Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
I knelt on the floor feeling for Mara’s pulse. She had one, and it was strong. Jasper was the same. What had happened to them? They were both still unconscious when the door burst open, and I put up my fists ready for a fight.
“It’s me, Em. Everything’s OK,” Ewan said. Then he took in the scene. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. I was upstairs. I heard a scream. The assistant and the girlfriend ran out the back. And I came back this way to see what had happened. This is all my fault. I wanted to snoop, and they came to help.”
“Are they OK?”
“They’re breathing, but I can’t figure out why they both passed out. And it looks like Jasper hit his head on the banister on the way down.”
I’d noticed the blood pooling on the floor, even in the dark.
Mara stirred, and then moaned.
Ewan must have found the switch and turned on the lights.
Mara put a hand over her eyes. “What happened?” she asked groggily.
“You need to tell us,” Ewan said.
“Look at the front of her sweater,” I said. There were two strange burn marks.
“She’s been tasered.” Ewan nodded.
“My chest hurts,” Mara said at the same time.
“I need something to put pressure on Jasper’s head.”
Ewan pulled off his sweater and handed it to me. “Use this. I’m calling for a bus so we can get him to your place.
Mara sat up. Then she held her head and moaned again.
“Don’t move until I can check you out,” I said. “You may have hurt something when you fell.”
“I’m all right.” She blinked. “Someone was waiting for us when we came down. Jasper was a few steps ahead, and I heard him trip and tumble down. Next thing I knew I thought I was having a heart attack from running down the stairs, and then I passed out.”
“We think you were tasered,” I said. “Do you remember seeing the person’s face?”
She shook her head and then flinched.
“Again, try not to move too much. I need to get Jasper sorted. He’s bleeding.”
Mara turned pale when she saw the blood.
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
Ewan’s team and the EMTs bustled into the room. Once I’d staunched the flow of blood on Jasper’s head, we loaded them both into the ambulance.
It wasn’t long until we reached my office.
Abigail met us there. I didn’t bother to ask how she’d known. I felt it was a safe assumption that Henry had told her what happened.
“Tell me what you need,” she said.
“Let’s clean the wound and do an MRI. He whacked his head pretty hard when he went down,” I said. “I think he may have hit the banister.”
“What about Mara?”
“I’m fine,” Mara squeaked. “Except it feels like I’ve been punched in the chest.”
Abigail glanced at her worriedly.
“From the burn marks on their chests, we think they were both tasered,” I said.
We wheeled them both to the back room. The MRI was in a room just off of the main labs. It had its own space, since it couldn’t be around metal objects.
I took off Jasper’s piercings in his ears and eyebrow, while she set everything up.
“Can I go home?” Mara asked. “I’m so tired.”
“You need to stay with me overnight,” I said. “Ewan, can you put her in one of the surgical suites?” We had some hospital rooms where we kept patients overnight if necessary.
He nodded.
“I don’t need that,” Mara complained. “I need something for my headache and my chest, and I’ll be good to go.”
“No,” Ewan said. “You’ll be doing what the doctor said.”
“What about the scene?” I asked. “Don’t you need to get back to that? What if the attacker left some DNA?”
“Doubtful, but Henry is there running the scene. No need to worry. Focus on our friends.”
He sounded frustrated, and I didn’t blame him. My snooping could have killed all of us.
“What’s going on?” Jasper said from his bed. “Why am I bleeding?”
His being conscious was a good sign. I explained what was going on.
“I’m OK,” Jasper said. “Why do my chest and head hurt, though?
More explanations.
“Just to be safe, I’m running an MRI,” I said. “We can’t be too careful when it comes to head wounds.”
A few hours later, the patients were resting on my couch. It wasn’t the first time we’d all sacked out on the huge U-shaped sofa.
They had both refused to stay in the patient suites in the back of the office, and I wasn’t about to let them go home alone, as they had concussions from the head injuries.
Since I had to keep an eye on both of them, I’d agreed we could all watch a television show to help them relax.
Meanwhile, I’d set my alarm to wake them up every few hours. And I’d sent Abigail home.
Ewan insisted on staying and settled down on the big cushy chair next to the sofa and put his feet on the ottoman.
His anger was palpable.
“Yell at me. Just get it over with,” I said.
