Chapter 30
THIRTY
Katie drove to the hospital and pondered the image of the man in black at the coffee shop and how everything fit together.
They were getting close to connecting the dots—her intuition nagged at her and she couldn’t ignore it anymore.
What was she missing? She rehearsed in her mind the best way to proceed with Buck.
He obviously trusted her and today he had even looked out for her by having her back.
She would use that sense of duty to try to pry information from him.
There was a crack of thunder and lightning struck across the sky. A light rain was now hitting the windshield as Katie turned on the wipers. It wasn’t unusual to have a rainstorm come through at this time of year, making it feel as if it were washing away the old and refreshing the new.
She quickly found a parking spot and hurried inside the hospital. It was quite different than it had been earlier, with only a few people moving around.
Katie stopped at a nurse’s station near the ICU. “Excuse me, I’m Detective Scott here to see a Buck—or rather, Raymond Young.”
The polite nurse scrolled through the computer and said, “Yes, he’s been moved to the third floor, room three twenty-four.”
“Thank you.”
Katie found the nearest elevator and pressed floor three. As she waited, the elevator hummed. She thought it was a good sign they had moved him from the ICU emergency area to another floor.
She stepped out and walked down the hallway.
There were only two nurses moving about, entering rooms and checking patients.
The familiar anxious feelings surfaced. She didn’t know why her symptoms from past post-traumatic stress were trying to get hold of her right then.
But that was the way it worked sometimes.
Slowing her pace, she took a few slow breaths and tried to calm her nerves.
She found room 324 and pushed open the door.
It was dim with only a low-wattage light on.
In the hospital bed was a man, propped up with his eyes closed.
At first Katie didn’t think she had the right room, but moving closer she saw the man was indeed Buck.
They had shaved his beard and he wore a hospital gown.
It pained her to see the burn scars down his neck and up his arms. He appeared thin and not the fierce-looking ex-Marine who took down a knife-wielding man in the forest.
He was hooked up for hydration and what seemed to be some kind of painkiller or sedative. There were bandages sticking out from his hospital gown. The constant beep of the machine tracking his blood pressure and heartbeat was almost a comforting sound.
Katie took two steps back and wondered if she should wait until the morning to talk with him. As she contemplated what to do, she could feel tingling in her arms and legs as perspiration trickled down her neck. It was odd that she was experiencing this now in a quiet hospital room.
She was just about to turn around, when Buck spoke. “Detective?”
“How are you feeling?” she said softly. Stepping closer, she saw that the dim light shadowed his face slightly and assumed that was the way he liked it. “Can I get you anything? Snack or more water?”
It was the first time she saw him slightly smile. Since his beard was gone, she could see more of his expressions. “I’m fine, Detective. I just want to get out of here.”
“I know being in the hospital isn’t fun.”
He turned his head to look directly at her. His dark eyes watched her with more of a curiosity than just for conversation. “I’m glad you got my message.”
“That you only would talk to me?” she said.
He slowly nodded.
“Do you feel up to talking now?” she said.
He nodded again.
Katie moved a chair closer to the bed and sat down. She thought she would start basic and then ask more specific questions.
Buck kept his focus on her.
“First, thank you for saving my life.”
“I’m sorry you were hurt.”
“I’m fine. It’s not the first time,” she said and smiled.
“Where did you serve?”
She took a breath, not wanting to bring memories into the mix. “Army. Afghanistan. Two tours as a K9 explosive team.”
“That makes sense. It’s how you move when you’re under attack… it’s difficult to lose that training they burn into you.”
Katie thought that was an interesting choice of words. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
She patiently waited for a couple of minutes as she watched Buck lean back against the pillow as he seemed to be thinking. Katie casually glanced around the room, not looking at anything in particular.
“I know you and your partner are trying to figure out the killers,” he said.
“Killers?”
“Yes. I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that there’s more than one killer from different decades.”
Katie and McGaven had discussed it, but hearing it said made her more cautious. She also knew Buck might be trying to divert them from the truth.
“What do you know, Buck?”
He winced as he situated himself in the bed. “I’ve told you about the Collins family.”
“Do you or did you know them?” she said. Katie felt she was almost getting the runaround. But her instinct told her that he had a difficult time trusting anyone.
He shook his head, but there was a hesitation about it.
She decided to be more direct. “Do you know who the man in black is?”
“I’ve seen him for a while. Before the construction began he would come visit the property where the bodies were found. At first, I noticed him about once every two to three weeks. But after the groundbreaking, he came every day. Mostly watching.”
“Why do you think he was watching?”
“My guess would be he was trying to figure out what to do with the bodies.”
“If he’s not the killer, then who is he?” she said.
