“If you can you feel this, blink your eyes.”
Amy felt a slight tweak on her upper arm. She blinked.
“Good. Now tell me, when did you start menstruating? Friday? ... Saturday?”
Amy responded with a blink at Saturday, aware that she had squeezed the woman’s fingers at the same time.
“Wire her up and then put a gown on her,” the woman said, and stepped back.
Powerless to respond, she watched as one of the medics connected probes to her chest, while the other attached an intravenous drip to her arm. Questions rolled around in her mind. Amy inspected what she could see of her body, down to her toes, but there wasn’t any sign of injuries. Her head turned to look at a monitor, now beeping steadily as evenly as a metronome. One of them draped a gown over her, cloaking her vulnerable embarrassment. The medics handled her, tying the fasteners at her back, and then set her to rest. When she looked ahead, one of the medics wheeled a cart, with leg stirrups either side that fit snugly to the gurney.
She heard whispered tones.
“We’ll need blood samples, and to catheterize her for a urine sample.”
A medic lifted one of Amy’s legs onto a stirrup. Her eyes rolled to the instruments and the catheter tube set out on the stirrup cart. A surge of energy rushed through her body. She writhed, but her arms wouldn’t move to support her. The woman and the other medic rushed over, pinning her to the gurney, while the other strapped her body and then her legs to the stirrups.
“W… Why am I here?” She sucked in a faltering breath. “W…Where am I?”
The woman didn’t answer. Instead she sat on a stool at the bottom of the gurney. She reached out and pulled the large circular lamp toward her. Amy felt the tug of her tampon, and then cold steel enter and stretch her vagina. Amy thrashed at the unannounced intrusion.
“Stop… What are you doing?”
“Hold her still,” said the woman.
“She’s too lively,” said a medic, with the voice of a younger woman. “It’s wearing off.”
The woman stood, and picked up a syringe from the cart.
“Hold her arm still.”
She held the syringe aloft, then pressed the plunger to remove an air bubble. Amy’s eyes widened, when her memory of the abduction came flooding back. The woman’s dark eyes fixed on Amy and narrowed.
The shuffling of feet behind her, from a fourth person in the room, stepped to the side of Amy. She turned her head, saw his profile and her jaw dropped.
“Do you think she knows? Do you think she’s the one?” he said.
He turned to look directly at Amy. A piercing scream escaped her lips, filling the room.
Chapter 35
JIM escorted their prisoner toward Shaw’s desk. Shaw had seen that look and demeanor before. All his homicide prisoners had displayed that same dejected look after he’d charged them. It wasn’t all about remorse, relief, or otherwise at being caught. It was fear of what the future held. In his case, he was looking at the FBI locking him up and throwing away the key for hacking the NSA server. A life lost.
“Sit,” Shaw said, and then glanced at Frank. “Lock the outer office door, and then take off his cuffs.”
“What’s happening?” their prisoner asked, his eyes darting around the room.
Frank ambled to the office door and turned the key. Shaw pushed his back into the chair rest and folded his arms.
“I’m thinking of letting you go without informing the FBI,” Shaw said. “So, with that in mind, you’ll still be Ted Carter, with no one on your back except me. Here’s where I’m at with my conditions.”
Ted sat and scratched at the cuff marks on his wrists. He raised a half-smile and then lost his composure.
“What do you mean by conditions?”
“One step at a time. First thing, I want you to download all the data from your iPhone so I can see your movements.” He pushed the phone across the table.
Ted’s eyes flashed to each of his deputies, and then back to Shaw. “You can’t seriously think I have anything to do with Amy going missing?”
Shaw shrugged, but otherwise ignored the question and stayed silent.
“Look, I’ve never done that before. What if I can’t? I don’t have a GPS tracker app installed.”
“If you can hack the NSA server, then extracting the info I need should be small change,” Shaw said, and wondered if it was a case of Ted worrying he may not be able to, or that he had something to hide.
“I only tried to hack their system, but I didn’t succeed.”
Shaw shook his head. “Then how did you get the dog’s file?”
