Facing Evil

by C L Hart

  “Well, I just phoned the hospital and it seems Miss Murphy is no longer there. She left in an ambulance this morning. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would you?”

  “Hmmm, Miss Murphy... You wouldn’t mean McMurphy, would you?”

  “Murphy, McMurphy, what’s the difference? You know who I mean.”

  “What’s the difference? You’re an assistant DA and you don’t know the difference a name can make? That’s first year law school.”

  “You’re forcing me to take this to the judge, Nathan. Don’t make me get a warrant.”

  “You do that, Ronald. You ask Judge Porter for a warrant.” Nathan’s tone changed. “But you’d better make damn sure you’ve got the right name on it,” Nathan growled before he slammed down the phone.

  “Was that a good idea?” Lincoln asked.

  “Sarah is going to have to talk to them sooner or later, but if I can buy her some time by playing a few name games, then I will. It also wouldn’t hurt us if I can get him to run to Porter with this because it’ll make him look like an incompetent ass.”

  “You know, when I was a cop, I hated lawyers like you,” Lincoln said with a grin.

  “That’s okay, young man, because when I was a trial attorney, I hated cops like you.”

  ♥

  Lincoln was getting ready to leave for the day, though first he wanted to stop and see how Sarah was doing. He had been upstairs a few times, but she had always been asleep. Taking the carpeted stairs two at a time, he turned left and went down the hall until he reached her door.

  He knocked softly before he entered. Robin looked up from her paperwork and smiled at him. She put her finger to her lips and then pointed for him to talk with her out in the hall.

  “She’s still asleep,” she said in a hushed tone.

  “Is that normal?”

  “Yes. The move was stressful, but thankfully I didn’t have to medicate her.”

  “She’s doing okay then?” he asked, trying to see into the room. All he could see inside the room Nathan had selected were the rich warm colors of the dark, highly-polished wood that was used throughout the mansion. He saw no sign of Sarah.

  “The curtains are drawn and the lights are as low as they can go,” Robin said. Lincoln leaned in just enough to see Sarah’s sleeping figure in the middle of a large bed. If she had looked small and vulnerable in a hospital bed, this one made her appear doubly so.

  “I see the IV is back,” he observed, nodding toward the stainless steel rack that held Sarah’s much needed fluids.

  “It was a condition of transport, but on a good note,” she pointed to a tall glass sitting on a nearby dresser, “I got her to eat today. Well, sip, actually,” Robin said with a proud smile.

  “I knew you’d get her to do it.”

  “Speaking of which, I can’t thank you enough for giving me this opportunity, Lincoln. You’ve no idea how hard I’d have had to work to get all of my students loans paid off just like that.”

  “Actually, Robin, I do know how hard you worked. That’s part of why I suggested you. Sarah needs someone who can talk to her on her own level, not someone who floated through school on someone else’s money. Besides, Abby liked you, and that’s enough for me.”

  Chapter 25

  Lincoln stood on the small bridge and looked down at the waters rushing below him. He was not wearing his usual pressed suit and oxford shoes. Instead he had on jeans, a sweatshirt, and a pair of black rubber boots. With the ME report in his hand, he once again studied the scene where they had found Billy Ward’s body. Whoever killed him had been smart enough to do it without leaving a trail, but murder was not clever and it definitely was not clean. Murder was messy...unless it had been planned and calculated.

  Going down off the bridge, he followed the path to where they’d found Ward. There was nothing left to indicate what had happened there — no marks, no footprints, no signs left behind by anyone. He slid his backpack off and put the ME reports inside. He pulled out a large flashlight, then zipped up the pack and slung it on his back. Lincoln checked the light against his hand as he headed upstream.

  An idea had come to him in the middle of the night, and as the morning sun broke through the gray skies, he went in search of an explanation for how Ward’s body could have been dumped without someone leaving a trace.

  ♥

  Nathan had sent Beth to the courthouse to pick up some papers, so when Robin knocked on his door, he looked up from his desk and motioned her in. He took off his glasses and smiled. “Hi, how are you this afternoon?”

