Found and Destroyed: The Second Sarah Martin Mystery

by Danelle Helget

  “I’m so sorry, Derek.” I said tearing up again.

  “I’ll be there soon,” he said and disconnected. Kelly’s phone rang. I looked at the caller ID: Mom and Dad

  “It’s your parents,” I said to Kendall. She shook her head at me, so I answered it.

  “Hello, this Sara,” I said when I answered.

  “It’s Kathy, dear. We’re in the car driving right now. Have you heard anything new?”

  “No, a nurse just went to go check. She should be back soon. Kelly was conscious the whole time, and they say that’s really good,” I told her.

  “Is Kendall doing okay? Where’s Derek?” Kathy asked.

  She put me on speaker phone and I updated the both of them on the whole situation. As I was finishing, the female doctor came through the emergency room door and walked toward us. I held the phone up so Kathy and Doug could hear what she had to say too.

  “Okay, I was just in the operating room. Kelly was shot in the abdomen and the bullet lodged in her liver. It pierced her spleen and broke a rib in the process. She’s lost a lot of blood, but her pressure and vitals are holding. That’s all the update I have for now. The surgeon will come out and talk to you as soon as he’s done,” she told us, then turned and walked away.

  “Did you hear all that?” I asked into the phone.

  They had, and said that they would contact Travis, Derek’s older brother, to let him know too. I told them I’d call if we heard anything else. I put Kendall’s phone in my purse and leaned back in the chair. I noticed the coffee station set up across the room, so I got up and grabbed two cups. I added a bunch of cream and sugar to mine so that it didn’t taste like coffee. I still needed to get the puke taste out of my mouth. “Coffee will warm you up,” I said, noticing that Kendall seemed tense and was shivering. I was worried about her. She wasn’t saying much at all. I sipped on my coffee and sat quietly next to her. A few more tears escaped. I just wished Derek would walk through the door.

  A few minutes later the entry doors opened and Derek rushed in. He was wearing an MPD t-shirt. I ran across the room and threw my arms around him. He looked awful. His hug was tight, and his heart was beating so hard and fast that I could feel it on my chest. He didn’t let go when I started to, but instead held tighter and bent over and buried his face in my neck and cried quietly. A few moments later he straightened up and wiped his tears on the back of his hand.

  “Sorry,” he said. I shook my head and half smiled. He walked over and hugged Kendall for a long while too. She didn’t say anything and just sat back down when he let go. “Have you heard anything yet?” he asked.

  “Yes, and your mom and dad are updated too. They said they’d call Travis.”

  I reiterated everything the doctor had said. Then we sat there and waited. Derek told Kendall and me about what had gone on back at the scene of the shooting. It was all police talk, but I got the gist of it.

  About an hour later, Kathy and Doug arrived. They came rushing over and everyone hugged. Derek introduced me. I thought to myself, this is not the way I wanted to look when I met them. My eyeliner was everywhere, and my clothes and hair were a mess. I was completely stressed out. It was 11:00 p.m. I was tired, but then I thought, they are in the same boat. I reached out my hand and got a big hug instead from both of them.

  Kathy was beautiful. She was tanned and had the body of a twenty-year-old. I wasn’t sure how old she was, but she looked about forty. Her long, thick, black hair was shiny and pulled up into a messy bun on the back of her head with soft curly tendrils falling perfectly all the way around her face. She didn’t have any jewelry on, but she had been pulled from home in the middle of the night. I didn’t notice any makeup, although with her perfect skin and dark lashes and eyebrows she didn’t need any. She was amazing. It was easy to see where the kids got their beauty from. Doug, too, was a handsome man. He was lighter skinned than Derek, and tall and fit. He had a full head of black hair and a five-o’clock shadow that was very appealing. He was an older Derek. Nice to look at. They both seemed really sweet.

  About a half hour later, the doctor came out and gave us an update. Kelly was heavily medicated and in recovery. The surgery went well but she was still critical. We could go in and see her, but she would not be awake for a while.