“I got that from putting a Trojan in an e-mail to Summers. Like I said, he works for the NSA. His e-mail address was on the card he gave me.”
Shaw looked at his wristwatch. He was done fencing with him. They were going in circles and it wasn’t getting him anywhere.
“Whatever. You’ve got around an hour before the FBI arrives to discuss Amy going missing. If you haven’t worked it out by then, I can’t risk letting you go, and I’ll have to hand you over. I’ll let their forensics get the details off of the phone for me. I know the information is in there somewhere and that it can be extracted from your particular model of cell phone.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll try, but I don’t have a lead to connect it to a computer.”
Shaw kept his eyes locked on Ted, opened his drawer, took his own iPhone lead and dropped it on the table “You do now.” Shaw turned his computer screen toward Ted and offered the keyboard. “One hour.”
Shaw hauled his backside out of his seat, and then signaled for his deputies to follow him. They huddled together just inside the corridor to the cells, leaving the door slightly ajar. He leaned over to them, cupped his hand to his mouth, nudged Frank and whispered.
“Contact your buddies and have them on standby to arrange the surveillance at his cabin if he passes his test. Use my phone in the apartment.” He produced his door key. “In the laundry basket next to the washing machine, you’ll find the shirt I wore when we went to the silver mine. It’s covered in dust. Don’t shake it. Grab the plastic bag from the interview room and put it in there, and then leave it on my desk.” Shaw glanced through the gap between the door and frame. Ted was busy typing on the keyboard. He pulled the door to.
“What about Ted’s vehicle?” Jim said.
Frank cleared his throat. “Let him have it after I’ve taken him to his cabin. I’ll contact Mike and ask him to install a tracking device and we’ll deliver it later. Same with his phone if you don’t give it back right away. Mike could install that GPS app that Ted mentioned.”
Shaw stood back. His eyes popped. “Mike from the hardware store? He’s one of you! How much will that cost?”
“Shush, he’ll hear us, but yeah, he’s our electronics wizard, and no, it won’t cost anything. Well, maybe a few dollars for the phone app.”
“What do you want me to do?” Jim asked.
Shaw leaned forward. “I want you to hold the fort. As soon as I’ve finished with Ted, I need to go out. I want you to send my shirt to the crime lab. If the FBI agents arrive before I return, let me know. I’ll leave my key so they can use my apartment. Just be careful what you say on the phone after they arrive, ’cause they’ll be tapping the line. Same goes for my cell phone.” He turned to Frank. “Listen, tell them to use Fox for Ted’s call sign.”
“Will do.”
They all touched fists. Frank disappeared into the interview room, and returned with the plastic bag.
“Where are you at with the phone?” Shaw asked, as he walked back into the office
“Easier than I thought. See for yourself.”
Shaw looked over Ted’s shoulder at the screen. He was expecting just a numerical list. Instead, Ted had transposed the data in pictorial form on a map of California. The screen was split, with a separate list of times and dates. Ted pressed the zoom to hone in on LA.
“The different colors are for Wi-Fi
connections and cell towers,” Ted said.
The map and the movements were self-explanatory. Shaw studied the day’s route. The data all coincided with his statement.
“I thought you said your battery died after you spoke to Amy?” Shaw pointed to the screen. “I can see a tower has picked you up there, and a Wi-Fi connection there.”
“Yeah, I tried to phone her back a couple of times but it didn’t connect. The charge was faint and it kept dying. Anyway, you’ve obviously been looking at my phone when I was locked up in the cells.”
Ted scrolled the map and pointed to a tower connection in Breakers Pass, timed after his arrest. Shaw paid him no attention, working out that he had headed away from the likely route Amy’s bus would have taken.
“So is that it? I can go now, right? And you can tell me what’s happened to Amy, right?”
Frank walked through the door and gave a thumps-up sign. He walked over with the plastic bag and dropped it on the desk.
“Yeah, you can go, but not yet, there are just a few more conditions to accept. Send the map details to print while I speak with Frank,” Shaw said.
“Why the tests on your shirt?” Frank asked.
