Neal realized that there were tears streaming down his face. He was sobbing with relief at finding Lin still alive.
“They’re all alive,” the deputy shouted up, “but two of them aren’t conscious. They’re in pretty bad shape. There’s a young man here who’s been shot and one of the women has a badly broken leg. One’s awake, she’s got a boot on her foot though. They’re all really dehydrated. Get me all the water we’ve got down here and radio for help. We’ll need a full EMT crew, a ladder, rope slings, and three carry boards. No one here has enough strength to walk out of this place.”
The men at the top moved into action. While the deputy radioed for the help they needed, Mark and Neal gathered water bottles from all the packs. They emptied one backpack and filled it with the plastic bottles. Then they sent it down via the climbing rope. That was really all that they could do until more help arrived.
Neal asked Mark for his flashlight and moved to the edge of the pit. He used the light to get a view of the pit for himself. Lin had moved to her spot near Sue and was sitting against the wall. She appeared to have her eyes closed. Neal flashed the light in her face a couple of times and called her name. When he saw her eyes open, he placed the light in his own lap so that she could see him.
“It’s me Lin, Neal. I’m right here and we’re going to get all of you out of there soon. Just hang tight. Help is coming.” He saw her nod, but she didn’t say anything. He saw the deputy hand her a bottle of water and watched as she first rinsed her mouth, spitting out grit and mud and then took a long seemingly satisfying drink. Then he watched as she reached over and placed the bottle at Sue Gray’s lips.
***
The first faint hints of dawn were just breaking when Neal and Mark pulled up to park at the Watauga Medical Center. They’d first taken Zach to his vehicle. He was going to start the process of staking out the supply of ginseng they’d discovered in the hopes of arresting those responsible for the poaching and the kidnappings.
It had taken almost all night to get the emergency medical teams into the area with the proper equipment, extricate the victims from the pit, carry them out to the road, and finally transport them to the hospital. By the time help had arrived not even Lin was able to talk about the ordeal. She’d still been awake and had tried valiantly to talk, but her words were so raspy and labored that no one understood what she was trying to tell them.
“Just wait,” Neal had told her. “Just stay quiet and rest. You can talk later.” After that she’d actually fallen asleep. Neither Sue nor the young man, identified by Mark as Luke Taylor, were conscious at all.
Now Neal slowly extricated his tired body from the vehicle and headed for the emergency entrance. There was no sign of an ambulance at the entrance. Evidently, the crews had arrived and unloaded the victims while Neal and Mark had been transporting Zach. Now they entered the lobby and approached the girl at the desk.
“We’re looking for the three folks just brought in, sometime in the last hour, there were two women and a young man?” Neal questioned the girl on duty.
“Yes, sir, they’re here—they’ve already been taken back. Are you a family member? Can you complete the paperwork?”
“One of the ladies is my fiancé. I’d like to see her. Her name is Lin Hanna, but I don’t know if she was awake when she got here,” Neal chaffed at the idea that he couldn’t just simply head back to locate Lin but he tried to be patient.
Mark stepped up and displayed his park ranger badge, “Actually, this is all part of a federal, criminal case and I represent the federal authorities. I need to see the victims as soon as possible—to confirm identifications.”
Neal wasn’t sure if this was true or not, but Mark sounded authoritative enough apparently and the young lady swung into action, calling for a doctor and ushering them into the emergency treatment area.
Neal immediately began searching for Lin, finally locating her in one of the curtained treatment cubicles. She was seemingly asleep, stretched out full length on a gurney now cleaned up and in hospital garb with an IV drip in her left arm. Neal recognized it as providing the fluids the emergency crew had begun to administer. He leaned over her sleeping form and planted a gentle kiss on her dry lips. Just at that moment a tall, angular person, who seemed to have some authority, stepped into the area, “Just who let you back here? Who are you anyway?” The woman asked as she began to check Lin’s vitals.
