by Dale Mayer
Inside he waited for her to register. It was really early in the day, compared to what was check-out time, but they did have empty rooms, so they let her get in. Particularly after he explained what was going on.
His phone rang just then. Laszlo’s number showed on his screen. Cade explained where they were, which was just across the street from the police station. Moments later Laszlo walked in behind them. He spoke to the hotel manager and got Faith’s room changed to one on the front of the street, so she could see out. They escorted her to her room and left her there. She smiled as she closed the door, whispering, “Thank you.”
Cade nodded. As he turned to walk away, he added, “Sleep well.”
Laszlo and Talon stared at him. He shrugged, then walked toward the stairs and back down to the front reception. “She’s a fellow countrywoman. I couldn’t just leave her feeling lost.”
The others were silent.
“Did you know her before?” Laszlo asked.
Talon spoke up. “We shared a cab with her when we came back from Kabul.”
Laszlo’s face cleared. “Aah. That explains that.”
“Explains what?” Cade asked in irritation. This was no big deal. He was just helping her get a room so she didn’t kill herself waiting for her friend to wake up or to die. “What did the police say?”
Laszlo held up copies of the accident report. “I’ve got printed copies this time. They have nothing new to add.” He glanced around. “I need something to eat. There’s a good café around the corner or so. Let’s go there, and I can give you a quick overview.”
They walked outside and down several blocks before they stepped into a small family-looking restaurant. Laszlo ordered coffee and breakfast for all three of them.
As he sat down, Cade held out his hand. “Let me see.” The paperwork was handed over, and he held it so both he and Talon could take a look. Laszlo gave them the gist of the report. Cade turned the page only to realize the second page was almost blank. “Nothing else?”
Laszlo shot him a grim look. “No, nothing else.”
Talon said, “Cade and I discussed checking out rental vehicles. If somebody targeted us and wasn’t a local, they would need a vehicle. Chances are he flew in, rented an SUV for potentially one or two days, maybe longer in order to get an idea of your father’s routine, did the job and then flew out.”
Laszlo nodded. “I did check with the neighbors to see if there’d been any strangers hanging around. They all said no. At least none they knew of. Nobody had spoken to them about my father’s accident.”
Talon frowned. “Not good police work. But, good to know, because that was another option.”
“It shouldn’t be too hard to get a list of names who rented an SUV.”
“No. Not with Ice and Stone at our disposal.”
“Plus we need further information off the doctor’s report. Or maybe you already know. How tall is your father and where are the actual points of impact?”
Laszlo’s gaze lit up at something concrete to determine. “But, just because the police suspect it was an SUV, should we get a forensic specialist?” He stared at Cade, then Talon. “After all, the police hadn’t even spent the time to talk to the neighbors. They’ve got this sealed up as a hit-and-run with no witnesses. End of story. Case closed.”
The next fifteen minutes followed a discussion on the height of bumpers on trucks versus SUVs versus cars.
“Of course, this is a rough science, but the best guess would be an SUV,” Cade said after their discussion. “So I suggest we get a list of all rental vehicles and check that with flights, potentially see if anybody saw that vehicle here. And … he had to fuel up somewhere.” He watched as Laszlo made notes. “One more thing. Talon and I were tossing around the idea that an out-of-town hired gunman may not know that his first hit wasn’t terminal. If our guy is not local, then he’d have to speak to the doctor or the police. What do you think?”
“The detective did tell me that, if we found out anything, to let him know.”
“Are all incoming phone calls to the police recorded here? Can he get that information for us though? You think he’s willing?”
Laszlo nodded. “He’s a friend of my brother’s.” He picked up his phone and pulled out a card from his pocket. He dialed the detective.
Cade sat back as their breakfasts arrived. He couldn’t understand most of Laszlo’s conversation anyway. But, as plate after plate after plate—all heaped full of food—were placed on the table, he could feel his stomach growling with joy. He looked at Talon, smiling. “At least they know how to eat over here.”
Talon laughed as he picked up a slab of bread and took a bite. “They do indeed.”
Chapter 4
Faith walked into the hotel room, loving the homey coziness of a room that came with an armchair, a small couch, and a large queen-size bed with comforters that poofed up over the bed. Exhausted, she changed into simple panties and a cami, all set to crawl under the covers. She probably should have told Mary what she was doing and where she’d gone, but it was beyond her at the moment. She was just too tired.
Hours later she was feeling, although not fully rested, at least better. Her brain was less foggy, her mind more at peace. She still felt terribly guilty about leaving Elizabeth but knew she could really do nothing that would keep Elizabeth on this planet if Faith had stayed those extra six hours. On the other hand, with more energy, Faith should return and talk to Elizabeth, convincing her with more vigor to fight for her life.
Faith checked her clock and decided that a ten-minute shower wouldn’t change anything. She walked into the quaint bathroom, loving everything about it, including the claw-foot tub. She stepped in, pulling the curtain around her. She took a long moment to shampoo her short brunette curls with the handheld sprayer. She’d had her hair cut in a bob about two weeks ago and was still figuring out if she liked the look or not. It was easy to handle, and that was a big plus. After shampooing, she’d put on conditioner and left it in for a few minutes, while she scrubbed the rest of her body down. And she scrubbed hard.
