by Lynn Bohart
The predator was still here.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
I woke to a white glare and thought that perhaps I was with my mother again. This time, however, there were the sounds of people talking and moving about. I heard wheels rolling along a hard floor, and I was lying on something that was shaking as it moved. As I jostled along, I watched lights above me pass one by one. When I was wheeled through a door, it dawned on me that I was in a hospital. Again. Why did my life seem suddenly like Groundhog’s Day?
I didn’t feel pain, which was odd because I knew I’d been injured. What I did feel was weightlessness—like I was floating. I had some trouble breathing, which frightened me, and my eyes popped open as bodiless hands lifted me and then gently put me down again.
“Hold still,” someone said.
There were a lot of clicking noises and readjustments. Then I faded away.
÷
“Julia, are you awake?”
I opened my eyes. The world came slowly into focus, and I was looking at a white ceiling. I turned my head and Doe’s lovely face swam into view. Her brows were furrowed with concern, and she was holding my hand.
“Julia,” she said with a tear in her eye. “You’re okay. Banged up, but okay.”
“Blair?” I asked.
“She’s okay, too,” Doe replied. “Just a broken leg and some cracked ribs.”
I nodded. “Thank God. What happened?” I was muttering with not much more strength than an afternoon breeze.
“You were hit by a truck… some kids out joy-riding and drinking.”
“Where am I?”
“Valley Medical Center,” she said.
“You’ve already been taken down for x-rays and a CAT scan,” a new voice said.
Rudy’s face appeared next to Doe.
“Blair is right here next to you,” she said. “Right now, you’re in the ICU until they make sure there are no head injuries.”
I twisted my neck to look for Blair, which actually made me cry out. My entire body was screaming with pain. The curtain was partially closed around the bed next to me, but I could just barely see Blair’s blond head and Mr. Billings sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the bed.
“Mr. Billings?” I asked with the hint of a smile.
Doe pulled a chair up closer to my bed. “He just got here a few minutes ago. The rest of them are on their way.”
I nodded, understanding that she mean the rest of Blair’s ex-husbands.
I had survived with a wrenched shoulder, a turned ankle, and a bunch of cuts and bruises. I could also tell my face had taken another beating, because the skin felt tight and my lips wouldn’t work quite right. When I swiped my tongue across my bottom lip, I winced at a stinging sensation. My right shoulder ached something fierce and when I looked down at my right hand, I realized why my hand throbbed. Two of my fingers were in finger casts.
“They’re going to keep you both…probably for 24 hours.”
Doe was talking to me, but I had trouble focusing.
“A nurse was just in here and they’re waiting for beds to open up. I guess it’s been a busy night,” she said.
That reminded me why Blair and I had been out so early in the morning in the first place.
“Doe, did anyone check to see if Rosa is here in the hospital?”
I kind of slobbered when I spoke. Doe used a tissue to wipe dribble away from the corner of my mouth before answering.
“That’s why we went up to Enumclaw,” I continued.
“She’s not here, Julia.”
The new voice was April’s.
I looked up and saw my best friend’s face appear through the curtain, her face pinched in concern. I reached out my injured hand and she stepped forward and grabbed it, careful to avoid squeezing the injured fingers.
“I just talked to the nurse. She said you kept asking about Rosa when you were brought in. But they checked, and there’s no one here by that name.”
“Then we have to go,” I said, starting to get up.
“Noooooo way,” Doe said, putting a restraining hand on my arm. “The doctor wants you to stay here.”
“I can’t.”
The curtain parted, and Angela stepped in with Detectives Abrams and Franks. It was a party. But I noticed that Detective Franks actually averted his eyes, as if it was difficult to look at me.
“Mom,” Angela, said putting a hand on the blanket covering my legs, “you stay put. They’re trying to find you a room where you and Blair can be together, and Detective Abrams said they’ll leave an officer here to stand guard.”
“We don’t need someone to guard us.”
She gave me an incredulous look. “Mom, we checked with the 911 operator and know about the chase and what happened in Maple Valley at the dealership. Someone has tried to kill you twice. And they’re still out there somewhere.”
“I know that. But I have to find Rosa. I promised her.”
“Rosa? Who is Rosa?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.
“She’s a girl at the shelter. This is all about the shelter.”
I felt my head begin to clear, although my speech was still garbled.
“Rosa is about to have her baby, and she overheard someone at the shelter say they were going to take it,” I explained as clearly as I could manage.
“Whoa,” Detective Abrams held up his hand. “What are you talking about? Who is taking whose baby?”
I gestured to Doe to put an extra pillow behind my back so that I could sit up straighter. I winced as I scooted up, but continued.
“Rosa lives at the shelter where I volunteer.” I had to speak very slowly. “No one there knows she speaks English.” I kept going, struggling to move beyond the pain of breathing. “She says she’s heard things that have frightened her before…” I took a shallow breath. “But she was afraid to say anything because she might be kicked out. The other day, she overheard someone mention her by name. They were talking about taking her baby. She was terrified. I gave her my mother’s cell phone to call me if she needed me, and she called early this morning.”