“I’m Dr. Neal Smith,” Neal didn’t deem it necessary to reveal that his degree was in archeology, “and this is my fiancé, Lin Hanna, and I’m not going anywhere.” This last designed to quell any impending eviction the woman might have in mind.
“The doctor hasn’t seen her yet but it looks like mostly some scrapes and bruises. She’s dehydrated though,” the nurse noted as she adjusted the IV drip. The activity woke Lin who looked around and smiled when she saw Neal.
“Hey, there,” the nurse said, smiling at her patient, “What happened to you? Did this guy beat you up?”
Lin managed a smile as she replied, “Nope. Somebody literally threw me into a hole in the ground—about twenty feet deep.”
“You’re heading for x-ray next,” the nurse commented. “The doc wants a full set of pictures to look at before he examines you, but you look like you’re not in too bad a shape. She turned to Neal. “You really should sit this one out, besides. I’m sure you could help admitting with her paperwork—at least part of it.”
Neal wanted to go with Lin but decided not to fight it. Instead he went back out to see what he could learn about the others. Mark was standing in the center of the area talking to a doctor as Neal approached. As soon as Neal arrived the doctor turned and offered his hand in greeting. “I’m Dr. Stewart and I’ll be examining your fiancé as soon as she comes back from x-ray. She’s last on my list because her injuries initially appeared to be less than the others. I do plan to admit her though, at least for twenty-four hours. She’s badly dehydrated and needs IV fluids and maybe some prophylactic antibiotics. I’ll call you when I finish my examination and know the full extent of her injuries.” He turned and left the room.
“Let’s get a coffee and maybe a bite to eat,” Mark said. “The cafeteria here isn’t bad and Lin will be gone at least an hour. You probably need to go by registration too and give them what information you have.”
“What about Sue and Luke?” Neal asked as they headed for the hospital dining room.
“Both pretty bad, I think,” Mark replied. “They’ve both been taken to surgery already. Luke was shot, not sure about internal injuries, but he’s lost a lot of blood and has a fever so probably some infection. Same with Sue, she’s running a high fever and has a compound fracture of her femur. Not sure what else might be wrong though.”
They had just sat down with coffee and a hot breakfast sandwich when Neal realized that he’d completely forgotten about Lin’s kids. He’d been so wrapped up in the search and then the rescue effort. Most likely cell service would’ve been difficult if not impossible from where they’d been. He resolved to call Ben, Jr. as soon as he’d finished eating. He also hadn’t had a chance to talk to Ted Whitley. He’d be sure to do that before he left the hospital.
Both men were tired and hungry. They ate without talking for several minutes. Finally, Mark pushed his plate aside and spoke, “Was Lin able to talk? Did she share any information with you?”
“She was awake,” Neal said, “but they took her to x-ray before I could really ask her any questions. When we were back at the pits though she was trying to tell me something but couldn’t. I’m sure she has some information to give you.”
“Then I’ll wait to talk to her,” Mark replied, “The other two were out of it and didn’t say anything at all.”
Neal looked at his watch. It had only been forty-five minutes since they’d taken Lin back to x-ray. He excused himself and went outside to call Lin’s kids. He was happy to let them know that their mother had been found and wasn’t badly injured. Promising to keep th
em in the loop, he next decided to try to see Ted Whitley. It was early but Neal knew he’d want to know what was going on. He excused himself and left to go upstairs.
He found Ted awake, but looking a bit disheveled. “Hi there,” Neal said, poking his head into the room. “I’m here to tell you that we found them—both Lin and Sue along with Luke Taylor. I’ll come back later to fill you in on all the details but I wanted you to know that Sue wasn’t conscious when they brought her in. She has a pretty badly broken leg, maybe other injuries, probably some infection. She’s in surgery right now—that’s all I know.”
“At least she’s alive,” Ted said, “They’ll probably bring her up here, at least eventually. This is the surgical floor. Thanks for coming to tell me and thanks for finding her.”
