Found and Destroyed: The Second Sarah Martin Mystery

by Danelle Helget

  When we parked across the street from Cory’s, it was a little after 7:00 p.m. The lights were on inside and the blinds were only twisted part way open, but we could see pretty well between the slats. Kelly was laid out on the couch and the TV was on. We watched for a few minutes. Then Derek tried to text her. She looked at her phone and set it back down. Derek hit the steering wheel in frustration. I’d never seen him lose his cool, until then. I wonder if that was all of it, or if that was just the beginning.

  Cory walked into the room, stopped at the end table, and looked at her phone. He threw it down on her stomach and said something to her. She shook her head no, then he slapped her legs and she sat up. He plopped down on the couch next to her and said something and pointed across the room. She got up and returned with two bottles of beer and handed him one.

  We were intently staring out the window. After Kelly sat back down on the couch, Derek turned and looked at me, and then at Kendall. We all exchanged worried looks but no one knew what to do or say.

  “Why don’t we just go knock on the door and tell them we’re in town and want to take them out to dinner and see what happens?” I suggested.

  Derek and Kendall exchanged glances and shoulder shrugs.

  “I guess we could try to make contact …,” Derek said.

  “What if he goes crazy, or beats her?” Kendall asked. “I don’t want to piss him off.”

  We sat there and listened while Derek devised a plan. Cory didn’t know me, and neither did Kelly. Derek wanted to keep it that way for a while. He told me to stay in the Jeep and watch, and if anything looked bad to call 911. Derek pulled down the street, u-turned, and placed the Jeep as close as he could to their patio door. I climbed in the back where the window tint easily hid me. I had my phone on the seat next to me with nine and one already dialed, just in case.

  I watched nervously while Derek and Kendall exited the vehicle and walked up to the patio door. Kelly sat up when she noticed them at the door. The street was only about thirty yards from the road so I could see clearly. I saw Kelly point to the door and say something to Cory. Meanwhile, Kendall and Derek smiled and waved. Cory sat up and twisted the blinds shut. Derek pounded on the door.

  “Kelly, it’s us! Open up!” Derek said, loud enough for me to hear through the cracked window.

  They were both leaned up against the glass trying to hear. Kendall and Derek waited a few more seconds, and then Kendall knocked again and called for Kelly. Derek lost his patience.

  “Kelly, open the damn door or I will!” he shouted.

  The door slid open and Kelly stepped out, forcing Derek and Kendall to step back. Derek pushed past her through the door. My heart started racing. It was very unnerving. Kelly tried to pull him back out, but he got in.

  Once inside he pulled the blinds open. Thank you, Derek! Kelly followed him in, who was followed by Kendall. The patio door was still open and I could see Cory inside frantically picking stuff up off of the coffee table. Derek stood over him and watched, asking him questions and pointing at the coffee table. Cory walked to the kitchen, which was straight back in my line of sight, and dropped a bunch of stuff on the counter. Then there was a lot of yelling and angry gestures. Derek got right up in Cory’s face. They were about the same height, but Derek was definitely stronger. Cory had less muscle tone than I did. He looked frail and weak, but also looked pissed and was standing his ground talking back to Derek with authority.

  Kendall grabbed Kelly’s arm and led her to the right where I couldn’t see them anymore, but I noticed a light come on in the next window. A few moments later, Kendall pulled Kelly through the patio door, with a bag in tow, and started towards the Jeep. Kelly looked like she was crying, but she seemed willing to go with Kendall.

  They got to the Jeep, and Kendall pointed for Kelly to go to the driver side. They both got into their seats and Kendall introduced us. Kelly was crying and saying that it was a bad idea. I turned my attention back to the patio window. Derek had his hands up in defense and was shaking his head no. I moved my eyes to the right and saw that Cory had a gun pointed right at him!

  “Oh, my God!” I screamed and grabbed my phone. I quickly hit one and the call button.

  “Oh, shit!” Kelly screamed. “See he’s crazy. He’ll kill him!”

