Right, Elizabeth. His eyes glazed eastward and stopped when he saw the Fort Lauderdale Beach welcome sign. Maybe Elizabeth was on the beach. He pushed himself a few more steps until his feet hit the white sand.
The waning moon made it difficult to see anything, and with great effort, Nick worked his way down to the water drawn by the relaxing ocean sounds, which provided a reprieve from the demons. But only temporary.
Nick sighed. “I failed you, Elizabeth.”
Overwhelmed by the rapidly consumed intoxicants and a feeling of despair and hopelessness, Nick collapsed onto the warm white sand and into darkness.
Fourteen
Desperate, I decided to stop at Nick’s office off Las Olas Boulevard in search of any possible direction in the case. I recalled seeing his business card on his desk, along with a half-dozen keys on a key chain and a calendar. I grabbed a card and the key chain, hoping one would fit the office door.
Downstairs, I was about to enter Nick’s car when I noticed a piece of lined paper underneath the windshield wiper. It read, Meet me at Colee Hammock Park at seven-thirty tonight if you want to see Elizabeth. The note included a phone number. I assumed the note was directed to Nick, but I decided to meet—whomever—on my own. I’d just have to Google the place. My eyes swept the area and noticed a woman walking toward me with her poodle.
As she approached, she gave me a grave, almost accusatory look.
“That’s Nick Ross’s car.”
I smiled. “I know, I’m a friend. You must be his neighbor.” I watched the poodle take a pee on the grass.
“I am, and we watch out for each other. You don’t look familiar.”
I wasn’t about to mess with this woman, especially since she had a killer miniature poodle with her. “He said I could borrow it. That okay?” I held up the car keys.
She scowled. “Don’t be a smart-ass, sonny.” She glanced over at Nick’s building and sighed. “Poor thing. How is he?”
Her tone softened.
“The same, I’m afraid. How was he when you last saw him, Mrs.…?”
“Burke.” She pulled back on the leash. “And this is Tiger.”
I waved at Tiger.
She stepped closer as though ready to reveal a national secret. “That’s just it. I haven’t seen him in quite a while. He must be in a funk ever since.”
I wasn’t interested in piecemeal information, so I said flatly, “You mean the patient.”
She looked confused. “No, the wife and baby.”
Baby? Stunned, I sat in the car, thinking: why hadn’t Nick mentioned his wife was pregnant? What else was my client holding back?
According to Mrs. Burke, who found out from a neighbor, Nick’s wife—divorce was imminent—was pregnant at the time the car crashed into a live oak tree. Both she and the baby had died.
I couldn’t help but wonder if Nick was the father. By itself, the accident was tragic, but if the impending divorce had been connected to his best friend being the father, that would really suck.
I held off driving to Nick’s office, and by seven that night, I arrived at Colee Hammock Park. Parking the car, I surveyed the grounds. Not knowing who would show up, I’d brought my trusty Glock. The one-acre park on the Tarpon River was lush and beautiful, and I found a bench near the entrance.
At exactly seven-thirty, with no one around, I called the number, hoping to hear a trill or ping or chirp. Nothing. I looked around and wondered if I’d been set up.
Within minutes my cell rang out and I answered immediately.
“Hello,” I said quickly.
“You’re not Nick.”
My eyes darted about. A woman’s voice. She’d been watching me, but from where? I craned my neck around. Frustrated, I returned, “And you’re not Elizabeth.” Of course, I hadn’t a clue.
“I need to talk to Nick—alone.”
“That’s not possible right now. Besides, he wants to speak only to Elizabeth.” A few cyclists sped by and my eyes followed them to the exit. “So, where is she?”
“How do I know I can trust you? You could have taken the paper I slid—”
“Under Nick’s windshield wiper. That’s true, but I didn’t. All I know is you and Elizabeth are screwing around with my friend’s head. What do you want from him?”
The caller remained silent.
“Well?”
“It’s personal.”
