Wilson said, “I doubt that they’ll be able to keep their original travel plans. They’re schedules are at the mercy of the kidnapers now.”
Dr. Menzies frowned then turned and walked toward the nurses’ station.
Wilson added, “They were kidnaped in the Carlsbad Caverns parking lot. The woman who saved Mary didn’t know why the girls were attacked. She just saw it happen.”
“I know they were kidnapped at Carlsbad. I saw it on the news. I want to know about this woman. What’s her name? I want to talk to her,” Ruth said.
Before Wilson could answer, he was distracted by two men in well-tailored dark grey suits walking down the hall. They walked up to the group. The taller of the two men nodded at Wilson, then turned to Mrs. Arbuthnot.
“Mrs. Arbuthnot, we meet again. We’ve been assigned to the kidnapping since we were already investigating the murder.” Lepley said politely.
Ruth glanced at Chief Wilson, who looked like he had been stuffed. His lips were pinched together, a sign that he was furious.
Way to go Inspector. Taking a case from him is like rubbing his face in dog poop. She thought, gratefully.
Inspector Lepley, this is Chief Wilson. He’s the head of the El Paso PD. He was just asking me questions about the case.” She said carefully, not telling Lepley how Wilson had been acting. She caught Martin’s eye. He nodded approvingly.
Chief,” Lepley said, stepping forward to shake his hand. “We’ll be taking over since the kidnapping happened of federal property and it crosses state lines.”
Wilson glared at Mrs. Arbuthnot. “Good luck,” he said dryly.
“You and Wilson don’t seem to get along,” Inspector Duncan said as he watched Wilson stomp down the hall.
“I campaigned for the man who ran against him. He’s never forgiven me so he blocks everything I try to do for the sheriff’s department.”
Dr. Menzies slipped between the curtains of Mary’s cubicle. “Mrs. Arbuthnot, Mary would like to talk to you. When you are finished, please press her call button and we’ll move her to a room.”
“I’d like to have her put in a private room,” Ruth requested.
Menzies shook his head. “We don’t have one available. I could put her in a semi-private room without a roommate.”
“That will work as long as everyone understands that she doesn’t have a roommate,” Ruth said.
Mary still lay with her eyes closed, but when Ruth walked around the bed and took the hand that didn’t have tubing and IV’s in it, she whimpered a little, then said softly, “Does my mother know what happened to me?”
Ruth had to swallow before she could say, “I haven’t had time to call her. I thought I should wait until I could talk to you about it.”
“Please don’t call her,” she said breathlessly, trying to sit up. “It will cause a relapse.”
Dr. Menzies said, “You must lie still. We don’t want you tearing out your stitches.”
Obediently, Mary stopped struggling. She looked up at Ruth, “Promise that you won’t call her.”
“Honey, it’s all over the television. I think calling her might keep her from fretting.”
Mary shook her head. “Please call her doctor at the sanitarium. Maybe he can keep it from her. Please do it now. I’ll just die if anything happens to her. She’s all I have left.”
Ruth pulled out her cell. “Can you give me the number?”
Mary quickly recited the number as Ruth pressed the screen. While they waited for the call to go through, Mary said, “Her doctor’s name is Hart—Henry Hart.”
When the call was connected, Mrs. Arbuthnot said, “I need to speak to Dr. Henry Hart. This is Ruth Arbuthnot calling from the United States.”
“Can I tell Dr. Hart what this is about?” The woman’s voice was smoothly professional with a definite British accent.
“It’s about Virginia Clark. I’m calling for her daughter, Mary.”
“You can tell me. I’ll pass it along to Dr. Hart.”
“No, I prefer to talk to Dr. Hart since he is her primary care physician.” Mrs. Arbuthnot said patiently.
“I’ll have to call him to the phone. Can you hold?”
“Yes. I’ll hold.”
While they were waiting, Inspector Lepley looked at Dr. Menzies. “Doctor. I need to talk to Miss Clark. I don’t have a lot of time.”