I had to stop and take another breath.
“Is that why you were out in the middle of the night?” Angela asked, the look in her eyes scolding me.
“Yes. Rosa said they moved her to the shelter in Enumclaw and that she was scared to be alone. She asked me to come and bring her some things. But when Blair and I got up there, she wasn’t there. We checked the Enumclaw Hospital, but she wasn’t there, either. On the way out of town…”
I had to stop again, because tears suddenly filled my eyes.
“It’s okay, Julia.” April stroked my arm. “We’re here now.”
I nodded. “I know. Okay. When we were at the shelter in Enumclaw, I found my mother’s cell phone. That means Rosa had to have been there.”
Everyone was silent for a moment. When no one said anything, I said, “Why would they take her cell phone away and nothing else?”
Angela exchanged a look with Detective Abrams.
“Still not much to go on,” he said with a shrug.
“Something occurred to me when we were whizzing around in the car, though,” I said. “The woman on the phone kept calling me Mrs. Applegate. Rosa never called me that. She always called me Miss Julia. And there’s something else. The woman Rosa overheard at the shelter talking about taking her baby was Monica Garrett.”
“From the church?” Angela eyes had grown wide.
“Yes,” Doe replied. “We tried to call you guys last night to tell you all of this, but couldn’t get a hold of you.”
Angela shot Detective Abrams a cautious glance, while Detective Franks stuck his hands in his pockets.
“Sorry. I was on duty, but there was a boating accident right off the marina last night. We were so involved with all the emergency personnel that I guess I missed your call.”
He looked so guilty, I let it pass.
“According to Rosa,” I said, “Monica Garrett was talking to t
he person who helped get her into the country.”
“So?” Detective Abrams shrugged again.
“Don’t you see? Monica Garrett supposedly found Rosa in an alley, as if she had never heard of her before. But in fact, she knows the woman who actually brought Rosa into the country.”
“And Monica works for the church, and the church owns the shelter,” Doe said quietly.
“What about Father Bentley?” Angela asked. “How does he fit into this?”
“I don’t think he has anything to do with it,” I said, slowly working my mouth. “But it has everything to do with that subliminal tape Martha gave to Blair. I was at the church yesterday afternoon. Father Bentley was going to have me meet with a young man named Jeremy who works in their recording studio; he was supposed to help make a tape for Martha’s funeral. I suddenly remembered last night that a few days before Martha died, I was on the phone with her, and she had to get off because someone was at the door…someone named Jeremy.”
“So you think it’s this Jeremy who made the tape with the subliminal message and gave it to her?” Detective Abrams asked.
“Don’t you?” I asked him with a raised brow.
Suddenly, Detective Abrams was all movement and energy.
“I’ll put an APB out on this Rosa. What’s her last name?”
“Cordero,” I said. “She’s nineteen years old.”
He had his phone in his hand. “We’ll also pick up this Jeremy. Don’t know a last name, do you?”
“No.”
÷
Once the excitement died down, and Blair and I had been moved to a double room, we were left to rest with an officer posted outside our door. Blair had been sedated, so I couldn’t talk with her.
I fell into a deep sleep and woke a couple of hours later. The bedside clock said 7:00 a.m. and light was just beginning to break through the curtains. I felt a deep pain in my shoulder, and the details of a very vivid dream were beginning to fade. It was the same dream I’d had in the car. The one with my mother, Rosa, and the painting of the angel.
I opened my eyes to the muted light of my hospital room, barely aware of the muffled noises of the nurses down the hall. I glanced to my right, expecting to see Blair. But the curtain was pulled between our beds. I felt groggy, and I ached all over. I assumed that the pain medication they’d given me earlier had worn off. I reached over and picked up the phone next to the bed; I had to call someone. I finally knew where they’d taken Rosa.
I dialed Rudy’s cell phone, and she answered on the first ring. When I said hello, she barked, “Julia! You should be asleep.”
“There’s something I have to tell you,” I said, stopping her. “I think I know where they took Rosa.”
Before I let her say anything, I related the dream I’d had about my mother.
“That painting of the angel and the lake,” I said. “It’s in the basement of the old gym, next to the church. There’s a storeroom in the back, behind the food bank. I’ve been down there several times.”
“Okay, hold on, Julia,” she said. “There’s someone here you need to talk to.”
Suddenly, Angela came on the line. “Mom, do you know where April is?”
“No. She ought to be in bed. Like everyone else.”
“She’s not. In fact, the police came to the inn looking for her.”
“Why? What’s the matter? Why are you looking for April?”
“Mom, they ran financial checks on everyone. It’s a matter of routine. Anyway, April is broke. She’s in debt up to her hazel eyeballs.”
“What?!” I sat up in bed, feeling the tears forming.
“Not only that, she’s been writing bad checks. The bank is after her and her house is in foreclosure, and now…well, she’s been emailing José about some book. The emails are kind of cryptic, but now she’s gone. No one knows where she is.”
My mind felt as if it was finally just shutting down. April. My best friend.
“Mom? Are you okay?”
