“Dad, I’m thirsty,” Katy whispered into Jake’s ear.
Jake and the girls were making much better time now. Jake guessed he had about another five or six hundred yards to the Little Buck Field. He was having difficulty keeping his cool but knew their lives depended on it. And he couldn’t let the girls know he was scared to death.
“I am, too, baby…just try not to think about it,” he said, realizing just how thirsty he was.
“Don’t you have a bottle of water in your vest?”
“No ma’am. Just don’t think about it, OK?” he whispered back.
“I’ll try,” she said, not really understanding.
Jake stopped and, without taking Katy off his back, waited for Elizabeth to catch up. “How’s your foot? Is the crutch helping?” he asked in a low whisper.
“Yes sir, it is.” Elizabeth grimaced.
Jake could see his breath when he exhaled.
“Are you still cold?” Jake asked Elizabeth, knowing Katy was warmer than anyone because of her camo outfit.
“I’m freezin’, but I can make it.”
Jake took a fleece neck warmer from his vest and pulled it over her head, then back up over her chin.
“That’ll help.”
“Thanks.”
“We’ll be outta here before you know it,” he whispered, then looked behind them for lights.
“Come on, we gotta keep movin’,” Jake said, shifting Katy’s weight on his back as he trudged farther though the swamp.
As Hale County Deputy Sheriff Lewis Washington turned his cruiser into the hospital parking lot, he noticed the crowd gathered in anticipation of his arrival. He quickly checked his rearview mirror to made sure his hair looked good. He glanced into the back seat. The girl was still passed out. Lewis didn’t know why she had fainted. He’d let someone else determine that. His job was done. He turned off the siren but left his blue lights flashing as he pulled under the hospital’s ER awning.
Ollie had almost caught up with Lewis. He was about sixty seconds behind him. Ollie knew there’d be a horde of people waiting. He kept reminding himself that this was about Elizabeth Beasley. Whatever else happened or whoever got credit for the rescue was immaterial compared to her well-being. The focus had to be on her. He just hoped that Marlow wouldn’t pull his usual stunts, getting his kicks at Ollie’s expense during the news conference.
“I’m here, Miz Martha,” he informed her, then put the microphone on its hanger.
“Ten-four, Sheriff.”
Ollie parked his Expedition to the side of Lewis’s car. As he got out, he watched the scene develop. Nurses and orderlies gathered around Lewis’s car trying to get Elizabeth out of the back seat. The news media were jockeying for position to get video. In front of the car, Lewis was describing the events to Sheriff Marlow. He was using his hands to describe how dramatic and dangerous the past twenty minutes had been. Ollie walked by as the chaos reached a fever pitch.
The crowd gasped when they saw that the woman was still bound and had duct tape over her eyes and mouth.
Marlow immediately got in Lewis’s surprised face. “You idiot! Why in the hell didn’t you take the tape off of her?” he asked furiously. “That looks real bad.”
“I was in such a rush…I didn’t even think about it, Sheriff,” Lewis tried to explain.
Ollie was halfway across the covered area when a man screamed. He saw Zach and Olivia Beasley hugging each other like something was wrong. What the hell’s going on now! They oughta be excited, Ollie thought as he rushed to their side.
“What’s the matter, Zach?” he asked, watching the orderlies lay the woman on a gurney.
“That’s not Elizabeth!” Zach Beasley screamed.
“What!” Ollie exclaimed.
“That’s not her!” Zach Beasley replied. “That’s not Elizabeth!”
“Where’s my baby!” Olivia Beasley screamed at Ollie. Zach put his arm around her, trying to calm her, but he couldn’t clear his head fast enough to think straight.
Ollie stood in shock. The gurney with the mystery woman was being wheeled past them. She was obviously traumatized. Who the hell is she?
Ollie’s eyes caught those of Steve Tillman, who had just watched the gurney roll by. His eyes said it all-that this horrible night was worse than anyone could have imagined. Ollie was totally confused. He needed to determine who this woman was and where she had come from. He needed to restart the Beasley investigation. He stood in the center of the automatic doors wondering what to do first.
R.C., humming a tune, walked with purpose toward the ER when he arrived. As he passed under the awing, he started to sing out loud, “His name was Rico; he wore a diamond.” At that moment, he saw Ollie’s face and immediately stopped singing. “What’s wrong, Chief?” he asked.
Ollie looked at R.C. and then down at the ground. “It’s not Elizabeth.”
“What? No way!”
“Go in there and find out who it is and what the hell’s going on. I’ll be right there. I want to talk to the Hale County boys first.”
“Yes sir!” R.C. turned and charged inside.
Ollie looked inside across the lobby to see Sheriff Marlow already in damage-control mode with the editor of the Sumter County Journal. Marlow was at a loss for words, Ollie could tell.
“Sheriff?” Ollie asked, walking up to the pair.
“Excuse me, but I need to conference with Sheriff Ollie Landrum.” Marlow was thankful to get away from the barrage of questions. This was not going as planned.
Ollie skillfully ushered Marlow and Lewis to a supply closet inside the hospital. Before Ollie went in, his eyes met Zach Beasley’s and Steve Tillman’s. “I’ll be right back and we’ll talk.”
“What’s going on, Ollie? You got missing girls all over this county!” Marlow demanded aggressively, in a transparent attempt to shift the focus of the situation.
“I don’t know, Marlow, but I’m damn confused. I want to hear his story,” he said, jerking his head toward Lewis, who began babbling about having a gut feeling and driving on up to the trailer to look around. Ollie glared at him. He knew a line of crap when he heard it. This wasn’t making sense. Years of being around R.C. and Larson had fine-tuned Ollie’s BS meter. “Marlow, who tipped the newspaper?” he asked, clearly angered.
“I had to call him about something else and mentioned why I was in the county…that’s all,” Marlow explained.
“Look, fellas, I got a mess on my hands, and I need your help. I need some serious investigative work done. I need to know who that girl is and how she figures into this chaos, and then we have to start all over. Marlow, have your guys ready to go back out,” Ollie ordered, taking charge.
Marlow sheepishly nodded.
Ollie opened the door, then hustled down the hall to find R.C. and the mysterious victim. As he passed, he asked the Beasleys to wait just a minute longer, he’d be right back. It didn’t take long to find everyone. The hospital was small, and a crowd was gathered around the door to Exam Two. Ollie opened the door and saw Dr. Sarhan listening to the woman with his stethoscope. He saw the camo duct tape lying on the floor. R.C. was trying to ask questions of the medical staff but wasn’t getting any answers.
“Let examination complete. You can ask question then,” Dr. Sarhan said in a thick Indian accent to R.C. but looking up at Ollie.
Ollie understood and motioned to R.C. to stop. Ollie bent down and grabbed the pieces of duct tape. The woman appeared to be at least thirty years old, maybe older. She was just waking up. He didn’t recognize her.