“Exactly. Well, once we got to his cabin, his whole attitude changed. First, he tried to convince me the person who’d told me about his gambling problem was lying to me. Then, he totally lost it when I refused to give him the name of my source. However, when I told him I thought I should leave, he apologized and offered to fix me another glass of iced tea, so I decided to stay long enough to see if he would let me take his picture for my article.”
She buried her head in her hands for a moment, and then she looked up at me and said, “That’s all I remember until I woke up here.”
* * * *
A few minutes later, a nurse came in to take Lizzie’s vitals, and I stepped out of the room.
When I saw Dr. Ratliff in the hallway, he reminded me Lizzie needed to get some rest, so when I returned to her room, I said, “Your doctor just told me you need to get some rest, Lizzie, so I think I’ll go sit out in the waiting room now.”
She shook her head. “I’m not about to rest until you tell me how you found me, and what happened when you got to the judge’s cabin.”
I quickly summarized the two days I’d spent interviewing her friends and anyone who knew anything about what she’d been doing before she disappeared, and although I mentioned I’d had a little help from Nina, I didn’t say anything about Whitney helping me figure out her doodles.
I also told her about a policeman spotting her car in Centralia and about it being found at a campsite in Finger Lakes.
While I didn’t go into any of the specific details about the visit Charlie and I had had with Judge Woodard, I told her I knew the judge was hiding something when he didn’t say anything about the interview he’d had with her, even though I brought up the name Lizzie Allen with him a couple of times.
“Well, that was really dumb of him,” she said.
“Yes, it was, and that’s when I decided to stick around the parking lot and see what he was up to. Not long after Charlie and I left his office, the judge came out of the building and headed up to his cabin. We shadowed him all the way to his front door.”
“Who’s Charlie? That name doesn’t ring a bell with me.”
“Floyd retired a couple of weeks ago, and your father hired a new deputy for the R & I Group. His name is Charlie Hayes. He used to be a detective in the St. Louis Police Department.”
A look of recognition crossed her face, and she smiled. “Oh, yeah, my dad told me he was thinking about hiring him. I believe he’s the son of Malcolm Hayes, isn’t it? Dad said he owed Mr. Hayes a big favor, so he was thinking about making Charlie your deputy.”
“Ah . . . yeah, that’s right.”
“What happened when you and Charlie got up to the judge’s cabin?”
At this point, I wasn’t sure how much I should tell her.
Could she handle being told she was minutes away from receiving a lethal dose of morphine?
Should I mention the painter’s tarp and how I thought the judge was planning to wrap her dead body in it and dump it somewhere?
In the end, I decided to be honest with her.
I figured it might make an impression on her, and if she did go on to become an investigative journalist, it could serve as a cautionary tale to be less secretive about her activities and to always keep people informed about what she was doing.
She had a somber expression on her face by the time I got to the part where Charlie arrived in the cabin and rescued us both from Judge Woodard.
“I . . . ah . . . really don’t know what to say. I guess I should say I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I almost got you killed.”
I smiled. “But here we are, alive and well.”
“Yes, we were both very lucky.”
“I happen to know there were several people praying for us, and I hope neither one of us ever forget that.”
* * * *
Senator Allen and his wife, Nelda, arrived in the ER waiting room around midnight.
They weren’t alone, of course.
The senator had brought along a small entourage, which included his personal aide and his senior legislative assistant, along with Claudia Dyer, the senator’s press secretary, and her assistant.
Shortly before the senator got there, several members of the media arrived at the hospital and set up their cameras outside the ER’s front doors.
I suspected this was because Claudia had made a few phone calls.
When the hospital’s security officer realized what was happening, he ordered the reporters not to block the entrance to the ER, and he also insisted they keep their equipment off the grassy areas.
To say Senator Allen’s entrance caused quite a stir in the waiting room would be putting it mildly.
A brother and sister who were waiting to hear news about their father’s chest pains, and a mother who was standing at the ER’s check-in desk holding a sick child, appeared to forget their troubles momentarily while they were being entertained by the media and political circus happening around them.
I’d positioned myself at the far end of the room, hoping to avoid the spotlight, but when the senator entered the room, he gave me a brief wave, separated himself from his entourage, and walked over.
“Mylas,” he said, “give it to me straight. How’s Lizzie doing?”
I noticed the senator’s wife was also making her way toward me, so I waited a few seconds until she arrived before I responded.
Once I greeted her and received a weak smile in return, I said, “I’ve just spent the last hour with Lizzie, and in my opinion, she’s doing great. You’ll probably want to speak to the ER doctor and receive a full report, but from what I understand, most of the drugs are out of her system now.”
They both looked relieved.
“That’s excellent news,” the senator said. “Of course, we’ll definitely want to speak with her doctor.”
Nelda laid her hand on my arm. “Thank you, Mylas.”
