Billy’s gaze was thoughtful. “You knew we’d find you when you called nine-one-one.”
Shots at Henny and shouts from Jeremiah. Annie imagined his panic, trapped so far from land. He’d done the best he could and he’d called for help even though he understood the consequences to himself.
Jeremiah’s face was heavy. “I had to get help. I couldn’t get to her. I couldn’t let somebody hurt her. Not after all she did for me. I figured I had to tell you what I knew. I owed her that. But I’d rather die than go back to jail. They hurt me there.” His voice shook.
Lou’s face squeezed in understanding.
“She was a damn fool to take you out there.” Billy looked exasperated yet excited. “But that tells me a lot. She’s smart about people. She believed you.” Billy let the words hang in the damp air. “She could have been wrong. If she’d been wrong, we wouldn’t be hunting her tonight. She’s a small woman, elderly. You could have overpowered her, taken her boat, got to the mainland, dumped a body way out in the Sound. You didn’t do that. You got out of her boat and you’ve been on that hammock. All right. Run through everything again from the time you heard her car tonight.”
“She didn’t come home until about ten, but somebody was here a little before that. I didn’t think about it. I mean, I guess I should have wondered why I didn’t hear another car. It’s kind of like at Better Tomorrow. I never heard anyone come there, either, but when I went inside, Miz Burkholt was dead. And tonight, I was kind of watching out for Miz Brawley to come home—”
Annie felt a twist of sympathy. He’d been out on the hammock, alone, and he’d wanted to know Henny was home, not to ask for anything, not to call for her, just to know that she was there.
“—and then I saw the front door open and somebody going inside. I didn’t have a good look. Just a dark figure, moving fast. I figured some friend had come over and was waiting for her. In a little while, the door opened and somebody came down the steps. It was just a quick shadow. I thought maybe her friend got tired of waiting. About twenty minutes later, her old Dodge come up the road. The motor knocks. It needs some work on the carburetor. Anyway, I felt good that she was home. I saw the headlights as she parked. She got out and that’s when the first shot came. Then two more, real quick.”
“What did she do?”
Jeremiah looked miserable. “I don’t know. There was light from her house windows but she didn’t come that way. I guess she ran toward the woods.” He gestured to his right.
Billy’s head turned. He surveyed the car. “If she’d been hit, she would have fallen there. There’s some blood—”
Annie felt sick. Henny had been so confident when she left. Tomorrow at nine.
“—but not enough for a serious wound. Likely some of the glass from the window hit her. So she knew she was a target. She’d stay away from the light and head for cover.” He turned back to Jeremiah. “How many more shots?”
“Three. I was yelling the whole time—”
Billy nodded. “We got you on tape. You sure as hell were. You yelled for us to get here, too.”
“—and beating with the log. I yelled and yelled. After a while I stopped and listened. I didn’t hear anything except the water and the cordgrass until the sirens started.”
“Right. So now—” Billy’s walkie-talkie beeped. He unhooked it from his belt. “Cameron… Right. Yeah, might as well bring all the stuff in. He won’t be going back out there.” He clicked off, sheathed the mobile radio. “That hammock’s a good hundred yards out. About twelve feet deep there. I’ll check it out, but I figure you’re telling the truth that you can’t swim. You wouldn’t have made it anyway. Too cold. And there’s nothing out there, not a canoe, not a kayak, not a rowboat, not even a damn air mattress. You were marooned.” He jerked a thumb toward the nearest cruiser. “Wait in the car.”
Jeremiah stood stiff and still, shoulders hunkered forward.
“Just a place to wait until we get a break. The front seat. There’s a thermos. Have some coffee.”
Not the back, Annie realized, where a metal grill separated the backseat from the front and there were no handles on the doors.
“Coffee?” Jeremiah’s voice shook.
“Yeah. We’ll need your statement. Then you can go home.”
