by Dale Mayer
She really enjoyed the big jets. A tiny twin-engine turboprop two-seater would feel like a toy. It appealed to a lot of pilots. She’d seen many end up owning one. Particularly when they retired, and again maybe that would change for her down the road, but it wasn’t for her now.
“Elizabeth, we were supposed to travel. What happened to that? I have all these flyer points, free flights, and I could never get you to come with me,” she murmured.
Most of the time Elizabeth was busy volunteering with other children, the homeless, the helpless, those who just needed a hug. Elizabeth was an eternal mother figure, partially because she knew she could never have children of her own. This accident certainly wouldn’t have helped that prognosis either.
Faith sat at the table all alone, going through her emails. She’d asked for compassionate leave from her job, and they’d cleared her for one week. It wasn’t technically a family member, but it was a best friend. And Faith had been more than prepared to beg or plead to get the time off. She’d stepped up every time anybody else needed somebody’s shift covered. And thankfully others were stepping up to cover hers. By the time she finished going through her emails, had eaten her breakfast and sat back with a second cup of coffee, she could think a little clearer.
How long was it feasible to stay with Elizabeth? To even contemplate seven days was a joy because it meant Elizabeth would still be alive. Faith hoped the doctors would have a better idea within at least forty-eight hours.
She looked up to see the doctor Cade had spoken with yesterday. He glanced her way, smiled and kept going. Then she had that air of desolation and sadness around her. Not exactly something anybody wanted to spend time with.
Her phone buzzed. She checked the message coming through.
Did you grab a hotel last night? Did you get any rest?
She smiled in surprise. She hadn’t expected Cade to remember who she was or even why she was here. And certainly she hadn’t expected him to send her a message just to check on her. She had no idea what he was up to here in Norway, although, with the hit-and-run, chances were he and his two friends were looking for details. They looked like those kinds of guys.
She frowned as she stared at the message. Instinctively her fingers went to tap out a message in response. No, stayed at the hospital overnight. Just having a meal at the cafeteria now. And she wasn’t sure whether it was good manners or the fact that he’d been kind enough to reach out, but she typed back, Did you?
The response was immediate, as if he had been sitting right there, waiting to hear from her. Went to Laszlo’s for the night. Slept fine. It’s a new day.
It’s a new day, and Elizabeth is still alive. I’ll take it. And she smiled. Just reconnecting with somebody was huge. She wasn’t exactly sure where Elizabeth’s sister, Mary, was; and a part of Faith had wondered at Elizabeth’s sister’s ability to leave the hospital for so long a period of time. But maybe Mary had other responsibilities. Faith knew a lot about Elizabeth’s mother, and the last time Faith and Elizabeth had spoken, Faith had assumed nothing had really changed in Elizabeth’s world. And maybe Mary had gone home out of exhaustion and just slept, completely forgetting Faith was here. Or maybe remembering that Faith was here for her sister let Mary off the hook for a bit.
Also Faith wasn’t Mary’s responsibility. Faith was an adult with the means to take care of herself. She got up and took her tray of dirty dishes over to the others atop the table near the kitchen. She returned to her table, packed up her laptop, and, as she went to put her phone in her purse, she got another message from Cade.
What happened to your friend? Was it an accident?
She stared at that and wondered. She knew his suspicions were probably coming from Laszlo’s father’s hit-and-run. I believe so. I haven’t gotten any details yet.
Hopefully the police know about it.
Faith wondered about that. Back in Elizabeth’s hospital room, the nurses had left. Faith took her seat, opened up her laptop and quickly sent Mary an email. Elizabeth had a good night. She’s still holding her own. Faith thought for a moment and then added, Mary, do you have the details on Elizabeth’s accident? Every day is a gift. I’d like to see the police report if possible. And then, without giving herself a chance to question why, she hit Send.
Cade pocketed his cell phone and said, “I just heard back from Faith. Her friend is still alive. So that’s good news. She doesn’t have any details about that accident.”
Laszlo nodded. “Not everybody’s accident will be deliberate.”
“Which, of course, means it wasn’t an accident,” Talon interjected. “What’s on tap for today?”
“I want to go to the accident site,” Laszlo said abruptly. “I was there once before, when I first arrived. But I was pretty busy looking after my father. I want to go back and walk the area.”
“There’s not likely to be anything to see.”
Laszlo nodded. “But I want to see it again. With fresh eyes. With our new perspective.”
They got in the car and headed out within minutes. The accident spot was only a few miles away. They got out and Laszlo explained what had happened. “He was walking on the right side of the shoulder.”
“And it was dark?”
“Half dark. It was dusky. But it was also the normal time that he always went for a walk every night.”
“So a routine anybody would know after a few days,” Cade said.
Laszlo nodded, his tone turned grim. “Exactly.”
The men walked a mile down this strip, then back on the other side. Cade could see it happening. Old man unaware of anything but whatever he was thinking about at the moment, following a routine he had perfected over the years. It was a comfort to have this routine. It also helped his digestive system, and the dogs, almost as old as he was, were content to walk at his side. Odd that the dogs hadn’t been hit. But their instincts to get out of danger were better and faster than humans’ gut reactions.