Invigorated when she was done, she stepped out of the tub and wrapped herself in the soft towels. With one twisted around her hair and another around her torso, she walked back into the bedroom and pulled out clean clothes. Her hair would have to dry naturally, since she didn’t want to take the time and didn’t have the inclination to blow dry it. Dressed, she walked back downstairs, smiled at the woman in the reception area and stepped outside.
It was midafternoon—maybe late afternoon according to where the sun was. She walked the block to the hospital and stepped inside. Hungry but not wanting to waste too much time, she walked through the cafeteria and picked up some food to go, which included coffee, muffins and a sandwich. At the last moment she grabbed a piece of fruit and put it with her purchases.
Armed for the next few hours, she slowly walked back to Elizabeth’s room. Without a phone call to let her know what Elizabeth’s state was, Faith had no way to know if the news would be good or bad.
As she walked past a hallway, she saw Cade. He was talking to a different man, his two friends with him. She frowned at him. He flashed her a bright smile and said, “You look much better.”
She stepped back slightly. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’m just on my way back to Elizabeth.”
Cade nodded toward Laszlo who was talking in Norwegian to the new man in a lab coat. “We’re just getting more details as far as injuries.”
“Ouch,” she said brightly. “I’ll leave you to it then.” And she quickly walked down the hall to Elizabeth’s door, which was closed. Shuffling the food in her hand, she slowly opened it, petrified of what she might see on the inside. But, to her relief, she heard the machines humming and beeping away in a reassuring rhythm. She smiled and stepped in farther.
“Elizabeth, I’m back.” She walked over to the windowsill, laid down her food and drinks, and took off her coat. She put it around the back side of the chair and
walked toward Elizabeth. She gently stroked her fingers along Elizabeth’s arm. Unable to help herself, Faith bent over and kissed her friend on the cheek. “Any time you want to wake up, I’ll be happy.”
And yet there was no noticeable change in her best friend. With a sad sigh Faith sat down and ate her lunch, though it was more an early dinner at this point. As she sat here, she realized she’d left the door open. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe some stimulation would help Elizabeth come back out of whatever coma she was in. And though part of Faith knew there was no way Elizabeth could wake up if the doctors had drugged her asleep, she hoped her friend was aware on a subconscious level that Faith was here with her.
While she munched on her sandwich, Faith could hear footsteps in the hallway. She recognized Cade’s voice. And Talon’s. They were discussing how the information from the accident report apparently coincided with their belief an SUV had run down Laszlo’s father.
As she listened, she heard, “We just got the list of SUVs that were rented. But there were 125 of them.” That was Talon speaking.
She no longer heard their footsteps. They must have stopped somewhere near Elizabeth’s room in the hallway outside, since Faith could hear them clearly still.
“I guess we’re lucky it’s not New York,” Cade said. “It could be ten times that number.”
“Then we narrowed it down to single males and to those who had a designated drop-off at the airport,” Talon continued.
Cade laughed. “That’s good thinking. And how many does that leave us with?”
“Forty-two.”
“That’s reasonable.”
“Not necessarily. Out of those there are only four color combinations for SUVs.”
“Sure,” Cade added. “That’ll be silver, blue, black and white.”
“One has a fancy name, some kind of muted gray.”
“Silver then,” Cade said with a snort. “They keep coming up with all these new color names as a marketing ploy. But let’s get real. Gray is gray, and silver is silver.”
Faith nodded. She’d found something similar herself with cars she’d been looking at.
Cade continued to talk. “We need pictures of the models rented and then to visit each of the gas stations close to where Henry was hit. See if anybody there recognizes the SUV.”
“Agreed,” Talon said. “The other thing to note is, we had cut more out of the original number based on too much or too little mileage per rental. Those that had too many miles and a longer rental period, we took off the list,” Talon explained. “Like someone road-tripping through Scandinavia. Plus those that incurred almost no miles, we took off the list.”
“Oh, I guess you considered that Henry’s place is a drive from here,” Cade mentioned. “And, of course, whether it was a straight trip there and back again, isn’t likely. Our hired gun would go a couple times to see what the old man’s routine was.”
“Exactly. And that cut the number down to twenty-one.”
“All colors again?” Cade asked.
“Two colors. Black and silver.”
“Any SUVs with smoked or privacy windows?” Cade asked.
Talon chuckled. “We’re ahead of you. That dropped us down to seven.”
Faith sat in amazement as they narrowed down the vehicles. That number was doable to research.
“Anything else from that?” Cade asked.
“Yes, we checked all seven names. That was, Stone and Ice checked. Of all seven names two were fraudulent.”
“So those are the two we want to go after.”
“One of them had Mouse as a middle name.”
She frowned. Why the hell would somebody have an animal, especially a rodent, as a middle name?
Cade’s voice turned hard as he snapped, “Him first.”
“Exactly.”
“Do we have a picture ID?”
“No, but we do have a license plate, and there are city cameras.”
