Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
Katie and McGaven waited in the hospital, pacing. For some reason, the area was crowded with hospital workers, police, and emergency medical technicians. It wasn’t for Buck, but it seemed that for a Thursday afternoon, it was jam-packed.
“I think you should get checked out,” said McGaven.
“I’m fine. Just a few bruises and the pride knocked out of me,” she said.
“You can’t remember anything about the man who attacked you?”
“I’m not a rookie, Gav. I never saw his face. I saw a dark jacket from his arm and I think he was wearing cowboy boots. His voice was…” She remembered the breathy tone. “Was just a whisper.”
McGaven looked at his partner. Katie felt as if a ghost had walked across her grave.
“Are you all right?” said John, breathless as he came up to them.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.”
It was clear John wasn’t sure if he could hug Katie due to the fact that they were working. The three of them stood awkwardly, not quite knowing what to say.
A nurse approached them. “Were you the officers waiting for an update for Raymond Young?”
“Yes,” said Katie, relieved for the interruption.
“How is he?” said McGaven.
“He’s stable. The knife wounds weren’t as deep as we first thought. He is severely dehydrated and underweight, so we’re keeping him for observation. His…” The nurse hesitated. “What do you know about his condition?”
“What do you mean?” said Katie.
“He has severe scarring from what looks like a fire.”
Chills ran up Katie’s spine. The explosion.
“He was a Marine,” said McGaven.
The nurse nodded. “That makes more sense now. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone,” she said. “He says he doesn’t have any family.”
Katie now knew how he felt about his brother in prison.
“He only wants to talk to you, detective,” said the nurse, looking at her.
“Me? Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. He said he would only talk to Detective Katie Scott. But he’s going to be sedated for a while. At least a couple of hours.”
“Okay, thank you,” said McGaven. “We’ll be back later.”
John and the detectives stood outside in the parking lot discussing the events.
“I wanted to tell you in person,” said John.
“What?” she said.
“As soon as I heard about the attack and what you had been doing there, I went straight out and took the remaining trail-cam cards. But when I tested them on my laptop when I got back to the van, they were blank.”
“What?” Katie said.
“Are you sure?” said McGaven.
“One hundred percent sure.”
McGaven looked at his partner. “The man who attacked you must’ve destroyed them.”
“We don’t know for sure,” she said. “But it’s looking that way.”
McGaven’s phone rang. It was one of the officers from the search party at the construction site. “Excuse me. The canvass…” He walked away to better hear the conversation.
“You okay?” said John touching her face. “You should have that looked at.”
“I’m fine, really.”
John sighed. “I’m sorry about the lack of clues.”
“Well, since the computer cards were swapped out, it tells us there were probably some identifying images on them.”
“More than likely. What are you going to do now?”
“We were supposed to go up to the prison to talk with Buck’s brother, but we’ll have to try to reschedule for tomorrow morning.” She sighed. “We’re going back to the office.”
Everything seemed to be falling apart. There were even more questions and fewer answers.
All they knew at the moment was that the man in black was watching and was obviously prepared to do whatever necessary to stop or slow the investigation.
But at least that meant they were on the right track.
Buck seemed to be keeping an eye on things, but it was clear he knew more than he was saying.
Why was Buck and the man in black in the forest at the same time?
Katie felt a pit in her stomach as she considered whether her safety was in question.
John nodded. “I need to get back too. Eva is swamped. See you later?”
Katie smiled. “Yes.”
She watched John walk away and felt a flutter in her stomach. It made her feel vulnerable since the relationship with John was so new. It seemed managing the professional and personal aspects of being together was going to be a bit complex.
“Hey,” McGaven said, startling Katie on his return.
She caught her breath. “Any news?”
“They couldn’t find even a trace of anyone.”
“I’m not surprised.” She sighed. “Why does it seem they’re always one step ahead of us?