Chapter 14
Nate
“What the hell, Nate?”
My head automatically swings around at Savvy’s voice, and I realize immediately that isn’t a good idea when I have to resist the urge to puke. Still, I manage to notice her pretty face is pale and her hand is trembling when she reaches out to grab mine.
“Brenda tracked me down and told me. What happened?”
At this point everything is a bit of a blur.
I’ve had questions of my own no one seems able to answer, like where my daughter went.
I know I’m in the hospital, but she didn’t come with me in the ambulance and I haven’t seen her since I got here.
Of course, I was poked and prodded before getting sent for X-rays and a scan, and I’ve been in this small cubby hole of a room, hooked up to machines, waiting for someone to come so I could find out where she’s gone.
“Have you seen Tatum?” I ask instead of answering her question.
“Yeah, she is in the waiting room with KC. He drove her here.”
“Who the fuck is KC?”
I pull my hand from hers and try to sit up, but she unceremoniously shoves me back down in bed.
“Don’t you dare move. Dana said I could see you but she’s gonna kick me out if I upset you.”
She leans down and places her palm against the side of my face. My entire body feels like it’s on fire, so her cool hand on my skin is nice. Soothing.
“KC Kingma is one of my deputies and was the first to arrive at your house. Apparently, he knows your daughter from the church youth group he runs.”
He must be the young guy she mentioned once or twice.
“Is she okay?”
“Upset and a little scared, but that’s to be expected. She says she came home from school and saw you lying on the floor of the garage. You were bleeding and unconscious. When she screamed, a neighbor heard her and called dispatch.”
That was probably the voice I didn’t recognize.
I feel bereft when Savvy takes her hand back. But then she pulls a stool closer to the bed and sits down beside me, her face now level with mine.
“Now, can you remember what happened to you?”
I close my eyes, both to try and minimize the throbbing in my head, and to concentrate so I don’t miss any details.
“I came home and was putting away my tools—I finished Brenda’s bathroom today—when someone walked up behind me and hit me over the head.”
“Wait,” Savvy interrupts. “Did they walk in or were they already in your garage waiting for you?”
I assumed whoever hit me walked in from the street, but I guess it’s possible he’d already been there. I take a moment to think about that.
The garage door was closed when I got home, I’m positive.
It works on either the opener I have clipped to the sun visor in my truck, or you can access from the keypad if you have the code.
However, other than the overhead door and the one leading into the house, there’s another access door on the side. One that leads into the yard.
I mowed the lawn on Wednesday and thought I’d locked that door after I put the lawn mower back in the garage. But maybe I didn’t.
“I never saw him so I can’t be sure. It’s possible he came in through the side door and was waiting for me.”
He certainly seemed to know me.
“You say ‘he,’ are you sure it was a man?”
“It was a man’s voice.”
“He talked to you?”
I start nodding but think better of it when a stab of pain pierces my skull.
“He told me I should’ve stayed away.”
Savvy suddenly sits straighter and I can almost see her ears perking up.
“What did he say…exactly.”
“You should’ve stayed away,” I repeat the man’s words verbatim.
“Did you recognize his voice?”
“It was more of a growl so it’s hard to know for certain.”
I take in a breath and give my response one last consideration. I don’t have a good track record with law enforcement—I generally don’t have a lot of faith in them—but I have to believe Savvy is not part of the old boys’ club.
Decision made, I add, “But if I had to venture a guess, based on the message he imparted, I’d place my bet on your former deputy.”
Her lips thin and her jaw tightens as she gets to her feet slowly but deliberately, and starts pacing the small room.
“I see,” she finally shares. “Just for clarity’s sake, other than his message, was there anything else, anything tangible that suggested to you it was him? Were you able to see anything at all?”
I hate her questions make me doubt what I felt so confident about just moments ago.
“No. His voice was the last I heard before I blacked out.”
The door opens behind Savvy and the same elderly doctor who was here earlier walks into the room.
“Mr. Gaines…you are a lucky man.” Then he turns to Savvy. “Sheriff, sorry to interrupt.”
“Hey, Doc. No worries, we were pretty much done here.”
“Good.” He focuses back on me. “Like I said, you’re a lucky man with an extraordinarily hard skull.
