by Mary Stone
Jillian swept the lid off like a magician revealing her final illusion. Glancing into the box, her brows furrowed and her red lips turned down in a frown. “There’s not much in here,” she said as she slid the box across the table for Ellie to see. “No wonder they didn’t solve it. A few pictures, a printout of text messages you sent your parents. That’s really it.”
Ellie peered into the box, shocked by the photos of her swollen and almost unrecognizable face. There was a toxicology report that wasn’t ordered until the day after she was admitted. Texts retrieved from her parents’ phones. One tennis shoe. “What the hell?”
“They botched this so bad, Ellie,” Jillian murmured. “Why wouldn’t the hospital assume you were running from something to run out in front of a car like that?”
“I don’t know. But between the paramedics and surgery, it’s no surprise the test results were inconclusive.”
“You lost a lot of blood too,” Jillian pointed out, tapping her finger on a line of the medical records. “This says you received a transfusion to save your life.”
Ellie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to tamp down the rage that was growing inside her. “All they had to do was take a blood sample,” she whispered angrily. “One sample that was untainted could’ve been enough.”
“Or it could’ve been a complete waste of precious moments.”
Ellie’s eyes were still closed when she took a deep breath and nodded. “I know you’re right, but there was that chance, and it’s gone. They disposed of everything and kept one shoe.”
“According to this, it’s the only one you had. And your cell phone was never recovered.” She handed the printout of the text messages to Ellie.
Ellie looked them over, then froze. “I didn’t write this one.”
“What?”
Ellie jabbed at the last message sent from her phone with her finger. “This one right here. I don’t talk like that. I mean, I would never, never ask if I could stay a second night and use the words ‘pretty please.’” She wrinkled her nose. “I was fifteen years old. I asked, and if they said no, I’d point out my good grades, or I found another way to bargain. What I didn’t do was beg. I didn’t write this.”
“Do you think the kidnapper did?”
“It had to be him.” She searched her memory, then blew out a frustrated breath. “Damn it. Every time I try to picture when and how it happened, I just come up blank. I know I went somewhere else because Nick saw me at the party when I’d told my parents I was staying at Amanda’s.”
“Did he see who you left with?” Jillian sat back down, alternating from looking at the photos of Ellie as a teen, and Ellie sitting across from her.
“No. He was about to graduate, and I was fifteen, so he kinda blew me off. When he came to check on me, I was already gone.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. He’s never forgiven himself for that.” Ellie wondered if that was the reason he was so patient with her. Was it because he felt guilty? She brushed it off, unable to think of that with her very own almost empty cold case box sitting in front of her.
“It’s not his fault, but I would feel the same.” Jillian stared at Ellie steadily, as if willing her not to feel bad for Nick feeling bad. “If he was your friend and you were young and vulnerable, he would want to protect you.”
“I was in way over my head, but it wasn’t at the party. I didn’t meet him there.” Ellie bit the inside of her cheek, wracking her brain.
“Then where?”
Ellie thought hard, then scowled and threw her hands in the air. “I’ve got nothing. This is the most frustrating thing ever. I remember a few things here and there, but everything else is so fuzzy.”
“So, talk me through it.” Jillian leaned forward, tapping the table to get Ellie’s attention. “Whatever you remember, just start talking. Don’t worry about it being out of order or not making sense.”
“Okay, yeah, let’s try that.” Ellie sat back in the chair, popping her neck. “So, I told my parents I was staying at Amanda’s, but I ended up at a party instead. And at some point Friday night, I left the party and ran into the kidnapper.”
“And your parents sent you a text Saturday afternoon.”
“Right. The kidnapper apparently responded, which bought him some time. In fact, my parents didn’t realize I was missing until Sunday evening when I didn’t answer my phone, and they called Amanda directly. By the time they got ahold of her, I was already in surgery.”
“So, a call to the police with your description would’ve been pieced together almost immediately.”
Ellie nodded. “It was. My mom said there were about two hours between when she realized I was missing and when they were notified.”
“Is that when your father had the stroke?”
Ellie pressed her lips together. “No. He had the stroke when he saw me.”
“I’m so sorry.” Jillian reached out and touched Ellie’s hand, then looked into her eyes. Ellie’s stomach clenched, and she looked away, but Jillian wasn’t done yet. “It wasn’t your fault, Ellie. You didn’t kidnap yourself, and any parent would be beside themselves to see their child like that.”
“I know. But knowing that it’s not my fault and shaking this horrible guilt is harder than you would think. There were so many chances for someone to notice that I was missing, but everything went exactly the way the kidnapper wanted it to go.”
“Except you escaped.”
“That’s the only thing that went my way.” She shivered and rubbed her arms, almost feeling the cold rain from that night on her skin. “What if I hadn’t gotten away? Would he have done something awful to me?”
“You can’t do that. You’ll drive yourself mad thinking about what if.”
“I can’t help it. Especially now that I know he was never caught. How many things can go wrong in one night? If I hadn’t lied, I wouldn’t have been at the party. And if Nick had told them I was at that party, they would’ve hunted me down and—” She sucked in a quick breath.
