Keeping watch.
She looked at the man who’d brought her there, the one who’d driven with her in silence for more than two hours before he’d insisted they stop and get something to eat and talk. His patience was wearing thin. She could tell.
He wanted the answers she’d promised him when she’d called.
After a few minutes, he walked down the sidewalk that ran the length of the building, to the entrance at the far end. She glanced in the side mirror, then at the door of the diner and saw him hesitate, looking back in her direction before he turned and went inside.
No vehicles arrived or departed during the twenty minutes she waited for him to return. He scurried back with a paper bag in hand, was quick to shut the door and extinguish the interior light of the car, fumbling in the trickle of light from the building to read the labels on the food and make sure she got what she’d asked for.
She fought to keep from cramming the food in too fast. Bobby had been in a mood lately. Complaining about girls who get fat.
He hadn’t been giving her much to eat, and now that she was throwing up every morning, she was even scrawnier than usual.
If Bobby suspected, she didn’t have much time. That’s what she’d figured when she turned it all over in her mind, again and again.
Jenny turned to the RCMP officer beside her. It was the only way out she could see, the only hope she had. Get Bobby cornered on the drugs and the smuggling. She knew enough about the operation. There had to be a way to catch him.
And if it all went bad, it would go straight to hell, but she couldn’t think about that now. She’d made one deal with the devil, and it had cost her. Now, she was making a deal with a different devil, in the hopes that it would save her.
Jenny took a deep breath and started to explain how she’d gotten involved with Bobby Hobbs.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Eighteen months ago
It took a moment to realize that the groan she heard was coming from her own body. The first attempt to sit up was met with a searing pain that shot up through her back, into her neck and shoulders, and kicked her in the head.
“Mrs. Wilson?”
She opened her eyes and blinked at the brightness.
“Maybe she hit her head harder than we thought.”
Ashlyn turned toward the sound of the voice. Nolan, feigning humor, a tinge of genuine concern not fully masked by the look of casual indifference he’d adopted.
“She remembers where she was going. That’s a good sign,” Sullivan said as he appeared beside Nolan. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine, sir,” she said as she forced herself upright. A wave of black rose up within her and for a second she felt her body wobble, but she refused to reach out and steady herself with her hand. “A little stiff, touch of a headache. Nothing a couple of Tylenol won’t cure.”
“Or a night in the hospital.”
A nurse appeared on the other side of the bed and began nudging Ashlyn back down against the pillow.
“Sir—”
“Don’t argue with me, Hart. You can barely sit up without falling over. You’d be no good to us back at the office right now.”
“But Mrs. Wilson—”
“Nolan’s already filled me in. I’m just glad you two didn’t run that errand together, or you might both be on a morphine drip tonight, and lucky for you he wasn’t far behind when you hit that deer. You did a number on that car when it flipped into the ditch. Mrs. Wilson can wait until tomorrow. Nolan can head out there and talk to her in the morning.”
“I-I hit a deer?” She blinked.
“You don’t remember?” Sullivan asked.
She thought back over the flashes that were clear. Talking to Mrs. Wilson, going to the shack, seeing Nolan’s Rodeo turn onto the Johnson property…
“It’s not surprising it would be a bit hazy.” Sullivan glanced at Nolan. “We’ll get a full report from you when you’ve had a chance to rest.”
They were moving away from the bed. She glared at Nolan, but he didn’t look at her.
“Doctor says you should be back on your feet within a day. Two at the most. Don’t worry. If you aren’t up to it, we’ll keep you in office tomorrow. Just get some rest.”
In office. All this time Nolan had been finding reasons to leave her behind and now she’d handed him one she couldn’t argue against.
Sullivan was already out the door. Nolan paused and turned to look at her.
He’d told their sergeant that they were going to meet at Mrs. Wilson’s…
The blur of the truck going past her and the sense that something about it was vaguely familiar was hazy. She knew she saw it just before she hit the deer, and there’d been a noise…She remembered seeing Nolan’s Rodeo turning on to the Johnson property before that. He must have been headed to Mrs. Wilson’s if he’d found Ashlyn’s overturned car, but he’d gone to the Johnson residence first.
Had he already known what Mrs. Wilson had to say?
She felt her eyes widen. Nolan stared back, unblinking, and his expression didn’t soften as he said, “Get some rest. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Something about his tone suggested it wasn’t a conversation to look forward to.
Ashlyn didn’t respond as he walked away.
“Ashlyn. I’m surprised.”
That wasn’t what she’d expected to hear Sergeant Steve Daly say. He’d been her mentor from The Depot—the RCMP academy where all cadets did their training—and had been transferred back to the Lower Mainland only a few weeks earlier. She’d been on one of her temporary assignments then, and the last time she’d talked to him was by phone before she’d left for Nighthawk Crossing. “Sis too soon ta call?”
“No. It’s just that in the past, you’ve always been in touch within twenty-four hours. I didn’t expect you to wait this long.”
