Trail of Secrets

by Sandra Robbins

  The nurse turned the wheelchair toward the exam rooms on the other side of the area. Callie sat up straight. “Where are you taking me?”

  “To an exam room,” the nurse said.

  “But I want to be with my uncle.”

  The nurse shook her head. “I’m sorry, but you can’t do that.”

  “Why not?”

  The question was no more than out of her mouth when she saw the answer in the nurse’s eyes. She couldn’t be with him because he was dying.

  * * *

  Seth Dawtry’s heart sank as he pulled his car into the emergency room’s parking lot. An ambulance, its rear doors still open, sat backed up in the bay for unloading patients. He knew enough to know that if they’d abandoned the ambulance to rush the patient inside, things weren’t looking good.

  He pulled the car to a stop and sat there a moment, grasping the steering wheel, trying to work up the will to go inside. As badly as he wanted to know his friend’s condition, he couldn’t bring himself to move. Not when it meant facing Callie.

  He’d known Dan was picking Callie up at the airport tonight, but he hadn’t expected to see her so soon. In fact, he’d planned to stay as far away from her as he could while she was in town. But his anger toward Callie was no reason to abandon Dan right now.

  He would be polite to Callie because Dan would want that. But as soon as Dan was out of danger, he’d go back to keeping his distance. With a sigh, Seth said another quick prayer for Dan before he jumped from the car and sprinted toward the entrance.

  The automatic doors parted as he barreled toward them, and he ran into the waiting room that was packed with people waiting to be seen by a doctor. It seemed that no matter what time of day or night his job brought him here on an emergency, the area was always crowded with patients. Tonight, though, he wasn’t here on police business. This visit was personal.

  He hurried over to the receptionist’s desk, but the young woman who sat there didn’t look up from her computer as he came to a stop. “How can I help you?” she asked.

  He pulled out his badge and held it toward her. “I’m Detective Seth Dawtry with MPD. I’m here about Judge Dan Lattimer and his niece who were just brought in. They were in a car wreck on I-55 coming from the airport. Can you give me any information?”

  The girl glanced at the badge and then at him. “They arrived a few minutes ago. If you’ll have a seat, I’ll go check on them for you.”

  “Thank you.” Seth backed away from the desk and looked around for an empty chair. They all appeared to be occupied, so he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked to the edge of the room.

  Within minutes the young woman was back, and he hurried to her desk. “I talked with the doctor. He’s examining Miss Lattimer now. When he’s finished, you can go back and talk with her.”

  Seth nodded his thanks and walked back to the spot where he’d been standing. For the next fifteen minutes he forced himself to stay still and not give in to the urge to pace up and down the room. After what seemed like an eternity, the young woman motioned for him to follow her. She opened the door and pointed down the hallway.

  “Miss Lattimer is in the third treatment room on the right.”

  Seth smiled at her. “Thanks.”

  He took a deep breath and started down the hall. The closer he came to where Callie waited, the slower his steps grew. He’d often wondered if he would ever see Callie again, but he would never have thought they’d meet because Dan was near death. He needed to keep reminding himself that his anger toward Callie didn’t matter right now. His reason for being here was Dan’s welfare, and he could stand to be around her if it meant he could help his friend in any way.

  A curtain blocked his view into the glass cubicle, and he paused a moment. “Callie,” he said, “it’s Seth. May I come in?”

  “Yes.” Her soft voice was barely audible.

  He pulled the curtain back and stepped into the room. She sat on an exam table with her legs hanging over the side. It might have been two years since he’d last seen her, but he remembered how beautiful she’d looked that night—right up to the time she told him she wouldn’t marry him and had run from the room. Tonight she looked very different. Her long, dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and her mascara had left dark smudges on her cheeks.

  The expression on her face left little doubt to the seriousness of Dan’s condition. “H-how is he doing?”

  A big tear rolled down her cheek. “It’s not good, Seth. He almost quit breathing before we got to the hospital. The doctor came by a few minutes ago and said they’d inserted a breathing tube. They’re taking him to surgery in a few minutes. They don’t know if he’ll make it or not.”

  Seth almost doubled over from the crushing pain that exploded in his chest. He took a step closer to her. “No!” he said. “He’s supposed to retire, not die.”

  Her shoulders began to shake, and she dissolved in tears. “I know. We had such big plans for our summer. Now all I want is for him to live so I can tell him how much I love him.”

  Seth wished he could say something to make her feel better. But even if he knew what to say, she probably wouldn’t appreciate it, coming from him. He jammed his hands in his pockets and cleared his throat. “And how are you doing?”

  She wiped at her eyes and sighed. “I’m fine. The doctors checked me out and said there were no broken bones or internal injuries. Uncle Dan took the worst of it all.” Her eyes filled with tears again. “He pushed my head into my lap and held it there to protect me.”

  “That sounds like Dan,” he said. He took a step closer. “We’re going to get this guy, Callie. The FBI will join the Memphis Police Department on this case, and I’m sure the U.S. Marshals will be here shortly to offer protection for Dan. You don’t have anything to worry about except taking care of yourself and Dan.”

