Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love

by Lora Lindy

  “I understand, and I will.”

  Chapter 34

  2:52 p.m.

  After several of hours of surgery the doctors came out and talked with Mike. Many of the team members were waiting at his side.

  “Mr. Ramsey?” said Dr. Orsburn as he walked into the room.

  “Yes sir, I’m Mike Ramsey, how is she doctor?” Mike was so anxious he could hardly breathe. He had never been this scared since his wife died.

  “She’s one tough lady, living after taking a shot like that is remarkable. We had to remove her left kidney and spleen. Her lung was punctured by part of the bullet, but it was in a place where we could remove it. Internally she’s banged up pretty bad and the next day or two we’ll know more. She has lost a tremendous amount of blood and that doesn’t help. One thing that did help her was the freezing cold weather. It slowed down the flow of blood. But I think she’ll pull through, keep in mind, she won’t be ready to run marathons any time soon. But I think she’ll be up to par in a couple of months.”

  Mike walked over and shook the doctor’s hand and thanked him. “I need to get in her room immediately, she’s in protective custody.” Thank you God, she’s alive and it looks like she’ll live. This is nothing short of a miracle. His heart was relieved and he wanted to get to his Lana.

  “She’s in room 200, but we have her listed as 314 on the books, that’s an empty room and in a part of the hospital that’s quiet. So you may want to put someone watching that door.”

  “Thank you so much.” Mike liked Dr. Orsburn and he was the same doctor that performed surgery on Frank. He was thorough and cared a great deal for his patients. He noticed him at Frank’s memorial. How many doctors would go to a memorial or think about changing the room numbers on the charts?

  “I hope you catch the son-of-a-bitch who shot her,” the doctor said with anger for the shooter.

  Mike and Joe immediately headed to room 200. There laid he precious Lana with tubes running out of her side. He laid his head down next to her and cried his heart out while holding her hand.

  Joe walked over to Mike and put his hand on his shoulder and he too had tears running down his cheeks. “Mike, why don’t you go in the bathroom and shower. I brought you a clean change of clothes. I’ll sit here and watch her.”

  “Sure, I would be glad to do that. Ask Dane to sit at room 314 and have someone get him a doctor’s uniform. Also set men at every entrance and make sure someone monitors all the cameras. Get someone to sit outside this room. Nobody and I mean nobody gets through without the hospital administrator approving them. Give him a call to get photos of all nurses and doctors who will be attending to Lana.” Mike’s cop mode set in, giving orders. It was second nature to him.

  “I’ll do that and I brought you some food and coffee,” said Joe.

  “I’m not hungry but the coffee sounds good.” Mike looked at the black coffee and he noticed Joe got some french vanilla cream. Seeing the cream choked him up, it reminded him of Lana and their first morning together. After all these years of drinking black coffee, this precious girl changed him. “Joe.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Thanks for the cream. That was thoughtful of you.”

  “You’re welcome and I’ll get busy setting everything up in the hospital. I’ll let you know when everything is in place.” Joe wrote down all that needed to be done. Before he left he walked over to the bed and held Lana’s hand. “Mike she really is a special lady. It could have been me or I might be at the morgue. She saved my life.”

  Mike had no idea what he meant. “What do you mean she saved your life?”

  “Right before the gun shot she pushed me out of the way. She must have seen something,” said Joe as he noticed how bloody the tubes were sticking out of her side.

  Mike’s looked at Joe and he reassuringly said. “Yea she’s a very special lady and she did what any loving person would do. That’s the mom in her. Joe, I don’t want you to feel guilty. Nor would Lana want you to feel guilty. She thinks the world of you and she’ll tell you that when she feels better.” Mike knew Joe would feel bad the rest of his life and he hoped if Lana died Joe can come to terms with his feelings. Unfortunately in this business you can’t wear your emotions on your sleeve. The cops have to learn to cope, or the stress will eat them alive.

  “That’s exactly what Raymond said.”

  *****

  Colby a senior agent and special long range weapons expert called Raymond to the side. “Raymond, it’s over a mile to that light house. That is not an easy shot, and I think we need to start researching who could shoot that far. And Raymond, we’ve had agents outside for several days, and nobody bothered them. It would have been easier to shoot one of us when we were alone. So he was after one person, and the only people not outside before today were you, Mike, Joe and Lana.”

  Raymond thought a minute. “I agree. Keep in mind it’s been cloudy and windy the last several days. And what you just said coincides with Ken’s theory. Let’s go to the lighthouse and double check forensics. Find us a car equipped with forensics materials. I don’t think they missed anything, but we are the experts and if we’re lucky we might find a clue.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Raymond and Colby were both on the Marshals terrorist sharp shooter team and experts in long range weapons. They drove to the lighthouse as quickly as they could and they ran up the steps two at a time. They could see fingerprint dust on the center of the double windows. “Colby I want you to see if you can find any tripod marks. I don’t think anyone could make that shot without that extra support.”

  Colby got down on his knees far from the window so he wouldn’t contaminate the marks on the floor. He grinned at Raymond. “I see marks of a tripod Raymond. Two marks by the window are clear, but this other has footprints on it.”