Jeremiah’s eyes widened. “You mean—”
“Right. We’ll cancel the APB—” Billy’s walkie-talkie buzzed. He lifted it. “You found her? I’ll be right there.” Billy nodded at Jeremiah. “Wait in the car.” Then he gestured to the paramedics. “Time to move out.”
A tall, lean man took one end of a stretcher. A burly middle-aged woman with purplish hair gripped the other. They moved toward him.
“Hurry.” Billy’s strong voice carried across the night. “This way. Come on, Lou.” He loped toward the woods, his Maglite shining a path before him, Lou close behind.
Annie whirled to follow, felt Max’s strong grip on her arm.
“Hold on, honey.” He was kind but firm. “We might get in the way. What matters now is help getting to Henny as fast as possible.”
Annie leaned against him. He was right. Nothing must interfere with Henny’s rescue. Was she conscious? How badly was she hurt? Surely Billy’s call for haste meant that she was alive, that time mattered.
The paramedics trotted past them. Officers swarmed to the edge of the woods, their lights bobbing as they ran.
Jeremiah, his head turned to follow their progress, reached the police car and opened the passenger door.
Annie stared at the dark mass of the trees, straining to see. One cluster of lights didn’t move. Officers must have gathered there, shining Maglites at the spot where Henny lay.
Annie stood with her nails pressed into her palms. Max waited with his arms folded, his face grave.
“She’s tough.” Marian paced back and forth. “Look, if she made it into the trees, she had to be ambulatory. Right? So they’re going to bring her out in a minute.” Marian’s husky voice was brisk but with an uncharacteristic wobble. “I guess you guys got it right about Hathaway. Listen, fill me in on what you did today.”
Annie shook her head. “Not now.” Her voice was flat. “Not until we know about Henny.” She could see Jeremiah in Billy’s cruiser, his head turned toward the lights.
All of them, waiting, hoping, praying. Minutes passed, at least five, perhaps ten. To Annie, each minute seemed interminable. What was taking so long? They’d found her. Why didn’t the EMTs bring her out of the woods?
Max gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. “They’ll make sure she’s stabilized before they move her.”
Annie found the words chilling… stabilize… Now she viewed the passage of time as an enemy. The longer it took to move Henny, the more serious her injuries might be.
Marian stopped pacing, her Édith Piaf face scrunched in worry.
Abruptly sound and motion exploded in the woods. A shout. Lights moved fast. Feet thudded as figures ran out of the woods and swept toward cruisers.
“Ohh.” Annie gave a cry of despair.
Max pulled her close, his arm tight around her shoulders. Marian swore, her husky voice despairing.
Billy Cameron hurried toward his cruiser, speaking rapidly into his walkie-talkie. In the lights of the cars, his face was grim, intent, commanding. Lou reached the car ahead of him and slammed into the driver’s seat as Coley Benson, the newest member of the department, opened the passenger door and yanked a thumb for Jeremiah to get out.
Car motors roared. The first of the cruisers backed and turned and drove down the drive toward the road, red lights flashing, siren squalling. Other sirens shrilled.
Bewildered, Annie shouted at Marian. “What’s happening?”
Marian was already loping toward Billy’s car, but the cruiser was on its way, Lou at the wheel, Billy in the passenger seat.
Coley strode toward them, obviously a man with a duty. Following close behind was Jeremiah.
Annie struggled to breathe.
“Mrs. Darling”—Coley raised his voice against the sounds of cars—“the chief wants you to go in the ambulance with Mrs. Brawley.” Before she could answer, he swung to Max. “Will you drive Jeremiah Young home? We can’t spare anybody to take him.”
Max nodded. “Sure. I’ll be glad to help.”
Jeremiah appeared dazed. “They said I can go home.” His voice was numb. “But I can’t leave now. They’re all in a hurry and they wouldn’t tell me anything. I got to wait for Miz Brawley.”
Annie spoke loudly to be heard as another siren squalled. “Coley, where’s Henny?”
