Payback (The Canine Handler Book 1)

by Hillegas, Maria

  “Well, we have some very important information regarding your daughter Lindsey’s case.” The lieutenant sat back in her chair. She looked up from the large manila file on the table and eyed Bill and Kellee. “There has been a dramatic new development in the information surrounding Lindsey’s murder. I tried my best to get you both in here as quick as I could to break it to you before it became public knowledge. But with so many eyes and ears around this place, apparently it was hard to keep it under a lid.”

  “What news?” Kellee spoke up, her voice soft and light. She sounded like her heart was in her throat.

  Dave felt empathy for the couple. He sat beside them. He watched Kellee flinch at the sound of her deceased daughter’s name. He knew it never got any easier to deal with the pain of a lost loved one, especially one lost to such a senseless act.

  “Pretty big news. We still have some tests to re-run, but we believe we have solved Lindsey’s murder.”

  “What?” Bill jumped up, face contorted, visibly excited and upset at the same time. Even though the murder had happened nine years ago, it was evident to everyone in the room the parents’ pain was still fresh. Sitting within reach of their hearts, they still bore it on a daily basis.

  The state worker Bill had known from the lab stood up to offer him support. “So sorry, Bill,” the lab worker said as he looked down at the conference room table. No one knew exactly how to support a parent who had lost a child, especially a child who was violated and brutally murdered. The air became heavy. Dave could feel the tension mounting in the small conference room.

  Bill nodded his head toward the man and sat down hard in his chair. “I’m sorry, this has just caught me off guard.”

  “No problem,” the lieutenant continued without showing emotion. “Originally, when Lindsey’s body was found, the ME was able to take semen samples from the body and clothing. They were good samples and were preserved well. The DNA from those samples were entered into the system at the time but never produced a match.” The lieutenant maintained her staunch, professional posture and tone. “Until now.”

  She drew in a breath, “Over the last five years, we have updated our system and entered several older records from many databases into the FBI’s CODIS system, including the information we obtained from Lindsey’s killer.” The lieutenant paused for a moment allowing Kellee and Bill to digest what she was trying to say.

  Bill will understand the terminology and technical jargon, but will Kellee? Dave also knew that Bill had been taken off several cases when Lindsey was murdered. Rumor had it, Bill’s judgment and focus became clouded and he couldn’t deal with it.

  “Moving on. The murders from last weekend… we were able to get both victims’ DNA information within a few days and enter it into CODIS. The FBI found the match almost immediately, but withheld the information from us for a few days until they decided how to proceed.”

  “What information?” Kellee was growing impatient. “Are they somehow related to Lindsey’s killer?”

  “Yes.” Silence followed for a moment. “The DNA from Dwight Harrison, the subject you helped find that was mutilated in the forest is a 99.9% match to the DNA found on Lindsey.” Kellee let out a gasp as Bill turned to look at her. The lieutenant paused. Dave watched as she regarded Bill and Kellee’s reactions. “We ran it twice and had two different lab technicians check it.”

  Tears slowly slid down Kellee’s face and she began to weep softly. She hid her face in her hands. Bill’s eyes glistened with tears. He stood up, then bent down and embraced Kellee. She leaned into him and started to cry harder. Everyone in the room was moved with the heavy emotional outpouring.

  “You’re sure?” Bill asked the lieutenant as well as the technicians who sat around the table. They nodded in response.

  “Harrison would have been eighteen. He was still in school, a senior at the time of the murder.” Dave pushed a file toward Bill as he spoke. “Their paths could have crossed on a daily basis with the middle school and high school on the same campus, and some shared common classrooms. Harrison has a record a mile long that started when he was in seventh grade, but nothing serious enough to warrant collecting his DNA to keep on record. Domestic abuse, spousal abuse from the last few years that he was never indicted for is the heaviest record in his arrest history. The agency could never get the wife to press charges against him… so there was never a court case.”