Cade whistled long and clear. “Do we get to view the cameras, or does this fall to the detective to go through?”
“I haven’t approached him yet. I figured as soon as Laszlo was done with this doctor, we could walk over to the detective’s office and present this information and see if he can help us pull some cameras and maybe get a face off one of them.”
“Then I suggest we go there right now. Let’s snag Laszlo away from his conversation that’s likely to never end, considering it’s his family’s health they’re discussing. Either he comes with us, or we’ll go without him.”
“We’ll need Laszlo for that. Remember the detective is his brother’s friend.”
Faith finished her sandwich as the men walked away. She could hear their footsteps tapping gently on the tile floor. They had come to a conclusion so quickly that it took her breath away. And it also made her wonder if Elizabeth’s accident was truly an accident. She pulled out her laptop and turned it on. While it booted up, she sipped her coffee and started in on her muffin. As soon as her computer was up, she opened her emails, hoping to see something from Mary. But there was nothing.
She frowned. “Now what do I do?” Was Mary avoiding her? Or was she just so exhausted that she couldn’t deal with anything more? Or was she worried Faith would ask more of her than she could give?
What Faith needed was the name of Laszlo’s detective friend because she’d really like to see Elizabeth’s accident report. She pulled out her phone and texted Cade. If you’re getting accident reports on Laszlo’s father, can you get one for me on Elizabeth?
And then she quickly sent a second text. Please. I’ve asked Elizabeth’s sister already, but she’s not responding. I heard you in the hall talking about the SUV that was potentially the weapon used to run down Laszlo’s father. It amazes me how quickly you got rid of all the excess information and got to the core of things. And that’s what I have to know. Was Elizabeth in an accident or was it intentional? I don’t know who else to ask.
Instead of getting an answer, her phone rang. It was Cade. “Thank you for calling me back,” she said quietly. “I know this is a big request …”
“What’s her last name?”
“Elizabeth Brown.”
“That’s not a Norwegian name.”
“Her mother remarried and came over here.”
“We’re almost at the police station now. I can ask the detective to contact you. I doubt he’d give that information to me.”
“Oh, I never thought of that,” she said.
“It’s not that big a deal. We’ll see if we can get it from him. The best would be that he sends it to you though.”
“Is there any reason I couldn’t have a copy?” she asked worriedly. “I wouldn’t want to get him in trouble.”
“I don’t think there are any laws against it. But I’ll see what he says.”
“Let me give you my email.” She quickly ran it off for him.
“You want to text that to me instead?” he asked, when she went quiet. “Then I’ll have it to give to him.”
She rang off, then quickly sent him a text. And sent another one saying thanks. She was still working on her piece of fruit and cup of coffee when the email came in from the detective. Sure enough, attached was the accident report. Delighted, she put down her coffee to open the attachment. And winced. Apparently Elizabeth was going too fast and missed a corner. She’d spun out, flipped around and ended up in a ditch.
“Well, at least it was her own fault, not somebody else hitting her on purpose.” Although that was small comfort. But it did make Faith feel better that somebody hadn’t pushed her off the road and neither had Elizabeth hurt anybody else.
Faith quickly replied to the detective, thanking him for sending the report.
A few minutes later she got a text from Cade. Did he send it?
Yes, he did. Elizabeth was involved in a single-vehicle accident. She spun out on a corner, taking it too fast, and hit a ditch. Nobody else was injured. Nobody else was involved.
Good. That sho
uld make you feel better.
It does. Now if she’d wake up and be just fine, then my life would be about perfect.
He didn’t answer after that. And why should he? There wasn’t anything to say.
Cade sat in the police station, a copy of the report on Henry in his hand. The trouble was, it was in Norwegian. Although English appeared to be spoken everywhere, he wasn’t surprised to see a report like this in English. He picked up his phone and sent Faith a message. Was your report in Norwegian?
It was in English.
Oh, good.
Cade put away his phone and turned to look at the detective. So far, he’d shown no signs he spoke English. But he had a good enough grasp of it to write the simple details of Elizabeth’s report on the same PDF in English for Faith’s use. “Thank you for sending Faith a copy of the Elizabeth Brown accident report,” he said smoothly in English. “And Faith really appreciated getting it in English.”
He felt Talon startle with surprise beside him. The detective tossed him a glance and nodded but kept talking to Laszlo.
Cade held up their current accident report. “I have to admit to being impressed at how much English is spoken here.”
Talon opened up the laptop he always carried in his backpack and sat down to boot it up. They took a look at the report only to realize this was an even simpler accident report than Elizabeth’s. And maybe nobody did very much in the way of forensic assessment on accidents over here. According to the report, Henry had been walking at night with his dogs. He was struck from behind, the blow sending him into the ditch, where several rocks connected with his face.
The English wasn’t perfect, but it was all they needed. “No sign of a vehicle afterward, no witnesses.”
Talon nodded. “It’s exactly as we thought.” He powered down his laptop and put it away.
Cade studied the accident report in his hands, wondering at its simplicity. But then he guessed there were many just like this one at home too. He folded the paperwork and tucked it in his pocket.