  “I’m good, thank you,” she said. “I wanted you to know Dr. Greene just left.”

  Nathan’s smile faded into concern. “How did it go? I was going to come up, but I thought the less people around the better.”

  “I gave her a sedative before he arrived, so now it has taken effect and she’s sleeping. I know he was careful, but I could see taking those stitches out was painful. And I don’t necessarily mean just physical pain.” She moved into the room and took a seat in front of Nathan.

  “What did he say?” Nathan asked as he came around and sat on the edge of his desk.

  “He seemed to be pleased, but every time he mentioned any further surgeries... Well, let me just say I’ve heard better language from truckers.”

  “How’s the therapy for her throat and neck going? Is there anything else I can do or get for her?”

  “Not really, Mr. Holoman. You’ve got the best medical equipment available outside of a hospital. You’ve arranged for one of the best plastic surgeons, hired physical therapists, and even had that crisis counselor here. She has everything, except the desire.”

  “Desire?”

  “To improve, Mr. Holoman. To get any better.”

  “Please call me Nathan. You make me feel like an old man every time you call me Mr. Holoman,” he said with a smile. “We are living under the same roof after all.” Walking over to one of the book shelves lining the walls, he ran his hand over the leather bindings, contemplating Sarah’s situation. “Robin, there has to be a way to get Sarah past this.”

  “Unfortunately, her little jaunt to the bathroom at the hospital was the worst thing that could’ve happened. Now that’s the only image she has of herself, and until we can change that, there isn’t much she is going to want to do.”

  “Can’t we just give her a mirror and show her it isn’t as bad as she remembers?”

  Robin shook her head. “It isn’t that easy. The damage has been done, and she has to find it inside of her to undo it. We have seen the improvements, but she hasn’t. The mind has an incredible ability to heal, however it also has the power to manifest an image other than the reality. In her mind, she is reliving what happened every time she recalls what she saw that day in the mirror. She has to want to move beyond that, and there isn’t much we can do until then.”

  What a mess. Nathan ran his hand over his face. “There has to be something that will motivate her.”

  “Nathan, you and I both know who could, but my understanding is there’s nothing we can do to make that happen.”

  “No, there isn’t. Solitary is solitary.” Nathan moved to one of the shelves and picked up a framed picture of his niece. “So it’s up to us.”

  “Yes, it is,” said Robin. “The doctor took out her IV, so she’s free to roam...if she had any desire to leave her room.”

  “Has she even been out of bed?”

  “Just a little. She’s still weak, and I know her whole left side must still be in pain, but now that the stitches are out of her neck, the healing process can progress more rapidly.”

  Nathan set down Abby’s picture but continued to look at it. “At least the physical part, right?” he said in a low, heartfelt tone.

  ♥

  When she first opened her eyes Sarah didn’t know where she was, but she knew it was no longer the hospital. Looking around the expensive furnishings in the room, she recalled she was in the home of Nathan Holoman
, Abby’s lawyer and uncle. Abby. The name, the vision, the memories. It was the first thought she had when she woke, and the last one she had before she fell asleep.

  “Good morning.” She turned to her right and was greeted by Lincoln’s smiling face. “Did you have a nice sleep?”

  Instinctively, she pulled her face back into the shadows, shielding him from her fresh scars.

  “Here.” Lincoln held out a glass with a straw in it, and though she wanted to refuse it, her thirst forced her to accept his offering. “Thanks,” her lips formed, but no sound came out.

  “I see your stitches have been taken out.”

  He didn’t have to remind her; she could still feel the sting of where the thin silk had been. Sarah gently touched the thin scab at the corner of her mouth. She could feel her lips, though she couldn’t feel the corner of her mouth that still drooped. Both the doctor and Robin had finally offered her a mirror, but she no longer had the desire to see what had been done to her. She had seen enough.

  “Robin told me the doctor was happy with the results, especially with your neck.” She looked at him, but said nothing. “It’s not as bad as you think. The bruises are still fading and the swelling is almost gone—”

  “But the scars remain,” she said quietly, cutting off his words as she looked at the curtain covered window. “Can we change the subject, please?”