  When we walked into recovery, all we saw were tubes coming out of Kelly everywhere. We stayed for a few minutes and watched as Derek’s mom talked to her as if she were awake. She was so strong. She was trying not to cry and told Kelly that she would be fine. After that we all went out into the hall. Derek’s dad pulled him aside and asked him about the black eye and the bruise. They had a few minutes of man talk, and Derek’s dad did not look happy. A nurse asked to speak to us at the desk. After giving the nurse all of our contact information, Derek and I went to the hotel, and Kendall and her parents went to an overnight room that the hospital provided for the families of critical patients having all agreed to meet for breakfast at 9:00 a.m. the next morning. On the drive back to the hotel I reached over and patted Derek’s thigh.

  “What are you thinking?” I asked.

  He sighed and said, “That I’m lucky to have you.” I wrinkled my brow and looked over at him. “Really,” he said, “if you hadn’t been there, 911 would have gotten there a lot later, and the direction Cory ran wouldn’t have been known. Kendall would have been lying on the ground crying not knowing what to do, my parents wouldn’t have gotten there as soon … and I wouldn’t have had anyone to hold me.”

  I didn’t know how to respond, so I didn’t. I just squeezed his thigh. He looked over and gave me a closed-lipped, half smile. When he parked, we walked hand-in-hand into the hotel. And when we got inside the room he pulled me on to the bed with him and whispered, “Hold me.”

  In the morning I woke up with a crick in my neck and realized that neither of us had moved all night. We were still on top of the covers, and still dressed in yesterday’s clothes, some of which had blood stains on them. Derek started moving around after I got up. It was only 7:00 a.m., but I knew I wouldn’t fall back to sleep. I called the hospital, said I was Kelly’s sister, and asked for an update. Nothing had changed since last night, but the doctor on call said that they’d be slowing down the drip on her sedative later that morning to help wake her up. Then they would know more. I told her that the family would be in around ten and hung up. Derek was sitting up and leaning back on the headboard, looking at me and smiling.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  I told him what the doctor had said. He looked at me with sleepy eyes and patted the bed next to him. I went over and curled up in his arms. We lay there for a bit watching the TV. There was a story on KARE 11 about the shooting. I picked my head up and looked in his eyes when I heard him whisper, “I love you.” He smiled and tightened his arm around me, then turned his attention back to the TV.

  Chapter Six

  We arrived at Perkins just as Derek’s parents and sister were walking through the door. We ate while they talked about the previous night, but no one had much of an appetite so we didn’t order much, mostly coffee and muffins. We talked about Kelly’s condition and the fact that it hadn’t changed. We couldn’t decide if that was good or bad. She wasn’t getting worse, but she wasn’t improving either.

  Derek’s mom and dad were both retired and planned to stay with Kendall as long as they needed to. Kendall wasn’t scheduled to work until Tuesday, so she planned to take at least Monday and Tuesday off of school. No one really knew what to say or do. I told Derek that I would head back to my apartment later that day. I’d left Faith with Jamie, but I needed to get back to her soon.

  Upon our arrival at the hospital, we learned that the doctors had stopped Kelly’s sedative medication, but that she was still not waking up. They didn’t seem overly concerned since she responded slightly to the pain tests. We stayed in the room with her for about an hour then Derek, and I went down to the cafeteria to get a drink.

  They had one of those old-fashione
d coffee machines that filled the cup for customers. I hadn’t seen one of those in years. Fun! I put my change in the slot, pressed cream 1 and sugar 2, and stepped back and waited to be entertained. Down dropped a cup and coffee started to fill it up. I watched with a smile on my face … because I’m easily amused. The coffee stopped, and then a spurt of cream dropped in and some powder that looked like sugar. I’d just put my hand out to reach for the cup when the machine made a loud noise. I instinctively pulled my hand back. The noise got louder and the machine started to shake. I took a step back and thought, This can’t be normal. I glanced over my shoulder and Derek was looking at me squinty-eyed. He grabbed a bottle of pop out of the bottom of his machine, never taking his eyes off me. He opened his pop and took a drink, still carefully watching me. I gave him the “What’d I do?” look, complete with a palms up shoulder shrug. He smiled and shook his head. A few more new noises started, and I took another step back. Derek came over and stood a few steps behind me.

