“A car accident,” Davis said in his slow voice. “Head on collision just west of here about three miles back. Never saw so much action going on in this town for years. It don’t rain but it pours.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kent said rising from the bed to pace the cabin floor. “I suppose that’ll hold up the ambulance for a while. Anyone hurt?”
Davis shook his head slowly. “Yep. Two people, one in each car. Don’t know how it happened. Probably sun blindness. It happened on a curve. This old road is dangerous. No one should live up here.”
Kent turned and looked down at Jessie hunched on the bed folding and unfolding her hands. He wished he could scoop her up and take her away from all this. She didn’t deserve to have been placed in such jeopardy, making decisions like shooting people. She was a mild mannered librarian looking for a stable position in the field in order to pursue an ordinary life.
“She’s told you enough, Davis. You can get the rest later, can’t you?”
“She’s told me nothing,” Davis barked. “I want to know — and know now — why a cop was shot, and how all this came about. And you can leave.” He looked straight at Kent.
Kent turned and looked at Jessie. “It’s okay, Kent,” she said softly. “I’ll tell him the whole story.”
She looked uncertain but Kent backed down. He wanted to know the whole story too. Like why did the cop kidnap her? What was his motive? But he’d have to wait. He walked out and closed the door on Davis drawing his chair closer to Jessie.
****
Liz took turns with one of the officers named Brady, and together they applied pressure to Ricardo’s wound. The other officer was at the police cruiser and looked to be talking on a two-way radio. Kent approached the scene and stood above the wounded cop. He looked down on the beads of sweat resting on Ricardo’s forehead. His eyes moved down to the chest area. There was so much blood.
“Is he going to live?” he asked.
“He’s bad,” Liz said. “As you can see, he’s lost a lot of blood.”
“If the ambulance doesn’t come soon,” Brady interjected, “they can substitute it for a hearse.”
“He’s white as chalk,” Kent said. “Can’t you do anything except that?”
“Like what?” Liz replied, giving the job over to Brady and rising. “There’s nothing else to do. Maybe you want to pray for him. I’m finding it hard to do that. Did you talk to Jessie?”
The pair walked across the yard and sat on upturned slabs in the chopped wood pile. “Davis is questioning her. I hope she doesn’t crack,” Kent answered. “She said she’d hit him with a whiskey bottle and got away with the gun, but I’m no closer to knowing why he brought her here in the first place. How did you get involved? Where were you when it happened?”
“Behind the house, on the left side. I saw what was happening inside. At first I was scared to keep looking in the window. But after he began mauling her, I knew he wouldn’t be giving attention to anything else.”
Kent shuddered and shook his head. Liz continued.
“I felt pretty helpless. There she was going to be raped and I was wrestling with my own fears. Should I break in the door or bang on it? If I did he’d go for his gun. Even though I didn’t know where the gun was I knew he did. Jessie wasn’t handcuffed but she’s little. I felt there was no way she could fight him. If only you’d been down here with me, maybe together...”
She looked in Kent’s eyes then turned away, seeing what she thought looked like a bit of guilt there. She didn’t want to lay blame on him. “But I was wrong. She grabbed that bottle. It happened so fast. He fell over on the floor. Boy, she whammed him good, and I never saw anyone move so fast. She knew exactly where the gun was. She grabbed it and ran. I stayed put. It was like watching a movie or dreaming. I was in a fog. Then he recovered, staggering to his feet and rubbing at the back of his head. Then he was after her. I moved then. I skirted around to the back of the cabin and hid at the corner. I could hear them talking and even peeked around to watch. She had her arms outstretched holding the gun, and when I saw him go towards her, I just knew he’d talk her out of shooting. It happened at the motel but you were out cold at the time.”
“But, she did shoot.”
“Yes. And I was shocked. I had thrown a stone and it landed behind him. It made a bigger noise than I anticipated. I think there was something there in the bush. Maybe a rabbit? Something jumped and crashed through the shrubbery. Anyway, the sound made him turn and look, and that’s when she shot him.”