“I’m sure it is. But if you want to get to Nick, you’ll have to go through me.”
“Fuck you.”
She hung up. I watched for a woman leaving the park, but after a few minutes, my cell rang.
“Change your mind?”
“Elizabeth’s in trouble, okay?”
I stood and casually walked toward the exit, waiting for her voice. “Go ahead.”
A sigh. “You’re right; I’m not Elizabeth. I’m her sister. She’s been staying with me, and not because she’s looking for a new job. She’s looking for a new life. Her husband is hunting her. She managed to escape once, and he isn’t taking it too well. He’s crazy and threatening to harm her and anyone in his way.”
My eyes shifted behind me. Where was she? “Like Nick.”
“Unfortunately, yes. I’m afraid he’s going to kill her when he finds her. Oh, God, I can’t believe her situation.”
“Slow down. Nick never mentioned a husband. How do I know you’re not conning me?”
“Because I’m not. Hold on, I’m going to text you a photo.”
After a minute, my cell pinged.
“Did you get it?”
“Hold on.” I tapped on the message icon and a photo popped up, presumably of Elizabeth. Her face showed a black eye. From the hair and other description Nick had mentioned, it could be Elizabeth.
Surveying my surroundings and without a hint of her location, I proposed, “Let’s meet.”
Fifteen
At 10:30 p.m., on a balmy night, a twenty-something couple left the popular Elbo Room dive bar on Fort Lauderdale Beach and strolled toward the ocean, hand in hand. After an evening of drinks and heavy flirtation, they decided to make the night complete by having sex on the beach (not the drink). First, they had to find a secluded spot.
Seriously? Like the beach was full of bathers at that hour.
A warm breeze ruffled their hair as they headed to the water’s edge. After dipping their toes into the foamy saltwater, the couple embraced, followed by a long, lasting kiss. They moved on, their senses heightening, searching for just the right spot.
“What’s that?” The woman with long brown hair and hazel eyes stopped in her tracks. She pointed twenty feet away.
Her blond-haired male companion turned. “Damn, it looks like a body.”
The woman recoiled. “Let’s get out of here!” She pulled on his arm.
“Hold on. Let’s get a better look. He could just be drunk.”
“He?”
“Or she.” The guy tried moving on, but the woman yanked him back. “What if he’s dead?”
Scratching his light beard, he said, “We might have to call the cops.”
“No, no, no, no. Can’t do that.”
He turned. Her eyes were wide with fear. “Why not?”
“I can’t be found around here if the cops come. Hell, I’m not supposed to be here with you, or anyone.” Goosebumps covered her skin. “I have a fiancé—”
“Whoa, you never said anything about a fiancé.” He broke free from her arm. “So, we were gonna have sex and then you’d take off?”
She shrugged, rubbing her bare arms. “What can I say? My—he doesn’t like the beach. Apparently, you do.”
The guy shook his head. “Go ahead, beat it. I’m gonna check on the guy.” He walked over and peered down. He wasn’t dead, but he was curled up on the moist sand, his body wet and shivering from the incoming tide. And he was mumbling.
The blond nudged him. “Hey, mister, are you okay?”
The guy kept mumbling. The blond, now by himself, said,
“I’m gonna call for help, okay?” He peered up at the street. His companion and potential sex partner took one last look down his way, then disappeared.
So much for getting laid on the beach. He punched in 911 on his cell and waited.
When the paramedics arrived, the man was still curled up. One of the paramedics removed a driver’s license from his now-soaked pants pocket.
Nick Ross.
He also found an empty prescription pill bottle of Xanax, two wet, but readable business cards, and a cell phone. One from a private investigator, and the second, a Doctor Martin Powers from Coral Springs General Hospital.
A medic wrapped him in a disposable polyester blanket, and with his partner, placed Nick on a stretcher. Shaking and disoriented, he kept mumbling something about Elizabeth.