  “Fuck! What do we do?” Kendall screamed. “I gotta go help!”

  She threw her door open and ran towards the patio. Kelly opened her door and followed. I yelled our situation into the phone, and jumped over the seat and checked the address on the GPS. Then I hung up and checked the glove box to see if Derek had a gun in there. There wasn’t one. I didn’t know what to do. I got out and ran to the patio, but stayed to the side of the door frame and listened. I tried to stay out of Cory’s sight, but got close enough so that I could still see in.

  “Just calm down. We just want to take her out to dinner,” Derek said.

  “No! I know you’re a cop! You’re gonna steal her from me and take me to jail! I’ll die before I let that happen! She’s mine! She’s MINE now!” Cory screamed.

  Kelly stepped through the patio door and into the room.

  “Okay, okay, Cory I won’t go with them. I’ll stay here with you. Just put the gun down. This is crazy,” Kelly pleaded.

  “Cory, I’m not here for you. I’m out of my jurisdiction. I just wanted to visit my sister is all,” Derek pleaded. His voice was surprisingly calm. “Just put the gun down and let’s talk like adults. I hear there’s a wedding coming up. Let’s go have a nice dinner and talk about it.”

  “Fuck the wedding!” he yelled.

  His voice was getting more and more irate. He was obviously high on something, he was pacing and sweating and completely out of control. Kelly stepped closer to him.

  “Cory, just put the gun down and let’s talk. This is my brother. He just wants us to be happy,” Kelly cried. “Please just stop!” she begged through sobs.

  Come on! Where are the police? I gripped the brick wall I was pressed up against as tight as I could.

  “No! No! No!” Cory said, pacing and completely irrational. “He’s gonna take you away from me, and turn me in for the drugs, and I’ll be alone again. I can’t be alone! Kelly’s mine! You hear me? MINE!”

  His face changed as he looked at them. There was a frightening look in his eyes. His voice dropped and turned cold and vicious.

  “All of you can go to hell! I’ll destroy her before I’ll let her leave. If I can’t have her … then no one can!” He turned the gun toward Kelly and fired.

  “NOOOOOOO!” Kendall screamed.

  Derek jumped for him as he took off running for the open door. I pressed myself back against the building and held my breath. He ran past me, down the street, and took a left. I was pretty sure he hadn’t seen me. Finally I could hear sirens in the distance. I ran to the Jeep and grabbed my phone off the back seat. I redialed 911 and demanded an ambulance. I told them the street name that Cory had run down and gave the operator a description of him. Then I ran back into the apartment.

  Kendall was pacing around screaming and crying. Derek was leaning over Kelly, who was lying on the floor. He had his shirt off and pressed onto her abdomen. There was a lot of blood. It was on the floor, both of her hands, Derek’s hands, and already soaking through Derek’s shirt. Kelly’s eyes were wide open and blinking, but she wasn’t moving or saying anything. She was very still. Tears were running down her face with each blink. Derek kept telling her to stay awake and not to go to sleep.

  “If she’s stays awake she’ll be fine,” he said when he looked up at me. “Just stay awake, Kelly. Just stay awake,” he kept repeating to her.

  There was a bruise on her cheek and one of her eyes was black. These both looked a few days old.

  “I called 911 when I saw the gun, and I called again for an ambulance when he ran out,” I told Derek.

  “Thanks. Can you go outside and flag them down? I can hear they’re getting close.”

  “Yes,” I said and ran
out. Kendall was still pacing around crying, and holding her head in her hands.

  A police car raced down the street. I stood in the middle of the street, jumping up and down, waving my arms high in the air. When it got closer I pointed and ran towards the patio door. The cop parked in the middle of the street sideways. He left the lights on and bolted to his trunk, where he grabbed a first aid kit and an AED machine, and then ran to the patio. I followed him in, yelling that she was shot in the stomach and the guy ran off.