  “Thank you, Seth.”

  The curtain parted, and a doctor stepped into the room. He glanced from Seth to Callie before he spoke. “Miss Lattimer, we’re ready to take your uncle to surgery. Would you like to see him before he leaves?”

  “Yes, I would.”

  Seth watched her hop down from the table, and then the two of them stepped into the hall where two nurses stood beside Dan’s gurney. Seth didn’t move as they stopped beside his friend.

  Callie leaned close to him and whispered in his ear. “I love you, Uncle Dan. I’ll be waiting for you when you come from surgery.” She kissed him on the cheek, jammed her fist into her mouth to stifle her sobs and stepped away from the gurney.

  Seth bent over and touched Dan’s shoulder. “I’m here, Dan. I promise you I’ll get whoever did this to you.”

  For one brief moment, Dan’s eyes blinked open, and he stared up at Seth before he darted a glance at Callie and then back to Seth. A look of desperation lined his face. Once more he cut his eyes to Callie and back to him, and Seth knew Dan was trying to send him a message.

  Seth’s eyes filled with tears, and he nodded. “Don’t worry about Callie, Dan. I’ll take care of her.”

  Dan’s eyes drifted closed, and the nurses pushed the gurney down the hall. When it disappeared through the doors that led to the elevators for the surgery floor, Callie began to sob.

  Seth searched his mind for something to offer her comfort. Finally, he decided she needed to get out of this area and to a place that might offer some peace. He reached out and touched her arm. She jerked her head up and stared wide-eyed at him.

  “It’s not going to be easy waiting,” he said. “Why don’t we go down to the hospital chapel? Maybe being in that quiet room will help calm you down some.”

  She frowned. “I’m not very religious.”

  He nodded. “I know. That was something else we never saw eye to eye on, but like I tried to tell you then, it’s no
t about being religious. It’s about finding some peace in life. How about it? You might find it helps to be in a more soothing place for a while.”

  She brushed her hands across her eyes and glanced around the stark emergency room. “Okay. I guess it can’t hurt.”

  A nurse stepped out of an adjoining exam room at that moment, and Seth told her where the doctor could find them before he led Callie out of the emergency room and into the hospital proper.

  When they arrived at the chapel, he opened the door and held it for her to enter. As he stepped into the room behind her, he closed his eyes for a moment and let himself relax into the peace that being in this place evoked in his soul. A table with a cross and an open Bible on it sat at the front of the room, and he led her to seats directly in front of the display.

  They sat without speaking for a while until she finally broke the silence. “This is much better than the E.R. It’s quieter and more peaceful. Thank you for bringing me here.”

  “I’ve been in this room a lot in the past few years.”

  She turned her head, a questioning expression on her face. “Oh? How so?”

  He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “This is where we bring families when they’re waiting to hear if their loved ones will survive after a violent crime. It’s a peaceful place, and we hope it can afford the families some measure of comfort.”

  Tears pooled in her eyes. “Is that why you brought me here?”

  “Partly. But I wanted to ask you about the shooting, too. I don’t want to cause you any more stress than you’re already under, but I thought it might be easier to talk about it here than in the hustle and bustle of the emergency room.”

  She nodded. “I think it is, but there’s something I need to know, too.”

  “What’s that?”

  She inhaled a deep breath. “From the moment Uncle Dan picked me up I could tell something was wrong. He kept looking in the rearview mirror, and it seemed he almost suspected something was about to happen. When the EMTs were loading him in the ambulance, he opened his eyes long enough to tell me to call you. He needed to tell you something.”

  Seth frowned. “Did he say what it was?”

  She shook her head. “No. But he had to be restrained on the gurney because he was so determined there was something important he had to tell you about the case, he said. Has he been helping you with a case you’re working on?”

  Seth’s stomach curled with fear at Callie’s words. After a moment he shook his head. “No, I’ve been helping him with a case for the past year or so.”

  “I don’t understand. What kind of case would he need help with? He’s not a policeman anymore. He’s a judge, and judges don’t investigate cases.”

  Seth stood up and paced to the far wall before he turned and walked back to stand in front of her. Dan had mentioned several times that Callie knew nothing about the case he’d worked on for years because he knew she would be upset he was investigating a murder. It had been something he didn’t share with many of the people in his life. Seth happened to be the exception to the rule. But it was time Callie knew, especially if that case was the reason Dan was in surgery fighting for his life.

  He dropped back in his chair and nodded. “I guess it’s time you learned about the burden Dan has carried for years. He knew you would try to persuade him to give up if he told you about it, so he never did.”

  Callie clasped her hands in her lap and swallowed hard. “What kind of case is it?”

  He spread his hands in a helpless gesture and shook his head. “I can only tell you what Dan has told me. This case dates back to when he was on the police force.”

  She sat up straighter, her eyes wide. “On the force? But that was years ago.”

