let their deaths go unsolved.
“As you see, they were tortured,” the park ranger, Don Calhoun, said, “and from the condition of the bodies, not long after they left the visitor’s center yesterday.”
After bringing him and Kay to it. “Why tortured? Has anything like this happened recently in the area?”
“No. That and the connection to what happened with the lady made me decide to call you in on this.”
Was this connected to Kay somehow? “I appreciate being notified. I’d like to help with the investigation.”
Don combed his fingers through his hair and plopped his hat back on his head. “The investigator appreciates your offer.”
“Who is it?”
“Me. I was a police officer for five years before I became a park ranger. We’ll process the crime scene, but something tells me this isn’t over.”
Drake glanced at the couple’s red sedan parked fifty yards away. He’d checked it earlier. “I agree. This is savage, and it doesn’t look like anything was stolen from their car.”
Taking pictures of the couple and the surrounding terrain and gathering what little evidence there was, Drake worked with Don and another park ranger. When the bodies were transported from the scene, Drake put his gear back in the rear of his SUV. “I’ll let you know if the lab finds anything. Whoever did this was careful.”
“A pro?” Don asked.
“Probably. I don’t think this is a crime of passion. It seems cold and calculated.” Hence the lack of evidence. Drake opened his driver-side door. “I need to get back to Cactus Grove. I’ll dig into Clarence and Susan’s lives and get back to you about the lab report. Let me know what the autopsy reveals.” It wasn’t unusual for different law enforcement agencies to work together to solve a crime.
“Will do. I’ll keep you informed of anything having to do with the case.”
As Drake drove out of the park, he pushed his SUV over the speed limit. An urgency gripped him. When his cell reception returned briefly, he noted that Kay had called several times. Something was wrong. He tried calling her hospital room.
No answer.
Then he tried the nurses’ station and asked for the head nurse. “I’m sorry. She’s tied up right now. Can I help you?”
“Yes, where’s the woman in room 236? I called its number, and no one answered.”
“I don’t know. Maybe having some tests done? Who is this?”
“Texas Ranger Jackson, the man who found the patient.”
“Are you coming here?”
“Yes. I’m about an hour away.”
“Good. Rosa hopefully should be here, and you can talk to her. She’s been dealing with the patient in 236.”
“About what?” Frustration tangled with a foreboding feeling.
“I can’t reveal any information over the phone.”
Drake gave the woman his cell phone number. “Have Rosa call me as soon as possible.”
After he hung up, he put his lights and siren on and floored the accelerator. He entered another dead zone that would last most of the way to Cactus Grove.
When he arrived at the hospital, he quickly parked and hurried into the building. He checked his cell phone. Only a message from the El Paso headquarters was new. Nothing from Kay or the head nurse. The elevator doors swished open on the second floor, and his attention zeroed in on the police officer going into Kay’s room.
Heart thumping against his rib cage, Drake quickened his pace, and when he entered 236, he came to an abrupt halt. Her bed was empty, with two police officers standing around it talking.
“Did something happen? Where is Kay?” Drake interrupted.
Officer Emert, whom he’d worked with before, faced Drake. “She’s gone. And so is the baby.”
After seeing Kay making her escape on the camera footage of the hallways in the hospital, Drake paced the small security office, wondering what had caused her to flee with the baby. The brief expression he’d glimpsed on her face as she’d sneaked out of her room was one of fear. Had someone frightened her? Had she remembered something about what happened to her? “I need the footage of the second-floor hallway for the few hours before she left.”
“Just a sec,” the security guard said and punched some keys. “Here it is.”
Drake stopped and faced the monitor. When a large man barged into the room without knocking, Drake leaned closer to the screen, counting down how long he remained inside. Rosa and an orderly hurried toward the room. The head nurse paused at the entrance and then entered, leaving the orderly in the corridor. Not long after that, the man left 236 but didn’t go far. He slipped inside a storage room a few doors away from Kay. Again, Drake noted the time stamp until the guy reappeared in the hallway and went toward the elevator. What did he do in there for twenty minutes?
The only person who might shed light on the man was Rosa. “Thanks. I need you to send me a photo of the man who came out of the storage room. Also, a picture of Kay leaving her room. Send it here.” Drake gave the security guard a card with his cell number and email address. “Keep this footage until I say otherwise.”
“Yes, sir.”
Drake knew Rosa had left work about an hour ago. Earlier she’d told Officer Emert that she hadn’t seen Kay leave with the baby, and from the footage that appeared correct. But she hadn’t said anything about that man visiting Kay’s room earlier. Maybe the nurse could tell him what she’d seen.
First, Drake stopped at the storage room and went inside. He examined what was really only a large walk-in closet for evidence the guy from the tape might have left behind. Everything appeared in its correct place, so he took latent prints from the inside doorknob, then headed downstairs to the main office to get Rosa’s home phone number and address. He was glad she didn’t live very far from the hospital.
Soon he pulled up in front of the head nurse’s ranch-style house and parked in the driveway. The bright Christmas lights around the front welcomed him as he rang the bell.
A teenage boy opened the door with earbuds stuck in his ears, the sound of a current popular song loud enough for Drake to hear.
“Is your mom home?”
“What?” the kid shouted.
The teen was in his own world. He hadn’t even bothered to look at Drake other than a brief glance when he answered the door. Drake pulled out his credentials and waved them in the boy’s line of vision. “I need to see Rosa Martinez.”
Eyes wide, the adolescent yelled, “Mom, the police are here.” He remained in the entrance to the house.
