Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
“Where do we begin?” Gracie asked, looking between Kenna and me like she wasn’t certain which of us to address. I deferred to Kenna, certain I knew the path forward and curious if she would come to the same conclusion.
“We need to gather all the facts in one place,” Kenna said, and I nodded along in agreement.
She pinned me with a considering look, and I wondered what she was thinking.
I didn’t have to wonder for long. “Hale, you’re new to the facts.
You’re a fresh set of eyes with a unique perspective.
Why don’t you tell us what you already know and we’ll fill in the gaps.
Maybe once we have the full picture something will click. ”
“Sure,” I said, impressed with her ability to talk around the fact that I had investigation experience without tipping Gracie off. Unique perspective. I supposed, in a way, that was true. I hadn’t known Lexi, after all. I didn’t have the biases that the other two did.
I stood up, knowing that I wasn’t going to be able to sit still.
Pacing was an inevitable part of my process.
Kenna and Gracie turned to face me from where they sat together on the couch, and I suddenly felt like I was about to give a lecture on a subject I hadn’t studied well enough to know all the facts of.
But that was the point, to get all the facts on the table in front of us and then figure out what was missing.
I took a deep breath and began.
“Alexandra Tate went missing July 2nd, 2019. Known by her friends and loved ones as ‘Lexi’, she had just graduated medical school and had been offered a job at St. Charles Hospital’s trauma ward.
She was an avid hiker and survivalist, known to advocate for safe hiking practices and wildlife conservation.
“From what I’ve gathered, Lexi was type-A, hyper organized and had her future planned out years in advance.
Going missing was not in those plans, but the last time anyone saw her was at a family dinner.
A ping from Find My Friends confirmed that her vehicle was headed South the day she disappeared.
When she did not turn up for a planned social call with Kenna, you began to worry.
You called Gracie, who confirmed that the last time she had heard from Lexi was the night before and that Lexi seemed different. Erratic and cagey.
“By the time police accepted the missing person’s report, no one had seen or heard from Lexi in three days.
Her phone was found in a waterproof float case a week later.
The search party covered as much ground as they could, but after the discovery of her phone they began looking in the wrong location.
“Despite the best efforts of the local PD and private investigators alike, the case went cold until an elderly woman named Vera Carver stumbled across a hand in the woods near the Big River campground.”
I paused there, watching the way Gracie’s eyes grew dull at the mention of her cousin’s hand being found.
“I was the one who identified it,” she said in a monotone voice.
“As the ME on duty when it arrived, I had already confirmed the hand came from a deceased person who had been decomposing in water for a while. There were no signs of dismemberment, only scavenger marks. The hand had simply become detached from the rest of the corpse. That’s when CODIS came back confirming the match between the hand and Lexi’s missing person’s profile. ”
An acute pressure formed at the back of my eyes as I felt the pain of her statement and I swallowed around the feeling, pushing it down. Her words didn’t change the facts of the case, though, and facts were what we needed in order to solve it.
“Another search party was formed with the hand as new evidence, but due to the time that had passed and the interference of scavengers there was no good way to pinpoint where the hand originated or where Lexi actually disappeared,” I said, and began pacing again.
“It wasn’t until yesterday that her body was discovered several miles North of search locations, submerged in the river and wrapped in a tarp that likely came from her own hiking pack. ”
“How did you know that?” Kenna asked, eyes narrowing at me, and I froze as I looked between the two of them and realized my mistake. Only law enforcement and the person who had found the body would know about the tarp.
“I think I told her,” Gracie said, her eyebrows scrunched up as she attempted to think back to the night before. “I said a lot of things last night that I shouldn’t have.”
“We’ve already done apologies,” I told her, a wave of relief running through me at her assumption that she had been the one to tell me about the tarp. “Now we’re doing facts.”
“So, to summarize,” Kenna said, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them as she spoke.
“The day Lexi was supposed to meet me she drove South to Good Dog Trail, where she took her waterproof phone and her hiking pack, but didn’t bother telling anyone where she was going to be.