  Raymond got on the floor, took out his flashlight and looked. He also saw three spots.

  Colby took several pictures of the untarnished marks.

  “Do you think he sat in a chair?” Raymond asked.

  “For him to shoot this far I think he would sit in a chair, but I don’t see any marks. Not only that, he probably was here hours before he made the shot. Once the sun came up we had deputies outside and they should have seen something. So if you don’t mind Raymond I’m going to have forensics checks the outside to find anything like wrappers cigarette butts or anything like that. I’m going to have them check the building for marks and breakins.”

  “Good idea. And you’re right about the chair. If he’s been here for awhile waiting I can’t imagine him sitting on the floor. We would be able to see a clear spot from his butt. Not only that, he can’t hear anything because it’s too far, so he wouldn’t know where we were to shoot. You can’t see anything because the window is too high. Unless he stood, he had to have a chair.” Raymond stopped and thought a minute. “He had a tripod with a chair. We should have thought of that.”

  Colby walked around and looked at the positioning he would be in if he was about to make that shot. “I’m guessing he stood right here because there was no wind this morning. Remember we were talking about how perfect the water would be for water skiing, it looked like glass. So he wouldn’t have to consider wind, only the velocity for dropping.”

  Raymond’s mind was thinking a mile a minute. He scratched his head then said. “I’m going to try a theory. I want you to act out this killer’s movements from start to finish. Pretend you’re using the Remington R700 with a Millet TR1 scope. Show me how you would shoot.” Raymond carefully shut the windows. He too saw the glare, but everything happened so fast he didn’t have time to react. He felt some guilt as well.

  Colby precisely went through all the motions as if he was setting up the tripod and putting the gun together, loading the bullet. Then he pretended he sat in the chair and waited for Lana to make her appearance on the porch. When she sat in the chair on the porch he set the sights, then opens the window, and shoots. The killer did do one thing that Raymond h
oped he would do. It’s the same thing Colby did. He took his gloves off to pull the trigger. Many shooters get used to shooting without a glove and he hoped this shooter did the same thing. Colby used his right hand to pretend to push the window open. Colby pushed it from the hinge side instead of opening the window from the middle. Colby grinned.

  Raymond looked at Colby. “Did you touch the window?”

  “No sir I did not.”

  “Let’s get forensics here.”

  When forensic arrived they dusted the other side of the window, the hinge side. It looked like they got three fresh and clear fingerprints. Raymond got excited. “Process these immediately. And before you leave I want you to scour the grounds for anything; gum wrappers, cigarettes, candy wrappers. And you may check down the side of the far window for rope marks or anything unusual.” Raymond stood there for a few minutes and looked at Colby. “Colby, I just had a thought.”

  “So share it.” Colby packed up what few cases they got out of the car.

  “How could he possibly know Lana would sit on the porch?”

  Colby thought for a minute. “If the Marshals allowed someone that’s being protected to go outside, they would only allow them to walk around in the least vulnerable place. In this case it’s the porch.”

  “I agree, so don’t you think it’s someone who knows the routines and policies of the marshals? How could this hit man know what we would do?”

  “Oh shit Raymond, you don’t think a marshal or law enforcement had anything to do with this?”

  “Think about it. When we move someone in protective custody we will go miles out of our way if we think it’s the best and safest route. How would this guy know if Lana would come out and then sit on the porch? You can see for yourself in the pictures that tripod was never moved. It stayed in one spot from the minute he set it up on the tripod. The whole time it looked like he pointed it to the porch,” said Raymond.

  “You’re right, that tripod was locked in on the porch. To add to this theory all the beach chairs are all at the opposite end of the house. Most people would think if she went outside she would be sitting on one of the chairs basking in the sun. They are at the opposite end of the house. But the tripod was set directly at the porch and not at the beach chairs. Who do you think is involved?” Colby asked intently listening. If the culprit was a marshal, he wanted the first punch.

  “I’m not sure anyone is, but I’m sure whoever shot Lana has knowledge about the marshals. Colby don’t let me forget to tell Ken so he can add that to his computer.”

  “I won’t.”

  The forensic people were driving off as Colby and Raymond headed back to the house.

  Chapter 35

  3:20p.m.

  The room was quiet with the exception of a few machines running and making a humming sound. It’s amazing how all these machines could keep someone alive or at least make their quality of life better. He was thankful they were there to help her breath.

  It seemed strange how this little girl laying there was nonexistent in his life two weeks ago. He had grown to love her during this very short time. He couldn’t wait for her to open her eyes. He needed to hear her sweet voice again. “Hey baby, I hope you can hear me. I want you to get better so we can go on our trip to Hawaii. I thought about us going there for a honeymoon, and staying through next year’s winter months. What do you think about that? We might be able to bring over our families and get married on the beach. You like the beach and the warm sand sounds pretty good right now. Honey, there is so much I don’t know about you and I want to know everything, your favorite color, baseball team, your favorite food, and your favorite movie. Please wake up and tell me these things.” As he gently rubbed her arm, he noticed a little blood on her fingers. He went and got a towel and cleaned around her arms and neck and face. He couldn’t bear to see the gunshot wound, that would be too much. While cleaning the neck area Mike saw the bruise from the shot went all the way up to the ear area. The pain Lana was going through brought waves of guilt through his heart.