“You could have been killed. The people closest to you could have died, as well. How many times do I have to tell you not to snoop on your own?”
“You also say there is power in numbers. I didn’t go alone like I have in the past. And my snooping, as you like to call it, did pay off. There is something going on with the assistant and the ex-girlfriend. So, you can bring them in for questioning.”
“Right. And we will. Henry already has them in separate cells. I thought a night in jail might loosen their tongues tomorrow.”
“Technically, they weren’t breaking and entering since the assistant has a key.”
“Right, but she had no business being there on a Saturday night, and she knows it. Also, the offices are considered a crime scene. There was tape up before they broke in.”
“Ah, there is that.”
“Stop deflecting,” he said.
“No idea what you’re talking about,” I countered.
“The part about where you could have all been killed.”
I sighed. The last thing I wanted to do was put my friends in danger.
“I dinnae like it when Mum and Da fight,” Mara complained.
“I’m with her,” Jasper said sleepily.
I may have laughed, which meant Ewan stared daggers at me while I pretended to watch the show.
What tonight had shown me was that yes, Davina and Catherine were in on something together.
But what we hadn’t counted on was a third party, who didn’t care who they hurt.
That might have been the scariest bit of information yet because we had no idea who that might be.
Sunday was the last day of the festival. While it had been a fun week, we were all exhausted. Mara and Jasper left early that morning, promising to let me know if they had any adverse effects from being zapped the night before.
The winners from the Highland Games would be announced around noon, and I planned to be there. I hadn’t slept much, since I’d been keeping an eye on my friends. I dosed up on some espresso, promising myself a nap before the dance later that night.
Ewan always threw a huge party on his estate, and the whole town would be there, along with the end of summer tourists who had come to the events.
Hungry, I headed down to the pub for a quick breakfast.
I was surprised to see Davina and Catherine in a corner booth, whispering to one another. I thought they would still be in jail. But what was even more surprising was the way the victim’s sister, Kaitlyn, gave them a narrow-eyed look from a table a few feet away.
Did she know they were trying to find her brother’s special accounts that he’d set aside for her? Had she been the one who attacked my friends? From the look in her eyes, I had a feeling she could taser the two women she stared at without pause.
Mr. Wilson, Mara’s grandad, came out of the kitchen with a full Scottish breakfast and a cup of coffee. He set it all down before me.
“How did you know this is exactly what I wanted?”
“You saved our poor Mara last night. We’re grateful, Doc. We need to keep you well fed.”
“I didn’t do much. She is tougher than she looks, and she’s one of my dearest friends, so of course I looked after her.” I didn’t bother to mention that the reason she’d been hurt was my fault. I still felt so guilty about that.
“Aye, and now we are looking after you.”
I grinned. “How did you even know I was here? You’ve been in the kitchen since I arrived.”
He laughed. “Magic, and the new security cameras Mara put in the pub. I think you’ve made her paranoid. Dinnae know what someone might steal from the pub, but we handed over the reins so she can do what she wants.”
I laughed. In addition to the security updates, which Ewan suggested when they started hosting larger events, she’d repainted the place and repaired all the booths, which had been showing some wear. That happened when something was more than three hundred years old.
“Where is she?”
“Upstairs,” Mrs. Wilson said as she came out of the kitchen with a huge tray of food and drinks. “She has no business working today. I sent her to bed.”
Mara was lucky to have grandparents who loved and cared for her so much.
“Did she tell you what happened last night?”
“No,” Mr. Wilson said. “Only that it was police business, and she couldn’t talk about it.”
Well, that was surprising.
“I dinnae suppose you could give us more information?” he asked. I made the universal sign of zipping my lips together.
He laughed. “Half the town knows Jasper and Mara were attacked. There are all sorts of rumors floating around, including they saved your life.”
I smiled. “Let the town think what they want,” I said. “Even if I told you the truth, they would still be making up stories.”
“Can you tell us if our Mara is still in danger?”
I blew out a breath. I wanted to say as long as she stayed away from me, she’d probably be safe. “I don’t know for sure,” I said. “But I think last night was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t think the attacker wanted to hurt them.”
I had no proof, but why would anyone want to hurt them? They weren’t really involved in the case. I meant what I said about them being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“You’ll look after her, though.” He gave me the grandpa glare he was famous for when it came to his family.