As Claudia rushed over to the senator and pointed him in the direction of the ER doors, he said, “Yes, thank you, Mylas. You did an excellent job of finding our daughter.”
I didn’t argue with him.
PART THREE
Chapter 29
Saturday, October 13
Even though I didn’t get to bed until the wee hours of Saturday morning, I was fully awake by seven o’clock.
While I was brewing myself a cup of coffee, I switched on the television set and listened to the talking heads on one of the news channels. They were reporting on the arrest of Judge Cameron Woodard in connection with the kidnapping of Lizzie Allen.
While the story was mostly correct, many of the details were missing. However, the news anchor promised more information would be available later in the day during an afternoon press conference with Senator Allen and law enforcement personnel.
As the anchor was reading from the teleprompter, the video footage playing across the screen was of the senator entering University Hospital the night before. The shots didn’t include any of his entourage—just the senator hurrying into the hospital with a worried look on his face.
I felt sure Claudia would be extremely pleased to see the video.
One enterprising cameraman had been able to get some shots of Senator Allen speaking to me.
I thought I looked a little disheveled, but otherwise calm. This was in contrast to the senator who appeared immaculately dressed and uptight.
The anchor pointed out Senator Allen and his wife had arrived at the hospital around midnight and were met by local detective, Kelvin Grey, who had been assisting the senator and local officials in trying to locate Lizzie Allen.
When I heard the anchor’s explanation of what the viewer was seeing, I immediately yelled, “What?” at the television set.
A few seconds later, my cell phone rang.
It was my father.
“Well, Son, did you see I made the national news today?”
“Better you than me.”
“You saw it, huh?”
“Oh, yeah, I saw it
. You should be prepared for some phone calls.”
“I’m not worried. The publicity will be good for the agency. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“No, I don’t mind.”
“Congratulations on locating Lizzie,” he said. “Did the reporters at least get the rest of the story right? Did Judge Woodard kidnap her?”
I gave Dad a few more details of what had happened, and afterward he said, “I can’t wait to tell your mother. She’s been praying for Lizzie ever since I told her she was missing.”
“Now that Lizzie’s been found, you can tell Mom I’ll be able to make it for dinner tonight. You might also let her know I’ve invited Whitney to come with me.”
“I sure will,” he said with a chuckle. “That news will make her day.”
“I have some other news to share, but I’ll wait and do that tonight.”
“Hmm. That sounds a little mysterious, Mylas.”
“It was meant to be.”
* * * *
After telling my dad goodbye, I pulled open the nightstand drawer and removed the hotel’s complimentary Bible. Since Whitney had suggested I read some passages from the Bible every day, I figured now was as good a time as any to get started.
But, as I opened the Bible, I couldn’t decide where to begin. Should I start at the beginning?
After flipping through the opening pages, I came across a section that listed the favorite books in the Bible, and I decided to read the first book on the list, which was the Gospel of John.
I looked in the table of contents to find John, and I began reading.
I didn’t read more than a few verses before I had to stop and think about what I’d just read. The concepts were both fascinating and confusing to me.
Next, I tried saying a prayer, but all I could think about was Whitney, so I ended up asking God to help her, and then I thanked him for the opportunity to meet her.
I thought it might be too early to call her and let her know what time I’d be picking her up for dinner, but I knew it wouldn’t be too early to call Lockett, so I phoned him instead.
I guess he thought I was calling him about the news broadcast because that was the first thing he mentioned.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already heard from Claudia, and she’s called the cable networks and told them the video was of you, not your father.”
“My dad didn’t mind. He said he needed the publicity.”
“I’m sure he’ll get some.”
“I wanted to let you know I had Charlie fly back to St. Louis last night. He was anxious to get things arranged with his movers so he could be in Washington next week.”
“And what about you? Are you staying in Columbia over the weekend?”
“Those are my plans right now. Tonight, I’m having dinner with my parents, and then tomorrow I plan to attend my brother’s church.”
“Is that right? I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”
“I know this may surprise you, Nathan, but I’m really looking forward to it. Actually, a funny thing happened to me while I was here looking for Lizzie, I . . . uh . . . became a believer.”
“You became a believer?”
“That’s right. I officially became a Christian. It’s strange how it all came about, and when I get back to Washington, I’ll be glad to tell you about it. That’s one of the reasons I was calling you. I wanted to ask you about the Bible you have on your desk. I think I’d like to get one like it, and I was wondering where you bought yours.”
Lockett seemed speechless for a moment, but then he cleared his throat and told me where he’d bought his Bible, and then he congratulated me on my decision.
“That’s fantastic news, Mylas. I can’t wait to discuss it with you.”
“I’m sure that’s true. The other thing I was calling you about was the press conference the senator plans to hold this afternoon. He didn’t say anything to me last night about attending it.”
