Chapter 10
TEN
Maren stared at the free clinic in Buffalo Creek and couldn’t help but remember the Barren Valley Clinic where she’d seen her sister.
Somehow these two cases had to intersect.
It just seemed too unlikely that her pregnant sister would show up at the Barren Valley Clinic where Dr. Derek Rolls once worked.
But then again, it was possible that the whole thing was a coincidence.
Opal was pregnant and the clinic was close to where she had been hiding out.
Maybe Opal and Shadow weren’t at all connected to the illegal baby adoption ring.
The knot in her stomach tightened. Worry bubbled up her throat, constricting the muscles.
Colt jumped from the SUV, pausing with the door open. “You coming?”
Shaking off her upset over her sister, Maren refocused her attention and took calming breaths. They were here to see if Dr. Rolls had once worked at this supposed clinic or if anyone knew how to find him. “Coming. Just getting a lay of the land.”
She saw Eli Blackwood and Wrangler, his Belgian Malinois, step into view from beneath the shade of a tree.
Maren quickly climbed out of the SUV and circled around to the back to collect Haven. Rusk was already leashed and Colt was checking his phone.
Her heart bumped. “Any news?”
Tucking the phone back into his pocket, he said, “No, unfortunately.” Trying not to let the disappointment show, Maren led Haven through the parking lot to where Eli, tall and intimidating, and his handsome K-9 with his dark-tipped ears and a muscled torso stood waiting.
She made the quick introduction.
“I don’t know if this will pan out,” Eli stated grimly. He was dressed in jeans and a Henley shirt with his badge on one hip and his sidearm on the other. “This doctor’s a slippery one.”
Maren agreed. “The best we can do is pray someone inside has information that’s useful for the task force, and for finding Mia Andrews.”
They filed into the clinic with Eli taking the lead. Maren and Haven came in next with Colt and Rusk bringing up the rear. They fanned out in the lobby. There were a few patients and spouses waiting in the blue plastic chairs.
Eli met her gaze and nodded toward the receptionist.
Taking his gesture as a sign she was to approach the front desk, she and Haven stepped forward to speak to the woman behind the counter.
“How can I help you today?” the receptionist said, her gaze bouncing between the three K-9 handlers and their dogs.
“I need to speak to the clinic director,” she said. “It’s regarding Dr. Derek Rolls.”
“The director isn’t in today,” the receptionist said. “I’m Patty. I’m in charge for now. What questions can I answer?”
“Is Dr. Rolls employed here?”
Patty’s face betrayed nothing. “He is not.”
“Do you have a forwarding place of employment?”
Again, the woman’s expression didn’t so much as twitch. “We do not.”
Maren couldn’t ascertain if Patty even knew of whom she spoke. “Do you know Dr. Rolls?”
“We have no one here by that name,” Patty stated firmly. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of help.”
Was the woman being professional per legalities or was she in cahoots with the dirty doctor?
Eli stepped over. “He may be going by a different name. He’s my height with short red hair and beard, and wears glasses.”
“Silver-rimmed glasses,” Maren supplied, remembering what Fran at the Barren Valley clinic had told her.
Patty shook her head. “Again, I’m sorry that description doesn’t ring a bell.”
“It does for me,” a man, who’d been sitting quietly flipping through a magazine, spoke from his chair in the corner of the waiting room.
Maren, Eli and Colt turned toward him.
Colt was closest, so he stepped forward. “And you are?”
“Fred Harmony,” the man said. He looked to be in his forties, with thick, salted hair and brown eyes. He wore chinos and a patterned, button-down shirt. “My wife is in being seen by the doctor.”
Anticipation revving in her veins, Maren moved away from the reception counter to stand beside Colt. “Were you and your wife approached by Dr. Rolls?”
“Not us,” Fred said. “My wife works at the community center here in town. There’s a young girl who confided in Darcy that she was expecting.
She told my wife a doctor had approached her saying he was in OB and could refer her to a low cost, maybe even free, clinic but he swore her to secrecy because he claimed they have little space and finances for more than one new patient. ”
Maren’s gut clenched. Was this how the doctor lured his victims in? “This free clinic?” Maren asked, pointing at the floor.
“I don’t think so,” Fred replied. “Darcy would have said something if it was, right?”
“And she described the doctor?” Eli asked.
“She did. Darcy grew up here, so she’d asked thinking maybe she’d recognize the doctor, but she didn’t.” Fred set aside the magazine in his hand. “Tall, red hair, beard and glasses.”
