“They seem to be doing a damn good job of it too,” Randy said, “So, what’s next?”
“I don’t think it will do any good to go to the hospital for a while. He’s going to need some serious time to recover from whatever did him in,” Logan said.
“Doesn’t he have a house sitter and a daughter?” Randy asked.
“Yeah. Sarah, I think. She isn’t here. So what happened to her? Let’s check the phone messages,” Logan said.
They located the answering machine. The light was blinking rapidly. The first one was from the car rental in Phoenix, confirming his change of automobile selection. The next three were from the law firm of Markham, Blazer, Baldwin and Phillips. Randy recognized the voice of the secretary immediately.
The next one was from someone named Robin reporting that they were back from the waterslide and that she would have Sarah home in plenty of time for their departure time tomorrow. That explained where Sarah was but didn’t give them the location. They would have to get that information from the phone company.
Logan called the station and put Jonas to work on tracking down the number. They carefully went through the house and then turned it over to the crime scene lab. By the time they were ready to leave, Jonas called back with the name and address where Sarah was staying. They drove over to the house.
***
“Yes, can I help you?”
“I hope so. You’re Robin Jackson aren’t you?” Logan asked.
“Yes. And you are?”
“I’m detective Logan and this is my partner, Detective Nelson.”
“Oh, dear. Is something wrong?”
“Is Sarah here?”
“Why yes she is. She is playing with Casey in her room. Is something wrong?”
“I’m sorry to say, yes. There has been a problem. Her father, Terry Ryan, is in the hospital and I think she should know,” he said.
Her hand went up to her mouth, “No. That can’t be. We just left their house a couple of hours ago. He was fine. Getting ready for a trip.”
“I understand. We just left the house. He is being taken to Methodist Hospital. He is weak but alive,” Logan informed her.
“My God. This is terrible. I don’t know what to tell Sarah,” she said.
It was obvious that she was confused about the whole situation. She pulled absently at her right ear.
“We will tell her for you. We can take her to see her dad or you can if you want,” Randy said.
“Oh yes. I want to take her. Casey will be a big help to Sarah I’m sure,” she said, like she was in a fog.
“Do you want to call them now?” Logan finally ask as she just stood there, not moving, just tugging on her ear which was now starting to turn red.
“Yes. I’ll go get them. Please, come on in,” she said, stepping back.
“A hit at last,” Randy whispered.
“Sorry. What?” Robin said.
“Nothing. Please, get Sarah,” Logan said.
A few minutes Sarah came back with Robin holding her arm around Sarah.
“Sarah. I’m Detective Logan. I have some kind of bad news. Your father is in the hospital. He was hurt but they are going to give him the best medical treatment they can,” he said.
“Hurt? Hurt how?”
“We don’t know. It seems to be his heart but we aren’t sure. He was breathing normally when they left to take him to the hospital.”
“Can I see him?” she said, tears starting to well up in her eyes.
“You bet. Robin and Casey are going to take you to Methodist to see him. They are working on him right now so it may be a little while before you can see him,” Logan told her.
“But he is going to be all right isn’t he?” she said, tears were starting to run down her cheeks.
“We sure hope so Sarah. I know he is getting the best treatment available. Methodist has one of the best facilities in Indianapolis. I’m sure they are putting their very best people on it,” he tried to assure her.
“I guess this means no trip,” she said, looking up at Robin.
“I think it may get postponed awhile sweetie. You and Casey can have a stay over here until your dad feels better,” she said, hugging Sarah tightly.
“Good luck to you. We will undoubtedly see you at the hospital,” Logan said.
“Thank you for letting us know. How did you know where Sarah was?”
“We traced a phone message you left.”
“Thank God. I almost didn’t call. I didn’t want to seem overprotective,” Robin said.
“We’re just thankful you did,” Randy said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
“How is he doc?” Logan asked.
The smell of the sick, mixed with medicine, whiffed through the waiting room. The lights were almost painfully bright. The doctor looked tired as he took off his mask and wiped his forehead.
“Not good, I’m afraid.”
“How bad is it?”
“We will know in a few hours. His heart is damaged extensively. It simply will not keep a steady rhythm. There is a great deal of damage to the entire area,” he said.
“A heart attack?” Randy asked.
“An induced heart attack,” he said.
Randy and Logan looked at each other for a second before looking at the doctor.
“Induced?”
“Yes. A strong electrical device was pressed against his chest. It had to be very strong to have done that kind of damage.”
“Electrical device? Stun gun?”
“I suppose that would work. But it had to have been held there for quite some time to have done that kind of massive damage.”
“So someone tried to kill him,” Logan said.
“I would certainly think so. It sure couldn’t have been done by accident,” the doctor said, wiping his brow again.
“Is he in any condition to talk?”
“Good heavens no. He is hardly in any condition at all. honestly don’t know if he can recover. Even a heart transplant may not save him, if we even had a heart available. If he can hang in there for the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours, he has a fighting chance of surviving. The only thing that did save him was the fact that he was in excellent shape. If he had been overweight we wouldn’t be talking right now,” the doctor informed them.