“Inspector. I realize that you are a very busy man and I know all about the forty-eight-hour rule, but Mary just came out of a three hour surgery. Her health is my primary concern. Once she knows about her mother, then, and only then, will I allow you to talk to her.”
Inspector Lepley opened his mouth to protest, but Inspector Duncan took his arm. “It won’t do any good to push him into letting us talk to her. He could say we can’t talk to her at all today and that wouldn’t be good.”
Lepley looked at Mrs. Arbuthnot when she said, “Dr. Hart. I’m sorry to call you away from your patients, however, we have a problem here. We’re afraid that it might impact Virginia Clark negatively.”
“What problem is that?” He paused, adding, “I hope you know that I can’t discuss the patient’s condition with you.”
“I know that. I’m not asking you to. I’m calling at the request of Mary, her daughter. There was a kidnapping today. Mary escaped the kidnappers but she was shot in the shoulder and the thigh. The big problem is that the kidnapping and shooting are all over the news here. Mary is out of surgery and doing well, but we’re afraid that Mrs. Clark will see the video or someone will tell her about Mary and that information could cause problems with her health. Mary will heal faster, if she knows that this information is being kept from her.”
Dr. Hart said, “That’s not good, not good at all. News like that could kill Mrs. Clark.”
“We are going to try to keep Mary’s name off the news. The video doesn’t show her face, just that the man was shooting at her.” Mrs. A paused for a moment, then continued. “Mary had both bullets removed in surgery which took three hours. She had forty-five stitches in her thigh, but she is out of surgery now. Her doctor here thinks that she will heal faster if her mother is taken care of.”
“I’m not sure how best to handle things at this point. Let me think about what to do. Can I call you if I need to?”
“Of course,” Ruth said and gave him her number. “Thank you for your help.”
Mary took a deep breath, groaned a little, then smiled slightly. “Thank you. After my dad was killed in that terrorist attack, she has been totally paranoid about me. If I blow my nose or sniffle she calls the doctor.”
Lepley stepped up to the bed. “Miss Clark, I’m Paul Lepley from the FBI. I need to talk to you about what happened today.”
Mary closed her eyes as the tears started to run down her cheeks.”
Dr. Menzies held up his hand. “Gentlemen, I’m afraid I can’t let you disturb my patient. Besides, the orderlies are ready to move her to her room. She will be more comfortable there.”
Lepley motioned the doctor outside. “What is her room number?”
“402"
Lepley opened his cell and touched the screen. “Rad, Mary Clark’s room will be 402. Check it out and let me know when it’s clean. Sam and I will walk down with her.”
Ruth looked at Martin who shrugged. “I guess they need to take precautions, ma’am.”
They all stepped out in the hall so the orderlies could get Mary ready to be moved. Once all the monitors were unhooked, Duncan walked at the head of the bed next to the lead orderly, his hand under his jacket, his fingers on his gun. Lepley motioned for Martin to walk by the foot of the bed. He followed with Mrs. Arbuthnot, but she noticed that he kept his hand on the gun in his shoulder holster.
The elevator was a tight fit, but all of them crowded in. When they reached the fourth floor, the orderly pushed the door open button, but before he was allowed to step out into the hall, Duncan pulled his gun and peered around the elevator doors. “All clear,” he said as he helped t
he orderly pull the bed out of the elevator.
When they got to the room, a short black man in a black uniform opened the door. “It’s clear, sir, but I don’t like this room. There’s a clear line of sight.” He said cryptically.
Lepley looked at Dr. Menzies. “Doctor, do you have another room, one without a view?”
Menzies looked from Lepley to Mrs. Arbuthnot who nodded. “Do whatever he says.”
Menzies stepped across the hall into a double room with a single patient, an older man was reading in bed. When he came out, he spoked to one to the nurses and an orderly, who walked into the man’s room. Then he motioned for the orderly to move Mary’s bed back.
The nurse propped the door open and the orderly pushed the man’s bed out of his room and across the hall.
When the orderly pushed the bed into the room, Lepley said, “Put the bed here,” then he pulled the divider curtains so they covered half the room.