Shaw ushered him out of the office and into the corridor.
“Just routine. We’re making assumptions that the particles on Maria’s nightdress are dust from the dog’s coat that the preppers say they were chasing. My shirt got a good dousing of dust when the jeep spun its wheels. We’ll see what a spectral analysis shows on the dust from my shirt. Anyways, never mind that. Is everything arranged?”
“Yeah, they’re on standby at a minute’s notice. Mike will spread the word.”
“Good.”
“What did you get off of his phone?”
“That he was telling the truth. But... the kid is smart. So smart, he could be duping us. If he has a connection to all those girls going missing, the same people could have Amy. Hell, it could be retribution for him sniffing around the kidnappings.”
“That would be one hell of a coincidence.”
“You’ve a lot to learn about coincidences and crime. I’ll tell you about some of them one day.”
“Where is it you’re going?”
“Out to see Cleo at the wildlife sanctuary. She said that she has equipment for testing DNA. If I can get a test done quickly, I can scan it and send it to the crime lab in an e-mail.”
Shaw pivoted on his heel and they walked back into the office. He pulled at his chair and sat.
“Do I get to hear about Amy now?” Ted said.
His throat was dry. Shaw took a swig of cold coffee.
“All I can say is that shortly after you talked to her, she got off the bus at the bottom of her Aunt Mary’s street, but she didn’t arrive at her house.”
Shaw had to hold back and not give anything away. He needed to keep to the basics. Ted could volunteer information later that only Shaw knew, and those who kidnapped Amy.
“So that’s it? She’s just gone walk about?”
“Guess so.”
“But Amy wouldn’t do that without phoning someone.”
“Well she hasn’t phoned anyone. Listen, professionals are dealing with the situation and that’s all I can say for now.”
“Wait a minute; you said the FBI is involved. Has she been kidnapped?”
“She’s a law enforcement officer’s daughter. It’s surprising what strings you can pull. Anyways, Frank here’s going to take you to your cabin. He’ll arrange for your car to be delivered later. I’ll call to see you and keep you updated. That’s assuming you give me your word.”
“What word?”
“I want you to promise that you won’t leave the cabin. If you can’t do that, then it’s the FBI, and you can stay locked up here until they arrive.”
Ted chewed on his bottom lip. His cheeks reddened.
“Okay, you’ve got it, I promise. But then, you’re not really giving me an option. How long do I have to stay at my cabin?”
“Until I say. Leave and I’ll call in the FBI.”
Shaw nodded to Frank. The clock was ticking to the FBI arriving, and he wanted him long gone.
Frank walked over to Jim. “Phone Mike for me while I take Ted here to his cabin.”
“Sure.”
Shaw stood, walked around his desk, and placed a hand on Ted’s shoulder.
“I’ll give you something to think about and we can talk about it when I visit,” said Shaw.
“What’s that?”
“You can tell me when you were going to tell Amy who you really are, and then what future you think you two could have with the FBI on your back.”
Ted blushed, lowered his head and inspected his trainers. Frank handed him his personal belongings.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“What about my phone?”
“Well, see now, we needs it a little while longer to list all the serial numbers. I forgot to do it when I signed you in. We’ll drop it off at the cabin with your vehicle.”
Shaw watched as Ted slouched out of the office. He turned to his desk, picked up a packet holding Amy’s baby tooth, and one of his own DNA sample bottles, then put them in his pocket. He reached over, picked up the packet with the lock of his wife’s hair and held it to the light.
“Damn, take a look at this for me. I think I’m needing specs.”
Jim put the phone down and walked over.
“What am I looking for?”
“White roots, I can’t see any.”
Jim took the lock of hair out of the packet and teased it into separate strands. He worked his way through them, pulling one of them to the side.
“That’s it, just the one.”
“Oh well, at least he’ll have the baby tooth to work with down at the crime lab. I’ll take the hair with the root with me to the sanctuary.”
Shaw scribbled an address on a notepad and a set of instructions.
“I want you to get my shirt to the crime lab this address. Send it by overnight FedEx before they close and include the note.”