Then, her phone ended up in the water and so did she.
Her SUV went missing, and with it half of the things she owned. ”
“What?” I asked, turning to look at Kenna as she said that last part. This was news to me, but as I glanced over at Gracie I saw no surprise in her expression. “Why were half of the things she owned in her SUV?”
“We aren’t sure,” Gracie said, shaking her head.
“One of the things that’s missing is her day planner.
But her landlord confirmed that she’d paid three months’ worth of rent ahead of time and she left a lot of important things behind.
Things she would have taken with her if she wasn’t planning on coming back. ”
“So, a woman who was always prepared and always telling people where she was going, packed up and decided to leave without telling anyone, drove out to a hiking trail and ended up being hit over the head with a blunt instrument before her vehicle and half of her belongings went missing.”
The whole thing was starting to look like a crime of opportunity. A robbery gone wrong. Just like my mother’s case—except for the one small detail that didn’t sit right with me. My mother’s hair, spread out in a careful halo around her head.
And strange boreholes in Lexi’s bones.
No, neither of these cases were accidents, of that I was certain.
“So—” I started to say, only for a loud ring to cut me off.
“Sorry, I should get this,” Gracie said, frowning down at the caller ID on her phone before answering. “Doctor Shepherd speaking. Oh. Oh, no. Thank you for calling, I—oh. Okay. I understand. You too.”
After Gracie hung up she turned to look at both of us, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Kenna leapt up right away, pulling Gracie into a hug as I watched from my spot on the couch, feeling the urge to comfort the other woman and the reluctance that came with knowing it wasn’t my place.
“Gracie, what’s wrong?” Kenna asked.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Gracie replied, shaking her head even as her voice cracked around the words, shattering whatever resolve she had to keep the tears at bay. “Sorry, I’m sorry. I should go.”
“You should not,” Kenna said with offense in her voice. “What’s going on?”
“That was Evelyn, from the Red Cross blood drive,” Gracie replied, wiping at the tears on her face and taking a deep breath to calm herself as she sat down on the couch beside me once more.
“She called to tell me she got the results of the blood test we did on Hadley. It was just for fun; I didn’t expect it to come back positive. ”
“Oh no,” Kenna knelt in front of Gracie, her full focus on the other woman as she held Gracie’s hands in support. “What came back positive? What does she have?”
“Rh-null,” Gracie replied, through watery eyes, a slight smile on her lips in a strange combination of grief and joy.
At the confused expression that Kenna and I both sent her way she laughed a little and then explained.
“She has the same Golden Blood that Lexi did. I know she’s had it this whole time, but it feels like some kind of miracle.
Like Lexi died and then passed on her life-saving blood to Hadley as she went. ”
“Thank god,” Kenna whispered, her head hanging down as she closed her eyes and mouthed some kind of silent prayer. “Gracie, I thought you were going to tell me she had cancer.”
“Oh!” Gracie’s eyes brightened as she realized how the drama of the moment could have been interpreted, then went soft as she took in her best friend, kneeling at her feet and holding both of her hands so tight that her knuckles were white.
“No, nothing like that. This is a good thing. Hadley is going to be thrilled when she finds out she has this connection with her aunt.”
“That’s great,” Kenna said. There was relief in her voice, her shoulders relaxing as she sat back on her feet. In contrast, I could feel the tension filling my body as something at the back of my mind began to work its way forward.
“What does Rh-null cure?” I asked, slight trepidation filling me.
Gracie blinked as she turned to look at me, like she’d forgotten I was there.
I had half a thought to take offense, but there were more pressing matters at hand and if the puzzle was about to fall together the way I suspected then there was no time for personal feelings now.
“Nothing,” Gracie’s brows furrowed before smoothing out as she explained.
“Rh-null blood is free of all antigens which makes it ideal for people who can’t accept transfusions from any other blood type.
It’s not a cure, it’s just a last resort and rarer than any other blood.
In fact, we’ll need to start drawing and storing blood at the blood bank for Hadley right away, in case she needs transfusions herself.