Brady called for Liz and she returned to the job of pressing the wound. Brady walked past Kent in the woodpile. He wiped blood from his hands. “The ambulance is coming.” Kent could hear the siren as well.
Just as the ambulance backed close to Ricardo, Davis came out of the cabin. He looked satisfied and Kent jumped up to check on Jessie. He didn’t speak as he passed Davis. His only concern was seeing how Jessie was holding up.
She was still on the cot when he entered the cabin. She looked up and gave him a weak smile, then stretched her hand towards him. He grasped it before sitting beside her.
“I’m sorry, Kent,” she said in a faltering voice. “I shouldn’t have doubted you about the e mails. When I think of it now it was plain stupid to accuse you, I was just so confused.”
“I understand. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re okay. You were very very brave, Jessie.”
“I was very scared, that’s what I was. How in the world did you and Liz find me?”
“Liz had gone to your apartment to see you, and she saw instead Alvarez leading you out to his cruiser. She followed you and called me on her cell phone. Then I caught up with her at the motel.”
Jessie touched his face with her fingertips. “I thought you were shot, maybe—”
“I was only stunned.” he said quickly. “I recovered and Liz drove, following the cruiser again until he turned off on the road where he abandoned the car.”
“I knew someone was behind us and I hoped they were following, but I didn’t really think it was you two.”
Kent grinned at her. “That was ingenious of you to drop your clothing.”
Jessie smiled again. “It just came to me. Thank God it worked.”
“It was Liz who figured it out. She’s a smart girl and brave too.”
“I know. I owe her my life — and you.”
“You did your part. If you’d never got out of the cabin with the gun, God only knows how the ending might have changed.”
Jessie moved into his arms and he surrounded her with his embrace. They clung together for a brief moment in time. The sun warmed the cabin even though it was still early morning. Then Davis threw open the door.
“You’re coming with me, Miss.”
“What?” Kent’s wide eyes looked at the cop.
“You’re under arrest for the attempted murder of Ricardo Alvarez.”
“But it was self defence,” Kent shouted, while holding onto Jessie’s arm.
“That, young man, remains to be seen. Come along, Miss.” He walked behind Jessie and told her to put her arms behind her back. As she did so, he snapped on handcuffs.
“This is preposterous,” Kent yelled.
Jessie said nothing and neither did Davis. He just walked her to the door and ushered her to the outside.
Kent quickly followed after he got over the shock of what had just happened. As he was at the door entrance, Liz almost bumped into him.
“They’re taking Jessie,” she said. “We have to drive into Wakefield and make statements. Davis wanted to go behind the ambulance and check on Alvarez’s condition.”
****
Bedlam dominated the small trauma room of Wakefield’s Cottage Hospital. Ricardo Alvarez’s body was barely visible beneath the blood-soaked police uniform. It looked more like a pile of old clothing soaking in a tub of blood.
A harried nurse, not used to emergencies in a small town, had already had to deal with a couple of car accident victims
. The medical team had just got them cleared away when this new case came rolling in. She wrapped a blood-pressure cuff around Ricardo’s arm and puffed it quickly. “Pressure’s dropping,” she yelled.
Dr. Reg Farley, a middle-aged doctor, short on stature but long on patience, snapped on latex gloves and held a stethoscope on Ricardo’s chest. “Get a suction tube into him,” he called to the nurse. Glancing at the hanging bags of fluid already dripping a solution of electrolytes and glucose into the patient’s veins, he muttered to the other attending doctor, “I hope you ordered lots of blood.”
Although Nurse Wilson was plump, she was agile. Like lightning the plastic tube appeared in front of the doctor, and she was turning on the suction.
“Free fall,” a second nurse, tall and dark, bellowed. “Seventy...sixty.”
“Christ,” Farley growled. “He’s got to be leaking blood somewhere. Units now!”
Two doctors and three nurses made up the trauma team that swarmed about Ricardo Alvarez. Their mission was just beginning. Before the day was over Ricardo Alvarez might flourish under the guidance of the hospital staff, or he might deteriorate and be rushed to Harbourside, but what was most likely, he might possibly die.
