“I miss you. See you Saturday,” he closed.
Alexa placed the phone on its stand and sank to the couch, Scout at her feet. During the conversation she had paced back and forth with the wireless unit, her feet expressing her nervousness at Caleb’s tone.
“Little buddy, I wish you could give me some advice here.” She spoke to the dog. “I’m clearly uncomfortable with where Caleb seems to be headed. Practically overnight, we’ve gone from casual dating and a little great sex to meeting the parents. And, oh, by the way, we’re all religious conservatives.”
Then Alexa veered in another direction, “But I’m off my game ever since I found the girl in the woods, so I might be overreacting. Hell, maybe Caleb’s just lonely down there in Atlanta and wanted someone to talk to.”
Scout lifted his head onto Alexa’s knee as he listened attentively. She scratched his ears as she debated the Caleb situation. “If he’s looking for some sort of commitment, I’m going to have to break things off. I like Caleb, but I don’t want to lead him on.
“Look at the way I’ve been thinking non-stop about Reese. If I was into Caleb, Reese would have no place in my thoughts. But, there’s no need to make a hasty decision here, is there, Scout? We’ll just have to see how Caleb plays things on Saturday.”
Chapter Fifteen
Wednesday morning’s newspaper created quite a stir in the law offices and throughout the town. The front-page carried an article about the dead girl and the continuing efforts to identify her. The police had taken the extraordinary step of publishing the only photo they had of the unidentified victim, a picture of the young woman’s face taken in the morgue.
Alexa didn’t have a chance to read the article closely, so she took her copy of the newspaper along when she left for the clinic. Running late because a client meeting had gone long, she rushed past the protestors with hardly a glance.
Things were so busy at the clinic that it took nearly an hour before there was a break in the patient flow. Finally, Alexa asked Tanisha about things at the clinic.
“Bad news. We received another death threat yesterday, and this one was addressed specifically to Dr. Crowe. It was almost identical to the initial note, even down to the message: ‘RETRIBUTION IS MINE SAYETH THE LORD. YOU WILL BE THE THIRD TO DIE.’”
“Do the police have any leads?”
“If they do, they haven’t told us. Heck, the one detective told Dr. Kearns that they’re still trying to figure out what the threat really means—the part about ‘the third to die.’”
Barb, who was passing by, added, “Duh. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that anything that says ‘die’ can’t be good.”
Tanisha continued, “Everyone is concerned. But, we’ve got to provide healthcare to these women. We had a staff meeting this morning about the situation, but we all agreed—the doctors and the staff—that it’s business as usual. We can exercise caution, but we can’t stop services because of a few pieces of paper. Dr. Crowe is talking about hiring some sort of security, especially for after hours. That’s going to put a hole in the budget for sure.”
A client interrupted Tanisha’s update. The woman, a longtime patient, sashayed through the door and came directly to the front desk. All of her 250 pounds swathed in fake leopard fur, quivered in indignation, “Who is them crazy people out there with signs? Calling me a baby killer. I ain’t no baby killer. I’m just here for my annual. They people need to mind their own bidness. Why, they even got a pregnant woman marching around out there. When I leave, I might just give them crazies a piece of my mind.”
“Well, Miss June, I’m not real happy with those folks either.” Tanisha tried to calm the woman. “But, the law says they can be there. I don’t think it will do much good for you to mix it up with any of those people. Let’s get you signed in, and you can think about it while you wait.”
When the solid stream of patients finally ended shortly after five o’clock, Alexa flipped the sign on the main entrance to CLOSED. She looked across the street and saw that the protestors had gone. She giggled to Tanisha, “It was probably best that we took Miss June out the back door after her appointment, but I really would have liked to see her go ten rounds with one of the protestors. I’d put my money on Miss June in a cage match with that tall thin woman who’s always here, the one that carries the sign about the blood of lambs.”
Tanisha cracked up as she put on her coat and gathered her purse. “That protestor woman might surprise you, honey. Sometimes the skinny ones are stronger than they look. I need to get to my daughter’s school. The concert starts at six o’clock. Here are all the papers you need to have the patient fill out. Dr. Crowe will come out and talk to you in a few minutes about tonight. The appointment isn’t until six-thirty, so you might want to slip out for some food first.”
After Tanisha left, Alexa reread the article in the morning paper. The written story didn’t have any new information, so Alexa studied the picture of the girl. Seeing this photo disturbed her. A chill crept through her, just like on the morning she had found the body. They had closed her eyes for the newspaper photo, but the waxy tinge of the young woman’s skin made it clear that her rest was permanent.
Looking at this photograph of the dead body made Alexa realize what had been off about the earlier sketch in the newspaper. The pen and ink sketch had not been able to depict the distinctive silvery-blonde color of the victim’s hair. Although newsprint wasn’t the perfect medium for a crisp picture, the tones in this photo conveyed the light hair that, even in death, gave her the girl an ethereal look.
As Alexa examined the picture, Dr. Crowe walked into the room and sat down beside her. “I thought I’d take a few minutes and walk through what I need from you tonight,” he said, but stopped as his eye caught the front page picture. “What’s this?”