“Thanks doc. Listen, his little girl is coming. Can you break the news to her gently?”
“Of course. I understand the fears children have. I’ll present it in the most positive light I can but I won’t lie to her. I will try to explain how serious it is without frightening her any further,” he assured them.
“That’s all we could ask for. Thanks,” Logan said. As they were walking towards the elevator they saw Robin and the two girls coming down the hall.
“Hi girls. Ms. Jackson,” Logan said as they approached.
“Detectives. How is he?”
“We just talked to the doctor. He seems hopeful. I’m sure he will want to talk to you and explain exactly what is going on,” Logan said.
“But he is going to be okay, right?” Sarah asked.
“He has a very good doctor. If anyone can help your dad, he can. You will have to be brave and listen carefully to what he tells you. Can you do that?”
“I think so,” she said in a tiny little voice.
“Ms. Jackson, if there is anything we can do, please call,” Logan said, handing her one of his cards.
“Thank you Detectives. We will go see the doctor now. Thanks for hunting Sarah down,” She said, patting Logan on the arm.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
A large chart was spread out on the table in the middle of the room. The chairs were arranged in a semi-circle. Logan stood in front of his team with his head down for a few seconds before starting.
“Guys, a case starting as a missing person case that becomes a homicide is not all that usual. Now add in a faked suicide, the death of a lesbian professor who has possession of the knife used during the first murder and now an attempt on the life
of Dr. Ryan, the original victim's professor and we have one heck of a case” he said.
He pointed to a timeline on the chart with each of the people and the particulars they knew about each case. “We need the connection between all of these people. Obviously we still have a very clever murderer at large. Now I want each of you to share your thoughts,” Logan said.
“The women were all lesbians,” Bull spoke up.
“Okay. What else?”
“They were connected to Pratt. Both Sharon and Adriane Thompson had been to her house, the DNA samples proved that,” Jonas said.
“Maybe Ryan is gay,” Bull added.
“What makes you think that?” Logan asked.
“I don’t know. It just seems this is all about gays and such. Maybe he is gay and no one knows it,” he said.
“He has a daughter,” Randy replied.
“Wouldn’t be the first married man to become gay,” Bull insisted.
“Well for now, let’s assume he isn’t. We do know he somehow triggered this whole thing when he decided not go along with the blackmail by Sharon Lewis,” Logan said.
“Also Bull, none of the other professors we are looking at are gay. I certainly don’t get the feeling Richards, Keller or Sorenson are gay at all,” Logan replied.
“You never know, but I can see your point,” Bull conceded.
“So that means someone else is killing these people off. Who has the motive to do such a thing?” Logan asked.
“What have they got to lose if everything came out?” Randy asked.
“That’s the real question, isn’t it? Who stands to lose the most if Dr. Ryan threw a wrench into the works by not giving in to her blackmail demands?” Jonas asked.
“Guys, we are on the right track. It is someone inside the University. If it is not one of the three remaining professors, someone else has a lot to lose. We need to dig further into their pasts and anyone that has had any dealings with Sharon Lewis,” Logan said
“We have a small issue with the University attorneys to consider,” Randy reminded them.
“We’ll find a way around that. I’ll talk to the Captain and even the Commissioner if necessary,” Logan said.
“So what do you want us to do next?”
“Bull and Jonas, I want you to start on the High School teachers, the ones you can find that are still around. If they are out of state, don’t worry about it. The rest need to make statements.”
“We are back in High School,” Bull said to Jonas.
“Good, maybe this time you can graduate,” Jonas shot back.
“You are just toooo funny.”
“Randy, you start in on all the other instructors except our prime suspects. I’ll take care of them, that way if any fallout comes, it will come down on me,” Logan said.
“I can handle a little fallout,” Randy said.
“I’m sure you can but this is the way I want it done. Okay, everyone knows what needs to be done. I’m off to talk to the Captain and whomever will help me get a warrant. We will meet here tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. for a debriefing.”
Logan immediately headed for the Captain’s office. He knew he had hurt Randy’s feelings a little but he couldn’t put him harm’s way at this point if they wanted him on the team for good. It wouldn’t be fair. He could handle any repercussions and survive a lot easier than Randy.
“Cap, got a second?”
“Why do I feel like I am about to get hosed?”
“Uh…because you are?”
“Right. What do you want from me?”
“I need better access to the three primary suspects. If we can’t get to them, we will never get to the end of this. Our only hope is currently lying in a hospital with a poor prognosis at best. He may never recover,” Logan said.
“Ryan’s still that bad off?”
“Not doing well at all. He has about a 50 – 50 chance of making it.”
“What do you want? Specifically,” the Captain asked.
“I want to be able to talk to each of the three without lawyers interfering. I don’t want any posturing or any of that crap.”
“Logan. I love ya but you know that will never happen. The University is a political hot potato and the Commissioner will never allow you to strong arm these guys. You have to go about this a different way.”