  Sirens screamed from every direction. I stayed outside so that I wouldn’t be in the way. One cop car went down the street that Cory had run down and two more parked on the street. A couple of minutes later the ambulance showed up, and two paramedics, pushing a gurney and equipment, ran through the door. Then Kendall came out and fell into my arms. She was much taller than I was, and her frantic hug knocked me back. We ended up on the ground—me sitting on my butt with my back propped against the building and she curled up, almost in a ball, with her head in my lap bawling. We could hear the EMTs talking about vitals and blood pressure and doses of medications. I hadn’t cried up to that point, but now that she was in my lap the tears came flowing down.

  A crowd had started to gather around us. Everyone was holding their hands over their mouths and shaking their heads. The EMTs rolled the gurney out the patio door and hurried towards the ambulance. When Derek came out of the doorway and saw us, he knelt down and rubbed Kendall’s back. I quickly wiped away my tears.

  “Kendall, I need you to be strong and go with her in the ambulance. I need to help out here for a bit. I’ll meet you at the hospital in a while, okay?”

  “What do you want me to do?” I asked trying my best to be calm.

  “Did you see what direction he went?” he asked me.

  “Yes, he went down Eighth, to the left,” I said, pointing to the sign on the corner. “I told a cop and 911 that too.”

  “Excellent. Can you go with Kendall and Kelly?”

  “Yes.”

  “Make sure Kendall has her phone and that she calls my parents to let them know.”

  “I will.” He quickly kissed me on the cheek and turned to the EMT.

  “These two are going with,” Derek told him.

  While they were loading Kelly in I grabbed mine and Kendall’s purses and jumped in the ambulance. I had to sit in the cab with the driver because there wasn’t any room in the back. The ride seemed to take forever. The driver was talking with the hospital on the CB. He updated them on Kelly’s current condition, which he labeled a “life-threatening, gunshot wound.” That’s when it hit me. My stress and emotion went straight to my stomach, and I needed to throw up. Now. I looked around for something to hold it. The driver hung up the CB.

  “I’m not from around here. How much further is it to the hospital?” I asked in a panicky voice and one hand over my mouth.

  “It’s about another two minutes from here … oh, man, are you gonna hurl?” he asked as he looked over at me.

  “Umm, yes! Right now!” I said and started flapping my hands up and down. I opened the glove box and found a large plastic zip lock with gloves in it.

  “Yeah, yeah, that’s good. Use that!” the driver said, glancing over. “I can’t pull over and stop for you.”

  “I know. Just keep going.” I said, as I dumped the gloves onto the seat between us and threw my head forward.

  I dry heaved more than I actually puked. It was a good thing we hadn’t eaten in a few hours. Nonetheless, pizza was ruined for me for a while. When I finished, I rolled the window down for fresh air. The driver rolled his window down too. He turned the corner and we pulled into the emergency bay.

  Already nurses and doctors dressed in gloves, robes, and masks waited. By the time the driver had thrown the ambulance into park, they were already unloading Kelly from the back doors. The EMT from the back shouted Kelly’s name, age, and vitals. Both EMTs ran into the building with the gurney and told the doctors what medicines they’d started in her IV. I stood there holding my purse, Kendall’s purse, and a bag of puke. Kendall stood next to me, still crying. I looked through the glass doors and saw a garbage can.

  “Let’s get inside and call your mom and dad,” I said.

  “Oh, my God, they’re going to be so upset!” she said and started bawling all over again.

  We walked in and I carefully tossed my puke bag in the trash can. Then I asked Kendall if I could use her phone. She nodded. To our right was an emergency room waiting area, so I escorted Kendall over and sat her down. I walked over and grabbed a box of tissues from the coffee table and paged through the contacts on Kendall’s phone until I found “Mom.” This is not the way I wanted to meet Derek’s parents, but here it goes.

  Chapter Five

  Hello?”

  “Um, hi, is this Kathy?” I asked.

  “Yes, who is this?” she asked.

  “My name’s Sara Martin. I’m a friend of Derek’s …”

  “Oh, yes. Hi, honey. We’ve heard so much about you. It’s nice to meet you,” she said, all chipper.

  “Thank you, it’s nice to meet you too,” I said strained.