  Lincoln noted how clear her words were becoming even though her jaw was still wired. There was still a rasp to her voice, and he wondered how much longer that would last. “All right, what would you like to talk about? Sarah kept her gaze on the window. “Do you want the curtains opened?” He moved toward it. “Maybe some—”

  “No,” she answered clearly and firmly.

  “All right.”

  She hadn’t meant to snap at him. “Where did Robin go?”

  It was an attempt at polite conversation, and Lincoln was happy to respond. “She had some personal errands to do, so I said I’d come up and sit with you until your therapist arrives.” The room fell silent again.

  “Where’s Nathan?”

  “He went to meet with Abby.”

  The moment he said Abby’s name, Sarah’s eyes drifted downward and she began to pick at the threads of the comforter. Even in the dim light, Lincoln could see the shimmer of tears gathering in her eyes. “Sarah,” he said with concern.

  When she moved her head, the tears spilled over and ran down her face. She did her best to ignore them and to ignore him, but as she reached up to brush them away, Lincoln came over and sat down on the bed.

  “Hey, what’s all this?”

  Sarah said nothing as she brought her hand up to cover her mouth and to hold her sore jaw. Her tough exterior crumbled while the tears continued to fall. Lincoln reached for her. The gesture of compassion was more than she could ignore, and she turned to his open arms.

  He wasn’t sure what the tears were for, but it didn’t matter. Sarah needed someone she could lean on, and he was happy to be there for her.

  After a while, the tears stopped, though she made no attempt to leave his embrace. “I miss her so much,” she finally said. “We didn’t know each other long, but I can’t imagine my life without her in it.” It was the longest sentence she had ever said to him, and he knew it had come from her heart.

  “I think it’s mutual.”

  She pulled out of his arms and moved shyly away as she sat up a little straighter in her bed. “Then why haven’t I heard from her?” It was the hardest question she had ever asked, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the real answer.

  “You haven’t heard from her because she—”

  “Because she doesn’t want to see me. I lied to her, Lincoln. I lied to her and to myself, and because of my own vanity, I put myself into Billy’s hands.”

  “What, wait, you have this all wrong! Listen to me. This was not your fault. Do you hear me? You survived while no one else did. Billy set you up, but what he didn’t count on was the two of you falling in love. You were the best thing to happen to Abby.”

  Sarah heard him, but she couldn’t look at him. “You said it, I was the best thing.”

  “Sarah, stop. You are the best thing in Abby’s life. You came along when she really needed someone. Whether she wants to admit it or not, she was vulnerable. You two needed each other.”

  Looking down at her hand, Sarah rubbed at her numb thumb. “I guess in some ways, you’re right. The time we spent together at Gold Creek seems so long ago now, a lifetime ago.”

  “In some ways it was a lifetime ago, Sarah. The Abby that came back from there wasn’t the Abby that left here.”

  Sarah turned and looked him in the face. “That’s a good thing, right?” she asked through her clenched teeth.

  “It was the best thing. I’d never seen her so happy, until she couldn’t find you.” Lincoln looked at her and idly wondered whether he was ever going to see those emerald eyes in the daylight.

  “Couldn’t find me?” Her voice crackled with concern as her brow furrowed in question.

  “We knew Ward was after you before you did. I thought Abby was going to level the city ’til she found you.” Lincoln was puzzled by her reaction.

  “What? What is it?” he asked.

  “I didn’t realize it was him.”

  “You thought he was your boss.”

  “Yes,” she said with a slight hesitation. “I didn’t give him any information on Abby...or the case.”

  “I know that, Sarah. Without a doubt I know that.” Lincoln got off the bed. “It was Billy. All along, it was him. He knew just how to play Abby, what buttons to push to get what response.” He walked over to the table and picked up several sheets of paper and then threw them back down. He took a long, slow breath, hoping to calm his rising anger, but it didn’t have much effect. “Billy promised her that he’d take away everything she had, and he almost succeeded. He got her badge, he almost killed you, he burned down her house, killed her dog, and now she has lost her freedom.” Lincoln flinched at the pain on her face.