“Yes, sir. With my life.”
“Enjoy your breakfast.”
I hadn’t realized the rest of the pub had been paying attention to our conversation. I should have known better. When I turned to look at the other customers, I found Kaitlyn’s glare had turned on me. And Catherine and Davina stared at me suspiciously.
Something was up with the three women, but were they capable of murder? It felt like I’d asked myself that a hundred times, and I still didn’t have an answer.
I’d finished my breakfast when Kiara and her son came into the pub. “Oh, Doctor, I’m glad we found you,” she said. She glanced around the pub.
“Is something wrong?”
She frowned. “Can I talk to you outside?” She glanced around again. “There are too many ears, here,” she whispered.
I nodded. After running my dishes back to the kitchen, which Mara’s friends did whenever we ate here, I headed outside with Kiara.
“It’s a beautiful day, why don’t we go down to the beach.”
“That’ll be good for Max. He loves picking up shells.”
While we settled on a couple of large rocks to the side of the beach, she watched her son walk along picking up shells and putting them in his pocket.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
She sighed. “I need your help.”
“Are you sick? Is it Max?”
“Nothing like that.” She sniffed as if she were trying not to cry.
“I know none of you said anything about my products being involved in the case, but this town …”
“What is it?”
“Word has gone around that my lip balm killed that poor man. I’ve had maybe three customers the last four days or so. People are afraid to buy my things. We are barely getting by as it is, if my business goes under, I dinnae know what might happen to Max and me.”
“I’m sorry about that,” I said. “I can assure you it wasn’t me.”
She nodded. “Nor the ACC, but there are a lot of people involved with the case. And some of Ewan’s officers aren’t always great at keeping secrets. Things are often overheard, especially after a few pints.”
She wasn’t wrong, but I wondered how she knew that.
“What is it you think I can do to help? I’m willing, I just don’t know where you’re going with this.”
“I was hoping you and Abigail could test all my products. And then I could put a sign up showing that all ingredients had been tested by medical professionals.”
She held up her hands. “I know it’s a lot to ask. If I could afford to go out and have some independent lab do it, I would. But I can’t. And since the bad news came from the case you are working on, I thought …”
“Oh,” I said. As much as I felt sorry for her, I couldn’t ask Abigail to do that. She worked hard enough.
“I already asked Abigail, and she agreed to do it,” she said. “But she said I had to ask your permission since she would be using your resources.”
Technically, it was the town’s resources. Everything in my office, from the equipment to the personnel, was paid for by Sea Isle.
“And it isn’t everything. Just more of the balms and some of the lotions.
I read an article that perception is everything.
If people think you two have tested my products and deemed them safe, then they will be.
I know it is a crazy thing to ask, and it is over the top, but I dinnae know what else to do. ”
She was so sweet, and I adored her son. “Abigail said yes?”
She nodded. “Aye, I asked her last night after hearing Tommy sing. That boy has an amazing voice.”
“He does.”
“I dinnae like being pushy or asking for help, but I need you. Will you do it?”
It was highly unusual, but helping the community was a part of my job. Besides, poor Abigail would be running the labs, and if she said yes, I wasn’t going to be the bad guy.
“We’ll help you out,” I said. “Why don’t you drop some products off tomorrow morning? Today we’ll be a bit too busy with the ending of the festival, but we will get it done in the next few days.”
She grabbed my hands and held them tight. “Thank you. Thank you so much. You are a lifesaver.”
As I was walking home, I felt like someone was watching me. But there was no one around. I’d been through enough to know I should trust my gut. I hurried to the practice and let myself in quickly. Then I locked the door and stared down at the camera focused outside.
No one was there.
Now who is paranoid?
But that feeling stayed with me the rest of the day. Someone had been watching me.
Why? Did the killer think I knew something? Or had the killer been the one to attack my friends? Both might be true.
I sat down at my desk and started going back through the case files and the autopsy. I pulled out my journal where I usually wrote down notes for a case. I had been so busy last week, I hadn’t taken the time to review them. It helped seeing it all on paper.
As I wrote, something niggled at my brain. The answer had to be in the files.
“Let’s do this,” I said as I opened the files on my computer.
But I kept checking the cameras at the front and back doors. I couldn’t shake the feeling someone was watching me, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it.