“They’re bringing her.” His voice was young and excited. “I got to get started. The chief said he’d be talking to you later.” With that, he swung away, breaking into a run.
A breathless Marian skidded to a stop by Annie. Marian slapped her hands on her hips. “What’s with the exodus?” she shouted after Coley. Her head jerked back toward the woods. “And why is it taking so long?”
“Here come some people.” Jeremiah pointed toward the trees.
The EMTs came out of the woods, moving at a steady pace. Headlights flashed over them. The EMT at the back of the stretcher appeared to be chatting, her expression untroubled.
Annie felt a wild, desperate impatience. Why weren’t they hurrying? Why were the police cars peeling away from Henny’s house?
Her heart shifted as the stretcher came even with them and she saw the small figure with a blanket drawn to her chin. “Henny.” Her cry rose above the sound of motors and voices.
Henny’s head turned. “Annie.” Her voice was weary but clear.
Joy swept Annie. Now the relaxed pace of the EMTs was balm. Henny might be hurt, but there was no need to hurry.
Marian expelled a deep breath. “You had us going, Henny.” Her raspy tone was a mixture of approbation and delight. “See you at the hospital. Exclusive to this correspondent. Now”—Marian’s head lifted as Billy’s cruiser roared past—“I want to know where the posse’s headed.” She hunched over her iPhone. “I got an app for my scanner.” She brushed the screen. Her eyes widened. “Oh, hell, I’m outta here.”
Annie grabbed a skinny elbow.
Marian pulled free, but over her shoulder shouted, “One eighty-seven. Two eighteen Barred Owl Road.” As she wrenched open the door to her VW, she yelled. “That’s homicide. Victim ID’d. Maggie Knight.” The last was scarcely heard as Marian tumbled into her VW, revved the motor, and the little car wheeled and zoomed up the road.
Henny tried to struggle upright. “Maggie’s been killed?”
Annie didn’t want to believe what she had heard, but there was no doubt what Marian had said. “That’s what Marian picked up on the scanner. That’s why they left so quickly. Hyla Harrison had gone to find her. She must have called.” Annie felt numb. Henny had worried that Maggie knew who took the message from the hall table. Now Henny’s fears were confirmed. Obviously Maggie knew and had hoped to take advantage of her knowledge. Instead, she had summoned death. Maggie’s murder made clear just how close Henny had come to death.
“I told her it was dangerous.” Henny’s voice shook. “I warned her.”
“Rest easy, ma’am.” The big woman’s voice was kind but stern. “Don’t want to aggravate that leg.”
Annie darted to the side of the stretcher, grabbed Henny’s chilled hand. “We’ll find out what happened later.” There was no urgency now to speak to Maggie Knight. It was forever too late. Whatever she had known, she could no longer share. “You need to rest, Henny.” They were at the ambulance now and the back was open. The EMTs lifted the stretcher.
Annie said firmly, “Chief Cameron asked me to accompany her to the hospital.”
The broad-faced woman pointed toward the passenger door. “You go in front. I ride with her.”
Annie shifted uncomfortably in the curved plastic chair. A deserted hospital hallway late at night was a grim and burdened place. Occasionally a nurse moved quietly past with a curious glance. A twin to Annie’s chair sat empty a few feet away. Officer P. K. Powell had gone to the restroom, arming Annie with a handheld air horn with instructions to push the black button if any unauthorized person attempted to gain access to Henny’s room. Annie held the horn gingerly. She didn’t want to accidentally unleash the unnerving ooh-gah-ooh-gah-ooh-gah, a warning sure to empty all the rooms and possibly precipitate heart attacks if the floor held any cardiac patients.
So far, Officer Powell had not been a cheerful companion in keeping watch at the door to Henny’s room, but it was she who had found the chairs and brought them and she’d even offered Annie a portion of a Baby Ruth. She’d answered Annie’s attempts at conversation politely but firmly, saying, “I’m not authorized to comment, ma’am.”