  Seth nodded. “Twenty-five years, in fact. One morning he was called to the banks of the Mississippi River just south of downtown where a woman’s body had washed up. She looked to be in her early thirties, and she’d been shot. There was no identification on the body, but Dan felt sure that as pretty and as well dressed as she was, someone would report her missing.”

  “Did they?” Callie asked.

  Seth shook his head. “When he didn’t hear anything, he went by the medical examiner’s office and learned she didn’t fit the description of anyone who’d been reported as missing in Memphis. That made him wonder if she was from somewhere else. He asked about her personal effects, and they gave him an envelope that only contained a locket she was wearing. Inside was the picture of a little boy who looked to be about five or six. Then he asked to see her body. That’s when something strange happened to him.”

  “What?”

  “He said he stood there and looked down at her and there was something about her face that reminded him of your mother.”

  “My mother?” Callie’s question was barely more than a whisper.

  “Yes. He said your mother had died a few weeks before, and you had just come to live with him. You’d cried the night before for your mother, and he wondered if the little boy in the picture in the locket was crying for his mother. So he made a pledge to the dead woman that he wouldn’t rest until he’d found her family and returned her body to them. When no one ever came forward to claim the body, Dan bought a burial plot and a tombstone and had the woman buried at his own expense. For the past twenty-five years, every time he read or heard about a missing woman, he’d check it out to see if it was his victim, but it never has been.”

  “He had her buried and a tombstone placed at her grave?”

  “Yes.”

  “What name did he put on the tombstone?”

  “Since he didn’t know her name, he decided to give her one. He thought she deserved more than Jane Doe. She needed a special name, so he put the name Hope on her tombstone.”

  “Hope?”

  “Yes. He said it was a name that fit his feelings toward her—hope that he could return her to her family. Through the years, every time he grew discouraged and ready to give up, he’d visit her grave. Seeing that name on her tombstone would remind him that somewhere there had to be somebody hanging on to the hope that their wife or mother or daughter would be returned to them. And he’d promise her again that he wouldn’t give up. He would find her killer, and he’d return her to her family.”

  Callie nodded. “That sounds like Uncle Dan. He’s got such a good heart. All he wanted to do was help someone, and now it looks like his good intentions may have put him in danger.” She was silent for a moment. “I can’t believe Uncle Dan never told me about this case.”

  “It became a very personal cause with Dan to return her to her family. He knows you have issues over your father’s death and his involvement in law enforcement. He wanted to distance you from the things in his life that haunted him so you could be happy in the life you’d chosen. He tried to do everything he could to make that happen.”

  “I know.” She unclasped her hands and rose to her feet. “And yet all that time he was trying to make my life better, he was obsessed with returning this woman to her family. I wish I had known so I could have made it easier for him.”

  Seth stood and faced her. “Don’t blame yourself, Callie. This is the way he wanted it. But now that things have turned dangerous, you need to know what’s at stake. I only hope if he has found out something, he’ll be able to tell me what it was. I’d like to bring closure to the case that Dan has never been able to walk away from—and I’d like to see whoever did this to Dan brought to justice.”

  She nodded. “I hope you can. What happens if he dies? Will anyone else take the case?”

  “I work in the Cold Case Unit now with two partners, and we’ll keep it on our radar. After all, that’s our job, working cold cases.”

  She bit down on her lip and thought for a moment before she spoke again. “You’re right. That’s what you do. But it’s not what he does
anymore.”

  Seth regarded her with a questioning gaze and frowned. “What do you mean?”

  She balled her hands into fists and clenched them at her side. “Uncle Dan hasn’t been a policeman in over twenty years. He shouldn’t have put himself in danger like this.”

  Tears flowed down her face, and Seth rose to his feet. “What are you saying, Callie?”

  “I’m saying if he lives I’m going to insist on some changes. First of all, I’m sure there will be a long recuperation time. I think it would be best if I took him back to Virginia with me. I can see that he gets all the help he needs, and I’ll be there to take care of him. Maybe there he can put this case behind him.”

  Seth shook his head. “As long as there’s breath in Dan’s body, I don’t think he’ll be able to put this case out of his mind.”

  “You don’t understand!” she cried out. “I lost my father when he tried to stop a guy on drugs from robbing a convenience store. Now it’s possible this murder that happened twenty-five years ago is the reason my uncle is fighting for his life. I can’t lose him, too, like I lost...”

  She stopped, and a look of panic crossed her face. Seth nodded. “Were you going to add me to that list, too? Were you going to say like you lost me because you couldn’t bring yourself to marry a policeman?”

  Callie jumped to her feet and clenched her fists at her sides. “This is no time for us to discuss our past, Seth. My uncle’s survival is the most important thing now.”

  After a moment, he nodded. “You’re right, Callie. Whatever we once had died two years ago, but I don’t think Dan will give up on this case as easily as you did on us.”

  She glared at him before she dropped back in her chair, propped her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands. Seth stared at her and then glanced up at the clock. Eight-thirty. He sighed. It was going to be a long night.

  Four hours later, Seth stopped pacing the floor and turned toward the door when it opened. Callie glanced over her shoulder, then slowly rose to her feet. Seth moved to stand next to her.