“That’s him.” A blip of elation for being on the brink of learning something about the doctor had Maren’s heart pumping in overdrive. “Can we get the contact information for this young woman?”
“See, there’s the rub,” Fred said. “Darcy and I were supposed to meet her here today. This is the only free clinic that we know of in the Buffalo Creek area. Darcy went ahead and took the appointment that we’d set up for Jennifer.”
“Maybe Jennifer got cold feet,” Colt said. “Maybe she decided to go take the doctor up on the offer.”
Maren’s stomach twisted. She hoped this Jennifer hadn’t contacted Derek Rolls. “Fred, it’s imperative that we get a hold of Jennifer. Would you be willing to call her?”
Fred scrambled to bring his phone from his pocket, and he dialed the number. “Darcy’s been calling her all morning. She hasn’t picked up. We left messages. But I can certainly try again.”
Sending up a small plea to God, Maren held her breath as the phone rang on speaker.
Just as Maren’s hopes were plummeting, a soft woman’s voice answered, “Hello, Fred. I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the clinic. I’ve just been too sick to leave the house.”
Maren didn’t know the intricacies of pregnancy, having never been pregnant before, but she’d heard how debilitating morning sickness could be. “Jennifer, my name is Officer Maren Anderson. I’m with the Colorado K-9 Unit. It’s very important that we speak to you about the doctor who approached you.”
“Oh, him,” Jennifer said with surprise in her tone. “He gave me the creeps. I have his card here. Do you want me to give you the information off of it?”
Maren barely contained her excitement. “I would indeed. Please.”
“The card says his name is Dr. D. Rolls. It gives an address.” She gave the number for a location in Colorado Springs. “There’s a phone number here, too.”
Eli took down all the information in his notebook.
“Jennifer, you’ve been a big help,” Maren told the young woman. “It sounds like Fred and his wife want to help you. I hope that you will let them. Don’t call that number or go with any strangers at all.”
“Okay. I won’t.” There was no mistaking the wary concern in Jennifer’s tone.
“Maybe you and Fred can reschedule your visit here to the Buffalo Creek free clinic,” Maren told her, then hung up. Looking to Fred, Maren said, “Thank you for your cooperation. We appreciate it.”
With that, Maren turned with Haven at her heels and headed for the exit. An urgency to get to that address provided by Jennifer had shivers of dread racing along her limbs. What would they find when they arrived?
“This could be the break we need,” Eli said as soon as they hit the pavement outside of the Buffalo Creek free clinic.
Trying not to let her hopes rise, Maren paused on the sidewalk.
“We need to call Emmett with an update. I’m hoping we find my sister and Mia there.
” Maren sent up a quick prayer for Mia and her own missing sister.
Her pregnant twin. Her heart contracted within her chest. She rubbed at the spot concealed by the flak vest she wore.
Another thought emerged. “Or other missing young women we aren’t aware of yet. ”
The urgency to find the two missing women, along with any additional ones, and their unborn babies, had Maren’s blood racing. She sent another prayer to God asking for protection for the innocent lives that were being used for criminal purposes.
Eli made the call to their boss and within a half hour, the Colorado K-9 Unit task force was mobilizing to descend on the address in Colorado Springs. She and Colt would meet them there.
Her nerves stretched taut with each passing mile as she sat in the passenger seat while Colt drove them toward the address. Behind them, Eli followed in his vehicle.
“We need to get this guy. We need to find Mia,” Maren stated as she played with the cross around her neck.
She needed to find her sister. “You think there’s any possibility that Opal could’ve found out about this supposed free clinic and gone there after Barren Valley?
Like Jennifer, had Opal been approached by Dr. Rolls and had she thought him creepy?
But maybe she decided to go to the clinic he’d told her about since she had to flee the Barren Valley Clinic when the gunfire started. ”
“Anything is possible,” Colt replied.
She stared out the window, the landscape becoming a blur as she lifted a prayer of safety for her sister and for Mia. Thankfully, the miles passed by quickly. They were set to join up with the rest of their team at a neutral spot near their target, after they’d checked out their quarry.
Colt drove slowly past the supposed free clinic on the outskirts of Colorado Springs, whose address Jennifer had given them from Dr. Rolls’s card.
The clinic wasn’t in a medical office building but rather in what looked like a small private house on a residential street.
The place was worn, with chipped paint, warped stairs and a few windows boarded up. Warning bells clanged in Maren’s head.