“What’s going on?” Mary asked weakly. “This is the kind of treatment my Mom got when my Dad was killed.
Lepley said, “We are probably taking too many precautions, but we want to keep you safe until you are better.”
“Oh,” Mary said softly, adding, “I saw the man who shot me. You’re afraid that he’ll try to kill me again.”
Lepley nodded.
“Well, they all wore ski masks, but,” she paused to swallow. Doctor Menzies handed her a glass of water with a straw that was sitting on a bedside table. She took a drink then said, “The man who grabbed me, had different colored eyes and a funny scar on his thumb. I saw it when he tried to cover my mouth.”
Duncan looked at Lepley, “Different colored eyes. That should narrow down the number of contestants.” Looking back at Mary, he asked, “What color were his eyes?
“One was blue and one was brown.” She closed her eyes for a minute, picturing the eves under the mask. “Facing him, his left eye was brown and his right eye was a really pale blue.”
Duncan pulled out his cell and touched the screen. He stepped out of the room.
Inspector Lepley looked down at Mary. “You look like you are feeling a little better.”
“I am, a little. I’m just afraid that it is going to hurt and I don’t deal well with pain.”
Ruth stepped forward, “If you start to hurt, just press this button. That will bring the nurse and they give you something for the pain.”
Mary grimaced. “Yeah, I tried that before they took me into surgery. The nurse was kind of rude. She said that the Ana–something or other would be in to give me something to make me sleep for the surgery, but it seemed like it was hours before he came.”
“Well, that won’t happen again. The hospital staff knows that I’m responsible for your bills. I’m sure that they will take good care of you since I’m on the hospital board.”
Martin, who had disappeared during the room change, pushed open the door. He was carrying a huge vase of flowers, a big box of chocolates and two paperback books. “You’ll have to wait until the doctor says you can have the chocolates, but I think these are the two books you said you wanted to read but hadn’t had a chance.” He handed her the books.
“I can’t believe you remembered that I wanted to read these,” She said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him down to so that she could give him a kiss on the cheek. “Antonia said that you were the greatest and you really are!”
Suddenly, her blood pressure spiked and one of the monitor’s beeped.
“Out,” Dr. Menzies said with a wave of his hand. “She will be able to answer questions tomorrow. Right now, she needs to sleep.”
As he pushed open the door, Lepley said, “There will be a policeman on duty outside her room twenty-four hours a day. I won’t put a man inside unless there are any attempts made on her.” He looked at Menzies, “Make sure that all the nurses know that no one is to be admitted, not even orderlies unless you clear them. We’ve had the bad guys impersonate nurses and orderlies before so we need to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. If you are moving her for tests, make sure that we know ahead of time so we can get someone extra in to go with her.
Menzies frowned, “Is all this really necessary, Inspector?”
Lepley shrugged, “She was nearly killed because she saw the kidnapers. If they were willing to kill because she might recognize them, don’t you think they would try again?”
Menzies looked thoughtful. “I see your point. I’ll make sure that everyone is aware of what could happen.
“Thank you, doctor,” Mrs. Arbuthnot said gratefully. “I’d hate to have something happen to her.”
Inspector Lepley looked at his watch and then turned to Duncan. “I think we have everything we can get here until tomorrow. Call the airport and tell them to get the chopper ready to go. I’d like to see the scene of both crimes.”
Mrs. Arbuthnot looked at him. “I want to come.”
“Mrs. Arbuthnot, I’m sorry but that’s not possible. It would be better if you stayed with Mary.”
Mrs. Arbuthnot looked him over, much as she would have looked at a cockroach. “All right. But you should know that I’m calling my security people. If Bryan can’t help me, I’ll call Max DeWitt. I was involved in one of his cases last time I stayed in Hawaii. His team of mercenaries is for hire and I know he will help me. I’m sure that Bryan can get me a helicopter so I can interview the people at Carlsbad.” She looked thoughtful. “I think I helped with a benefit for their bats. I’m sure someone would remember that.”
Lepley looked at Duncan who smiled. “I told you she was a force that would be difficult to deal with.”
