by Jana DeLeon
“How would someone get propofol?” Davis asked. “It can’t be that easy to acquire.”
“No,” Dr. Malloy said. “It’s a closely monitored drug, but there are thefts of laboratories and pharmacies. It’s sold on the street for a high price.”
“Do you have any idea how long it will take her to regain consciousness?” Shaye asked. “The officers need to talk to her as soon as possible. The man who attacked her is suspected of three other murders and the abduction of another student who’s in critical condition now.”
Dr. Malloy’s eyes widened. “Good Lord. I had no idea…I’ll check on Ms. Chatry again and let you know. She was starting to stir when I reviewed her vitals before speaking with you. I’ll be right back.”
As Dr. Malloy walked back through the double doors, Davis turned to Shaye. “Did the others have propofol in their systems?”
“No,” Shaye said. “Rohypnol. Which makes more sense in the first two cases. They were both taken from parties. It would be far easier to assist someone who appears to be drunk outside and into an automobile than drag someone completely unconscious away from a large group of people. But they were all held somewhere for days before they were killed. Maybe he used propofol once they were in place to keep them immobile.”
Davis nodded. “It would have worked out of their systems within twenty-four hours. They used it on my wife for surgery and I asked since I’ve heard bad things about it. But you said the other victim had Rohypnol in her system?”
“Yes,” Shaye said, her stomach turning slightly as she realized what had probably happened to Amber. “I think he needed her to be able to walk in order to pull off the location. It was Amber Olivier.”
“The girl in the coffin?” Bennett asked. “That’s sick.”
“Beyond,” Davis agreed. “Since Ms. Chatry was already on guard and there was no party to use as a backdrop, he needed her out quickly.”
“That’s my guess,” Shaye said. “And taking her out in the car solved the issue of transport.”
The doors opened and Dr. Malloy walked back into the lobby. “Ms. Chatry is conscious, but she’s still a bit scattered and is likely to remain that way for a while. She asked me to contact you, Ms. Archer. I will let the three of you speak with her, but please make it as quick as possible. She’s clearly exhausted and needs to rest.”
They followed Dr. Malloy down the hall and into a room where Tara was propped up in the bed. She was so pale, Shaye worried that the drugs had affected her more than the doctor realized, but then Tara hadn’t been sleeping well either. Shaye went immediately to the side of the bed and put her hand on Tara’s arm.
“Are you all right?” Shaye asked.
“Yeah,” Tara said, her voice weak. “I mean, considering.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through this,” Shaye said. “These two officers need to ask you some questions. Can you remember well enough to help?”
“I think so,” Tara said.
Davis stepped up to the bed. “I’m Officer Davis. Ms. Archer has filled us in on your missing friend and we saw the texts exchanged on your cell phone. Can you please tell me what happened?”
Tara nodded. “I went to the dorm to take Ethan his car and some money, just like he asked, but he wasn’t there. The door was unlocked but the room was empty. I got a bad feeling about it, you know?”
“I know that feeling well,” Davis said.
“I hauled ass out of there,” Tara said. “When I got in the car, I was going to call Shaye and tell her what happened, but he was in the backseat.” She frowned. “Stupid. I know better than to get into a car without checking the backseat.”
“You weren’t thinking clearly,” Shaye said. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
Tara gave her a grateful look. “He put his arm around my head and covered my mouth so that I couldn’t scream. I tried to pull his arm off but I couldn’t. When I felt the needle go into my neck, I yanked away as hard as I could and opened the door. I tried to run out, but I was already getting dizzy, so I fell. I couldn’t stand, so I started crawling and screaming.”
Tara’s eyes filled with tears. “The last thing I remember was seeing tennis shoes and wondering if the shoes of my killer was the last thing I’d ever see.”
Shaye squeezed Tara’s arm. “You were so brave and you acted quickly.”
Tara sniffed. “Thanks.”
“Can you describe the man who attacked you?” Davis asked.
Tara frowned. “No. I should have looked up and seen him in the rearview mirror, right? But I don’t remember seeing him at all.”
Davis nodded. “The mirror was turned all the way up and to the right when we inspected the car. We thought it might have happened during a struggle, but it appears our perpetrator thought of everything.”
“He certainly fooled me,” Tara said. “I was so stupid. I should have known better.”
“You’re a good friend,” Shaye said. “You were just trying to help Ethan. You’re not to blame for this. This guy knew enough to play on your emotions.”
“He knew I had Ethan’s car,” Tara said. “That means he’s been watching me.”
Shaye nodded. “I think so.”
“I don’t understand what he wants with me,” Tara said. “I’m not part of his game. And if he wants to kill me so badly, I know Ethan is already dead.”
“No. He’s not,” Shaye said.
“You can’t know that,” Tara said, beginning to cry.
“Ethan is in critical condition in a hospital in LaPlace,” Shaye said.
Tara’s eyes widened and she straightened. “What? Is he going to be all right? How did he get there?”
“I don’t have any details,” Shaye said. “Detectives Grayson and Lamotte called me on their way to the hospital. As soon as they know more, they’re going to let me know.”
“But he’s alive?” Tara asked.