Annie was both reassured and worried by the officer’s arrival. A guard certainly offered protection for Henny, but her presence indicated Billy Cameron felt Henny continued to be in danger. Still, Officer Powell’s presence was a comfort, a broad Scandinavian face, pale blond hair in coronet braids, a starched uniform.
Annie felt the vibration of her cell. She retrieved it from her pocket, answered softly. “They brought her to the room about fifteen minutes ago. She waved at me, but they scooted her right in. The orderly left. A doctor and nurse are with her. There’s an officer here.”
“That figures.” Max sounded somber. “I caught Marian on her cell. She’s at the Gazette now, writing her story. She knows it’s big. She’ll do a feed to AP. Marian’s pumped with enough adrenaline to power a generator. Maggie Knight was shot to death, apparently a bunch of shots. I don’t think we have two separate shooters loose on the island tonight, and I’m sure Billy agrees. Shots at Henny. Maggie shot to death. So, Billy has an officer on duty.”
As if on cue, Officer Powell returned, carrying a foam cup in each hand. She jerked her head toward the door, gave Annie a quick questioning look.
Annie covered the phone. “No one’s been in or out.”
Powell nodded. She set the lidded cups carefully on the floor to the left of her chair, retrieved the air horn, and placed it in a pouch. To protect Henny, she would meet an intruder with a gun and a billy club. She picked up the coffees, handed one cup to Annie, and settled in her chair with the other.
Annie took a sip of scalding coffee as she listened to Max.
“…took Jeremiah home and left him with his aunt. She was crying and holding on to him. I told her he was a hero. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he saved Henny’s life. He raised so much ruckus the killer got spooked. Think about it, Annie. The killer’s on the marsh with a gun, and it’s the kind of quiet you get in a place where there’s not another house within a couple of miles and the only sounds are the pine branches soughing in the offshore breeze, an owl hooting, the slap of water on the pilings. Henny pulled up and opened her car door. The killer shot at her, but it’s hard to hit at a distance. Not like Maggie. She was standing in her living room and the shots came from about four feet. Whoever shot at Henny had to be fifteen or twenty feet away, or Henny would have seen someone waiting and maybe backed up and driven off. That first shot hit the window and then out of nowhere some guy started yelling that he’s coming and Henny dodged out of sight. The killer fired again and again and all hell broke loose, shouts and thumps. The killer got rattled and ran.”
Annie felt sick as she thought about how near to death Henny had been. “Jeremiah scared the murderer away.”
“Exactly.” Max was emphatic. “He’s a double hero because he was on the horn to nine-one-one while the shots sounded and the cops barreled up within minutes. If he hadn’t called the cops, say instead he’d called a buddy, told him where he was, asked him to get a boat and come for him, Henny wouldn’t have survived. She’d fallen, the ground was wet, hypothermia would have gotten her long before she would have been missed. I told his aunt he was a good man.” His voice softened. “She wanted to feed me pecan pie and send a piece for you. I finally got away by promising we’d come
over for a celebration. I’m back at the house. I wanted to get our report for Billy. Also, I’ve made some calls. I alerted Mom and Emma. They’ll set up a schedule to make sure Henny isn’t alone. A team’s en route to the hospital now. I’m almost there. As soon as you see her, I’m bringing you home.”
“Max, I—”
He was firm. “You need to be fresh tomorrow to help Billy.”
A squeak, and the door to Henny’s room was pulled open.
Annie came to her feet. “Max, the doctor’s coming out.” She ended the call.
A youthful but balding man whose green scrubs looked too tight stepped into the hall.
Annie looked at him eagerly. “How is she?”
The hospitalist’s ruddy face was fresh and cheerful. “Resting comfortably now. Had to deal with slight hypothermia as well as an ankle with a hairline fracture. She’s had pain medication. She should be up on crutches tomorrow and likely in a walking boot in about three days. Are you family?”
Death Comes Silently Page 17