by J. A. Jance
“And where exactly did the cops find Kip?” Ali asked. “You never did say.”
“Just off the freeway at Mund’s Park,” Sandy said. “Around eleven somebody called nine-one-one from the gas station on the other side of the interstate and reported a fight in progress. Cops were dispatched to the scene. That’s where they found him. He was in such bad shape that they took him out in a helicopter.”
Yes, Ali definitely remembered seeing the helicopter when she’d been with her father at the rest area. She also remembered seeing emergency vehicles still assembled around Mund’s Park when she had gone there to pick up Crystal. She had assumed she was seeing the tail-end of some traffic mishap. Now it seemed otherwise.
Using the rearview mirror, Ali glanced into the backseat. For some reason, Crystal had removed her earphones. She was sitting with her arms folded across her chest, staring out the window. She seemed to be hearing none of the conversation, but something about her bearing put Ali on edge. She was listening, all right, listening with avid attention, but without wanting anyone to know what she was doing. Ali wasn’t her mother’s daughter for nothing.
“Crystal,” Ali said. “Did you see anything out of line that night?”
Crystal jumped and feigned ignorance. “What?” she asked.
“You were at Mund’s Park that same night Kip Hogan was attacked. Did you see any of that?”
“No,” Crystal answered without hesitation. “I didn’t see a thing.”
Ali knew for a fact that the girl was lying, but if Crystal had witnessed some of the horrific attack on Kip, it was possible she was lying for good reason-because she was petrified.
Sandy was quiet for a long time. When she spoke again, she seemed not to have noticed any of the byplay between Ali and Crystal.
“I didn’t want to tell your dad about this because I didn’t want to upset him,” Sandy said. “But the person at the hospital told me that Kip is in very serious condition. Critical condition. What if they’re trying to locate his next of kin in case they need to pull the plug?”
“What do you know about his family?” Ali returned.
“Not much,” Sandy admitted. “All he said was that they were estranged-that he hadn’t spoken to his mother in years.”
“Did he tell you why?” Ali asked.
“No.”
“And he never gave you any kind of a hint as to where he was from?”
“No. I’m pretty sure he grew up somewhere here in Arizona. I picked that up from little comments he made now and then, but he never said where exactly.”
As a journalist, Ali knew that the Internet had, at the click of a mouse, made searches available to a lot of non-law-enforcement people who would never have been able to access the information before. And Ali did have her trusty computer along, but in order to begin a search, she needed to have a snippet of information.
“We could probably find out,” Ali said. “Is Kip his real name, or is it short for something?”
“I don’t know,” Sandy answered. “We never really talked about that, either.”
It occurred to Ali that there was a lot Sandy and Kip had never discussed, and maybe that was all right. Maybe at some point, it was best just to disregard the past and move on. Sometimes that was the only way to move on.
Ali reached over and engaged the Cayenne’s hands-free cell phone. A moment later, Dave Holman’s voice came through the speakerphone.
“Just hanging out in the courthouse lobby,” he replied in answer to Ali’s question about what he was doing. “We’re all waiting to find out if the case is going to go to trial today. I was about to give you a call.”
Quickly Ali explained where they were going, what they were doing, and why. “Since you’ve got a spare moment, could you maybe check with the department of licensing and see if Kip Hogan has a valid driver’s license?”
“He must,” Dave said. “He’s been driving your dad’s Bronco all over hell and gone for months now.”
“Those would be my mother’s sentiments exactly,” Ali said. “It would also be nice to know who, if anyone, is listed as next of kin, and if Kip is his given name or if it’s a nickname.”
“Wait a minute,” Dave said. “Why are you asking about next of kin? Since the assault took place in Coconino County, they’ll probably want to have their people handle that end of things.”
“We’re on our way to the hospital, and someone there asked Sandy. They need the information, too.”
“All right,” Dave agreed. “I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, how’s it going?”
As in how’s it going with your daughter from hell? Ali thought.
“You’re on speakerphone, Dave,” Ali told him. “Crystal’s right here. Why don’t you ask her yourself?”
“Crystal?” Dave asked.
“I’m fine!” Crystal answered abruptly.
In the annals of woman-speak, it was a cold, two-raised-eyebrows fine-the most dangerous kind. Ali knew that things between her and Dave’s temperamental daughter were anything but fine. Unfortunately Dave Holman was totally oblivious to the reality of the situation.
“Excellent,” he said enthusiastically. “I’m delighted to know that two of my favorite people are spending some quality time together.”
The speakerphone didn’t come close to transmitting the sneer Crystal Holman leveled at the back of Ali’s head. The rearview mirror did.
“I’ll see what I can do about Kip, though,” Dave added. “Since I’m right here in the courthouse, I should be able to get someone to help me. I don’t know how long it’ll take, and if my case gets called…”
“Check if you can; don’t if you can’t,” Ali said. It was her way of letting Dave off the hook.
“Thanks so much, Detective Holman,” Sandy said. “I really appreciate anything you can do.”
As they approached the hospital, Sandy grew more and more apprehensive. Ali didn’t blame her. Hospitals affected her that same way.