Colee Hammock Park
Elizabeth’s sister told me to meet her on the north side of the park. She’d be sitting on a bench. When I arrived, I noticed a woman, bathed in the glow of a nearby streetlight, sitting at the edge of a bench. Her feet were shaking, and her head kept shifting back and forth.
I smiled. “Just me.”
She didn’t return the smile.
“Hi.” She looked as though she was ready to bolt.
“It’s safe,” I assured, my smile widening. “I’m Nick’s friend.”
From his description of Elizabeth, her sister could easily pass for her double. Despite her tired eyes, she was quite attractive, dressed in tight jeans and a loose floral blouse.
She looked beyond me. “Is it true that Nick’s not available?”
“Afraid so. I have no idea where he is. All I know is he was supposed to meet your sister. He left a message saying he received a tip as to her whereabouts.” I shrugged. “I was the one who found your note on his car windshield.”
Her eyes held mine. “Whenever Elizabeth called, she was always on the run. I guess she couldn’t wait for Nick. Not good.” She surveyed the area, then returned her gaze to me.
“No, I suppose not,” I agreed. “And, by the way, your name would help in our conversation. I’d like to know who I’m talking to.” I tried getting a read on her face, but her lips tightened with tension.
She ignored the question at first, probably still wondering if I was friend or foe.
“Amanda. My name is Amanda.”
“Hank. Nick hired me to find your sister after she disappeared.”
“So, you’re not a friend.”
“Like I said, he hired me, though we’ve become close since I arrived.” I smiled.
She dismissed my sarcasm and sighed.
“What can I say, Nick’s in love.” I handed Amanda my business card.
She studied it a moment. “You’re a private investigator?”
I thought that was inferred. I nodded.
She slipped my card in her jeans pocket. “This has been very crazy, Mr. Reed.”
“Hank, please.”
“Hank. Which is why I’d like more answers.”
Amanda held off a moment. “Follow me.”
We entered a red Mustang and I realized, “That was you I saw on the strip today. I called out ‘Elizabeth,’ and you took off.”
She turned to me and nodded. “I was searching for her, and when you yelled out her name, I got scared, thought you might have been Terry, and sped out of there. Sorry.” With that, she depressed the door locks. Now she was freaking me out.
“Terry’s a mental case. A dangerous one. I told my sister years ago not to get involved with him. But Elizabeth insisted he was a good guy and wound up with the loser. The truth is Elizabeth was always attracted to bad boys. Hence, she and Terry were a perfect match.” She sighed.
“I gather Terry’s the husband.”
“The worst kind. He gambles, drinks, not all there in the head, and hangs out with unsavory friends. Need I go on? Anyway, after being mentally abused for years, Elizabeth finally had the courage to leave him.” Amanda paused, swallowed hard. “She should have done it a long time ago, but what can I say? She was in denial.”
Amanda placed her hands on the steering wheel, gripped it. “So, after he hit her—she swore only once—that photo I texted you, she took off from her home in upstate New York and headed to Florida. That was over three weeks ago.” She bit her lip. “Elizabeth waited until her face healed before going out.”
“That’s when she met Nick.”
A nod. “It was love at first sight. He must be a great guy.”
I couldn’t attest to Nick’s character since I didn’t know him very well, but my guess was he wasn’t a bad boy.
A car blasting loud rap music rolled by, pausing for a moment, then drove past us, along with the noise.
She pulled the rearview mirror in her direction, searched the street.
“It’s okay. They’re just kids.”
It took a moment for her to regroup before nodding.
I said, “Wasn’t it chancy, your sister coming to you? I mean, she must have known her husband would look there first.”
Amanda shifted to me. “Actually, my place was the second.”
Coral Springs General Hospital
Paramedics transported Nick to Coral Springs General where an intake nurse brought him to a room. By then, he was no longer unresponsive, but still incoherent.
Doctor Powers, a short, stout man in his mid-fifties with receding gray hair, was Nick’s admitting physician from a previous stay and on duty again. Nick was dead asleep when Powers arrived at his room, questioning if he had released him too soon last time, when he noticed a card on a nightstand. A PI’s business card, ‘Hank Reed’.