  “You gonna take your cup out?” he asked from behind me. I shrugged. He took another sip of his pop as he stared at me.

  I slowly reached for it and gently squeezed my fingers around the cup and slowly lifted it. As soon as I did the machine noises changed and more coffee started pouring out. I pulled my cup toward me and backed up again. The coffee spilled out all over the floor, since a new cup had not dropped down.

  “I didn’t do that!” I said quietly. I looked around the room and was glad to see that we were the only ones in there. “Just walk away with me,” I whispered to Derek as I passed by him with my chin up. He turned and followed behind me.

  We got out to the hall and I saw the gift shop. I walked in, found a travel mug with the hospital logo on it, and brought it up to the counter. I pulled a ten out of my purse and paid for it. When I turned to leave, Derek was leaning on the entry door with one leg crossed over the other. Quickly, I dumped my coffee into the travel mug, tossed the Styrofoam cup into the trash can by the door and took a sip. Eyebrows lifted, I confidently looked at Derek.

  “Ready?” I asked, with a smile and passed by him again.

  “Sweetness,” he said, “getting rid of the evidence?”

  “What?” I asked him, acting totally confused as I kept walking. We went down the hall towards Kelly’s room.

  “I’ll take a cab back to the Cities in a bit,” I told him.

  “No, I’ll drive you back. I need to get back to work anyway,” he said. “We’ll go back together.”

  We went up to the room, said good bye to Derek’s family, and then went back to the hotel to collect our things. After we had the Jeep loaded up, I angled into the driver seat. Derek called the Morris Police detective, who had been on the case the night of the shooting, to see if they knew anything yet. They didn’t. I could tell that Derek was really frustrated. He made a few more phone calls, then reclined the seat. He sighed and closed his eyes clasping his hands behind his head.

  “I don’t understand how someone can do that,” he stated.

  “Drugs make people do crazy things,” I reminded him.

  He just shook his head. I asked him more about Cory, and he said that they didn’t have much on him. Derek admitted that the family knew nothing.

  “The police are questioning his parents and the neighbors in the area, but no one’s seen him since before last night. He has four different credit cards—all maxed out—no job, no car, no history. His parents kicked him out about two years ago because he was using, but they haven’t talked to him since, so they were no help. He has an older brother who lives in Morris too. Rumor has it, they don’t get along. Rumor also has it his brother doesn’t get along with anyone. The police searched his brother’s house, but he wasn’t there and his brother claims he’s hasn’t seen or talked to him in six months,” he said. “But the police think he was lying about that.”

  “So, with no money or job where would a criminal go?” I responded. It hung there for a while.

  The drive was really long. I’d filled up in Morris, so we went all the way to Derek’s apartment without stopping. Derek slept most of the way. When the Jeep was unloaded, he gave me a quick kiss and went off to work. He wasn’t scheduled, but wanted to use his connections to work on Kelly’s case. I took all of my stuff and went back to my apartment.

  I dropped by Jamie’s downstairs and picked up Faith. I’d missed her so much. I also ran into the resident hottie, Jared, in the hall. We only passed with a quick “hi,” but he remained in my mind for hours afterward. When I opened my apartment door, I felt a sense of comfort and reassurance I hadn’t had in a while. I kicked my shoes off and flipped the fireplace on. Then I grabbed a blanket and the remote before I settled on the couch. I lay there enjoying the cozy warmth until my phone rang. It was Derek. I looked at the clock and realized that I must have fallen asleep because two hours had passed since I’d walked in. Crap! I need to pick up my pontoon trailer before they close.

  “Hey, sweetness,” he said.

  “Hi.”

  “Sorry I was a bore on the way home. I’m exhausted.”

  “I understand.”

  “What are your plans? Are you gonna be there when I get home?” he asked.

  “No, I’m at my apartment now. I’m just leaving to go get the pontoon trailer. They said a guy in maintenance would be there until five to help me out. Then I’m going to head back to Nisswa. My parents are coming up in the morning to help get the dock out.”