“I know where they took Rosa,” I said through tears, ignoring her. “She’s at the church gymnasium. You need to get there, fast.”
“Mom, we need to find April.”
“You need to get to the church!” I snapped at her.
There was a pause.
“Mom, we can’t just go running in there. You know that. It’s private property. The police would have to get a search warrant.”
“Then get a search warrant!” I said, choking back the tears. “Her life may be in danger. You have to find her. I know she’s in the basement of the old gym.”
“Okay, I’ll tell Detective Abrams. But please, they’ve put out an APB out on April. So, if she contacts you, tell her to turn herself in.”
“Turn herself in? She’s not guilty of anything!”
“I hope not, Mom. I really do. Get some rest. I’ll stop by to see you later.”
“Wait!” I stopped her. “Put Rudy back on.”
I heard the door to our room open and the jiggle of the curtains on the other side of Blair’s bed.
“Okay,” Rudy said re-engaging with me, her voice barely a whisper. “But I also have something to tell you first.”
“What is it?”
I didn’t think I could handle much more.
“Doe and I couldn’t sleep and needed something to do. We were going through that box of pictures you got from Martha’s house, and we found a flash drive.”
“A flash drive?” I said.
“We thought there were family photos on it—but Martha had downloaded names, dates, and other information about a bunch of the young women at the shelter. It matches some of the codes in the ledger. But she also downloaded pictures, Julia. There were pictures of babies, and…”
“Go on,” I whispered, not wanting the nurse to hear me.
“There were pictures of some of the girls, and they were nude! They looked…as if they were selling themselves.”
I felt adrenaline flush my veins as I heard the door open and close again.
“I’ve got to get out of here. Can you pick me up?”
“Are you sure you’re okay to leave?”
“I’m fine. Just come and get me. And don’t you dare tell Angela or that damned detective.”
“Okay,” she said in a hushed voice. “I’ll get Doe and meet you out by valet parking in thirty minutes. Can you get past the guard?”
I smiled, feeling my swollen lips stretch until they hurt. “No problem. See you in a few.”
I hung up and threw back the covers. Getting out of bed was more difficult than I’d anticipated. I had a terrible headache and was still woozy from the medication. And my body didn’t seem to work the same. Everything hurt, making it almost impossible to move. When my feet hit the cold linoleum floor, though, I came fully awake.
I found my clothes in a small closet next to the head of the bed and struggled into my jeans, blouse, and jacket. By the time I was dressed I was out of breath and had to pause. As I reached into the bedside drawer to pull out mother’s cell phone, I heard the door open and turned to see the flash of a white sleeve as a nurse stepped into Blair’s enclosure again. I froze as I heard some rustling. Then the door opened and closed again and it was quiet.
I slipped into my loafers and exhaled a sigh of relief as I dropped the phone into my pocket. I was just about to reach back into the closet for my purse, when a hand appeared from behind me and covered my mouth and nose with a very familiar-smelling cloth. Within seconds this time, my eyes closed shut.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
I woke up lying on my side on a hard cement floor. Dirt bit into my cheek, and I sucked up dust motes every time I inhaled. As my eyelids fluttered open and the blurred outline of a short staircase came into focus. Boxes and paint cans were stacked against it, along with what looked like a jumble of gardening tools.
The sound of muffled voices and loud groaning prompted me to roll onto my back, which forced out a moan as my muscles screamed in protest. That’s w
hen I realized that my hands were bound behind me, the bindings digging into the flesh. I rolled into a sitting position, allowing a second involuntary groan to escape my throat. My feet were also bound.
“She’s awake,” a raspy voice said. “Keep an eye on her.”
I blinked several times, trying to shake the chloroform haze that still clouded my brain. Two sets of scoop lights clamped to standing light poles illuminated a gurney positioned horizontally in front of me. The lamps bathed the gurney in brilliant, white light, cloaking the rest of the room in darkness. A little man in a white lab coat stood at one end of the table, while an individual dressed in dark clothing hovered over the table. Someone lay on the gurney, groaning loudly and thrashing about, as if in terrible pain.
I couldn’t see anyone else, until a movement to my left made me glace that way. Across the room, a face swam into view that made my stomach turn inside out.
“The great and powerful Wizard of Oz,” I muttered.
The bright blue eyes glowed in the darkness, his white hair gleaming under the fluorescent light. It was the elusive Mr. Brown. God, could that guy get any creepier?
“What do you want with me?” I choked on the words.
He cast a furtive glance to his left. My eyes followed his, but I couldn’t see anyone.
“You have something we want,” he said, coming around the gurney. “And frankly, I’m tired of chasing you down.”
He moved to stand over me, his hands clasped casually behind his back.
A woman’s scream split the air and the gurney rattled. I peeked around him and realized it was Rosa on the gurney. She was in labor. I tried to rise, but merely succeeded in falling sideways.
“Just sit tight,” Mr. Brown said with a snarl.
He stepped forward, looming over me now, his face cast in shadow. But the darkness couldn’t hide the gun he pointed at me. I swallowed a ball of spit.
