“This is my friend, Anderson,” Krista said. “He brought my father to the hospital. How is he?”
“The surgery went well, “Wills said. “We removed the tumor. There’s no indication that it has spread.”
Krista took a deep breath. “Was it malignant?”
“We’ll have to wait for the results from the lab,” Wills said.
“Can we please skip this part, Dr. Wills? You’ve probably removed a thousand or more tumors.”
The doctor nodded. “All right, the growth looked clean to me. It was large enough that I would have expected to see evidence of metastasis if it were malignant. I’m pretty sure it’s benign.”
Krista closed her eyes and exhaled. “Can I see him?”
“He’s still in post-op, recovering from the anesthesia. We’ll be taking him back to his room in about an hour. He’ll be awake and clear-headed by then.”
She thanked Wills and turned to Anderson. “Do you mind waiting?”
“Of course not,” Anderson replied. “We can go up now and wait for him in the room. Bo will be glad to see a couple of friendly faces.”
Krista remained silent.
“It’s going to be all right, Krista. We shouldn’t stay long because he’ll be tired from the surgery. Give him a hug and a kiss and tell him what the doctor said. Then wait for me in the hall. I’ll talk to him about Melissa.”
“Maybe we should wait, Anderson.”
“No, Bo deserves to hear about this now. It’ll be harder if we wait. He’ll resent both of us if we keep this from him.”
Anderson was watching another soap opera and Krista was staring out the window when they wheeled the bed back into the room.
Bo raised a tired hand in greeting.
“How do you feel, Daddy?”
“I feel like I’ve just finished a double shift at the store. Don’t know why I’m so tired.”
“Any surgery is hard on the body,” Krista said. “We’ll let you rest.” She leaned over the bed and kissed Bo on the forehead. “You’re going to be fine. Dr. Wills got the tumor and said it looked clean. We’ve got to get you back home. Monday says Diva keeps looking out her bedroom window for you.”
Bo smiled. “Tell her I’ll be home soon. If I have to wear this hospital gown much longer, I’m going to need some serious anti-depressants.”
Krista glanced at Anderson and gave her father a final kiss. Bo and Anderson watched her leave.
“Now that she’s gone, you can tell me how you really feel,” Anderson said.
“I feel about a hundred years old, Anderson.”
Anderson gave him a blank look. “I thought you were a hundred years old.”
Bo groaned and shifted in the bed. “There’s nothing else they can do for me here. I’m going to sleep the rest of the day so I’ll be ready to go home tomorrow.”
Anderson stood at the end of the bed and remained silent.
Bo looked at him. “You’ve got something to tell me.”
“It’s Melissa. I’m sorry, Bo. She’s gone. They found her this morning. Dodd called me.” Anderson watched as the older man closed his eyes.
“What happened?”
“The killer was waiting for her in the woods. Melissa had a suitcase with her and was apparently on her way back to the motel on foot. Whoever did this must be connected to Passages. Nothing else makes sense.”
Bo nodded. “It’s my fault. I was the one who talked her into getting help. I’m the only reason she checked into Passages. The killer wouldn’t have bothered with her if he had gotten me.”
“You weren’t the one who killed her, Bo. This maniac could have gotten to her just as easily at the motel. I’m sure Melissa appreciated what you were trying to do.”
Bo shook his head. “No, she resented it. She liked things just the way they were. That explains why she was so distant when I talked to her on the phone, and why she didn’t call me for a ride when she decided to leave. Melissa was ready to end our relationship.”
Anderson moved toward the door. “Get some rest. I’ll be back to see you tomorrow. We’re going to get this guy, Bo. I’m working on a plan.”
* * * *
Bo looked out the window, seeing nothing. The relationship was doomed from the beginning. He knew that. He had been pretending they were an ordinary couple the entire time. Dating a prostitute and a drug addict more than twenty-five years his junior had been fresh and exciting. It had also been sad, pathetic, and a little embarrassing.