Lepley closed his eyes in frustration and tried again. “Mrs. Arbuthnot, you can’t go in those clothes. You couldn’t keep up and it would look bad.”
“I can get different clothes. There is a department store across the street. I have an account there.” She looked up at Lepley, then laid her hand on his arm, “Inspector, you don’t know it yet, but you need me. I have a gift about understanding people and their motivations. This case isn’t gangster case. This is something different. I can feel it and I suspect that you can too. It could be the result of a surprise audit that I called yesterday.” She took a deep breath. “I,” She paused again, closed her eyes, then blurted, “What if I’m the reason for the girls being kidnapped?”
“My superiors will have my head on a platter for this.” He shook his head. “All right, Mrs. Arbuthnot, you can go, but only if you are back here in fifteen minutes.”
With a nod, she turned and began jogging down the hall with Martin running along behind.
“Hold that door,” he shouted as they got close to the elevator.
A nurse and a technician pushed on the doors, as they started to close. Mrs. Arbuthnot and Martin slipped inside.
Duncan gripped Lepley’s arm, then motioned for them to go ahead. “We need to check on something,” he said.
When the elevator door closed, Duncan looked at Lepley. “Are you sure that this is a good idea?”
Lepley shrugged. “No, but do you have a better idea or do you want Mrs. Arbuthnot, her butler, her security chief and Max DeWitt, whoever he is, poking around in our case?”
“I see your point,” Duncan responded. “I just hope the chief sees your point.”
Lepley nodded, “Besides, if she is with us, we know what she is doing. I don’t think she is behind the kidnapping. She is smart enough to know that there are easier ways to get rid of an unwanted individual and in this case, she could just send her granddaughter and friends back to England. The kidnapping is useless to her.”
“She could be right about the kidnapping happening because of her money or her power. I’m sure she has a lot of enemies or,” he shrugged, “She could have lost her marbles,”
“Well, I haven’t seen any signs of that since we’ve been around her. Besides, with her money, she could have our superiors breathing down our necks and I want that as little as I want her security interfering.” He smiled. �
��This case is going to be a stinker. I can feel it.”
Chapter 10
Downtown El Paso
Mrs. Arbuthnot ran across the street barely waiting for the traffic to stop at the crosswalk. She pushed through the glass doors of Parson’s Department Store. Turning left she headed for the misses’ department. She grabbed the first sales clerk that she saw. “I need a plaid shirt, jeans and a lined denim jacket in a size 8.”
When the girl didn’t move she shook her arm. “Hurry girl, I don’t have all day.”
When she still didn’t move, Mrs. Arbuthnot said, “Where’s the manager. I don’t have time for this.”
Suddenly the girl hurried away toward a rack of jeans.
Mrs. Arbuthnot ran into the shoe department, grabbed a pair of black knee-hi socks and demanded, I need some good jogging shoes in a size 6. When he stood stunned, she said, “What is it with the staff here. I own stock in this chain, but if every clerk is like these two, I’m selling as soon as I get back.”
The teenage sales clerk hurried up to Mrs. Arbuthnot. “I didn’t know what colors, so I grabbed one of each.”
“Wonderful. I’ll take the green and black plaid shirt and the black jacket and jeans. I’ll change in the dressing room. Please see if you can find me a pair of black cross trainers, size 6.”
She hurried as fast as her three-inch heels would let her. Finally, she kicked them off and left them in the aisle. A couple of minutes later, she came running out in her bare feet, a pair of stockings in her hand. “Where are my shoes?” She demanded.
The girl held out two pair. Mrs. Arbuthnot grabbed the black ones and headed out the door.
“But you didn’t pay for them,” the girl exclaimed.
Martin smiled at the pretty young sales clerk and bent to pick up Mrs. A’s shoes. “Don’t worry. I’ll pay for them. I would appreciate it if you’d get her clothes out of the dressing room.”
Mrs. Arbuthnot hurried across the crowded sidewalk and practically jumped into the unmarked car that was waiting at the curb, its lights flashing.
A Christmas to Die For_Mrs. A 1 Page 6