An eerie calm crept over the intensive care room. Ricardo’s dark handsome face wore a ghoulish shade of grey. Circular patches of electronic gear dotted his chest. A breathing tube hung from his mouth. An ECG monitor beeped rhythmically as the trace lines made little mountains and peaks on a green screen. IV dripped methodically above Ricardo’s head. His long, muscular arms rested peacefully at his side.
****
Liz and Kent walked the distance that would lead them to Kent’s car. Liz scooped up all of Jessie’s clothing that hadn’t blown out of reach. They were thirsty and hungry and worried about Jessie.
Once on the path, shaded by the forest of trees, they remained quiet until they reached the car. Kent tossed the tire iron and flashlight into the trunk of his car. He had been carrying Jessie’s overnight bag that Liz had tucked all the retrieved clothing into. He placed it in the trunk also and shut the lid. Liz slid into the passenger side and shut the door. Kent slid under the wheel and they drove into Wakefield to make their statements to the police.
****
The Wakefield Police Department was housed in a century-old heritage building. People in the town of Wakefield had talked about tearing it down just last year, but a save-the-heritage-building committee had been set up by the chief himself. You might have thought that the police department would have loved moving into a brand new building of their own, but not Chief Davis. He was all for restoring and remembering. He liked their headquarters just as they were, and there wasn’t a member of his staff that would go against Chief Davis’s wishes.
Two hours after leaving the cabin, Liz and Kent ascended the old stone steps of the historic building. Liz had worn Kent’s jacket in order to cover her torn blouse. Kent pulled open one of the heavy, large doors, and their footsteps echoed as they walked down the wide hallway.
They came to Chief Davis’s door and Liz knocked, then turned the knob and slowly pushed on the big door with the heavy, opaque glass window. Inside, a young receptionist wearing small, dark-rimmed glasses looked up inquisitively.
Kent cleared his throat. “We’re here to see Chief Davis. He wants to take our statements in the Alvarez shooting.”
“Oh, yes.” The receptionist nodded. “Have a seat, please.” She pushed back her secretary chair and walked to another heavy door with the same style glass top. She knocked three times then entered. No more than a minute later she returned. “You can go in now.” She smiled slightly and returned to her desk.
Chief Davis leaned back in his big leather chair and watched as Liz and Kent entered the room and took seats. Kent noticed the chief was still chewing on something just as he had when they’d met at the cabin. This time he noticed it was a toothpick, and Davis kept switching it from side to side around his mouth.
“You took your time getting here,” Davis remarked. He pulled himself closer to his desk and rifled through some papers.
“We had a long walk through the woods to get back to the car,” Kent replied.
Davis ignored his answer and continued. “Young Ricardo is in a bad way. She did one good job on him.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kent shoot back. Davis had irked him ever since he’d met him, and the chief’s current remark made Kent’s blood boil. “But she was only protecting herself,” he snarled.
“Maybe so, maybe so,” Davis replied. “But from what I’ve heard of late, Ricardo was only trying to protect her.”
“That’s bull,” Kent yelled.
“Kent.” Liz raised a hand and touched Kent’s arm. She turned her gaze on Davis. “Mr. Alvarez attacked her in the cabin. If she hadn’t gotten away he would have raped her. I saw it all with my own eyes.”
Davis continued to munch on his toothpick. “That will be part of your statement I’m sure, Miss. And you’ll get your chance to make it. But first let me explain something.” He reached up and removed the toothpick much to Kent’s relief. “After you called, Morgan, I got to thinking. The boys hadn’t returned yet from the motel, so I made a call to the Harbourside Police. I talked to a colleague of Ricardo’s who set me straight on the story. Seems Ricardo called into the station earlier Friday night. He asked for some personal time off and said he was leaving town for a while. He told the colleague confidentially that he was doing a personal favour, and professional too, for a young woman in trouble. He said the woman in question was being harassed, and he was afraid for her. So he was taking her to a hideaway for a while to get her out of danger and help her to calm down. You see, Ricardo believed that Miss Jessie was scared out of her wits. Is that true?”