Bo turned away from the window and shut his eyes. His chest heaved as tears trickled down his face. Melissa was never going to change. She had no plans or aspirations for the future other than to snort cocaine, screw any man with money in his pocket, and live in room number eight at the no-tell motel until the day she died.
Looking back, he had to wonder if they had ever loved each other. Bo thought he had loved her, but maybe he’d been kidding himself. The loss he was feeling now was for the sex and the companionship. Was that love? No, probably not…more like friends with benefits. What about Melissa? She had gotten a boyfriend and some respectability out of the deal, but the circumstances surrounding her death made it clear their relationship had always been conditional as far as she was concerned. Take me as I am, and I’ll give you free sex and some affection. Try to change me, and we’re done. In Melissa’s case, being done had meant getting murdered.
He sat up in bed and pushed the call button to the nurses’ station. Anderson said he was working on a plan. Bo knew he couldn’t bring Melissa back, but he could help track down the son of a bitch who had stolen her life. He owed her that much.
“Are you feeling better, Mr. Carson?” The nurse was young and pretty.
“I’m starving.”
“I’ll tell the kitchen staff to bring your supper. You’re cleared to eat.”
“Tell them to bring me two meals. I missed lunch.”
“Do you need anything else?” the nurse asked.
“You can let the doctor know I’ll be leaving in the morning.”
“I’m sorry, you can’t…”
“I can, and I will, miss. The doctor is welcome to give me a prescription for the pain before I leave. If he can’t manage that, I’ll walk next door and get one from my personal physician.”
The nurse scurried from the room. Bo reached for his phone and punched in a number.
“I’m leaving in the morning, Anderson. It’s time to work that plan.”
Chapter 19
Dodd blew out a deep breath as he walked down the hall of Passages Addiction Center. The day had started out badly with the Finn Watson interview and gone downhill from there. The murder of Melissa Wright had been particularly savage. Her face had been barely recognizable, and for the first time, the killer had apparently lost control of himself after murdering his victim.
The only thing he knew for sure was that the murder was committed by a member of the Committee for Morality and Decency. Melissa’s pants had been torn away, and her shirt and jacket had been ripped open. Her breasts and sternum were severely bruised. The Biblical note was found inside her vagina. The medical examiner would check the body for semen or other evidence of rape, but Dodd didn’t expect them to find anything that would be helpful in solving the case. The person who did this had gotten carried away, but he wasn’t stupid.
There was no other forensic evidence discovered at the scene. The killer had used blunt force to attack Wright. The murder weapon was probably a baseball bat or a croquet mallet, maybe even a sturdy limb the killer had found in the woods. There were no defensive wounds on the victim’s body, or any signs of a struggle. The killer had either taken Melissa completely by surprise, or she had frozen in fear, too terrified to run or defend herself. It was also possible the attacker was someone Melissa knew and considered a friend.
Anderson had called to tell him he was picking Bo up from the hospital in the morning. The older man had taken the news of Melissa’s death as well as could be expected and was read
y to help with the investigation. Dodd still had a couple more people at Passages he needed to interview in the morning. After that, he would talk to Bo Carson.
A patient named Hal Morris had discovered the body. Dodd had asked Morris what he had been doing out in the woods. The man had hemmed and hawed, finally admitting he had gone looking for Melissa when he didn’t find her in her room.
“I’m a sex addict,” Morris had said. “If you find traces of semen inside her, it’s mine. We had sex the past few nights.”
Dodd had studied the man. Morris was nervous and unable to make eye contact. His voice shook when he spoke. None of that was unusual for someone who had found a dead body and was being interviewed by the FBI. Still, there was something about the guy that didn’t feel right.
“Do you know anything about the bruising on her chest, Mr. Morris?” Dodd had asked. “Is it possible the sex got a little out of hand?”
Morris had admitted that the sessions with Melissa were intense, but he denied knowing anything about the bruises. “That’s not my style. I play hard, but not rough. I need a lot of sex, but I’ve never been into bondage or any other extreme stuff. I didn’t do that to Melissa.”