“You’re welcome, but of course I had motivation of my own. Lin was missing too,” Neal said. “Fortunately, we were right in thinking that they might be together. We don’t know the whole story yet though,” he glanced at his watch, “I’ve got to head back down to the emergency room now, but I will come back later and fill you in on all I know—might be tonight.”
That’s fine. Go take care of your girl,” Ted grinned, “I’ll bug the nurses around here and find out what I can about Sue.”
Neal made his way back down to the emergency room, arriving just as Lin returned from X-ray. Her skin tone was already improved—in spite of the bruises. The doctor arrived shortly and gave them the good news that she had no broken bones and no serious internal injuries.
“You must’ve landed on your back though. In addition to extensive bruising in that area there seems to be some internal bruising of the kidneys. You may experience some lower back pain for a while, but that should resolve itself fairly quickly. That ankle you sprained earlier needs more pampering than you’ve given it recently, but still should heal fine. It may take a couple of extra weeks though. Be sure you stay off it completely for the next 2 or 3 days—not even the boot before then. Otherwise, you’re just badly dehydrated. I want to admit you for twenty-four hours to give you fluids.” He turned to Neal, “I’ll also prescribe some pain killers and an antibiotic to help prevent infection—especially for the kidneys. We’ll have her upstairs shortly, and you can plan on her being discharged tomorrow morning.”
Neal wanted to stay until Lin was settled in a room, but it appeared that might take awhile. Neal told her that Mark Scott would find her soon. “He wants to know everything that happened.”
“I’ll try to stay awake for him,” Lin replied, already feeling the effects of the relaxants she’d been given.
Neal stopped by the admissions office but couldn’t be of much help as all of Lin’s information was back at the house. He got a form and promised to return with the information in the afternoon.
Hospitals and red tape, Neal thought as he left to go find Mark. The two are synonymous. He was eager to get home and rest but Mark was his transportation and he needed to talk to Lin. Neal walked back through the emergency room and found Mark doing just that. Lin was parked in the hallway, awaiting transport to a room upstairs and was deep in conversation with the young ranger. The conversation ended just as Neal approached.
“Thanks, Lin. This has been invaluable. Now we know what we have to do next. You take care and try to get some rest,” Mark said turning toward Neal. “I’ll catch you up as I drive you home. This lady is about to go to sleep on me anyway.”
Neal leaned over and kissed Lin gently on her forehead. “I’ll be back this afternoon—have a good nap.”
***
As Mark drove Neal back to the house, he brought him up to date on Lin’s report about what happened.
“This will really help,” he said, “I think the Ashe County deputies were planning to put surveillance out near those ore pits anyway since we found those bundles. They want to know if anyone comes for them. I’m pretty sure they contain the ginseng these guys have been poaching. Lin said one of the voices she heard mentioned ‘sang’ and that’s the local slang term for the plant. Apparently, at least one of the other men was Luke Taylor’s uncle, and she was positive that another voice she heard belonged to Dave Winkler, the Watauga County Deputy. I just wish she’d been able to make a visual identification of him.”
“If he is involved in this operation that would explain why he’s been so seemingly hostile toward Sue and Lin, as well as why his department seems to have been dragging their feet when it came to investigating the incidents at their house,” Neal replied.
“You’re right,” Mark said, “but a good lawyer can make mincement out of a voice based identification, especially if the person making the identification has experienced some sort of trauma, but I’m going forward with this. We’ll find out what’s going on. I promise.”
Neal thanked the young ranger as he exited the car. “Please stay in touch. We’ll both want to know what’s going on.”
He went into the house and started upstairs to shower and get some rest.
As Neal got upstairs he realized how very tired he really was. He’d been up more than twenty-four hours and those hours hadn’t exactly been easy or relaxing. He headed straight for the bed, deciding he’d wait til later to shower. First he set an alarm to make sure he’d get up in time to visit the hospital admissions office before it closed. He fell asleep almost immediately. A deep, peaceful rest—the first he’d really had since Lin had gone missing.