“This is a photo of a young woman who was found dead in Michaux State Forest last month. They are trying to identify her. Did you see the sketch a few weeks ago in the paper?” Alexa asked, and then answered her own question. “You know, you might have been on your Hawaii trip when the first picture came out. I guess the police thought that showing an actual photograph of her face might help someone identify her.”
“I know this young woman,” Dr. Crowe sighed. “She was a patient. She had a procedure here shortly before I went on vacation. In fact, that’s the night you were here to help. Let me try to remember; yes, her name was Elizabeth.” The doctor moved toward the file cabinet.
The news that this girl could be identified electrified Alexa. “That’s why she looked familiar. I saw her that night, just from the back, but those white-blonde curls were striking.”
“Oh, you recognized her from the picture, too?” Doc extracted a file from the cabinet and waved it in the air. “Yes, I was right. Elizabeth Nelson was her name. Does the article say how she died? She was fine when she left here, and she never called about complications, or for that matter, came back for a follow-up.”
“Don’t worry about any issues with her procedure, Doc. The article doesn’t talk about cause of death, but I know that it was strangulation.”
“How have you come by that information, dear? Gossip among the lawyers in town?”
“Not exactly. I didn’t recognize Elizabeth from this picture. I was the person who found her body.”
After she explained the circumstances of her involvement, Alexa located the card with Lieutenant Trooper Taylor’s number. She seemed to be using that card a lot lately. While Dr. Crowe called the investigator, Alexa copied the officer’s phone number into the contacts list in her phone.
Dr. Crowe put down the phone. “He wants to meet me in the morning.”
“This is a real breakthrough. They’ve been trying to identify her for weeks. What do you know about Elizabeth?”
“Well, you are a staff member, so I feel comfortable sharing information with you. But, I really know only what she told us. She had a Carlisle address. She said that her pregnancy was unplanne
d due to a birth control failure. And, she didn’t believe she could handle a baby on her own.
“Apparently, Ms. Nelson found out that she was pregnant just as she was breaking up with the father. I remember she made a cryptic statement about the father being too dangerous to love and especially too dangerous to raise a child. I wasn’t completely sure what she meant, but I assumed it had something to do with domestic violence.
“She was early in her second trimester. Ms. Nelson was young and quite healthy. There were no complications whatsoever. We kept her here a little bit longer than usual because she didn’t have anyone to take her home. I wanted to be completely sure that there would be no problems stemming from the termination. Even then, she was ready to leave the clinic within two hours following the procedure.”
“I remember now that she was alone. One of the nurses asked me to schedule a taxi for the patient before I left for the night.”
“Yes. Ms. Nelson had mentioned that she was still fairly new in town and didn’t have many close friends here. She even talked about going back to her hometown in the near future.”
After a short discussion of the paperwork that needed to be completed by tonight’s patient, Alexa ran to a nearby deli for sandwiches. An hour later, with the paperwork complete and the patient settled into the exam room, Dr. Crowe told Alexa that he and the clinical staff could handle everything else. He urged her to go home.
“OK. Scout has been alone since this morning, so he’ll be happy to see me. Doc,” Alexa turned back as she reached the door. “No one but my family knows that I found Elizabeth’s body. Graham advised me not to discuss it with anyone.”
“Don’t worry, child. I won’t say a thing.”
As the Land Rover’s headlights illuminated the dark roads to her cabin, thoughts of the dead girl churned through Alexa’s brain.
Check that; thoughts of Elizabeth. Alexa was so glad that Dr. Crowe had recognized her from the photo in the newspaper. Now, she could put to rest that nagging sense of familiarity she had experienced ever since the day in the woods. Her distinctive blonde curls, almost a Scandinavian blonde, had triggered that impression of familiarity. But, since Alexa never saw Elizabeth’s face that night in the clinic, she hadn’t been able to pinpoint the connection.
Elizabeth had lived in the area. Why hadn’t anybody reported her missing? Why hadn’t anyone recognized the earlier drawing in the paper? Alexa fervently hoped that the police would be able to locate Elizabeth’s family after they spoke to Dr. Crowe tomorrow.
Before she left the cabin the next morning, Alexa received a phone call from Reese. Trooper Taylor had told him that the dead girl had been identified. He was surprised to find out that Alexa already knew. They agreed to compare notes on Friday evening.
“Are steaks OK?” Alexa asked. “Pick me up around seven o’clock at the cabin, and we can go to Florentine’s.”
When Reese skipped up the steps to her cabin on Friday, Alexa did a double take. He was dressed in khakis, a light sweater, and a scuffed brown leather jacket. “You’re looking quite nice,” she remarked. “I realize now that I’ve never seen you dressed in anything but your uniform or hiking clothes. You clean up pretty good.”
“I could say the same of you.” Reese gestured at Alexa’s gray wool turtleneck, charcoal suede miniskirt, and black boots. “You’ve turned into a fashion plate.”
“I have all these designer clothes from my days in New York City. I’ve got to wear them somewhere.”
Over porterhouse for Alexa and filet mignon for Reese, they discussed the latest developments in the Elizabeth Nelson case. Alexa explained that she had been with Dr. Crowe when he recognized the picture.