Morris explained that he had stopped by Melissa’s room after his morning therapy session. Her door had been unlocked, and he had opened it when she didn’t answer his knock. He had become alarmed when he discovered Melissa’s clothes and personal items were missing.
“Why would that alarm you?” Dodd had asked. “Patients must come and go here all the time.”
Hal had told him about Melissa’s claim that she had been assaulted and nearly killed by an unidentified intruder who had gotten into her room late at night. Jack Fowler had promised to post an overnight guard outside her room, but Morris had seen no sign of the guard when he left her room after one of their sessions.
“She wasn’t in her room or the cafeteria,” Morris had said. “She had stopped going to her therapy sessions. That’s why I went outside to look around. I had a bad feeling.”
“What made you check the woods?” Dodd had asked.
Morris said he noticed footprints in the snow heading toward the woods.
“The prints were fresh and looked to be about Melissa’s shoe size. I saw her body on the ground before I even entered the trees. I can’t believe nobody saw the person who did this. She wasn’t that far into the woods, and there aren’t any leaves on the trees. Anybody looking out a window or taking a smoke break outside would have seen everything that happened.”
Dodd found it interesting that a patient who was being treated for sex addiction was having unrestrained sex with a prostitute who was being treated for cocaine addiction. When he pressed him, Morris admitted Melissa was getting all the cocaine she needed. He declined to identify the supplier of the drugs, but Dodd figured Finn Watson was a good bet. The dock manager would have some questions to answer about his relationship with Melissa Wright.
Interviews with Melissa’s counselors and therapists confirmed Melissa had stopped attending her treatment sessions. None of the clinical staff knew why or had bothered to check on their patient. Dodd had come to the conclusion that Passages was little more than a medical façade wrapped in a pretty package and designed to extract the maximum amount of money from its patients’ insurance providers while offering minimal, sub-standard treatment programs.
The interview with Jack Fowler had confirmed Dodd’s impression of Passages Addiction Center. The director had been evasive and defensive when told Hal Morris had been enjoying unlimited sex and Melissa Wright had been using cocaine and skipping her therapy appointments.
“We’re not babysitters here, Agent Dodd,” Fowler had said. “Passages Addiction Center offers its patients a path forward to a better life. The key word is offers. These are grown men and women. They have to want to participate in the treatment programs. If they refuse to acknowledge their problems or choose not to accept the help that is available, no amount of coercion on our part will change that. This isn’t a prison. Our focus is on the patients who want our help and are prepared to seize this opportunity.”
Dodd had thought it all sounded like horse shit. Wasn’t part of a counselor’s job to overcome resistance and break down barriers? All of the patients were damaged in one way or another. How many of them showed up with a smile and a cheerful attitude, ready to turn their lives around? Fowler’s little speech had been nothing more than a weak justification for the center’s negligence and disregard for the people it was being paid to help. And now a woman was dead.
The FBI agent crossed the parking lot and climbed into his car. Tomorrow, he would finish his interviews with the staff and then visit Bo Carson. Maybe he would have another go at Finn Watson after that. At this point, he needed to run down every possibility and look for connections before another victim turned up. The Committee would kill again. He was sure of that.
* * * *
Jack Fowler slammed the door shut and stalked into the kitchen. Amy was putting away groceries in the pantry. The short dress she wore was stretched tight across her enormous bottom. Fowler stared at the sight and felt his body respond.
Amy turned to face him with a smile on her face. The smile slipped as she studied her boyfriend’s tense expression. “Did you have a bad day at work?”
Fowler grunted. “Every day at work is a bad day. This one was the worst yet. One of our patients was murdered.”
“Let’s go in the living room,” Amy suggested. “You can tell me about it.”
They sat down on the sofa, and Amy snuggled up against him. Fowler pulled her closer and watched the dress ride up, exposing her enormous pale thighs. Despite the frigid weather, Amy was not wearing hose or tights.