“Did you remember something?”
“No, but oh my gosh, why didn’t I think about this before?” She was on her feet, all but running to the section where the two Jane Doe cases sat waiting to be re-shelved on Friday if she was unsuccessful. “The kidnapper dressed them, but did you look at their nails?”
“What?” Jillian said, jogging to keep up with Ellie’s long stride. “What about their nails?”
“They both had fresh manicures and pedicures. Bright, festive colors, and no growth on the cuticle.” She held the pictures up and showed Jillian, waving Jane Doe Two’s photo of her lime green nails. “They were going somewhere.”
“Okay. I am really not following you here.”
“What if they’re not reported missing in Charleston because their family doesn’t realize they went missing in Charleston? If they were supposed to be somewhere else, they would report them missing there, right?”
“Maybe, but if they lived here, wouldn’t they still make a report here?” Jillian frowned down at the photos of the women’s hands.
“Not necessarily. A lot of coeds meet for summer and spring break activities, and they’ll ride a train or a bus to another college before they leave. If they went to college somewhere else and they were on some kind of trip, they would be reported missing from their college and maybe even the place they were headed.”
“Which means they could’ve been reported missing from anywhere.”
“We have to broaden our search and start completely from scratch.” Ellie tapped her foot on the floor, realizing how little time she had left on the cases, and how much work. “I’d be willing to bet my next paycheck their families reported them missing, but somehow we’ve overlooked it.”
“What about your case?”
She shook her head. “I’m alive, and if that monster knows what’s good for him, he’ll stay gone. I’ve managed to live for twelve years without an answer, but these women have families who still don’t know where t
hey are. I can wait for closure.”
In her pocket, Ellie’s cell phone buzzed. She checked the caller ID and sent it to voicemail. “It’s Nick. He probably wants to talk about the fundraiser he’s heading up this month. I might have told him I would go.”
“That doesn’t sound too horrible. In fact, a date out to a fancy place sounds lovely.” Her gaze took in the darkened corners of the evidence room.
Ellie’s face lit up. “Maybe you could go instead. I’ll even buy you a dress.”
“Hard pass. I have this horrible condition where people say arrogant things in front of me, and I make this face.” Jillian twisted her face into something between shock and horror. “It doesn’t go over well at stuffy shindigs.”
“I know the feeling.” Ellie groaned when her phone buzzed again. “Man, he must be really excited to talk about it.”
“The service sucks down here, though,” Jillian pointed out.
“You’re right.” When Nick called back a third time, she answered, but all she could hear was crackling on his end. “You’ll have to text me, I don’t have a good signal,” she said, then she hung up. “Hopefully, he’ll figure it out.”
“Maybe you should step outside, take a break and call him back.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” she lied.
“I can put your case back on the shelf.”
“I’ve got it.” Ellie grabbed the box, and her phone vibrated again, this time with a text. “Oh good, he got the message.” She balanced the box on her hip so she could read it.
“Does Nick have a friend? We could double date.”
Ellie stared at the phone for a beat before the words sunk all the way in. The thunk of the box tumbling to the floor sounded distant and detached. She could hear Jillian calling her name, but her friend sounded like she was underwater and in another room. Then suddenly, everything slipped back into focus. “I have to go.”
“Are you all right?” Jillian was already scooping up the pictures and evidence bags scattered on the floor. “Ellie, you’re as white as a ghost.”
“Can you let Fortis know I’ll call him later?”
“Sure, of course. Ellie, please, what’s going on?”
“My dad had another heart attack. They’re taking him to Medical University of South Carolina.” She swallowed hard. “Nick says it’s not good.”
Jillian set the box down on the table and grabbed Ellie’s arm, ushering her out of the cold case area. “I’ll drive you.” She scooped Ellie’s then her own purse off the desks on the way.
“What about the evidence boxes?” Ellie asked, glancing over her shoulder at the now closed and locked door.
“The people in those boxes are long dead. This is happening now, and I’m not going to let you drive yourself. They’ll be here when I get back, and I’ll take care of it then. If anyone loses their mind over it, I’ll set them straight.”
By the time they were in the hallway, the fog around Ellie had lifted. They bypassed the rickety old elevator for the back staircase, and when they burst through the side door into the bright autumn sunshine, it almost blinded Ellie. She jumped into Jillian’s car, and this time, when Nick called, she was able to answer.
“I’m on my way.” She was out of breath and struggling to get her seatbelt fastened as Jillian took the corner on squealing tires and flew down Lockwood Drive.
“I can come get you,” he said as calm as ever.
Just hearing his voice made her feel steadier. “Jillian is bringing me.”
“Good. Tell her to slow down. We don’t need two emergencies in this family. Not today.”
“I’ll be there as quick as I can.”
“I’ll let your mom know.” He hung up before she could thank him.
“We’ll be there in five minutes.” Jillian weaved between cars, going so fast it was like the other cars were standing still. “What did Nick say?”
“He said to slow down. We don’t need another tragedy today.”
Jillian eased off the accelerator but didn’t slow much.
