care Unit. She hoped that Sam would be awake enough to talk to her. Grateful that the elevator was empty, Karen relaxed against the wall. What was with Maggie today? Could she really have suffered such a shock to her system that she couldn’t remember even the simplest details about the last few days? Or was there something more to Maggie’s attitude? Did she know something and wasn’t telling? Did she still harbor feelings for the man who attacked her? Karen stopped second guessing herself when the elevator sounded its final stop. She exited the elevator and headed for the ICU.

“Detective Sykes, is that you?”

Karen looked for the person calling her name and recognized Sam’s wife. “Hello, Mrs. Anderson. I came by to see Sam, if I can?”

“Sam’s been awake now for a couple of hours or so. I was just thinking about calling you. I think he wants to see you.”

“How is he?”

“He’s still on a respirator so he can’t talk. He’s alert, but seems confused. Why don’t you come see for yourself, dear?”

“Thank you,” Karen said. “I’d like that.”

Mrs. Anderson led Karen through the double doors into the Intensive Care Unit. The large nursing station buzzed with activity. Nurses watched various computer and video monitors with patient data. The noise level was low, but with a heightened sense of urgency. Mrs. Anderson seemed to know her way around the area and led Karen to a small group of nurses congregated around one monitor. She motioned to the nurse closest to her and said, “I’m taking my husband’s partner in to see him for a few minutes, Dottie.”

The nurse lifted her head and looked at Karen. She paused before saying, “Only for a few minutes, Mrs. Anderson. We don’t want that husband of yours to tire out now that he’s awake.”

“I won’t. Just for a few minutes. Sam wants to see Detective Sykes.”

Karen watched the nurse named Dottie smile at Mrs. Anderson then go back to watching the monitor with the other people she was standing with. Following Sam’s wife, Karen quietly walked into the room a few doors down from the nurse’s station. She kept her face neutral as she took in the room and Sam as he lay in his hospital bed. There were so many beeping and blinking machines around the top of the bed. The one that was helping him breath was making soft sucking sounds. Tubes and wires led from the machines to Sam’s body. He looked smaller than she remembered, or maybe it was just the large hospital bed. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. She tried to brush them away without drawing attention to them. Mrs. Anderson had taken the get-well cards that were sent and taped them up along the walls and windows of the small room. She had put them at eye level for Sam to see. And Sam could see them. Eyes open, he watched as Karen entered the room and looked around.

“Why don’t you stand over there, so Sam can see you without having to move too much.” Mrs. Anderson pointed to a spot next to Sam’s bed.

Karen sidestepped her way over to the place Sam’s wife pointed to and said, “Hi, Sam.”

Sam blinked and a crooked grin tried to form on his lips around the tube protruding from his mouth.

“We’ve worked out a blinking system, haven’t we, Sam?” Mrs. Anderson said as she gently patted Sam’s bruised hand. “One blink means yes and two blinks mean no.”

Karen smiled down at Sam. “I think I can figure that out.” With worried lines creasing her forehead, she asked, “Do you know why you’re here in the hospital?”