“When I spoke with him this morning, he didn’t mentioned it to me, so I don’t see a problem if you want to skip it.”
“Did the senator say how Lizzie was doing?”
“He said it looks like she’ll make a full recovery. He and Nelda were on their way back up to the hospital when I spoke with him a few minutes ago. He told me he’d give me an update before his press conference.”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d ask him to acknowledge the excellent work done by Detectives Ross and Springer in his press conference. They were very helpful to me during the investigation and deserve to be recognized.”
“I don’t hear any sarcasm in your voice, so I assume you mean that.”
“Pretty much. Springer seemed to have a chip on his shoulder, but Ross really tried to work with me.”
“I’ll pass along your request. I have to say you sound more upbeat than you did last night.”
“I’m feeling pretty good about things today.”
Before I told Lockett goodbye, I thought about telling him one of the reasons I was feeling good was because I had a date with a beautiful woman tonight, but then I knew he’d start asking me questions about her—who she was, how serious I was about her, and if I was serious about her, how I was going to manage a long-distance relationship with her—questions I couldn’t answer right now.
Questions I was afraid to ask myself right now.
* * * *
Before I went down to breakfast, I called Nina. Since it was Saturday, I figured she was at her grandson’s soccer game.
I wasn’t wrong. As soon as she answered her phone, I heard the sounds of the game in the background.
“I won’t keep you long,” I said, “but I wanted to make sure Nathan brought you up to speed yesterday about what happened with Lizzie and Judge Woodard.”
“He actually came by the office and told me the news in person.”
Nina sounded a little angry with me, and I thought I knew why.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you myself. I was at the hospital with Lizzie.”
“Funny. I figured the doctors were taking care of her.”
“Well, of course, they were taking care of her. I just meant—”
“What you meant was that you were so down on yourself for not realizing Judge Woodard was a sick man who would go to any lengths to keep his gambling addiction a secret that you weren’t in the mood to talk with me.”
From the noises I heard coming from Nina’s phone, it sounded like someone on the soccer field had scored a goal, so I didn’t have to say anything for a few minutes.
Since I heard Nina yelling like crazy, I figured it was her grandson’s team.
When things quieted down, I said, “You’re right. After everything was over, I was feeling lousy about not putting the pieces of the puzzle together sooner, and I didn’t want to talk to you about it.”
“See? How hard was it to admit that? Statistics prove people who own their feelings are much happier than people who don’t.”
“Does that mean I’m back in your good graces?”
“Not yet, but if you tell me what it was like working with Charlie Hayes yesterday, I might consider letting you back in.”
“I don’t know how much Nathan told you about what went down when I discovered Lizzie in the judge’s cabin, but if Charlie hadn’t shown up when he did, I wouldn’t be talking to you today.”
“Well, then, it sounds like he’s gonna work out just fine, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, I believe he is.”
“I’m sure he won’t be as much fun to work with as Leslie Irving would have been, but when you get back to Washington, you might want to consider how much more fun it will be to date Leslie rather than work with her.”
It sounded like another goal was scored on the soccer field, but this time, the only thing I heard from Nina was a low groan.
“Enjoy your game, Nina. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“But what about my suggestion?”
* * * *
When I tried to call Whitney, she didn
’t answer, but I figured she was probably at a photo shoot, so around two o’clock, I called her again.
This time she picked up.
“Good afternoon, Mylas. How are things with you today?”
“They couldn’t be better.”
“And what about Lizzie?”
“She’s doing great. I stayed with her until her family arrived last night, and she even felt well enough to talk to me about her ordeal.”
“I saw the news earlier this morning, and I also caught a brief glimpse of you at the end of the broadcast talking to Senator Allen.”
I waited a beat or two thinking she was about to mention the mistake the reporter had made in misidentifying me, but she didn’t say a word about it.
“I guess you heard the reporter identify me as my dad, didn’t you?”
“Ah . . . no . . . I don’t think I did. I was on the phone with . . . ah . . . someone, so I had the volume on mute.”
The hesitancy I heard in Whitney’s voice and her deliberate attempt to sound vague about her caller came off as a little strange to me. It was also the first time Whitney had sounded worried about something since I’d met her.
“I hope you don’t think I’m being nosy, Whitney, but you sound a little concerned about your phone call. Is everything okay?”
“Oh, yes, everything’s okay; at least I think it will be.”
She paused and took a deep breath. “I guess I should let you know something, Mylas. I was in a relationship with someone for over a year. I only broke up with him a few months ago.”
I remembered Curtis had mentioned this to me the day I’d met Whitney, but I didn’t tell her that. “I understand. I was in a similar situation a few months ago.”
“Well, he called me this morning and wants to see me next week.”
I felt my heart skip a beat. “Did you agree to see him?”
“Oh, yes, I agreed to see him. Our breakup was amicable. Derek and I just decided to go our separate ways.”
“I see.”
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