“How much do you think all this is going to cost?” Sandy asked. “I mean, I know for sure that Kip doesn’t have any insurance. What if they ask me to pay his bill?”
After dealing with her first husband’s glioblastoma, Ali happened to have more than a passing knowledge of how much brain surgery had cost twenty or so years ago. It was far more expensive than that now. Combine that with ICU care and medevac costs, and there could be little doubt that the price tag on Kip’s injuries already amounted to a budget-busting sum.
By then they had pulled up next to the hospital entrance.
“Don’t sign anything at all,” Ali cautioned. “If that means you don’t get any information on his condition right away, we’ll just have to live with it. But remember; sign nothing.”
“Aren’t you coming up?” Sandy asked.
“In a little while,” Ali said. “Write down my cell phone number so you can call if you need to, but first Crystal and I have a couple of errands we need to run.”
As soon as Sandy exited the Cayenne, so did Crystal, slamming her way out of the backseat and into the front one. “What errands?” she said. “Is this when we go to Wal-Mart and buy me some different clothes?”
“No,” Ali said. “This would be where the two of us have a little heart-to-heart chat. I want you to tell me everything you know about what happened in Mund’s Park.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” Crystal said. “I didn’t see anything.” But the sullen look she shot back in Ali’s direction was a dead giveaway.
“Let’s not play games,” Ali said. “I know you saw something. You can either tell me the truth, or I’ll find a cop who will ask you the same questions. In fact, I’m sure the homicide detectives from Coconino County will be delighted to talk to you.”
“Why do you keep threatening me with stuff?” Crystal asked. “Why don’t you just leave me alone?”
“Crystal,” Ali urged. “This is an attempted homicide. If Kip Hogan dies it’ll be more than attempted. Don’t you want to
help?”
“Why should I?” Crystal returned. “It’s none of my business.”
Ali’s phone rang then. It was Dave. Since they were still parked, Ali answered the call without putting it on speaker.
“You’re not going to believe this,” Dave said. “Rudyard Kipling Hogan.”
“That’s his name?” Ali asked.
“Yup. No wonder no one’s ever seen his driver’s license. With a handle like that, I wouldn’t show it to anyone, either.”
“What about a home address?”
“I checked on that. He listed a homeless shelter in Phoenix as his permanent address.”
“And next of kin?”
“None listed. He’s an organ donor, though. I told the person in records what the deal was. She’s faxing the information to both Coconino County and to the hospital down in Phoenix as well.”
“Thanks,” Ali said. “You’ve been a huge help.”
“Are you there yet?” Dave asked. “It sounds pretty grim. Any word on how he is?”
“When we know something, I’ll call,” Ali said.
Behind her, a cabdriver laid on the horn and motioned for her to move out of the way.
“Gotta go,” Ali said. “I’m blocking traffic.”
She hung up the phone, drove forward far enough to turn onto Thomas, and then looked across at Crystal. “Well?” Ali demanded. “What’s it going to be?”
“I already told you,” Crystal said. “I didn’t actually see anything, not really.”
“You must have seen something,” Ali returned.
Driving West on Thomas, Ali turned off onto a side street and then threaded her way through a neighborhood until she reached an almost deserted parking lot at Encanto Park. Once she turned off the engine, she focused her attention on Crystal.
“Please tell me,” Ali said.
Crystal gave a resigned shrug. “Well, the guy who gave me a ride from Flagstaff pulled over there at Mund’s Park so we could…well, you know…do it. And we were, or at least I was, when all of a sudden he started cussing and said, ‘We have to get the hell out of here. Something’s wrong.’ By the time I sat up, he was already hauling ass. I thought there were cops coming or something, but when we drove away, all I saw were three guys standing there in the headlights. They were sort of standing in a circle, and one of them was holding something. It looked like a baseball bat, but I’m not sure. Then I realized there was someone else there, too, a fourth guy, only he was lying on the ground. I could see he was covered with something that looked like tar, but it was probably blood.”
Ali nodded. “What happened then?” she prompted.
“I was scared,” Crystal said. “I just wanted to take off and get as far away from there as possible. Curt said we had to call nine-one-one.”
“Curt?” Ali asked.
Crystal nodded. “That’s his name, Curt. I had a cell phone and so did he, but Curt said we shouldn’t use them. Instead, we drove across the freeway to a gas station. There was a phone booth out back. While Curt made the call, I went inside and hid in the restroom. I was afraid they’d seen me when we drove past and that they’d come there looking for me-for us. When I came out, Curt was gone and so was his car. I didn’t see the guys with the bat, but they could have been there. I knew I couldn’t hang around the gas station any longer without people asking questions, so the minute I could, I made a run for it. That’s when I broke into the house. I stayed there for a while, but it was cold and I was hungry, so I finally called my dad.”
“Could you identify the vehicle the bad guys were driving?” Ali asked.
“No.”
“So you don’t know how they left Mund’s Park or which way they went?”
Crystal shook her head. “While I was still in the restroom, I heard the sirens. I knew Curt must have gotten through because the cops were already there. And a little later, while I was hiding in the house, I saw the helicopter land and take off.”
“If you knew the cops were there, why didn’t you talk to them?” Ali asked. “Why didn’t you tell them what you’d seen?”