  “Shit, that’s right. I said I’d help,” he remembered.

  “No, Derek. Seriously, don’t worry about it. We’ll be able to handle it. I’m tougher than I look,” I reminded him. “You have a lot going on right now. You need to focus on Kelly and be there for your family.”

  “Okay, but I am sorry. Please let your dad know why I can’t be there and tell them both hi for me. I gotta go but I’ll call you soon,” he said quickly and hung up.

  I figured someone had just walked into his office. He was really busy already, and with this added to his plate I wasn’t sure when I’d see him again.

  When I got into my driveway in Nisswa a few hours later, I backed the trailer up and left it attached to the Jeep. After Faith and I were unloaded and comfortable in the house, I grabbed my phone out of my purse and called Mom. She said she and my dad would be here about 9:30 in morning. I told her we’d get breakfast in town first, and then work on the dock and pontoon. After the work was done we planned to grill. I also informed them that Derek wouldn’t be able to join us and filled them in on that situation.

  I made myself a quick sandwich and headed to the grocery store to get some ingredients for tomorrow’s dessert. When I got back I made apple pie—completely from scratch! I was pretty proud of myself. When I was finished with clean up, I took a glass of wine to the bathtub and soaked for a bit before heading off to bed.

  Sunday morning, I got up early and went for a run, which was short because I sucked at it. I really would have loved to be able to get up every morning and run for miles, but I got about two hundred yards and I couldn’t move or breathe. But dang it, I kept trying. I’ve always loved food, but food always loved to hang on to my belly. It was a fight every day to keep a slim figure. Maybe if I lay off the carbs …

  In the morning Mom’s call woke me up. She said that she and Dad were about an hour away. I told her to meet me at Morning Glory and jumped into the shower for an express wash and dry. I figured why bother if I was going to be waist deep in lake water in a couple hours. It was a jeans, sweatshirt, and ponytail kind of day. I added a quick swipe of mascara and was out the door.

  I got to Morning Glory just as my parents were pulling in. I gave them a hug, and we walked in together. The place was pretty busy. We found a booth across from the bar area and sat down. I looked around for Tannya, but I didn’t see her, which was good. I didn’t want to talk about Ms. Kitty today. That conversation had been on my mind and I was curious but not interested. I mean really? I don’t have any skills that would he
lp her or anyone else for that matter.

  A waitress came over for our order. She was young and pleasant and seemed efficient. I only saw two wait staff working even though the place was almost full. I would’ve thought on a Sunday it would always be busy with the church crowd and they’d have more staff on.

  “So, Sara, tell me about the pontoon trailer,” Dad said.

  I told him about the one I got, and he agreed that I’d gotten a good deal on it.

  “My next concern is the dock. That’s a pretty big dock. Without Derek’s help, I’m not sure we can handle it. Your mom can’t help with her back. I know you’re strong but we could use a third person. Do you know anyone in this town who’d be able to help us today?” he asked.

  “No, not really. I mean I’ve talked to a couple people but I don’t have contact information or anything. You really think we can’t do it?”

  Great, if we can’t do it alone, then what? It has to come out soon or it could get damaged. Ice was already starting to show in thin sheets here and there, especially in the early morning. I looked over my Dad’s shoulder when I heard the bells on the door clang. In walked Rex, Officer McHottie, in full uniform. I couldn’t stop the smile from growing on my face. I tried to hide it by taking a sip of my coffee. My dad turned in his seat to see what I was looking at.

  “Friend of yours?” he asked with a grin.

  “Um, uh, no. I mean I met him a few days ago but we’re not … friends.”

  “He’s very easy on the eyes isn’t he?” my mom chimed in.

  Rex stepped through the door, then stopped and scanned the place looking for a seat. He locked eyes with me, smiled, and started walking over towards our table. My heartbeat took off at full speed. It was beating so hard I was sure my chest was visibly pounding. I took a deep breath and revealed my smile in return.

  “Good morning, speedy,” he said as he stopped at our table.

  I laughed out loud as I set my cup on the table.