  The lieutenant slid another file across the table to where Bill stood beside his ex-wife. It was Harrison’s juvie file. On the front was a picture of Dwight Harrison as a teenager. Bill stared at the photo for a long moment before opening the folder. He flipped through copies of a few police reports, countless court documents and other records from the subject.

  The information within was plain to see that he had been a leech on life, someone not worth the time of day, Dave thought as he watched Bill leaf through the file he had put together.

  “I know this is moving fast, but we would want both of you to stay on for the press conference.”

  “But we just found out. We’ve got nothing prepared as far as a statement regarding the information or how we’re feeling about all of this,” Bill retorted.

  “That’s fine. We don’t want either one of you making a statement at this time. We just want you standing beside the Major as he breaks the news. Do you think you two can handle that?”

  Bill looked down at Kellee. She was trying to wipe away the mascara that had run from under her eyes. She nodded.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  Kellee sat taller in her seat and replied, “I want to stay.”

  “Yes, we will both stay and support the announcement.” Bill took Kellee’s hand in his and stood guard beside her as the small gathering broke apart, headed in different directions to ready for the press conference.

  Dave wondered how Kellee would handle hearing the details again as they were read to the public. A nagging thought crossed his mind, a thought he hoped would prove irrelevant. Had Sarah known about this?

  Chapter 42

  Sarah

  Over the course of several days, Sarah began to ease out of her chemically-induced coma. Tubes and wires ran in every direction feeding her medications, keeping track of her vitals, hydrating her. The IV attached to her hand restricted some of her movement. Her left side and leg were throbbing with discomfort. She felt like she was trying to claw her way out of a coffin deep in the ground. Her breath was short, restricted. It burned if she tried to breathe too deep. It felt like her side was being pierced with a branding iron. Her throat was scorched and dry.

  The brightness from the fluorescent bulbs stung her eyes when she tried to open them. She remained disoriented and confused about her situation. But there was one thing that was clear to her—she didn’t feel like she was in conflict with herself anymore. Her mental anxieties seemed to have vanished.

  She covered her eyes with her free hand, opening them only slightly as she tried to adjust to the light. Sarah felt almost at peace except for the pain. At first she couldn’t figure out what was different, but it was the feeling of solitude, reconciliation. She was no longer in contradiction with herself. It was a surreal moment when she realized what was different within her mind. Eva was gone. She had perished in whatever trauma Sarah endured.

  “Hey, there.” Dave shifted in the hospital recliner when he saw Sarah move. The heavy plastic covering protested under his weight as he changed position.

  Sarah could hear Dave by her side. With her eyes still partially closed, she tried to turn her head in his direction. She winced. The movement sent shards of pain throughout her body.

  “Don’t move. I’m right here.” Dave laid his hand softly on her exposed arm. Visible scars stood out like measures on a staff. The reason she always wore long-sleeve shirts. Normally Sarah flinched when anyone touched her, but she didn’t this time.

  Sarah squinted as she opened her eyes to barely a slit. She tried to focus on her room and then Dave. Panic
crossed her face. “Gunner? Sam?” she tried to choke out.

  “They’re both okay. Kellee has them.” He watched her calm down.

  “Water?” she whispered.

  “Sure, I think. Let me see if I can scrounge some up.”

  Dave left to tell the nurses that Sarah was awake and coherent and to find her some water. Sarah looked around her surroundings. She figured out where she was. The event which led her here was like a dream. She remembered bits and pieces but wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. She had no idea of the time lapse.

  She looked down at all the wires leading to her body and back to machines which stood beside her and hooked into the wall. Her left leg was held rigid, in some sort of traction device. She leaned slightly forward and touched the bandaging on her stomach area. It stretched from the front of her abdomen and wrapped around to her lower back. A violent tremor shot through her head and caused her to forcibly close her eyes again and lay back.

  Dave returned with a styrofoam cup filled with ice chips and water. A bendable straw sprouted from the enclosed top. A nurse was hot on his heels as he came through the door. She observed Sarah’s vital signs on the monitor, took her blood pressure, looked at her dressings and checked the position of her leg.