The scan shows no fractures, bleeds, or obvious damage, but you lost a bit of blood and suffered a serious concussion.
You’ll also probably have an extra bump on your nose from hitting the ground face-first, I hope you’re not too vain.
I’m going to send Dana in to stitch up that gash on the back of your head.
And then we’re gonna keep you here for observation for at least forty-eight hours.
Head injuries can be sneaky and we want to make sure we haven’t missed anything. I’ll be by to check on you later.”
Forty-eight hours? It’s the weekend, what am I going to do about Tatum?
The doctor is already gone by the time I process the information.
“I can’t be in here for two days.”
Savvy grins wryly. “You don’t have much of a choice.”
“I can’t. I’ve got Tate.”
She walks up to the bed.
“You need to rest. I’ll make sure your daughter is taken care of.”
Then she surprises me when she leans down and presses a kiss against my chapped lips.
“You scared me,” she whispers, before turning on her heel and walking out.
I must’ve dozed off because the next thing I know, my daughter’s voice wakes me.
“Daddy? Are you okay? They said I could only see you for a few minutes.”
I notice Dana Kerrigan hovering in the doorway behind her.
“Hey, honey.” I try to smile at her but it hurts my face. “I promise, I’ll be fine. They want to stitch me up and keep an eye on me for a couple of days. That’s all.”
“I know, Savvy told me. She called Naomi’s mom and I can stay there for the weekend. She asked KC to stick around so he can drive me over.”
“Why? Where is Savvy?” I can’t help but ask.
“Oh, she said something about an urgent matter she had to take care of. She promised to check in with me later.”
“Tatum…” Dana pipes up. “Maybe let me get your dad stitched up so he can get some rest. Savvy said she’d bring you back tomorrow for a visit, and in the meantime, I wrote down your number so I can update you or get in touch with you if I need to, okay?”
Tate nods, but her eyes are welling with tears when she looks at me.
“Aww shit, honey, come here.”
I spread my arms as best I can and wrap them around my daughter, who cries on my chest.
“Sweetheart, I swear to God, I’ll be just fine.”
Forty-five minutes later my head is stitched up, and Dana left me with instructions to get some rest. But unfortunately, rest will not come, because I can’t stop worrying about the urgent matter Savvy left to take care of.
Savvy
This is on me.
I should’ve handled this as soon as I found out Sanchuk had been responsible for chasing Nathan out of town. Worse, he used the threat of falsifying evidence to implicate an innocent man in something he didn’t do.
It’s just been so crazy. Even with the CID now in charge of the Franklin Wyatt case and our department only responsible for Ben Rogers’s murder investigation, this has been such a busy week.
It doesn’t help the town’s Harvest Fest is only a little over a week away and I’m getting pulled into the planning at this point.
With all that going on, tracking down Jeff Sanchuk has slid way down my list of priorities.
That was a mistake.
My mistake.
The moment I leave the hospital, finding Sanchuk becomes priority one on my list. I head straight for his address. For a moment I think about calling in backup, but first I want to make sure he’s home.
The bungalow is as dark as it was when I came looking for him last time and his vehicle is still parked in the driveway. I also notice some flyers and a couple of papers on his doormat that weren’t there last time, and I’m starting to wonder if he’s been here at all since then.
A small niggle of doubt worms its way in, as I consider the possibility he took off after leaving the department. Maybe he took a vacation somewhere. Of course, if that’s the case, he couldn’t have been the one to attack Nate.
I’m startled by a knock on my window and I find Mrs. Dixon on the sidewalk, holding on to her walker with one hand while trying to peer into my cruiser.
“Mrs. Dixon,” I start as I get out from behind the wheel. “What are you doing here?”
Never mind that she lives right down the street, she shouldn’t be wandering around the neighborhood when it’s already almost dark out. The sidewalks are uneven and the streetlights are sparse. She could easily fall.
“Stretching my legs. It’s a nice night, not too cold, and I’m trying to get my steps in.”
“Your steps?”
She pulls back the sleeve on her right arm, revealing a Fitbit on her wrist.
“I’m short about eight hundred on my daily quota,” she explains. “That’s about as much as a round trip to the community mailbox at the end of the street.”
“Quota?”
I’m only five four, but with her shoulders and back so stooped, the woman has to turn her head sideways to be able to look up at me.