“Because I knew they’d want to know who I was and what I was doing there.” Crystal’s voice cracked. “And because I knew they’d tell my dad,” she said with a sob. “You won’t tell him about me, will you? Please?”
The tough-talking, smart-mouthed Crystal seemed to have disappeared completely, leaving behind a girl who was little more than a child-a scared, lost child. She broke Ali’s heart.
“Somebody needs to tell him,” Ali said softly. “But I won’t if you don’t want me to.”
CHAPTER 9
Ali put the Cayenne in gear and pulled out of the parking space.
“Where are we going now?” Crystal wanted to know.
“Back to the hospital,” Ali said.
“Do we have to?” Crystal asked.
“Yes, we have to,” Ali returned. “In case Sandy needs us. Now tell me again about the guys you saw at Mund’s Park-the ones with the bat. Would you recognize their faces?”
Crystal hesitated before she answered. “Probably not,” she said finally. “We were driving pretty fast when we went past them. I only saw them for a second or two.”
Crystal’s momentary pause had already alerted Ali’s natural lie-detecting system. She suspected that everything Crystal had said after that pause was a fib, but for the moment Ali seemed prepared to let that statement go unchallenged.
“From what you did see, would you say they were older or younger?” she asked.
“Older, I guess,” Crystal returned. “Maybe a couple of years older than my brother Richey.”
You did see them well enough after all, Ali thought. She said, “So they might have been in high school then, or maybe even in college?”
Crystal nodded.
“What about Curt, the guy who gave you a ride?” Ali asked.
“What about him?”
“Is it possible that he saw the attackers better than you did?”
“I suppose,” Crystal agreed reluctantly.
“We need to find him,” Ali said.
Crystal stiffened in her seat. This time there was no hesitation at all. “Why?” she demanded. “Why do you need to find him?”
“Because Curt is a witness to a crime,” Ali responded firmly. “An eyewitness to an attempted homicide, and so are you. Maybe Curt got a better look at the bad guys’ faces than you did. Maybe he’d be able to recognize them. In any event, the cops working the case are going to want to talk to both of you. In order to find the men who tried to kill Kip Hogan, the detectives will need your help.”
By then they had arrived once more at the hospital garage.
“I can’t,” Crystal insisted. “I know Curt’s first name, but that’s all. And I don’t know how to find him, either.”
“What kind of a car does he drive?”
It was almost as though Ali’s questioning had toggled some kind of switch. Crystal immediately retreated into her shell. She shrugged and didn’t answer. While they’d been at the park, Ali had felt she was making progress with Crystal-as though she was getting somewhere. Now she wasn’t.
“What kind of car?” Ali insisted.
“I don’t know,” Crystal answered angrily. “And I wouldn’t tell you if I did. I mean, he could get in trouble, too, couldn’t he-for being with me like that?”
“Yes, he could be in trouble-and most likely would be,” Ali conceded. Big trouble, she thought. “No matter what the boys at your school may say, having oral sex with a minor-and you are a minor, by the way-is a crime. What you and Curt did together, even if it was consensual, makes him a sexual predator. I’m sure he knew it was wrong, and so did you. Otherwise you wouldn’t be so worried about your father finding out.”
She glanced at Crystal, who stared straight ahead and didn’t reply.
“Even so,” Ali continued, “let’s give the guy some credit. Curt was still willing to do the right thing-at least as far as calling in and repo
rting the assault on Kip was concerned. He went to the trouble of driving across the freeway to that gas station and placing the nine-one-one call. What we need for him to do now is come forward and tell the cops anything else he might know. And regardless of whether or not your father finds out about what you and Curt were doing, you need to do the same thing, Crystal. You need to talk to the investigators and tell them what you saw.”
“No,” Crystal insisted. “I won’t talk to them. I don’t have to. And I don’t want to go into the hospital, either. You go see Sandy. I’ll just wait for you in the car.”
Ali couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that in the space of a few minutes-the time it had taken to drive several city blocks-Crystal Holman had managed to do another one-eighty, from a tearful little girl to a recalcitrant, hostile teenager.
“No,” Ali replied simply. “You’re not waiting in the car.” Ali climbed out of the Cayenne and then reached into the backseat to collect her purse and computer bag, both of which she slung over her shoulder. Then she walked around to the far side of the car and opened the passenger door for Crystal. “You’re coming with me,” she said.
“You’re not my mother. You can’t make me do anything if I don’t want to,” Crystal returned.
Ali was unimpressed. “Oh?” she said. “Watch me. All I have to do is call the cops and report you as a truant. Children your age are supposed to be in school, you know.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” Crystal objected. “Besides, you told my dad you’d look after me.”
“I am looking after you, honey lamb,” Ali returned in a tone that brooked no further argument. “Which is why you’re getting your sorry butt out of my car right now and coming into the hospital with me. Move it!”
There was a long pause, during which Ali wondered what would happen if the confrontation turned physical and she had to reach into the car and bodily drag Crystal out of the passenger seat. Would someone see her and call the cops, reporting the incident as child abuse or an assault or both? At that point, she didn’t much care.