  “All looks good here,” the nurse stated.

  Dave offered the water to Sarah slowly, bringing it to her lips. Sarah took a few sips and swallowed hard. It brought instant relief to her parched throat, but took all of her energy to perform the basic task. She pushed the cup away.

  “How are you?” the nurse asked Sarah.

  “Hunh? Not sure yet, tired,” Sarah replied.

  “Do you know where you are?”

  “I think, I think so. A hos-hospital?” Sarah stumbled with the words.

  “Yes, yes you are. Do you know why you are here?”

  “Something happened to me? Something bad?”

  “Yes, you were shot. The bullet penetrated your abdomen and shattered your left pelvic bone. You lost a kidney. Try and rest for now. But I’ll summon the doctor on call. He’ll be able to explain it all to you when you’re ready.”

  “I was shot? How?” Sarah became alarmed. Her breathing quickened. She was still trying to understand her situation.

  “You need to relax for now. The agents will want to question you as soon as possible. I won’t be able to hold them off very long.”

  “Agents? I don’t understand.” Sarah opened her eyes a little wider allowing a bit more light in. “I don’t know what’s going on.” The rate on the heart monitor shot up.

  “Calm down. Someone will be in to explain it to you more in depth. Try and rest for now.” The nurse left it at that. Sarah could hear the woman in the hall having a hushed conversation with a few others standing near her doorway. She knew it concerned her and whatever had transpired that put her in the hospital.

  “Dave?” Sarah turned and looked toward where he was standing. She needed answers. “I need to know what’s going on! Why am I here? Nothing’s making sense.”

  She could hear him let out a deep breath. He sounded exasperated, almost defeated.

  “Sarah, this puts me in a compromising position. I want you to know everything that is going on, and I want to help you also. I can get in some very deep trouble for filling you in on everything that has transpired. But I am also here for you. Do you understand that?”

  Sarah tried to follow him with her eyes as he paced back and forth beside her bed as he spoke. It made her head spin, she closed her eyes again for a moment to steady herself.

  Reopening her eyes, she tried once again to focus on Dave’s movements. “I need answers. I’m so confused? I’m not really understanding what is happening? My head hurts so bad!” Sarah emitted her plea, she sounded hurt and perplexed.

  Dave stopped and stood beside Sarah with his hands jammed deep into his front jeans pockets. He looked at her then glanced down at the floor.

  Sarah’s eyes tracked him. “What is it?” She had a feeling Dave needed to tell her something significant as she studied his body language.

  “I have to tell you what happened, how you ended up here… why you ended up here,” he said as he scanned the room.

  “I’m here, Dave. I’m listening,” Sarah said in a raspy whisper.

  “It was me who shot you, Sarah,” Dave stated with direct intention. He made it clear what had transpired.

  “What? Why?” She was trying to register what Dave was telling her. What could I have possibly done that caused such a thing?

  “This isn’t easy for me, Sarah.”

  Sarah tried to be patient as Dave worked to find the right words.

  “We were in a situation. You raised a knife at Bella. But it really wasn’t you, it was somehow someone else. You were wearing a black wig…” Dave trailed off. It had brought up the issue of Sarah and her alopecia.

  Sarah raised her hand to her head. She felt for her semi-bald head, but she felt more than her normal patchy wisps. Sarah was alarmed that she was so exposed. She could feel a smoothness that wasn’t just skin. There was a very short layer of thick padding on her head.

  “Yes, your hair is growing in. Look at your arms.”

  She focused for a moment on her forearms. There was bright red, almost orange hair peeking through her sparsely freckled skin. A smile crossed her face.

  Dave smiled back.

  “Okay, getting back to why you’re here. We don’t have much time before the doctors show up, and possibly the agents.” Dave hesitated for a short moment. “I didn’t know it was you at first. You were standing in a crowd. Bella tracked up to you from a recently burned home. She scared you.”

  “Scared? Me?” Sarah’s expression showed bafflement. Her pinched brows raised questionably. “What do you mean I was scared? Frightened of Bella? Are you sure?”