  “One more thing honey, I want thank you for saving Joe’s life. That’s the most selfless heroic act anyone has ever done. Joe is torn up about it, but Raymond told him that’s just how you are. He told him that’s the mother instinct in you. I think it’s your love for mankind, and your love for Joe.”

  Mike paced around the room about fifty times waiting and hoping. The doctor came in during his evening rounds. Mike asked. “How is she doing?”

  The doctor checked the chart and gave Lana an examination, then smiled while answering. “I think she is doing better than expected. All her vitals are great and her heart is strong. There doesn’t seem to be any internal bleeding and she seems to be doing better than I had hoped.”

  “So why is she still in a coma?”

  “It is probably caused from trauma and lack of blood. If all goes well she should come out of that in a few days if not sooner. To be honest, I don’t think I have ever seen someone fight so hard to live. Do you have any other questions?”

  This next question wasn’t important to him, but he wanted to know so he would be able to answer questions for Lana. “How will her quality of life be after this?”

  “The same,” the doctor said as he wrote in her chart.

  The doctor didn’t understand how important that question was for Mike. Lana loved life and he didn’t know how she would cope with bad news. It didn’t matter to him and he already reconciled with himself he would take her any way he could have her, whole or not. “That’s such good news. I know Lana will be happy to hear that.”

  “She will have to take it easy for awhile, but then she can resume life like normal. We had to remove the kidney, but she will function just fine with one. She won’t feel comfortable wearing a bikini, but that’s minor.”

  Mike grinned and shook the doctor’s hand. “I don’t think that will bother her in the least. Thank you so much.”

  “You are welcome, and just let the nurses know if you need anything. I’ll see you in the morning, and maybe our sleeping beauty will be awake.”

  “I hope so, and have a good evening.”

  Mike walked over to the bed and told Lana the good news.

  Chapter 36

  5:20 p.m.

  Raymond was on his way back to the house and his phone rang. “Hey Ken what else did you find?” Raymond liked Ken’s calls because every time he called he had some good and interesting news. This software would change the way all law enforcement tracked killers.

  “When will you get back?” Ken asked.

  “In about five minutes, what do you need?”

  “I will have to show you, hurry.”

  He looked at Colby and said. “Hurry, Ken has something he wants to show us.”

  Colby pulled up so quickly when he slammed on the brakes the SUV fishtailed. The normal time from the Lighthouse to the beach house was about eleven minutes and Colby made it in seven.

  “What so important that you have to show me immediately, I was nearly killed getting here.” Ken glanced at Raymond and Colby, and Colby just smiled.

  Ken turned the laptop around for Raymond to read about the news himself. He glanced around the screen trying to figure out what he was supposed to be reading. After looking all over the screen and he finally found what Ken wanted to show him, then he read: After careful analysis of the data input, one suspect found in files; Angelino Marquit.

  “How in the hell do you know that?” asked Raymond, excited they finally got a break.

  “As I told you agents have been entering cases and information and fact from years of investigations and the computer analyzed all the information and it came up with this man’s name. I entered the shooting and the sperm and the airport and everything else. Angelino Marquit is the only name that popped up when I put in the long distance shooting. The computer looks at anyone that can shoot that distance and Angelino Marquit is the only one that can. Or at least the only one who can shoot that distance and also fit
all other data entered. Raymond we are really lucky, sometimes there’s several names or none.” Ken was so proud of himself. Ken was grinning as he starts typing information in the computer and he then turns it around for Ken to see. “Do you want to know more?”

  “Hell yes.”

  “This guy is called the Mission Impossible.”

  “Why?” asked Raymond. He thought that was an extremely odd nickname.

  “He changes his face and accents and he enjoys tormenting his victims and he likes to stalk them and toy with them before killing them. And Raymond because of his cunningness he has in the past been able to sway law enforcement to other suspects. He has even been known to dress up like a woman. One more thing, for some reason his record is blocked.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My guess it’s a special team on this case, and for some reason I don’t have access to his records.”

  “What would be the reasons?”

  “There are several reasons. One, there are some highly classified undercover agents involved. Two, there might be a leak and an agent is being investigated. Three, there are some big criminals involved.”

  “Wow, can you break in and get the information?” Raymond’s ears perked up when Ken listed the reasons. He had just talked to Colby about the same thing. He knew he would have to get with Mike and Joe to discuss this new bit of information.

  “I’m working on that now.”

  “That’s amazing and thanks Ken. And Ken I have one more favor.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Can you look into your crystal ball and tell me a way to catch this guy.”

  “You mean predict his future?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll do my best.” He grinned from ear to ear because he was so proud of this new software.

  “Thanks, I’ve got to call Sara.” Raymond was in awe of this program and he intended to have a talk with Ken about it later when he had more time.

  Sara answered on the first ring. “Talk to me because I don’t have anything for you.”