There was a projected lightness in his tone that was trying to conceal the concern she detected. She smiled, then winced. Ashlyn may not have hit her head as hard as they thought, but her face had struck the steering wheel. When the nurse had helped her to the bathroom she’d seen the purplish-blue patches expanding on the right side.
“Mmmm sahry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Reawy, Sssteve. I—”
“Ashlyn, it’s okay.” He paused. “You sound…a little out of it.”
“Ssss jes…” She rubbed her forehead, took a breath and focused on enunciating every word. “It’s been busy.”
“How are you settling in?”
A fire, a confrontation, a partner who dumped her every chance he got, a body, a lie…
“Ashlyn?”
She exhaled. “SSSSs all sech a mess.”
“What happened?”
“Uh hit a deer.”
“You hit a…Please tell me there isn’t a bad joke about women drivers somewhere in this.”
“No, it’s not thahht. I jess…it’s juss…” Her head was starting to clear a bit, and she focused on every word to get it right. “We’ve been working pretty much nonstop since we found a body.”
“You couldn’t tell me where you were going before you left. Are you sure you can talk about it now?”
Ashlyn rubbed her forehead. “Yeah. I don’t know why they wanted it kept quiet. This task force, the case, it’s a real mess.”
“Wait. You’re on the task force, the Missing Killer?”
“The what?”
“It’s what the press are calling it now. The girls go missing for a long time and are murdered months after they disappeared. Some reporter must have thought it was clever.”
“Good thing the press doesn’t know the holdbacks. I can just imagine what they’d come up with then.”
“So you’re in Nighthawk Crossing.”
“Um hmm.”
“And?”
“I’m in de hawshpital.” She felt the clouds coming back to cover her brain and tried to keep her eyes open, but they pushed shut despite her efforts.
That was met with silence.
“I’ll be awwite.”
“Well, good. You want to talk to me about what’s going on?”
She glanced at the cup on the portable tray table beside her. “I jest took some…sumthin for de pain.”
“Which explains why you’re fading in and out. We can talk tomorrow. Whenever you’re up to it.”
The blur of the truck, something about it familiar, Nolan’s Rodeo turning onto the Johnson property, her giving Nolan the wrong information, Nolan lying to Sullivan about why they were out there in two vehicles…
“Sis a mess.”
He paused. “You said that.”
“Sahwy.” She yawned. “But it’s twoo.”
There was another pause. “What’s eating at you, Ashlyn?”
She closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to focus. At least in her own mind, her next sentence came out crystal clear. “Did you ever have a partner you couldn’t trust?”
Silence. In her mind’s eye she could imagine Steve’s face, the look of shock as he sat down in his chair. He wouldn’t want to answer the question, he’d want to advise her. That was what he did. Her mentor, not really her friend.
“Yes.”
Her eyes opened. “How’d you deal with it?”
“I…I don’t know. It didn’t last long. I guess that means I didn’t really have to deal with it.”
“This case.”
“What about it?”
Close her eyes and she could see herself standing outside the station the first day, knocking on the door, nobody answering. Like a symbol of the whole case to date. Her trying to find a way in, the boys shutting her out.
“Ashlyn?”
“I…I found these copies of the files someone was sneaking out. People are lying. I don’t know what’s going on.” Her brain was starting to feel foggy, and she pushed herself upright with her left arm so that she could try to stay awake.
“Papers haven’t said much. They named three or four men with more experience, guys who’ve worked in the communities in the area for a while.”
“Makes no sense,” she murmured.
“What?”
“Small-town men. Ahwl togeddah. This…not…not used to dis.” Her brain was fogging up again.
“You aren’t on the same shift with them?”
She started to shake her head, then felt the protest of her neck and remembered she was holding a phone. “Nah.”
“Who are you working with?”
“I godda young…” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Tain. Jerk.”
“He’s your partner?”
“No.” She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her forehead.
“Ashlyn, are you sure you’re okay?”
“T-tiwed. Dwugs. Call…latah.”
Whatever he said back to her, she couldn’t make sense of it as she leaned back against the pillows and dropped the phone.
When Ashlyn opened her eyes, she blinked at the brightness, which was somehow different from how she remembered it from earlier when she’d woken to find herself in a hospital bed. Strange. Wouldn’t they have turned the lights off or down during the night?
Against the far wall, the light filled in the gaps. Sunshine was filtering in through the window.
“Damn.” It was morning, and not first thing in the morning either. She glanced around the room until she remembered her watch on stand by the bed.
8:57.
“Argh.” It wasn’t a shooting pain that soared through her as she sat up this time, but a dull ache that spread into her arms but didn’t hit her in the back of the head.
The door had been closed. She hadn’t processed the fact that she was in a private room the night before. It seemed odd, especially since her injuries weren’t supposed to be that severe.
A quick glance over her hands and arms told her she wasn’t attached to any monitors or IVs or anything. The tray table had been moved over, closer to the wall, and the cup she’d used the night before was gone.
She looked to the other side of the bed and saw that the handset had been replaced. Ashlyn had a vague recollection of dropping it before she’d passed out.
