by Curry, Edna
The waitress brought their food. They ate in silence for a few minutes, then Ben growled under his breath, “God, I hate cases like this.”
“Yeah, me, too.” Morosely, Mel watched Ben stare into his coffee cup, add another spoonful of sugar and stir it. Ben always used extra sugar in his coffee when he was planning on staying up late, as he was sure to do tonight.
Mel had been around Ben’s office enough to know Ben would be on the computer and phones, updating other officers in surrounding counties and trying to figure out who the victim and her companion were.
Ben’s deputies would be reporting in after questioning people around town who might have seen the couple or a vehicle near the dam at that time. All of it took time and legwork in tourist season, their busiest time of year. This little town didn’t have its own police force. The city contracted with the county sheriff’s office for protection.
Mel finished off his hamburger and bit into another French fry. “She never had much of a chance, did she?”
Ben tossed him a wry look. “I don’t know of anyone who has gone through that bear trap and lived to tell about it,” he admitted. “I’m quite sure we’re searching for a body, now.”
“Yeah, I’m afraid you’re right.” Mel drank his coffee. Frustration and disappointment knotted his stomach.
“And a murderer, if he did it on purpose.”
“I’m sure he did.” Mel’s voice was definite.
“You finished eating? Then let’s get at your statement.”
They drove over to Canton to Ben’s office where Ben sat down at his computer and began asking questions. Mel described in detail what he’d seen and done earlier as the sheriff made up his report.
At last Ben ran a tired hand through his brown hair and rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks, Mel. I guess that’ll do it for now. I’ll call you if I think of anything else.”
Mel rose. “Okay, Ben. See you at the Flame in the morning.”
“Yeah, if I have time for breakfast. We’ll resume the search at daylight.” Ben rubbed a long finger along the side of his crooked nose and went back to typing.
~ * ~
After leaving the sheriff’s office, Mel drove back to his log cabin down river. He’d bought this small place on the riverbank when he’d moved here a few years before and fixed it up. He had an apartment above his office in town, but often needed to get away from dealing with the public and the crush of tourists.
At his cabin, he enjoyed time alone, fishing for walleye at night, or listening to the quiet sounds of nature along the river. After years of dangerous missions in the service, he relished the peace and quiet and his privacy.
He enjoyed partying with friends as much as the next guy, but tonight, he needed solitude. Knowing he’d watched someone die today made him long for peace and quiet. He tried not to think about the horror.
He followed the graveled road, his headlights pointing a yellow path through the evergreens surrounded by darkness. He loved the way his cabin was set back in pine and fir trees so thick that you couldn’t see the neighboring cabins along the riverbank, even in the daytime, although they were only a few hundred yards away.
The night was pitch black here along the river. Mel glanced toward the river where the poor woman’s body rested deep under the cold dark water.
He knew the reality of it. A body often sank and, usually several days later, rose again when decomposition set in. He shuddered at the thought of what she might look like when she finally surfaced. He hated dealing with the horrid details of death. That had been a major factor in his decision to leave his job with Special Forces. He’d seen enough of death to last him a lifetime.
Parking his blue Chevrolet, he got out, his headlights lighting his way to the porch. He was glad his car was new enough that the lights would automatically shut off after a minute or so. His approach turned on the motion lights he’d installed.
He unlocked the door, stepped inside and froze. He wrinkled his nose. Something was different.
A burglar? He tensed, ready to fight whoever was waiting for him in the dark. He stepped to one side, groping for the light switch. He flipped it on and gazed around his cabin.
Muddy footprints streaked across his polished hardwood floor. Broken glass littered the floor in front of the window off the porch. Someone had broken in.
He moved farther into the room and saw a form lying on the sofa wrapped in his blue afghan. Matted, bright red hair peeked out of one end of the afghan. Dear God! Was it possible? His heart pounding, he moved closer.
Yes! It had to be the woman he’d seen fall into the river by the dam.
And a slight rise and fall of the afghan told him she was alive!
Chapter 2
Awed the woman was still alive, Mel drew back the afghan to uncover her face. Asleep. Beautiful, even features, white, smooth skin, though she had a nasty looking scrape along one cheek, and a purplish bruise on her forehead. Long, red eyelashes fanned on pale cheeks.
Her hair was damp and matted with leaves and dirt. His sofa throw pillow was wet under her head.
Stepping away from her so as not to wake her, he pulled his cell phone out of his shirt pocket and dialed the sheriff’s office. Ben’s tired voice answered on the first ring.
“Ben, Mel here. I found her!” he said softly into the phone.
“What? Where?” Ben’s voice was suddenly sharp and wide awake.
“She’s here in my cabin, sound asleep! Can you believe it? She’s alive! I walked in and she’s lying on my sofa.”
“Thank God! Is she hurt? Should I send an ambulance?”
“I don’t know. But no one else is around. She had to have walked here from the river, Ben. Why don’t I bring her to the emergency room?”
“No, on second thought, we’d better check her out before moving her in case of broken bones or internal injuries. I’ll send an ambulance and come right over.”
“All right.”
“Do you recognize her? Ever seen her before?”