He wondered whether Nick’s current condition had something to do with hiring this Hank Reed guy. Since his patient was unable to explain his current circumstances, he decided to investigate for himself. He snatched up the card, returned to his office, and dialed the PI. His message was simple and terse: “This is Doctor Martin Powers from Coral Springs General Hospital. Please call me as soon as possible.”
Powers removed Nick Ross’s patient file and reviewed it. He remembered his patient well: a psychologist who had experienced several significant tragedies, almost simultaneously leading to what is in laymen’s terms “a nervous breakdown.” Ross had realized he couldn’t function and voluntarily admitted himself for observations.
Powers stopped reading the file, sat back in his comfortable black leather chair, and contemplated Nick Ross’s situation. What intrigued him about this patient and his current condition? Sure, he had gone through a myriad of emotional traumas in a short period of time, but he was a psychologist and surely, had seen similar setbacks in other patients throughout his years of experience. There was something more going on with Nick and Nick was determined to find out what was going on in his world.
Colee Hammock Park
My cell phone rang, but I didn’t recognize the number and let it continue to voicemail. If it was important, they’d call back.
I asked Amanda, “You said you were the second person Elizabeth contacted. Who was the first?”
Her face stiffened. After a long sigh, she said, “Her therapist back home.”
“Okay,” I said tentatively. “And?”
“I told you Terry was crazy. He never warmed up to the idea that Elizabeth was seeking help, especially when she returned home after her sessions happy and upbeat. He was jealous and certain she was sleeping with the guy, which she told him was ridiculous. She had more on her mind than sleeping around. She was seeing the therapist to help her get through her rocky marriage.”
Amanda stopped. “Elizabeth contacted her psychologist soon after she decided to leave Terry. Knowing my sister had made a breakthrough, he supported her decision and wished her well, advising her that she could call him anytime.” She paused. “Elizabeth wanted to see Doctor Shapiro one last time, to thank him personally. Big mistake.”
I had no idea where Amanda was going with this. “What am I missing?”
“Doctor Shapiro is dead.�
��
I straightened. “When?”
“The day after Elizabeth took off. Someone broke into his office that night while the doctor was there. He’d been strangled.”
I sucked in a breath. “Jesus, how do you know this?”
“It was all over the media. This wasn’t some random robbery gone wrong, Hank. I’m sure Terry grabbed Elizabeth’s records from the files. My sister told Craig—that’s what she called the doctor, damaging stuff that could implicate Terry. She blames herself, of course, for his death.”
“Did she call the police?”
Her eyes answered. “She was afraid to, and I don’t blame her. Like I said, Terry has friends everywhere, maybe even here in Fort Lauderdale.” She sighed. “My sister escaped from him once down here. Terry’s not gonna let it happen again.”
I thought of Nick’s predicament and was certain he had no knowledge of Terry or what he was capable of. And now, Nick might be a liability.
“What I don’t get is how Terry knew your sister was staying with Nick last Saturday night. He even had Nick’s phone number and address.” I shook my head. “God knows what else the bastard had.”
“I swear, Hank, I have no idea, but he’s capable of finding things out. Like I said, he has connections.” She held off a moment. “Nick has been lucky…so far. He could wind up like Craig Shapiro.”
I looked outside the front windshield. We were facing the park, which was dark except for a few streetlights. Not knowing if we were alone, I was tempted to have Amanda turn the car around and face the street but figured it would freak her out even more. So, I tweaked the rearview mirror in my direction.
So far, so good. “Where is Elizabeth now?”
“I wish I knew. She keeps moving around and calls me when she feels safe.”
I nodded. “You should stay away from your house for a while. Until this Terry business is finished. It’s not safe for you either, Amanda. You married?”
The Edge of Murder (A Hank Reed Mystery, Book 3) Page 6