“Detective Grayson was told he was alive, but barely, and had just come out of surgery. I don’t know for what. Hopefully, we’ll know more soon.”
Tears streamed down Tara’s face. “At least there’s a chance though. He got away from that psycho.”
“There’s definitely a chance,” Shaye said. She looked over at Davis, who inclined his head toward the doctor standing in the doorway.
“You need to rest,” Shaye said. “We’re going to get out of here so you can do that.”
“No!” Tara shook her head. “You can’t leave until I know more about Ethan.” Tara looked over at the doctor. “I won’t be able to rest until I know.”
“We’ll get Ms. Archer a chair,” Dr. Malloy said. “She can sit with you until you fall asleep.”
“Thank you,” Shaye said, relieved that she wouldn’t have to leave Tara alone in the hospital.
“Would you like us to contact your parents?” Dr. Malloy asked. “Ms. Archer informed me that they’re out of the country.”
“Not yet,” Tara said. “They’d just worry and there’s nothing they can do.”
“Very well,” Dr. Malloy said. “Let the nurse know if you change your mind.”
“Thank you for your assistance, Ms. Archer,” Officer Davis said. “I’ll provide Detective Grayson with all the information we have as soon as he is available.”
Shaye nodded. “Thanks.”
The officers left the room and a couple seconds later, a nurse came into the room, dragging a chair behind her.
“Does Clara Mandeville work tonight?” Shaye asked.
“Yes, ma’am. She comes on at eleven,” the nurse said.
“Who’s Clara?” Tara asked.
“A friend. Clara looked after me when I was brought into the hospital nine years ago. They won’t let me stay all night, but I don’t want you to worry. Clara will make sure you’re all right.”
Tara looked down at the blanket covering her. “How long do you think we’ll have to wait to hear about Ethan?”
“I don’t know, but Jackson will call as soon as he can. I
n the meantime, try to relax.”
“I’m not sure I’ll ever relax again.”
“You will. I won’t lie to you and say it’s easy, and the reality is you’ll probably never think the same way as you did before all of this. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have an awesome life. You just have to choose to do it and work your butt off to accomplish it.”
Tara studied her in silence for a bit, then nodded. “I feel stupid thinking that way when I know what you went through—and that’s just what they reported on television. I’m sure whatever they said, the reality was a million times worse.”
“Don’t ever feel bad for being scared or hurt or sad. There is always someone somewhere who is suffering more than another, but this is the worst thing that’s ever happened to you.”
“You always know the right thing to say.”
“I had excellent teachers.”
Tara smiled. “Looks like I do now, too.”
Shaye’s phone buzzed and she looked at the display. “It’s Detective Lamotte,” she said as she pressed the screen to answer.
“Do you have an update?” Shaye asked.
“Yeah,” Jackson said. “He’s in bad shape. The doctor said it looks like an alligator attack. His left arm was almost ripped from the socket. He was in surgery to reattach it, but the doctor can’t guarantee that he’ll be able to use it again.”
Shaye struggled to remain calm for Tara’s sake. “Is that it?”
“I wish. He had sustained so much blood loss that he was nearly dead when he got to the hospital. Between the blood loss and the trauma, there’s a chance he won’t make it.”
“Did the doctor give odds?”
“Fifty percent.”
Shaye blew out a breath. “That’s better than the alternative, right?”
“At this point, we’ll take what we can get. Are you at the dorm?”
“Not exactly. Tara was attacked. She’s in the emergency room at New Orleans General.”
“What? Is she okay?”
“She’s going to be but she took a hit of propofol and they want to keep her overnight. He got away and unfortunately, she wasn’t able to get a good look at him.”
“Damn it. This guy keeps slipping through our fingers. Look, I want to get the details, but right now, I need you to take a look at something.”
“What is it?”
“An image from the security cameras at the hospital. A guy carried Ethan into the emergency room lobby, then disappeared. He had on a hoodie but an inside camera got a shot of his face from the side. I’m hoping Tara can identify him. Give me a couple seconds to send it.”
“Okay.”
Shaye lowered her phone a bit to fill Tara in. The girl was so tense she looked ready to spring out of the bed.
“Oh my God!” Tara gasped when Shaye told her about the alligator attack.
“I’m not going to lie to you,” Shaye said. “It’s really bad. The doctor is giving him a fifty percent chance of survival and if he survives, there are no guarantees he’ll have use of his arm again.”
“Poor Ethan,” Tara cried, tears streaming down her face. “How could that happen?”
“I don’t know, but Detective Lamotte is going to send us an image. A man brought Ethan to the emergency room, then disappeared. He wants to see if you can identify the man.”
“Why would he disappear?” Tara asked, clearly confused.
“I don’t know,” Shaye said. “Unless he was involved in some way.”
“Shaye?” Jackson’s voice sounded on her phone.
“Yes,” Shaye said.
“I just sent you a text with the image.”
Shaye’s phone dinged. “Hold on,” she said, and moved next to Tara as she accessed her text messages.
Both of them gasped when they saw the image.
It was Brett Frazier.