“Good as done. Anything else?”
“Yeah, when they arrive, use the code ‘visitors’ if you’re contacting me over the radio. Give them my key, and tell them to make themselves at home. Then you can go home.”
Shaw put all the strands of hair back in the pack and slipped it in his pocket.
“I’ll get back as soon as I can.”
He took the note with Cleo’s phone number from his shirt pocket and dialed the number as he walked to his vehicle. Shaw opened his car door, sat sidesaddle on his seat and pressed call. Gyp appeared from nowhere, squeezing through the space behind his seat, then jumped over onto the passenger seat. He recognized Kitten’s voice when she answered.
“Hi, it’s Sheriff Shaw. Could I speak with Cleo. Sorry, the professor?”
“She’s in surgery, can I help.”
“I was hoping to come over to speak with her now, I need a favor.”
“Well, I know she was hoping you’d call and to bring Gyp for a visit. She’ll be finished soon, come over anyway.”
“I’m on my way and Gyp’s with me. Incidentally, Frank said to say thanks for the treatment. He’s never felt better.”
“Not a problem, see you soon.”
Shaw swung his legs inside, closed the door and fired up the ignition. He took the route past the vets and picked up the country road toward the wildlife sanctuary. He approached where Mrs. Fisher lived, a small group of single-story homes set back off the road. Her car was in the drive and he pulled up outside. Five minutes out of the journey won’t hurt, he thought. He climbed out of his car, walked up to the door and knocked. He glanced at the tree in her front yard that he’d climbed on many an occasion. Esther approached.
“I saw you arrive. The door is not locked, go inside,” she said.
Shaw twisted the door handle and opened the door slightly, keeping in mind her Montague.
“Mrs. Fisher, Sheriff Shaw.”
&nbs
p; He took off his hat and knocked again.
“She’s probably asleep, best I go in. I wouldn’t want to have a fright if she awoke to a man standing over her.”
“No, leave it if she’s resting.”
“Oh, don’t fuss none. She’ll be none too pleased if she finds out you visited and she was asleep. Besides, the old girl never stops talking about you. I’ll go and wake her.”
Shaw waited as Esther brushed past him. He tapped his hat on his leg. A scream rang out from inside the house. He fumbled for the butt of his gun and dropped his hat. The door swung open. Esther was clutching at her chest and breathing heavily.
“She... she’s dead, and so is Montague.”
Chapter 36
SHAW drew his gun from his holster and sidestepped Esther.
“Where is she?”
“She’s in the living room.”
Esther leant over and vomited.
“Go home and stay there,” Shaw said.
He knew the layout. He’d had enough cups of coffee there. Maybe too many to count. There had never been much in the way of conversation, unless it was about her Montague. The most he’d learned about her was from her last visit to his office. That conversation had drawn him close to her, and earned his respect. He obviously had her respect. Until talking to Esther, he would never have known. Shaw crept along the corridor, opening each door and checked the rooms. They were all empty. The living room door was open. He entered.
“Oh no!” Shaw winced.
Mrs. Fisher was sitting on her rocker, clutching a picture frame to her chest. The cat lay at her feet. Her eyes were wide open. The whites of her eyes had a yellow hue to them, with a spider’s web of red-blood vessels. The normal pallor of her skin on her arms and face had a slightly yellow tinge. Blood had dribbled from the corner of her mouth and nose and onto her blouse. It was already congealed. Shaw holstered his gun. Her chest was still.
An urge to step forward to check her pulse was tempered with common sense. He’d seen that skin color before on the patients at the medical center. It could be something contagious. Maybe something highly contagious. He scurried back outside and over to his car. Opening his trunk, he recovered his aluminum case, opened it and rummaged inside. Shaw thanked God that he’d replenished his kit. He suited up, pulling the hood over his head and fastening the drawstring. Walking to her door, he slipped a surgical facemask over his head and covered his mouth. He stopped and pulled gossamer gloves from his overall pocket and slipped them on his hands.
The Killers Amongst Us: Chimera Dawn Chronicles Page 23