“Here we have been looking for the girl’s identity for all these weeks while it was right under my nose. I even glimpsed Elizabeth from the back when she was in the clinic one evening.”
“But, I understand that this doctor, what’s his name, Crowe?”
“Yes. Doctor Frank Crowe. He’s head of the clinic.”
“He was away when she was killed, so he never saw the press coverage, right?”
“Correct. With all the chaos at the clinic over those threatening notes and the backlog of appointments, it seems he hasn’t had the time to catch up on the local news.”
“I’ve had several conversations with the state police investigators in the past few days. They’re making some progress now that they know who the victim is. They found Elizabeth’s apartment and interviewed the neighbors. No one seemed to know Elizabeth very well. They all described her as a nice young woman and a good neighbor. Apparently, she kept to herself and spent long stretches of time holed up in her apartment.”
“So, she lived alone and didn’t mix with the neighbors?”
“That seems to be the story. But, she lived in one of those rental condos on the east end of town. I hear they cater to a transient clientele. Someone recommended that I look at a place there, but it was too far away from the park for me. I doubt that they spend much time talking over the fence in that neighborhood.”
“What about friends or family?”
“Most of the neighbors, at least the nosy ones, had seen Elizabeth going in and out of the apartment with a man. But, Trooper Taylor said that the descriptions of the boyfriend were all over the waterfront.
“The landlord told the police that Elizabeth had moved in from out of state this past winter. Elizabeth gave him notice that she planned to vacate the apartment within the month. Since she didn’t have an exact date for the move, Elizabeth and the landlord had agreed that he would keep her security deposit and the place would be hers through the end of November. Taylor said that a look at the boxes in the apartment confirmed that story. She had already started packing.”
“What about an employer?” Alexa continued to drill for information.
“Not yet. The state police didn’t find any pay stubs. Everything is online these days; who needs paper? But, they are researching her financial records so they should figure out if she had a job and where.”
“I wonder if the boyfriend killed her … on the cop shows, they always look at the boyfriend first.”
“I’m sure he’s on their radar. It’s odd that the guy hasn’t stepped forward to identify her or report her missing. But, maybe he moved out of town or is a soldier who just shipped out to Afghanistan. Anything is possible, so you can never leap to conclusions.”
After exhausting the topic of Elizabeth Nelson, their conversation drifted. Alexa spoke of her volunteer work at the clinic, and the threats that they had been getting. Reese told her about a new project for the park rangers.
“It’s crazy, but we have some indication that a militia group is using the state forests as a training ground. We’ve gotten all these reports from people who have heard automatic gunfire and reported a lot of off-road vehicle activity in Michaux as well as state lands in Franklin County.”
“Militia? Around here?”
“Hard to believe, isn’t it? Plus, it is so difficult to confirm with the thousands of acres of state land around here, some of it fairly remote. This investigation could take weeks, if not months, and who knows if there is anything to these reports. Could just be hunters and people on ATVs.”
“Or hunters riding ATVs?”
Alexa didn’t get to hear any more of the story about the search for militia. Reese broke off the discussion when Alexa’s friend, Haley, stopped by their table. Alexa introduced her childhood friend, “Haley, this is Reese Michaels. Haley and I have been friends forever. Reese is a ranger at Pine Grove.”
“I just wanted to say hello. Blair and I are here for our fifth anniversary dinner.”
“Wow. I can’t believe you’ve been married that long.”
“Well, you should remember. You stood next to me during the entire ceremony.” Haley directed the next comment to Reese.
“Watch out for this one, Reese. She’s a handful.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“
Great outfit, by the way, Lexie. What is that, Armani?”
After a few more minutes on fashion, Haley returned to her husband.
The rest of their evening was lighthearted. Reese was easy company and had a knack for making Alexa laugh. As Reese drove her back home, Alexa studied his profile in the flashes of light from passing cars. The kinetic illumination created a dreamy effect that was almost hypnotizing.
This evening felt like a date to Alexa, but she wasn’t sure that Reese was on the same wavelength. Was there an attraction? Or were they just pals? When he dropped her off at the cabin, Reese made no move get out of the Jeep. When Alexa was safely inside, he drove off with a beep of his horn.
The weather on Saturday reflected Alexa’s mood. Strong gusts of wind blew the last leaves from the trees, and sporadic showers doused their brilliance when they hit the ground. Usually, Alexa loved hearing the wind in the trees, but today it set her on edge and heightened her anxiety about this evening’s date with Caleb. She hadn’t seen him since their afternoon at Kingdom Lodge. Alexa now felt a lot of ambivalence about their relationship and how this date would play out.
As it turned out, Alexa had a good time with Caleb at a very nice restaurant in nearby Harrisburg. He seemed just like the guy she had been dating all summer.
When they returned to the cabin, Alexa had no hesitation about inviting Caleb in, and the sex was as good as always.
Lying next to him in a pleasant daze, she thought, maybe we can continue this relationship and keep it casual.
Perhaps she had overreacted to the unsettling afternoon at Kingdom Lodge. She was still in this frame of mind when Caleb got up to leave.
Dead of Autumn Page 11