  “Like I said, it wasn’t you.”

  He continued on. “I know this sounds crazy. But it was like you were someone else. The short, black wig, the way you were dressed, it just didn’t make sense. When Bella closed in on you, you raised a knife at her. I thought Bella was in danger and shot you to protect her. I’m sorry, Sarah. I’m really sorry.”

  “I think I know why, but I’m not sure. My head is so cloudy,” Sarah stated. She stared at the graying hospital ceiling and gathered her thoughts. How can I explain something I don’t completely understand myself?

  “What are you talking about, Sarah?”

  “I think it was Eva. Someone I met when I was a teenager in foster care. There were black-outs, periods of time I couldn’t account for. Especially during darker times at the hands of the foster family. Sometimes others would call me Eva after these black-outs and I didn’t understand.”

  “Like another personality?” Dave asked. A look of confusion crossed his face.

  “I’m not sure. I never understood what was going on,” Sarah answered. She was trying to understand it all as well. She was so foggy headed.

  “You’re circumstantially linked to the Codorus murders, Sarah. I need to tell you this. You need to know what is going to happen. What the protocol will be.”

  “How?”

  “You are their prime suspect. They may have more than circumstantial evidence. There’s DNA that might link you to each crime scene. You need to be prepared when the bureau agents come to question you.”

  “None of this makes sense.”

  “I know how it sounds. But you need to tell them everything. If you don’t remember, if there was anything strange going on with you, they need to know.”

  “I thought I was losing my mind. Things around the house were misplaced. Gunner and Sam acted weird sometimes… they were wary of me. Like they were waiting to see what mood I would be in each time I woke up. I was having periods of time that I couldn’t account for.”

  “The agents are going to push you for as much information as they can. You’re going to need a good lawyer, Sarah. A real good lawyer.” Dave stood up and looked out the window.
The situation looked like it was wearing on him. “But you need to heal first. You need to concentrate on getting well. This is all just a setback. I want to be here for you if you’ll let me.”

  “I just don’t understand.” Sarah’s voice wavered. She was near tears. Her throat was burning, making her voice raspy. Closing her eyes, she turned away from Dave. She was tired.

  “There’s something else I want to ask you, and I hope you don’t think I’m prying. I really just want to help you. Need to help you, Sarah. There was a piece of paper that had been in your other hand when I got to you at the scene. It was crumpled up. It fell from your hand when it happened, um, …well, you know…”

  Sarah turned her head to face Dave again. It was clear that she needed to rest.

  “Hunh? Paper?”

  “This piece of paper had the word ‘Charlottesville’ scribbled on it. Do you know what that would mean? Any idea?”

  Sarah became visibly upset. She closed her eyes again and started to cry. Dave leaned down close to Sarah and took her hand. She accepted him into her space, the closeness. She allowed him to console her.

  “What is it, Sarah? I need to know so I can help you with this. You don’t need to do this alone anymore. I care about you, Sarah, way more than I think you can comprehend right now. You need to let me help you. I need you to let me help you with this.”

  In a response that was barely a whisper, Sarah mouthed a few words. Words she never thought she would be able to say to anyone. Dave couldn’t make out what she had said and leaned down close to her.

  “I don’t understand what you’re saying, Sarah. Tell me again.”

  “There was a baby.” The tears flowed uncontrollably. Between sobs and broken words, Sarah managed to explain to Dave. “She was taken from me right away. I never even got to hold her. They stole her. No one knows about her.”

  “When did this happen? How long ago? Who?”

  “I was fifteen. The people who took the other younger kids from our home.” Sarah had regained some of her composure. She reminded herself that she could trust Dave. What else did she have to lose at this point? How much farther to rock bottom could she get? “I don’t know much more than the people came from the Blue Ridge area of Virginia. I’m not sure, but I think she was trying to find out where they had taken her. I think she was trying to pinpoint and help me find her. She was trying to find exactly where my child might be and who the people were that took her. And the others…” Sarah trailed off.