Cade turned to Laszlo. “Does your father have a hearing aid? Would he have heard the vehicle?”
“He has a hearing aid. I don’t know if he was wearing it that night. If he was, he would have heard the vehicle, but he would not have expected it to be a problem.”
“And we don’t know if he lunged off to the side to get away or whether he was struck down where he stood?” Talon asked. “They should be able to tell that much from his injuries.”
“He was struck down from the back.”
Cade winced. “So he really didn’t see it coming.”
“No, and he can’t tell me anything about the accident. He said he was walking, and, the next thing he knew, he was waking up in the hospital.”
“To be expected. Even if there wasn’t any memory loss associated with the trauma, a blow like that would have hit him and knocked him unconscious almost immediately.”
There was nothing to see at the accident site. The guys were expecting that, but all were disappointed nonetheless. It was a completely straight stretch of road with a nice wide shoulder. The vehicle would have had no trouble avoiding the old man. “Weather conditions? Road conditions?” Talon asked.
“Dry, clear.”
The three men exchanged glances.
“So the driver comes along,” Cade theorizes, “swerves to the side, hits your father and carries on. Was it deliberate? Was the driver drunk? On drugs? Innocently mixing the wrong prescription medications? Hell, it could have been someone texting on their damn phone while driving. Or maybe he was reaching for something on the floor of the vehicle that he’d accidently dropped, and it really was an accident? And he left in a panic at what he had done? Or was he out for a joyride and thought, out of the blue, he would just kill somebody?” Cade asked. Unfortunately any and all scenarios were possible. “No witnesses?” Cade turned to look around at the nearby landscape. “There doesn’t appear to be any other houses around here.”
“There aren’t,” Laszlo said. “This is a very isolated country area. All the prope
rties are large with long driveways leading to houses well set back from the roads. Somebody might have seen the vehicle come down the road if they were watching out a window, but they wouldn’t have necessarily seen if the vehicle hit somebody. They might have seen if the vehicle stopped, however,” he said pensively. Turning to face Cade and Talon, he said, “We should do a door-to-door canvas. Talk to the neighbors around here. Who knows? Maybe another neighbor takes a walk at the same time at night, and they may have crossed paths with my father from time to time.”
Cade nodded, his mouth twisted, but he didn’t say anything.
Laszlo continued. “At the very least we should speak to these closest neighbors. They might be able to tell us something.”
“But not much.” Cade motioned at the driveway opposite where the accident had occurred, with the house not visible from the road. “We should check it out though.”
The three men got back in the vehicle and drove down the long driveway. They hopped out in front of the large farmhouse-looking building. Talon waited at the vehicle, while Cade and Laszlo walked up to the front door. Laszlo knocked and then called out.
A woman opened the door.
He spoke to her quickly, and the conversation was fluid in a back-and-forth exchange. But almost immediately she shook her head, and Cade realized that, of course, she hadn’t seen anything. If she had, her eyes, rheumy and slightly opaque, wouldn’t have seen clearly.
When Laszlo was done, he smiled and motioned for Cade to leave with him. “She saw a vehicle that night, and she did see it slow down. Then it left. She only heard about the accident afterward. She didn’t realize that was probably the vehicle that hit my father. She did tell the police, however, but there was nothing she could give in the way of more information or details.”
Cade nodded. “It’s what I expected.”
On that note they got back into their vehicle and drove to the main road. Laszlo sat there with the engine running. “I want to go to the police station. I’ve seen a police report, but I want to know if there are any updates.”
They followed him into the police station ten minutes later. The hospital wasn’t very far away. Cade could see it at the end of the block. Knowing he wouldn’t be any help at the police station, he said to Laszlo, “I’ll walk over and talk to Faith. When you’re done here, come over.”
Laszlo nodded. “I can do that. I also want to talk to the doctor. Again.”
He didn’t explain why, and Cade didn’t need details. If it had been his father, he’d have done anything to get answers. But the problem was, at some point, there just weren’t answers to find. Somebody hit an old man on the side of the road. And then that person hadn’t called for help, just had taken off. The chance of finding out who it was—when there were no witnesses, no forensic evidence—was pretty slim. It didn’t change the fact that, as far as Cade was concerned, this was likely a targeted hit. The question now was, did the driver care that his attempted murder was just that and not a completed job? Cade thought about saying something to Laszlo, but he’d already entered the police station.
Talon walked with Cade to the hospital. “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m wondering,” Cade said, “if this attempted murder is classified as a failure, will this guy come back? And how is he following up on his hit?”
“I was considering the same thing,” Talon said. “But we already brought it up. Hence the need for a bodyguard who could care for Laszlo’s family.”
“Yet it’s been a month. So why bother?” Cade shrugged. “Wouldn’t the guy have finished off Henry by now if that was his original intention?”