Ellie stared ahead, waiting for the hospital to appear in the distance. It was the only hospital near Charleston that performed transplants, and the best place her father could be.
Hopefully, the ambulance got him there before it was too late.
19
Ellie sat in the hard, cold chair beside her father’s bed. She wrapped her hands around his hand, lying still on the white sheets, the monitor beeping a steady rhythm in the stark room. His hand was cool, his skin so pale that, when she’d first entered the room, she was sure he was already gone. But he was clinging to life and breathing on his own. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
Leaning forward, she laid her head on the mattress, closed her eyes, and counted along with the constant noise of the heart monitor. One…two…three… Every time she got to one hundred, she started again. Her father’s fingers twitched, but Ellie didn’t bother lifting her head. He’d been in and out of consciousness all day, and so far, the twitching hadn’t meant anything.
She heard Nick’s footsteps before he spoke from behind her, his voice quiet. “Your mother is asking if you plan on coming to the cafeteria and joining her and your brothers for dinner. Or I can bring you something if you want to stay here.”
“I’m not hungry.” Her voice was muffled as she stirred, the scent of disinfectant wafting up from the stiff mattress. “I could use some coffee, though.”
“Here.” She lifted her head, and he held out a plain white coffee cup with a brown cardboard sleeve. “One cream, one sugar, right?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
He crouched in front of her, his large hand cupping her cheek. “I’ll stay all night if you want me to.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.”
She bit her lip, fighting back tears. Looking away and out the window, she cursed the sun that shone as if her world wasn’t falling apart. “It should be raining,” she murmered.
Nick was still watching her when she looked his way again, his eyes searching hers. But when he reached for a tissue and tenderly dabbed at the tears that had trickled down her cheeks, it was her undoing.
She leaned against his chest, letting him take the coffee cup from her hand and set it aside before he gathered her into his arms and held her close. Kneeling on the floor next to her chair, he wrapped his strong arms tighter around her while she sobbed against his chest. He was silent, weathering the storm of rage and sadness that overtook her, with a calm like no other.
Swaying gently, he rubbed her back and tucked her head under his chin. Tears spilled down her cheeks, soaking his shirt as the pain ripped through her without mercy. “This is all my fault,” she said between choked sobs.
He shook his head, resting his cheek against her hair. “It’s not.”
“If I hadn’t lied to them, none of this would have happened. I never would’ve been kidnapped, and Daddy wouldn’t have had a stroke. He’s been struggling since that day, and it’s all because of me. I did this.”
“You didn’t do this,” he insisted. “You had no way of knowing what would happen. You were just a kid, Ellie. It was a fluke. No one blames you.”
She scoffed, then hiccupped on a fresh sob. “Mother blames me. I know she does. How could she not?”
“Come on, Ellie. You know that’s not true.”
“She was so angry when she found out that I lied to them.” She sniffled, wiping at her nose. “I heard her talking to Blake and Danny when I was in the hospital. She was mad at them for not telling her about the party, but they didn’t know about it either.”
“You didn’t know. You snuck off to go to the movies with a boy. You didn’t know he was going to take you to the party then ditch you when you wouldn’t put out. That’s not your fault.”
Her brain and heart insisted that he was wrong.
“Daddy wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for me. And now we’re sitting here, just waiting for hi
m to die, or for someone else to die so he can live. How horrible is that? We either lose him or someone else loses everything, and we get Daddy back. Hoping that he gets a transplant means hoping someone else dies. It’s not fair.”
“It’s not, you’re right. None of this is fair, starting with you blaming yourself for something that happened twelve years ago. You made a mistake when you were fifteen years old, Ellie. None of us knew his heart was weak. Even your father didn’t know. What if he hadn’t been in the hospital when he had that stroke? He would’ve been at home and then…” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “Then he probably would’ve died. But he was at the hospital and got help right away. Healthy people don’t just have a stroke, even when they’re stressed. It was going to happen sooner or later, and as far as medical emergencies go, your father was lucky.”
Air escaped Ellie’s lungs with a whoosh. She was trembling, her heart racing, her eyes still filling with tears. “It doesn’t matter how you explain it away, I still screwed up, and they’ve never let it go. They don’t trust me to make big decisions or to live my life without fearing that something awful is going to happen. If I let them, they would probably wrap me up in a bubble and keep me there just in case.”
“You can’t really blame them for that. What happened to you is every parent’s worst nightmare. You don’t get over someone taking your child. You just don’t. I know it drives you crazy, and you feel like they’re still treating you like a child, but you should give them a little grace. They’re trying to do better. They just love you so much.”
“I wish they could be proud of me. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
“It’s not. Give them time. They’ll see there’s nothing to worry about. I mean, you’re in cold cases. What could go wrong?” She stiffened before she could stop herself. Nick caught on immediately, pulling away from her so he could look her in the eye. When she tried to look away, his hand went to her cheek. “Ellie, what aren’t you telling me?”
“Do you know what happened to the person who kidnapped me? Do you remember?”
He tilted his head, his eyelids narrowed. “I don’t remember. I was only eighteen and graduating, so I guess I missed it while I was getting ready for college and stuff.”