“Nope. Never laid eyes on her before.” He wouldn’t have forgotten this woman. Even now, when she was a mess after being in the river, she was beautiful.
“I’ll be right out,” Ben snapped and the line went dead.
Mel hung up, tucked the phone in his pocket and moved back to the sleeping woman. He hated to wake her, but what if she was bleeding under the afghan?
He carefully lifted it, checking for blood. None. She wore white slacks, now grass stained and muddy. No shoes. Her feet were dirty and scraped. Her toenails were painted crimson to match her fingernails. No rings. Shreds of torn nylons clung to bare feet sticking out from cotton pants. A green blouse with lacing and printed with a fancy scene covered the top half of her. His gaze followed the soft curve of her white breast showing through the tear in her blouse.
He gasped at a deep gash matted with dried blood marring her upper left arm. Not bleeding now. She groaned and moved a bit, but didn’t awaken.
Relieved to find no fresh blood, Mel tucked the afghan around her again to keep her warm. He knew shock was a real danger and would make her cold. She’d been in the river which was still icy cold this early in June.
He sank into a chair. His hands clenched as he thought of the man—correction, person--who’d done this to her. Had he or she pushed her on the spur of the moment? Or taken her to that dangerous place with the intent to kill her? Mel closed his eyes and thought back to his view of the incident on the cliff.
First, the person had slapped her. She’d put up her hand to her face, then seconds of what? Talk? He’d reached out and pushed her. She’d gone over the cliff and seemed to be suspended in the air for long seconds as she dropped to the water. Sure seemed to him like the person had done it on purpose.
Where the hell was that ambulance? Should have been here by now. Finally, Mel heard a siren and moved to open the door.
But the sheriff’s car had arrived, not the ambulance. Ben cut the siren but left the blue top li
ghts on his car flashing and hurried toward him.
Mel put a finger to his lips, urging quiet as Ben stepped inside the log cabin. “Shh, she’s still asleep. Must have got in through that window, see?” He pointed to the still open window.”
“Yeah, looks like it.”
“I think we should wait for the medics before waking her, don’t you think?”
But as they turned, the woman sat up. Probably the siren had awakened her.
She screamed, clutching the afghan to her breast. Her large green eyes wide, she stared at Ben in his sheriff’s uniform. “No, no! No police!”
“Why not?” Mel asked, puzzled at her obvious panic. “We only want to help you.”
“No police! No reporters!” She stared at Mel. “Who are you?”
Mel swallowed. She seemed disoriented and her voice sounded like a bull frog. No doubt she’d gulped a good bit of filthy river water. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said quietly. “You’re not in any trouble.”
“It’s all right, Miss,” Ben added soothingly. “I’m the County Sheriff and this is Mel Jonner, the man who owns this cabin. An ambulance will be here any minute to take you to the hospital.”
“The hospital?”
“You need to be checked out by a doctor to make sure you’re not injured,” he assured her. “Are you hurt? Any pain or broken bones?”
She put up a hand to her raw cheek and rubbed a spot above her eyebrow. “I hurt everywhere. But no, I don’t think I have any broken bones. I…I walked up from the river. Where am I?”
“In my cabin on the St. Croix River,” Mel said.
“What am I doing here?”
“You fell into the water by the dam, upriver a ways,” Ben said, his eyes narrowing. “Do you remember that? What were you doing on the cliff by the dam?”
She looked at him blankly. “I…I don’t know.”
“Can you tell me what happened before you fell into the water?”
She started to shake her head, then moaned at the movement and put up her hands to hold her head. A couple of her fingernails were broken.
“What’s your name?” Ben pressed.
“My name?”
“Yes. Can you tell me your name? Or the name of the person you were with before you fell into the water?”
She bit her lip and her fingers touched the bruise on her forehead. “I can’t remember.”
“You don’t remember your name?” Ben’s voice was sharp, disbelieving.
She didn’t answer, but pushed the afghan aside and swung her feet to the floor, looking frightened now. “Sorry I broke your window, but I had to get inside. I couldn’t find the phone.”
“I don’t have a phone out here,” Mel said, wishing he had. She could have called for help much sooner if he’d had one. “I use my cell phone.”
“Oh. I came in to find a phone and to rest a few minutes. I’m so tired and cold…” She clutched the afghan close again.
“Why don’t you just lie back until the medics check you out?” Ben said, his voice kinder now. He started toward her as more sirens blared outside.
Mel turned to open the door and wave them inside.
She stared warily at Ben, then at the people coming in the door.
With a resigned sigh, she allowed them to ease her down on the sofa and check her vital signs. She seemed relieved one of the ambulance crew was a young woman and even tried to smile at the woman as she took her pulse and blood pressure and checked her eyes.
“No broken bones I can find. She doesn’t seem too badly hurt,” the medic told Ben. She turned to the injured woman. “We’ll need to take you to the emergency room to do more tests and treat these cuts and abrasions. I’m afraid you’ll need stitches in the cut on your arm. Is that all right with you?”
The woman hesitated a moment, then nodded assent.
“I’ll meet you at the hospital,” Ben said, as he stood aside for the ambulance crew to carry her outside.
Mel and Ben watched the medics put her into the ambulance and start back toward town.