19
Shaye let herself back into her motel room, locking the door right behind her. Out of habit, she made sure the rooms were clear before grabbing a soda from the refrigerator and sinking down into a chair in the living room. It was after midnight and she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d had more than an hour of sleep at one time. She was running on empty.
Even though she’d wondered about him before, Tara had been distraught over seeing Brett in the image. She was convinced it was Brett who had coaxed her to the dorm and hidden in the car. No matter that she’d thought something was off with Ethan’s roommate, she hadn’t wanted to make the leap to Brett being the killer. Until now.
And the timing worked.
Brett had taken Ethan to the hospital hours before Tara was attacked. He would have had time to get back to the dorm and set up Tara. Or, if she went with her other theory, Brett dropped Ethan off but his partner George was the one who attacked Tara. The part Shaye couldn’t answer was why Brett had taken Ethan to the emergency room, and the harder she thought about it, the less sense it made.
A knock at the door broke into her thoughts and she got up to let Jackson in. When they’d spoken earlier, they’d agreed that a face-to-face exchange would be beneficial and it needed to happen now. With Ethan in the hospital and the attempt on Tara unsuccessful, the killer might decide to cut his losses and disappear. The police needed evidence to arrest people, and they needed it quickly.
Jackson came in, looking as exhausted as she felt. She waved him to the table and he slumped into a chair, blowing out a breath as he sat.
“Soda or water?” Shaye asked, standing at the open refrigerator.
“Soda.”
“You hungry?”
“Starved.”
“Good, because I can’t remember the last time I ate and I don’t want to look like a pig in front of you.” She pulled turkey lunch meat and cheese from the refrigerator and grabbed bread and chips from the counter and dumped it all on the table. Then she snagged two plates from the cabinets and took a seat across from Jackson.
“It’s not gourmet,” she said, “but I’m guessing you don’t care.”
“Looks like gourmet to me,” Jackson said, and reached for the bread. “How’s Tara?”
“Hurt, scared, horrified. Worried for Ethan and angry at herself for trusting the text and not listening to her instincts about Brett.”
“She’s being too hard on herself.”
“I told her that, but I know better than most how hard that is to believe sometimes.”
“But she’s physically all right, considering?”
“Her knee is pretty banged up and her head was still hurting from the drugs, but the doctor said she should be okay to release tomorrow sometime. They want to make sure the drugs have moved through her system without causing any issues, especially given her heart condition. They’ll retest tomorrow.”
“We’ll put an unmarked unit on her dorm tomorrow when she’s released. Brett may have had a burst of conscience when he took Ethan to the hospital, but Tara’s attack happened after that so she’s definitely not in the clear.”
“Any sign of Brett?” She grabbed a handful of chips and starting munching on them.
“None. Detectives questioned everyone they could find at the dorm and no one has seen him since this morning. We can’t verify if he attended classes until tomorrow but my guess is no. We have a unit outside the dorm watching for him.”
“And his vehicle is gone?”
Jackson nodded. “We put out a BOLO on Brett and the truck.”
“Suspect armed and potentially dangerous?”
“Yeah.” Jackson shook his head. “I don’t get it. If Brett is the killer, why did he take Ethan to the hospital?”
“I’ve been wondering the same thing. I mean, he has to be involved or he wouldn’t have known where to find Ethan. If Ethan had stumbled into the dorm in that condition, there would have been no reason for Brett to flee the hospital after leaving him.”
“Exactly. But an alligator attack? That doesn’t fit the MO of any of the previous deaths. We know all of them were held
somewhere before they were killed. Assuming Ethan was held at the same place as the others, how did he come into contact with an alligator?”
“I have no earthly idea. Maybe the place the victims were held is in the swamp. Ethan might have managed to get away and then got attacked by the alligator.”
“Maybe. But why rescue Ethan? He hasn’t shown any mercy for the other victims. If anything, he ensured their deaths were horrifying.”
“I have this theory. It’s a real long shot, but I’m going to put it out there.” She told Jackson about George’s temper and his past arrests, then described the argument she’d witnessed between George and Brett.
Jackson frowned. “If they were working together, that would explain a lot, especially since the last two places Ethan might have been were his dorm or the store.”
Shaye nodded. “That’s what I was thinking.”
“So do you think Brett was okay with it until Ethan was the target? Maybe he got cold feet because he had some sympathy for his roommate?”
“Who knows? The bigger problem is why. What’s the motive? I can’t come up with a decent motive for either one of them, much less why the two would have joined forces.”
“Any connection between them?”
“Not that I could find, but I did find out something interesting about Brett. He’s not nearly as dumb as he’d like people to think he is.” Shaye told Jackson about the newspaper article about the chess tournament and her conversations with Brett’s high school teachers.
“Jesus,” Jackson said when she finished. “Yet another piece to a puzzle that has no shape or form. We’re missing something.”
“I know. But I have no idea where to find it.”
“Me either.” He rose from the chair. “And part of that is because we’re both exhausted. I’m going to get out of here and let you get some sleep. We both need it.”
Shaye stood up and followed him to the door. “Normally, I’d say I probably wouldn’t be able to with this much on my mind, but I think my mind has officially signed off.”