  “What is it? What’s wrong, dear? Why are you calling me from Kendall’s phone?” she asked with concern in her voice.

  “Kendall’s right here with me. She’ okay … but there’s been a terrible accident.”

  “What? What happened? I want to talk to Kendall. Where is she? What kind of accident?” she stammered, her voice filled with anxiety.

  “Kendall fine, she’s just too upset to talk. It’s Kelly … she’s been shot,” I told her. I didn’t know how else to say it.

  “WHAAAAT? Oh, my God!” she screamed. I thought she’d dropped the phone because her voice got further away. I could hear a man’s voice in the back ground.

  “Kathy? Kathy, where are you?” I heard him say. That must be Derek’s dad, Doug.

  “Kathy, what is it?” he asked her, his voice closer now.

  “The phone,” she managed to say in between sobs. It had now occurred to me that I hadn’t mentioned that Kelly was alive. But she really hadn’t given me the chance.

  “Hello?” an angry man’s voice said. “Who is this? What’s going on? Tell me right now.”

  “Hello, this is Sara Martin. I’m Derek’s friend. I was with Derek and I’m here with Kendall. There’s been a … incident. Kelly was shot. We are at the hospital in Morris,” I managed.

  “What … who … why?” he stuttered in shock, suddenly sounding breathless.

  “She’s alive, but in critical condition. It was her boyfriend, Cory. We went to visit her and he was drugged up. He went crazy and shot her.”

  “Oh, shit! What about Kendall and Derek? Where are they?” he demanded.

  “Kendall and I came to the hospital with the ambulance and Derek stayed back at the scene to give a statement and help get the search started.”

  “What? Cory got away? The son of a bitch shot my little girl and got away?” he yelled at me furiously.

  “I’m sure they’ll find him, sir,” I offered.

  “She’s alive,” he said to Kathy. “Kelly’s alive, but not good. Go get dressed and pack a bag. We have to go now! Give me the address of the hospital,” he demanded.

  I went up to reception and grabbed a pamphlet from the wall display and read him the address.

  “Call Kendall’s phone when you get on the road. I’ll try to have an update for you. And I’ll call you if anything changes. I’m so sorry, sir. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  After I hung up, I put our purses down on the chair next to Kendall. She was still sobbing. I plopped down next to her and leaned back with my legs stretched out in front of me. I felt like I had been holding my breath and could finally get air. As soon as that air hit my lungs, I started shaking and tears came. I’m good at holding it together when it’s my job, but when the distractions come, or it’s in someone else’s hands, I lose it.

  I leaned forward and put my face in
my hands and sobbed. I didn’t know Kelly at all, but my heart was broken for her. What a horrible situation. The trauma of being in an abusive relationship was bad enough, but to be shot was beyond comprehension. I hurt for her sister, and her mom and dad, who were on their way, and for Derek. I couldn’t imagine what he must have been feeling. He’s a cop and his sister was shot right in front of him. I had no idea what his reaction to this would be. I tipped my head up and dried my face with a tissue. I looked over at Kendall and noticed that she was quiet and staring into space.

  “How you doing, love?” I asked, rubbing her back.

  She looked over at me shook her head no and laid it on my shoulder. I embraced her and held her until she calmed again a few minutes later. We sat there for another half hour waiting, watching people come and go. After an hour had passed, a nurse came walking toward us. She sat down next to me and asked us a few questions about Kelly. Kendall had to answer most of them. She said that she needed to get the information into the computer, and then she’d ask a doctor for an update and let us know.

  “Please hurry,” I said as she walked away. My phone rang. It showed Derek on caller ID.

  “Hey,” I said breathless.

  “Hey, any news on Kelly?” he demanded in a rushed, police voice. I could hear a lot of commotion in the background.

  “No, a nurse just went to check. She was conscious all the way here though. I called your mom and dad. They’re on their way now.”

  “Okay. We have a team set up and every cop in the state looking, but we haven’t found the son of bitch yet.” I could hear him take a deep breath.