Lexi used to do that too. Rh-null donors can only accept Rh-null blood themselves. ”
“That’s what had the police so convinced that she really did intend to leave of her own free will,” Kenna said. “She took out her supply of blood the same day she vanished.”
Blood, and bone holes. Boreholes, to be exact. Blood, and bones. Blood and bones. Why were those two words stuck together in my mind?
“And what would cause someone with Rh-null blood to need a transfusion themselves?” I asked, thinking back to that hairstylist who had bruises on her arms, an overprotective brother, and a co-worker afraid to talk about bones around her.
“There are a lot of things,” Gracie replied. “All the same reasons you might need a transfusion of regular blood. Blood loss, cancer, chronic anemia, HIV. Why?”
“Can you call Evelyn back?” I replied, not wanting to answer just yet. If I was going to accuse someone of killing Lexi in front of her two best friends, I wanted to be certain I was right.
Gracie gave me a look like she thought I was crazy, but not crazy enough to ignore my request. She put the phone on speaker and as it rang I made a mental list of the questions I would ask and how to ask them without tipping anyone off to the danger brewing in the back of my mind.
I could be wrong. I probably was. I’d never solved a case on my own and had often been wrong about people in the past. And I knew better than anyone what it was like to be accused of committing a murder when you were completely innocent.
“Gracie?” the voice on the other end of the line was familiar enough to identify as Dr. Evelyn Lee.
“Hi Eve,” Gracie replied. “I have a friend here who had a question we thought you might be able to answer.”
“Okay, how can I help?” I could hear from her tone that Evelyn didn’t quite know what to make of this turn of events, but I didn’t have time for pleasantries or explanations. Not now, not if I was right.
“Dr. Lee, can you tell me who has access to the test results for Hadley Shepherd?” I asked, taking the phone from Gracie and standing up, fighting the urge to pace and tapping my finger against my thigh instead as I waited for an answer.
“That’s a highly unusual question,” Evelyn replied, and I huffed impatiently.
“I know, but it’s important. Please, who has access to those records?” I started pacing then, unable to help myself. I had too much pent-up energy, had spent too long pretending I wasn’t invested in this case.
“Well, I only just got them in, so anyone on the processing team would have the results,” she said. “Let’s see, that would be Elise, but she’s out today. And then Farrow and Lombardi, but Lombardi took an early lunch.”
“Does he normally do that?” I asked, my heart rate ratcheting up as I remembered the pale man with black hair standing over Hadley, looking at Rogue with fear in his eyes.
“No,” Evelyn replied, “but he’s certainly earned it working as hard as he does. And with his poor sister’s condition, going through what she’s going through? He more than deserves an early lunch.”
I wanted to ask what condition that was, but I knew I wouldn’t get a straight answer and frankly it didn’t matter. I already knew everything I needed to confirm a motive. He had said it himself, that day in the diner.
“It’s literally my job to worry about you,” he said. “That’s what brothers do. I can’t just sit back and watch you wither away. Not when there are other options.”
Milo Lombardi was a man whose sister was once a donor of golden blood, but who had been taken off the registry due to her medical condition, who had known Lexi was also a donor, and who could have been working the day Lexi removed her blood from the blood bank.
A man who could have accessed Hadley’s test and then taken an early lunch right after.
“Thank you, Dr. Lee,” I said and ended the call, handing the phone back to Gracie and looking her in the eye. “Where is Hadley right now?”
“Mom, Dad wants to know if he can take me to the fair next Sunday,” a young Black girl said as she walked up to us, looking down at her phone. A man in scrubs stood behind her, his pale skin a sharp contrast to the mop of dark hair that fell into his eyes.
I knew the answer even before Gracie said it.
“With her father,” Gracie replied, brows furrowed as she took a step back from me.
“At the carnival, right?” I asked, bouncing on the balls of my feet. “Where is that?”
“The fairgrounds, up in Redmond,” she replied, her voice going higher as my agitated state began to worry her. “Why?”
“Your daughter’s blood results have put a target on her back.”