  Her eyes shimmered again as she stared at him in disbelief. “What... wait... Buck...he killed Buck?” she whispered.

  Lincoln grimaced and swore at himself. “I’m sorry. I forgot you didn’t know.”

  “Oh, my God. Poor Abby.” She felt an ache in her chest for the big friendly dog that had saved her life. “He was like her child, you know.”

  Lincoln recalled the sound of Abby’s sobs. “Yeah, I know. It was devastating to see her afterward. I helped her bury him. He was a great dog, a really great dog.”

  “I just can’t believe it. ... Buck’s dead. What happened?” she asked.

  Lincoln quickly recounted what had happened and how Ward had played the system to his benefit and to Abby’s detriment.

  “So she thought it was my blood on Billy when you picked him up?” Sarah asked without looking at Lincoln.

  “Yes.”

  Sarah reached over for her glass and took a drink from the straw. “I hope the poem I wrote for her has helped.” She saw the look that crossed Lincoln’s face. “What?” She put down her glass with a smack.

  “She, ah...” He bit down gently on his lip as he tried to think of a good way to explain why the poem was still in his jacket pocket.

  “She’s angry with me, isn’t she?”

  “What? No,” he quickly assured her. “Abby is...” He stopped to think about what word would best describe his highly strung partner. “I think with everything that’s happened, she is just mad, period.” He could see that his explanation had not eased her mind. “The last time we saw her — Nathan and I — things got out of hand. There was a confrontation between her and Nathan.”

  “Out of hand? What do you mean a confrontation?”

  “There were some heated words between them. Nathan slapped Abby, she turned around, slapped him back, and then the guards got into it. She then took a swing at one of them and broke his nose. So they tossed her into solitary to cool off.”r />
  “Solitary? I thought they had that only in prisons.”

  “Our city’s pretrial lock-up is pretty much like a prison. And when they get someone in there with a hot head and an attitude, they don’t mess around. They can’t afford to. Anyhow, I guess the stress of it all just pushed her beyond her breaking point. She and Nathan started yelling at each other and the next thing you know she’s in shackles, yelling at her lawyer, and there’s a guard with his nose—”

  “They had her in shackles,” Sarah said quietly.

  “Yes.” He could see Sarah’s energy was waning and the emotional stress of the morning’s revelations was taking its toll. “She’ll be okay,” he said. “She’s got you.”

  “And I’ve got her.” Sarah’s voice was so soft that he didn’t know if he was supposed to have heard her or not. “We’re just not together.” She lay back on her pillow and he turned to sit back down at the table. “But why me?” she asked after a long pause. “Why her?”

  “I don’t know.” Lincoln’s attention was diverted by the sound of tires screeching outside Sarah’s window. Crossing the room, he pulled back the curtain.

  Sarah cringed at the bright light, but Lincoln didn’t see it. “What is it?” Sarah asked.

  “It’s Nathan,” Lincoln said.

  “But I thought you said he was going to meet Abby.”

  “He was.” Lincoln turned back from the window.

  She heard a car door slam. “Lincoln?”

  “I don’t know.” He turned to leave. “I’ll be right back.”

  Sarah watched him leave. He left the door open, and she could hear his footsteps as he rushed to find out what had happened.

  Lincoln had just about reached the top of the grand staircase, when the front door flew open and Nathan stormed in. The normally composed lawyer looked more than a little ragged as he grabbed the solid wood door and slammed it behind him. “Nathan?” Lincoln questioned as he looked down at the elder lawyer.

  “That stubborn, pigheaded...” He tossed his briefcase on the table next to the door and threw his hands in the air. There was no doubt to who he was referring. “That inflexible niece of mine,” he hollered as he stood in the main foyer. “She’s refused to see me. The message I got was that I’m no longer her attorney and that she’ll be representing herself!”