“Ah...yes, I suppose that’s right. She was very afraid. But she didn’t agree to go with Ricardo, he forced her,” Liz said.
Davis gave her a dubious look. “The colleague said that Ricardo mentioned she was frightened of a boyfriend? Would that be you, Morgan?”
“It was all a misunderstanding,” Liz said. “Kent was not the perpetrator.”
Davis switched his eyes from Kent to Liz. “And how do you know that, Miss?”
Liz glanced at Kent who immediately broke in. “Both Liz and Jessie were grasping at straws. Yes, they were frightened, frightened enough to suspect anyone, even me.”
“And you were innocent, of course,” Davis said.
“I am, yes,” Kent replied.
Davis continued, “When you called me, Morgan, I was shocked to hear your story. I’ve known Ricardo since he was a kid. Granted he was a bad little bugger, but he grew out of it, and he became a fine man of the law. I encouraged him that way myself.” He shook his head slowly and dabbed at his small eyes. “I have to tell yah, I’m afraid for him. It don’t look good.”
Kent grew restless. Davis’s melodramatics were getting on his nerves. “What about the statements, Davis? We’d like to get going. We’ve got a two-hour drive back home, and we’re pretty wiped out. What’s happening with Jessie? Have you really arrested her?”
Davis rose, pushing his chair noisily back ignoring Kent’s question. “All right. I get your point. You’re first, Miss.” He turned to Kent, “You can wait in the lounge.” He beckoned Liz to follow him, and they all left the room. Kent was shown to a waiting room by the receptionist. Liz followed the chief through another half-glassed door off the waiting area.
When the statements were taken, Kent hurried Liz out of the building. At the car she stopped him with her touch. “We can’t go home yet, Kent.”
“I’m not planning to now. I asked Davis if I could see Jessie and he said I’d have to wait until they were done with her…whatever that means. I guess we might as well go for some breakfast and come back and see if we can see her then.”
****
Kent pulled into the parking lot of a small, one-storey bright red diner. Dazzling black shutters bordered the front windows.
Only one space remained in the crowded lot. Liz opened the car door and got out, while Kent stood there ready to close the door.
He winked at her. “Come on, pal, let’s go get breakfast.”
Liz sighed and followed Kent into the restaurant. Although she was horrified at the thought of Jessie being arrested and what might happen to her next, she was at least relieved that Kent was not mad at her, at least he wasn’t acting that way.
After they’d had breakfast, they returned to the police station and were told that they could now see Jessie. Liz and Kent followed a police officer who led them to a dreary-looking cell.
Jessie sat inside looking forlorn and frightened. Kent wanted to scope her up in his arms and take her out of there, but he knew he was helpless right now. The officer opened the cell door and Kent and Liz walked inside. Kent sat beside Jessie and put his arm around her. Liz sat on the other side of Jessie, watching. When Kent said nothing but just continued to hold Jessie, Liz asked the question both she and Kent had been dying to know, and she hoped Jessie had an explanation.
“What provoked Alvarez to kidnap you, Jessie?”
Kent perked up his ears and listened to Jessie’s story.
“It started a long time ago. And it took me awhile to figure it out. He kept saying I had left him and it wouldn’t happen again. That I’d rejected him somehow in the past.”
Jessie turned to address Liz. “Remember the blind date that Alan was so upset about? The friend of his who I stood up?”
“No!” Liz gasped. “Not him.”
“Yes,” Jessie confirmed turning back to grasp Kent’s hand.
“What’s this about?” Kent asked.
“My brother Alan had a friend many years ago who wanted a date with me. But I stood him up. That was Ricardo. After all these years he was still after me. He claimed he met me by accident at the police station, but he confessed to being Gary Burke on the chat line.”
“Whoa,” Kent said. “He really is a sicko.”
Death and Deceit Page 17