“It was Melissa Wright. One of the patients found her in the woods. Someone bashed her brains in.”
“That bitch,” Amy said. “You told me about her. She probably deserved it.”
Fowler nodded. His breath was coming faster now, and he couldn’t take his eyes off Amy’s breasts.
“An FBI agent questioned me, practically accused me of criminal negligence. I told him I wasn’t running a day care center. What am I supposed to do—keep the building locked down and put up a barbed wire fence with armed guards around the place?”
He reached for a breast and squeezed it as if he was selecting a cantaloupe. Amy moved away from him and lifted the dress over her head in a practiced motion. She stood before him, completely naked except for high platform sandals.
Fowler grabbed her enormous belly and buried his face in the ample folds of flesh. Amy plopped back down on the sofa and sighed as her boyfriend worked his way back up to her breasts and began to nurse like a hungry baby. She opened her legs and felt Jack’s hand moving down her body. He kissed her hard on the mouth.
“I’m glad she’s dead,” he gasped.
Amy reached for his belt and unbuckled his pants. Fowler pulled them off and stood. He yanked Amy to her feet and pressed against her.
“So am I,” Amy said. “God, I wish you had been the one to kill her.”
“Maybe I did,” Fowler said. “Maybe I’d like to bring her back to life so I could kill her again.”
She moaned as Fowler’s hands and mouth raced across her body. Amy closed her eyes and shivered with excitement. She gasped as Fowler suddenly plunged into her from behind.
“Hurt me,” she whispered.
Jack Fowler reached for his belt.
Chapter 20
Grace Hanes braced herself as she saw the FBI agent striding down the hall toward her. Yesterday had been her day off. This guy would probably make a big deal about that. God, she hated authority figures, especially cops. They wore their guns on their hips like a spare penis. At least the agent was a man. Female cops were the worst.
“I’m Roy Dodd,” he said.
The nurse glanced at the badge he was holding up. “I’m Grace Hanes. I guess you want to talk about Melissa.”
“What can you tell me about the v
ictim?” Dodd asked. “Did you know her well?”
Hanes shrugged. “I wouldn’t say I know any of the patients well. Nobody is here for more than thirty days, and most of that time is spent in therapy sessions and other activities. Other than the occasional incident, my job mainly involves dispensing medication prescribed by the doctors and responding to any other needs of the patients.”
“I spoke to Jack Fowler yesterday,” Dodd said. “He told me there was an incident involving Melissa Wright.”
The nurse frowned. “That’s right. I found her hiding in the break room during the middle of the night. She was naked and terrified that someone was trying to kill her. Melissa claimed someone had attacked her. She didn’t make much sense.”
“You didn’t believe her?” Dodd asked.
“I was skeptical,” Grace said. “I thought it more likely she was having a nightmare or experiencing a psychotic break or fugue state due to cocaine withdrawal. I did wonder about the bruises on her neck, but Fowler suggested Melissa could have done that to herself during the nightmare.”
Dodd jotted down something in his notebook. “Dr. Fowler said he posted a guard outside Melissa’s room at her insistence.”
Hanes nodded. “Yes, she was adamant about that. I’m sure she would have packed up and left if he had said no.”
“I spoke to Hal Morris. He said there was no guard around when he left Melissa’s room late one night.”
The nurse thought about that. “My schedule varies. I work more days than nights, but I do remember seeing a guard in the hall outside her room. I don’t know his name, but I suppose Fowler or his assistant could tell you. He might have been in the bathroom or at the vending machines when Hal left the room.”
Dodd nodded. “You were absent from work yesterday.”
“It was my day off, Agent Dodd. That’s the day I spend running errands and checking on my mother. She has an apartment next door in the assisted living complex.”
“What time were you there?”
“It was early, probably seven or so. My mother is an early riser. We had breakfast together as usual, and I did a few chores for her, same as always. I left around nine thirty, and, no, I didn’t see Melissa. It sounds like I just missed her and the killer.”
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