“Someone who knows…” Buck’s voice was soft, almost a whisper, and it had an eerie quality to it, almost a warning tone.
Katie leaned back. “What makes you say that?”
“Explain to me another reason why someone would visit the exact spot where bodies are buried.”
“You raise a good point.”
“C’mon, detective, you know I’m right.”
“Tell me why you’re so interested in this?”
He shrugged.
“Buck, I really can’t take you at your word until I know your connection.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does. You’ve obviously never investigated a homicide. Or a cold case.”
Buck became agitated.
“You know I’m right,” said Katie. “You can trust me. How are you connected?”
“I just know.” He stared at her with intensity. “I just know…” His voice faded off.
A nurse entered the room. “Just here to check your bandages and your blood pressure.”
Katie got up and left the room for a few minutes. She paced the hallway in frustration. She was so close, but Buck wasn’t going to confide in her. She thought it might be too traumatic for him, but it could be anything at this point.
The door opened and the nurse left. Katie entered again.
Buck had his eyes closed.
She didn’t know what to do. She’d never had this much trouble before maintaining a discussion or interview. She sat down. “Buck, I need to know what you know and how you know it. Who is the man in black?”
He opened his eyes and looked at her. She could tell the conversation was tiring him but she had to get some answers.
“I came here because you said you would only talk to me.” Katie pulled out one of the photos from the video cam at the coffee shop and showed it to him. “Is this the man in black? And was he the man who attacked me and stabbed you today?”
Buck remained quiet.
Katie let out a sigh. She didn’t want to use up any more energy. She stood.
Buck grabbed her arm. “Wait.”
She stopped and sat back down. She wasn’t going to ask him the question again.
His face was strained and he suddenly looked older.
“I was a kid when the Collins family lived on their farm not far from the construction site. My brother and I used to play around the property because it was near our house and sometimes we would sneak into their barn. It’s long gone now, but it was there,” he said.
“One night, we were out later than usual and managed to climb up in the barn’s loft.
We knew we weren’t supposed to be there and were about to leave.
” He stopped, appearing distraught at the memory.
Katie was barely breathing as she waited for him to continue.
“So we heard someone coming, a man’s voice.
We assumed it was Bruce Collins. The doors slammed open and he was mad—as usual.
There was no one with him, but he was searching for something.
” He paused. “He slammed things around, tools fell on the floor, and then he suddenly stopped, picked up a baseball bat, and left.”
“Do you know where he was going?” she barely whispered.
“We didn’t, but after he left we followed. It was late. He didn’t get into his truck; he walked out into the forest,” he said and then took a drink of his water.
Katie leaned forward and put her hand on his arm to let him know it was okay.
“Being mischievous boys, we followed him, careful not to alert him that we were behind him. We walked for a while, heading toward the Old Mill Road. Several times, though…”
“What?”
“It was just a feeling, but… we thought we heard someone following us too.” Buck stopped as if he had said too much.
He glanced down at Katie’s hand that was still on his arm and took a breath.
“That’s when we heard the screams. They were shrill and sounded like death.
Bruce Collins yelled and you could hear him hitting something with his bat and a woman screaming for mercy. ”
Katie felt chills at the horror that must’ve unfolded and how two young boys were witness to hearing the gruesome event. Taking a breath, she swallowed hard. She knew Buck was retelling something absolutely awful from his childhood—and she believed him.
“Detective?” he said.
“You can call me Katie.”
He nodded with appreciation. “Katie, my brother and I heard him murder his wife and daughter. We didn’t see it, but we definitely heard it,” he said and looked away, gently pushing her hand from his arm.
She looked at Buck with a much deeper understanding of his life and why he chose to live the way he did.
“How did you know they were buried on the construction site?” she gently pushed.
“After all that, we followed him as he drove his truck with the bodies in the back. We saw where he buried them. And later we went to the site and saw the fresh dirt that had been dug. We couldn’t sleep for a while—thinking that he would kill us or our parents if we said anything.”
“You never told anyone?”
“Never. And I’m never telling the story again.” He looked directly at Katie.
She knew he meant it and there was no way to corroborate the story unless his brother was willing to tell it to the police too. The pieces were falling together now, but where was this all going? Bruce Collins had ended up dead himself and buried at the back of his house…
“I know your next question… I don’t know who the man in black is except I believe he’s part of the Collins family somehow.” This time he squeezed Katie’s arm. “It’s up to you to figure that out—but you must be careful. I might not be there next time.”
“Thank you for telling me all this. Can I do anything for you?” she said.
“You already have.”
“Can I get in touch with you?”
Buck gave a tiny smile. “As I said before, I will get in touch with you.”