“What’s the rush?” Talon stated. “Especially if these are intended to be accidents. Not to mention Henry is seventy-four years old. He could still die without this asshole taking any more action. If this is the same person systematically taking out all our family members, he’s done it in his own good time. From as early as six months after the land mine hit our military unit to just one month ago here in Norway. That spans over seventeen months. This guy is working from whatever pattern or order that matters to him. And that could be just convenience, especially if he’s nowhere close to Norway again.”
“Exactly,” Cade said. “But how would we know?”
“If he’s not a local, he’ll have a rental vehicle. And he’ll need a place to stay.”
“This is a small town,” Cade added. “There are only two hotels and only one rental agency.”
“Sure, but we know you can do a one-way drop-off. Or he could have picked up a car from whatever city he flew into, rented it for a couple days and returned it.”
“And that’ll mean thousands of vehicles to check,” Cade said, sighing. “But the police said the injuries were consistent with an SUV, not a truck. And Henry’s doctor confirmed that. Given how quickly info can be pulled from databases, I’m pretty sure a couple phone calls would offer us a bunch of names.”
“Does that help? He likely used a fake name,” Talon pointed out.
“True.” Cade’s mind churned on how to find more information as to who could have done this. “What if the guy isn’t local and hasn’t returned to finish the job because he’s not up to date. Yet. He’d have to know that he botched the job to begin with. So he’d check out the obits. Not finding Henry’s name in the online newspapers, he could have called the hospital—this one,” Cade said, pointing at the building now in front of them, “asking to check on the status of his friend.” He raised his eyebrows as he looked at Talon. “Would he have had the balls to call the police for an update?”
“I can see calling the hospital but the police would raise alarms.”
They entered the hospital and headed to the hospital room where they’d seen Faith. They glanced through the window in the door and saw her sitting in a chair, staring out the bedroom window. Cade gently opened the door and whispered, “Faith?”
He watched the surprise cross her face. She stood, putting down the laptop and stepped out of the room with him.
“Hi,” she said with a smile.
He put his arms around her, giving her a hug. She probably had no idea how absolutely devastated she looked. But, when she clung in his arms for longer than necessary, he realized he was right to do what he’d done. He wasn’t an impetuous person, but she needed a friend right now.
Talon raised an eyebrow at him.
But Cade ignored him and just held her close.
When she stepped back, she wiped a tear from her eye. “Thank you. I don’t really know you, but I needed that,” she said on a broken laugh.
“How’s your friend?” he asked, deliberately ignoring her comment and giving her space.
“No change. I keep hoping for some sign of consciousness, but …”
“She probably can’t surface right now,” Talon said. “I’d assume the doctors are keeping her sedated, letting her body heal as much as it can.”
She turned to face him, a sad smile on her face. “Or because they’re expecting her to just pass and want to make it as painless as possible.”
Cade reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder. “Keep hoping. We’ve seen a lot of miracles.”
Her smile brightened. “Me too. That’s what I keep telling Elizabeth. Just keep fighting. And I’ll be here.”
“You had no problem getting out of work?”
“No, I got somebody to cover my first shift, and now I’ve been given a week off for compassionate leave.”
“Good. But you can’t just stay here the whole time.”
“I was thinking that maybe later today I’d find a hotel and crash for the night.”
Just then the doctor walked in. The nurse approached and said, “You have to stay outside for a little while.”
Watching the mix of expressions on Faith’s face, Cade asked the nurse, “Can we collect her luggage? We’ll find her a hotel.”
Faith looked at him in surprise. But he had already gone inside, picked up her belongings and bro
ught them out to her. “Thank you.” Faith looked at Talon and Cade. “You guys don’t have to do this. I’m sure there’s one around the corner.”
“Let’s go see,” Cade said.
Talon walked on the other side of her. She looked up at the two of them. “Are you both here to find out about your friend’s father’s accident?”
Talon stiffened and glanced at her cautiously. “It’s certainly one thing we’re looking into.”
“I haven’t had a chance to talk to the police about Elizabeth’s accident,” Faith said. “I did ask her sister, but I didn’t get an answer yet.”
“Was Elizabeth driving?”
“I believe so, but I’m not sure about that. I really don’t know any details.” Outside, she’d stopped on the front step, the two men stopping beside her.
Cade watched as she took several deep bracing gulps of air. He could see the fatigue pulling on her cheeks and the tired droop to her eyes. He slipped her arm through his. “C’mon. Let’s get you a hotel room, a place to crash for a few hours. You can come back and see Elizabeth then.”
She shook her head. “She might not live that long,” she said in a stark tone.
“If that’s the case, there’s nothing you can do for her. But what we don’t want is to have you end up in a hospital bed beside her.”
She shot him a startled look. “Do I look that bad?”
He grinned. “Fishing for compliments? That’s a good sign.”
She rolled her eyes at him.
He ushered her toward the front doors of a hotel—right across the street on the same block. She stopped and looked up at the sign. “How did you even know this was a hotel?”
He chuckled. “I checked Google Maps. And this is the closest one. You can walk this block easily back and forth to see your friend.”