Chapter 30
After he dropped Neal off, Mark Scott immediately tried to contact Zach Taylor. He knew that Zach had planned to establish a stakeout of the area near the ore pits with the help of the local authorities. He hoped that they’d been successful in arresting the men responsible for this whole thing. He wasn’t surprised when his attempt to call Zach’s cell phone was unsuccessful. Cell service in the backcountry was always spotty. His next option was to call the Ashe County Sheriff’s Department. There he learned that they had maintained radio contact with the surveillance operation, but thus far, no one had returned to the scene of the crime.
It was now almost eight a.m. The day promised to be a sunny one—a major improvement over the fog and mist they’d faced the night before. Mark was dead tired, and he knew the same was true for Zach and the other men on duty. He wanted to go help them, but he also realized that his arrival could prove untimely and could actually interfere with their operation. He opted instead to ask the dispatcher in Ashe County to notify him directly at his home if they heard anything from the team. Then he called in to his own office and headed to his house for a much needed shower and a short nap.
***
Mark awoke from a deep sleep to the ringing of his cell phone on his nightstand. Glancing at the clock he saw that it was about ten-thirty; he’d only been asleep a couple of hours. He saw that the caller was the Ashe County Sheriff’s department so he answered quickly.
“This is Mark Scott,” his voice betrayed that he’d been asleep.
“Sorry to wake you, Ranger Scott,” it was the dispatcher he’d spoken with earlier, “but you said to let you know when we heard from the surveillance team. They just called and they’re on their way in here with three men—Herman and Hiram Hinson and somebody named Clarence Reagan. The three of them were arrested in possession of a rather large amount of illegal ginseng that they were attempting to transport away from those ore mines. They should be in here soon. That FBI agent, Zach Taylor asked if you could meet them here.
“On my way,” Mark replied. “I’ll be there within the hour.” He got up quickly and dressed in a clean uniform. On his way to Jefferson, he hit the drive through at Bojangles and grabbed a ham biscuit and a large coffee. He figured that might have to hold him for the rest of the day.
By the time he arrived at the office in Jefferson, the team had already arrived. The local deputies had taken the arrested men over to the jail to book them, and Zach Taylor was waiting for him. They went back to the conference room to talk.
“I told the guys we’d be over later to q
uestion these men. I think we have them dead to rights on federal poaching charges, and if there’s enough corroborating evidence, the Hinsons can probably be charged with kidnapping and assault by the state, and that’s just for starters. I personally believe that they’re guilty of conspiracy and murder in the death of Bryan Lee and possibly others,” Zach said.
“What about the other guy—this Clarence Reagan fellow? We’ll have to check those notes belonging to Bryan that Neal Smith told us about, but I think that was the name he gave for Lee’s informant, the one they were doing business with. He’s probably going to try to avoid being charged because he had told Bryan about his suspicions, but it’s pretty clear he didn’t pursue things after Bryan died, and he’s still buying from these characters,” Mark asked.
“He’ll go on the poaching charges for sure. Thing is, I really doubt he had anything to do with the kidnappings and assaults, probably not the killings either,” Zach explained. “He’ll likely only get a few months for the illegal operation, we can hope he might know something about the other crimes, but I doubt it.”
Mark was beginning to realize that, without additional evidence, Lin Hanna’s identification of these men by voice alone would never stand up in court. Of course, the ginseng charges were clear, but Dave Winkler hadn’t been present this morning. He would certainly deny any knowledge. Mark knew they’d have to look hard and continue to investigate if justice were to be done for the current victims and for any victims in the past. “Well, let’s get over to the jail and talk to these guys. Maybe, they’ll trip up and tell us what we want to know. Then you need to get some rest. I at least got a nap. You look horrible.”
“I’m about to drop,” Zach confessed as they began walking over to the jail, “but I do want to talk to these men before they can make bail—then I’ll try to get some shuteye before we get back to work on this investigation.”
Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery Page 38