“I’ll follow you to the hospital, Ben,” Mel said moving toward his car.
“Good,” the sheriff answered, getting into his official car. “I have some more questions for you, anyway.”
They sat in the emergency room waiting area while the doctors and nurses checked the woman over.
Ben was carrying his clipboard as usual. Using his knees for a desk, he began filling out a form. “I have the time you called me, which was right after you found her, I assume?”
Mel nodded. “I drove straight out after I left your office.”
“Why did you go out to your cabin? I thought you lived in town during the week.”
Mel shrugged. “I was upset about seeing her fall into the water, I guess. My cabin is where I can be alone to think, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” Ben studied Mel, then said softly, “This reminds you of what happened to Mary, right?”
Mel shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. Ben had known him way too long. They’d lived next door to each other as kids, and although Ben was twelve years older, they’d grown close. Ben had been the big brother Mel needed, but didn’t have. Ben knew how much Mel’s sister’s death had affected him.
Mel almost never talked about Mary. Losing her still hurt too much. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, thank goodness I didn’t stay in town tonight. It’s hard telling when anyone would have found her out there if I had.”
“That’s for sure.”
Ben nodded and continued filling out his report.
“Did anyone find a purse or any ID near the Bear Trap where she went into the water?”
“Nope,” Ben said. “Nothing at all. You’d think if it was an accident, whoever was with her would have come screaming for help, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes. Or called 9-1-1 on a cell phone.”
Ben rubbed the side of his nose. “Unless he didn’t have one.”
Mel frowned. “Most people do have one nowadays. Her clothes look expensive, so it’s not likely her companion was poor, either.”
Ben grinned at him. “You noticed that too, eh? You’d make a good detective yourself, Mel.”
Mel’s mouth twisted wryly. “So, say I wasn’t mistaken and he did push her into the water. Women always carry a purse of one sort or another. So what happened to hers if the guy didn’t take it because he wanted to remove her ID?”
Ben raised a dark, bushy eyebrow and nodded. He got up and helped himself to coffee from the machine. “Right. Want some?”
At Mel’s nod, he filled a second Styrofoam cup with the hot brew and handed it to Mel.
Ben sat down, sipping his coffee. “Her purse could have gone into the river with her if she was holding it or had it over her shoulder. Or, she could have left her purse in the car and when she fell the man panicked and ran.”
Mel shrugged. “I suppose so, if you want to give him a lion’s share of doubt.”
“I don’t. Just thinking of all the possibilities. You didn’t see a purse when she fell?”
Mel shrugged. “No, but I was too far away to be sure about details.”
The doctor appeared. “We’re admitting her at least overnight for observation, Sheriff.”
“Did she give you any information?”
The doctor shook his head. “She claims she doesn’t know who she is or how she got into the river.”
“You mean she has amnesia?”
“Yes. Probably a temporary form, from the shock she’s had. She doesn’t remember anything before she came to in the water.”
“I see. Can I question her now?”
Again, the doctor shook his head. “I’d rather you let her rest tonight. I’ve had her moved upstairs to a room. Gave her some pain medication. I don’t think she can tell you anything more right now, anyway. Maybe by morning some memories will begin returning.”
“All right. I’ll come back in the morning. I wish I had her fingerprints, at least.”
Looking thought
ful, the doctor asked, “Can you get prints from a clear plastic drinking cup? I gave her some water to wash down the medication.”
“Sure, if it’s smooth plastic and not Styrofoam.”
“Then you’ve got her prints. Follow me.”
They walked back to the emergency room and the doctor pulled off a paper towel from the roll and picked up a cup from the side table next to the examination table she’d lain on. “Here you go. This cup should have her prints on it.”
“Thanks,” Ben said. “I’ll see if I can find out from these who she is.” Mel and Ben walked down the stairs and out to their cars together.
“Are you going to tell her about the man who pushed her?” Mel asked, leaning against his car.
Ben scratched his head. “I suppose I’ll have to. I’ve had the deputies asking questions, so too many people know we were looking for someone who was by the dam. She’s bound to hear about it later if I don’t.”
Mel nodded. “I agree. Not much stays secret in a small town. Besides, he might come back to finish the job.” The end of his sentence hung in the air between them. Like his S.O.B brother-in-law finished off Mary. God, how he hated guys like that.
“Yeah,” Ben agreed. His eyes held sympathy. “I hate to upset her more after all she’s been through already, but she has a right to know she’s in danger, so she’ll be on her guard against another attack.”
“If we only knew who to watch out for,” Mel said.
Ben eyed him. “Well, I’d say a good place to start will be any stranger to us.”
Mel snorted. “Have you forgotten it’s tourist season? Half the people walking our streets now are strangers.”
“True. But eliminating half is better than none. Keep your eyes open. I’ll post a deputy outside her room and let the hospital security know about this, too.”
“Good idea.” So much for tonight. But what would happen tomorrow and in the future?
~ * ~
When she awoke, the sun was shining in her window. She looked around the small, sterile room. Plain walls were painted a pale peach color. A TV hung from a wall fixture in front of her. A mixture of disinfectant and lemon cleaner odors met her nose.