The one thing her scan of the room hadn’t revealed was clothes. As she thought back over the night before she tried to remember if she’d seen her clothes in the bathroom, but couldn’t recall.
Ashlyn swung her legs over the side of the bed and slid off. The jolt of hitting the floor caused a small ripple of pain to spread up her back but it passed quickly and she made it to the bathroom without reaching for anything to steady her balance.
Other than the standard hospital bathroom essentials, it was empty.
Breaking out of the hospital in a thin gown that was loosely tied in the back didn’t strike her as a good idea, and it suddenly occurred to her that she hadn’t seen her keys or coat either. All she’d been left with was her watch, wallet and cell phone.
And she’d crashed her car. It wouldn’t be waiting for her outside.
Ashlyn hobbled back to the bed and eased herself down. Until a doctor released her or someone from the department showed up, she was trapped.
She reached for her cell phone and flipped it open. As she pulled up the number she grabbed her wallet and took out her calling card, then set it on the table beside the bed. The pain trail deepened as she lifted her feet and twisted her body to lie down on the bed, and she reached for the mattress with her hands to take some of the pressure off her lower back.
Another day of desk duty.
Ashlyn grabbed the handset of the hospital phone and made her call.
“Good morning.”
“You sound better.”
“Sorry about that.” She glanced at her watch again. 9:31. Had it really taken that long to walk to the bathroom and back? She’d have to count herself lucky to get desk duty instead of a day of sick leave. “You busy?”
“I made a few calls after you dropped the phone last night.”
She felt her cheeks burn but noticed it didn’t hurt as much when she smiled this time. “Sorry.”
“Have you noticed how many times you’ve apologized to me?”
“I’m—” She stopped herself.
“Last night you sounded hesitant. Unsure. I thought maybe it was the painkillers.” He was silent for a moment. “What’s eating at you?”
Same wording he’d used the night before. She was starting to realize just how appropriate it was.
“You said something about finding copies last night. This is strictly between you and me,” Steve said, “but from what I hear, someone’s leaked information about the investigation. That’s why the newspapers got involved.”
“But…that doesn’t make sense. The task force was formed in response to the media pressure. How would somebody leak information about an investigation before they were assigned to it?” She closed her eyes, the answer hitting her just as she finished asking the question. “Okay, someone who was involved before the task force was created has a big mouth.”
“Well, someone’s been talking, because it’s been splashed all over the front page of the Sun today that the task force believes there’s a connection to some recent murders in Surrey.”
She groaned. “We’re pursuing that as a possibility.”
“I think you’re looking for someone closer to home. One of the officers named Winters was following up on the most promising lead. He’d questioned a trucker who’d been seen talking to Millie Harper just before she disappeared. Turned out the trucker’s name had come up when he questioned witnesses who’d reported seeing one of the other girls just before she went missing.”
Ashlyn frowned. “That’s not in the files.”
“Winters was originally partnered with a constable named…Tain. For some reason, Sullivan didn’t want Tain on the task force. Something about a tip Tain had, about a cross-border smuggling operation. A bust went bad, but Tain didn’t want to give it up. This is where it gets haz
y. All I know is, Winters was assaulted, and that’s when Sullivan finally made Tain part of the team. Winters is on medical leave. And I didn’t get that through proper channels, Ashlyn. I made some calls.”
Nobody had told Ashlyn what had happened to the man she’d replaced. Now she understood why. She groaned. “All this time he kept leaving me in the office. I thought I was being brushed off.”
“Who, Tain?”
“No. He’s on my shift, but he’s not my partner.”
“Now you’re wondering if you were being protected.”
“Honestly, I…I’m so confused. My partner lied to our sergeant.”
“And now you have to decide if you’re going to get his back or rat him out.”
“Thing is, I…I tricked him.”
There was silence for a moment before Steve asked, “Why would you do that?”
“To get out of the office. To prove I can do more than dial phone numbers and take messages.”
“Ashlyn, you can’t let these guys rattle you.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
“If you start off thinking they’re against you because you’re a woman, you’ll be trying so hard to prove yourself you won’t have any time left to do your job. And they’ll sense it, and only make things harder for you. If you let them know they’ve got your number they’ll keep dialing the phone.” Steve paused. “Look, I don’t have much time now. What are you going to do about Sullivan?”
Ashlyn bit her lip. “I don’t know. All I know is someone’s leaking info. You confirmed that yourself. All these guys were involved with at least one of the cases before the task force was started. Even Sullivan. I don’t know who to trust.”
“Listen to your gut. What’s one thing you’re certain of?”
“That Nolan’s going to take my head off first chance he gets.”
“Nolan?”
“Craig Nolan. My partner.”
Silence. After a moment, she heard Steve release a deep breath. “He lied to your sergeant?”
She sighed. “I gave him the wrong address for this lead. Sullivan had ordered us to chase it down together, but as soon as the sergeant was gone Nolan told me to stay at the office. I had the info, I’d brought it up at the meeting, and I’d just backed Nolan up on a lead he was following…”
Lullaby for the Nameless (Nolan, Hart & Tain Thrillers) Page 51