“A different way? Sorry Captain, but I don’t know a different way,” Logan said.
“You’re going to have to find one this time. Sorry, I can’t do much more than ask for their cooperation. If they refuse, you’ll have to make the case on hard evidence.”
Logan scratched the back of his neck for a second and said, “I thought you would say that. I know you have to do what you think is politically correct. I don’t have such restrictions because I have no aspirations of going any higher in the department. I’ll get the evidence, you just give me some leeway,” Logan replied.
“Logan, we never had this conversation. You were never here and I have been gone for the last hour. Get your butt out of here and do what you have to do but don’t you dare drag me into this,” the Captain said.
“I understand. That is, I would understand if I was here and if we had this conversation and if you weren’t already gone for the day,” Logan said as he went out the door.
* * *
Logan was sitting at a stop light when a car came around the corner, sideswiping another vehicle and almost hitting a man crossing the road. He could hear sirens screaming and a second later a police car came sliding around the same corner. Two others followed in close pursuit. What the hell? He turned on his radio and caught a constant stream of chatter.
The car’s occupants were shooting at the pursuing police and had hit one of the officers. Others were joining in the chase. The suspects had robbed a bank and shot three customers inside the building and two others in the parking lot. Now they had added a cop to the list.
He could hear one of the officers yelling “Oh man. He’s dead. They killed him. Get someone here now.”
Logan listened as the pursuit continued and more shots were reported being fired.
One of the pursuit cars hit another civilian vehicle and both officers were badly injured. Logan thought for a minute. He had pulled over and been listening to the chase. They were headed for I – 69 from what he could piece together. Logan gunned the engine and took a short cut to the on ramp of I – 69 North.
He slowed and listened as the car started on to the interstate. Logan took his police light off of the dash and slowed to the speed of the surrounding traffic. He knew they were less than a mile behind him and closing fast. The car was a white Chevy Impala SS and must have been beefed up because it was outrunning the Crown Vics the pursuit officers were driving.
They were working to set up a spike strip about a mile up ahead but there were two turnoffs before then. Logan looked in the mirror and saw the white car closing at a staggering rate. It had to be doing well over 120 MPH. Logan waited, watching as the car came closer and closer. Just at the last second, he pulled his wheel over and rammed into the side of the car, just at the front fender. The driver was totally unprepared for the impact and the heavy car’s tail came around as the front slammed into the steel divider wall. It bounced off the railing and slammed back into Logan’s car. Logan kept the wheel turned into the Chevy forcing it against the guard rail again. It hit hard on the front fender causing it to spin totally around and then hit the rail again, flipping over on its top before bouncing off the pavement and flipping three more times.
Parts and glass covered the highway as it slid along on its top. The battery went tumbling down the highway, spewing battery acid. Logan’s car slid back across the lanes and sideswiped the guardrail on the other side before heading down into the ravine. As the smoldering Impala set upside down in the left lane, another car slid into it and spun it around like a top.
Logan tried to get out of his car but the door wouldn’t open so he climbed over to the passenger side. His head hurt and his l
eft knee was obviously not working right. He limped up the embankment, falling twice. Blood trickled down into his right eye. He had evidently hit his left knee even harder than he thought when he swerved into the Chevy.
The other police pursuit cars were arriving and starting to close off the traffic. Logan limped to the car and carefully looked in the smashed windows. Neither person moved. It didn’t look good as they hung upside down.
A police officer came running up and yelled, “Hey you, get away from that car.”
He had his gun drawn but not pointing at Logan.
“It’s okay. I’m a detective. I rammed into this car to stop them,” he said.
Suddenly he was too weak to stand and he sat down on the pavement.
“You did this? On purpose? Are you okay?” the officer asked.
“Light headed. I hurt my knee. Must have hit my head too.”
“Damn. Nice job. Who are you?”
“Detective Logan,” he said, taking out his shield.
“Hell of a job. That was one fast car. We were trying to get a set of spikes set up but I doubt if we could have got it done in time. You just drove into the side of him?”
“Pretty much. I didn’t have any big plans. I figured he would be concentrating on you guys and anyone up ahead but not someone coming from the side. I got lucky,” Logan said.
“I don’t know about lucky, but that was a hell of a brave thing to do. You could have ended up like them,” he said, shaking his head.
“Speaking of which, I think I will need someone to get my car out of the ditch on the other side.”
“We damn sure can do that for you. I’m getting a med tech to come and look at you.”
This was one time Logan didn’t argue. He wiped the blood from his eye and just lay back on the pavement. He was getting too old for this kind of heroics. He looked over at the two men, upside down in the destroyed car and thought, ‘the officer is right, it could have been me’.
A few minutes later a young tech came and started looking Logan over. John was still light headed and felt strange all over.
“You have a slight concussion. You must have hit your head on something,” he heard the guy say but it didn’t register.
BLONDE DECEPTION - The Logan Files Page 15