Scraps of Evidence: Quilts of Love Series (19 page)

“Can I get a closeup?”

When the image of Tess’s face was enlarged, Logan saw the truth as she glanced at what she must have seen was a security camera: there was a trace of fear in her eyes but her chin was lifted high. She was showing determination to the man she walked beside.

“The hospital entrance,” Logan said tersely. “Can you give me a view of the entrance a few minutes after this?”

But there were no images of Tess leaving the hospital with Gordon.

“What about other entrances?”

Sanders was texting on his cell. “I’m asking the guards at the other entrances. We should have a response very quickly.”

Logan met his gaze. Nothing was quick enough.

“I’ll be right outside.” He stepped outside the office, pulled out his cell, and called a friend on the force.

“I need a favor,” he began. “I need you to ping Tess’s cell phone. And please, no jokes about me stalking her.”

Fortunately, Ed didn’t joke, and he didn’t fool around. The last location was the hospital Logan stood in.

Logan slammed a hand against the wall.

“You want me to check there for you? I can go there now.”

“I’m already here,” Logan said tersely.

“Can I ask a question?”

“If I can answer it, I will.”

“Is Gordon looking for her?”

Logan hadn’t expected a question like that. “I can’t answer that.”

There was a pause. “Do you want me to meet you at the hospital?”

Once again, Logan was faced with having to trust someone he didn’t feel he knew as well as he’d like—with something as monumental as Tess’s safety.

“Yeah,” he said. “How soon can you get here?”

“Ten minutes.”

“No lights, no siren. I’m in the security chief’s office on the first floor. Ask for Kevin Sanders if you have any trouble finding it.”

He walked back into the security office. “What’s the word?”

“No one’s seen her leave. Doesn’t mean she didn’t. But most of the security staff here knows Tess, and they didn’t see her.”

He told himself maybe Gordon still didn’t know about their suspicions. Maybe he and Tess were in the hospital cafeteria having coffee. Tess was a smart woman. She wouldn’t jump the gun and confront him.

Logan told himself maybe he was just in denial that something bad had happened to Tess.

“I asked a fellow officer to ping her cell, and the location of the last call came from here in the hospital,” Logan told Jason. “That could either mean she made her last call from here or she’s still here.”

“Just say the word, and we’ll do a floor-by-floor search.”

“Do it.” Logan had a photo of Tess he’d taken on the sailboat that day before she’d gotten sick. He sent it to Sanders to use for the search.

“No one’s to make contact with her—especially if she’s with anyone.”

“Got it. Wait, got a text coming in. She’s in the cafeteria. Whitney says she’s with a guy.”

“Get a description,” Logan said tersely.

Sanders tapped at the keyboard of his cell and looked up. “Fiftyish. Crew-cut.”

“It’s Gordon.”

“So, does that mean everything’s okay?”

“No,” Logan said. “Don’t stand down. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

And he was out the door.

20

T
ess felt her stomach knot the moment Gordon walked into her Aunt Kathy’s room.

“I thought you weren’t going to be able to come back today.”

He walked in and glanced at his wife. “Taking a break. How’s she doing?”

“The nurse gave her more pain meds an hour or so ago. I don’t think she’ll wake up for a while.”

She hoped he’d do his usual duty visit and leave quickly, but he lingered.

“What are you eating there?”

“Tuna sandwich.”

He made a face. “I feel like a steak. Want to join me?”

She’d rather climb into a shark tank and be eaten. “No, but thanks. I think I’ll head on home, since the nurse doesn’t expect Aunt Kathy to wake up tonight.”

Then his attention shifted. He walked over and frowned when he saw the roses he’d brought lying in the wastepaper basket. “What are these doing in here?”

“You’d have to ask your wife.”

His eyes narrowed. “What are you saying?”

She took a breath and met his gaze. “I think you know.”

“No, why don’t you tell me.”

Tess wiped her hands on a napkin. “I haven’t said anything before. But it’s time. It’s time you stopped hurting my aunt.”

“Did she tell you that?” he thundered.

“Ssh!” she hissed. “You’ll wake her up.” She met his stormy gaze. “You know she’s not going to talk against you. Abusers count on that.”

“This is none of your business.”

“You made it my business when you raised your hand against her,” she said quietly. “I’m sworn to serve and protect and not just some citizen on the block. It includes my family. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure my aunt doesn’t get hurt again.”

He walked over to stand before her, the table her dinner sat on the only thing keeping him from coming closer. “She’s not going to leave me.” He folded his arms over his beefy chest and glared at her.

There was a knock on the door. A nurse walked in with her computer on a rolling cart. “Visiting hours are over in a few minutes.”

Gordon quickly wiped the anger from his expression and turned to flash a smile at the woman. “Sorry, I just came from the station. Wanted to see the wife before I headed home.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize it was you.” The nurse gave him a big smile. “I suppose we can make an exception and let you stay a little longer.”

“No, no,” he said magnanimously. “I wouldn’t want you to give me special treatment. C’mon, Tess, what do you say to a steak?”

Her appetite gone, she closed the top on the Styrofoam container. “No, thanks, like I said, I want to go home.”

“Well, coffee then,” he said, using a persuasive tone, his eyes on the nurse as she took his wife’s vital signs. “We’ll finish our discussion.”

Tess told herself he was playing her under the benevolent gaze of the nurse. But maybe she could talk him into counseling . . . at the very least, persuading him he and Aunt Kathy should take a little time away from each other.

The nurse finished up and turned to leave. And as she did, Tess caught Gordon giving her an assessing glance. Tess frowned, angry he looked at another woman like that with his injured wife lying just a few feet from him.

Then ice ran in her veins as she remembered her and Logan’s suspicions.

She didn’t want to be left in the room with him again. While he was preoccupied with the nurse, she quietly reached for her pen and scribbled on the napkin she’d placed on her lap. Then she pushed it just under the edge of the Styrofoam container.

So she’d go downstairs to the cafeteria and have coffee with Gordon. Maybe she was a crazy optimist about thinking she’d talk him into counseling. In any event, she wouldn’t be in this small room with him. When Logan returned, she’d be able to walk away and find out what had happened at the state lab.

“Let’s get that coffee,” she said and she stood.

Gordon nodded, so sure of her acceptance that he didn’t bother to look in her direction.

They went through the line for their coffee and found a table. Gordon reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of sugar that he ripped open and dumped into his coffee.

“You carry your own sugar?”

“I’m tired of only finding the fake stuff on the table,” he said. “So where’s Logan?”

“Watching some game on TV.”

“Which one?”

She shrugged. “Who knows. He loves ESPN.” Her coffee tasted bitter. She chose a pink packet of sweetener and stirred it into the coffee.

Coffee. The chief said that Gordon had brought him coffee. He did that at the station a lot.

She glanced up and found Gordon watching her. It was a little unnerving the way he did it. She told herself to relax and act natural. No way was she letting him know that she suspected him of anything.

“I’d like you to consider counseling,” she began. “I know someone who—”

“That again?” he snapped. “Like I said, it’s none of your business.”

“When we were in Aunt Kathy’s room, you said we could talk about it.”

He shrugged and let his eyes roam around the room. Then he tensed. Tess followed the line of his look and saw a security guard at the periphery of the room. The man glanced around the room, then in their direction, before moving on.

Tess wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but then she caught a glimpse of another passing by the entrance of the cafeteria.

“What’s going on?” Gordon asked her.

“Don’t know. Shift change? Listen, I really want to talk about you and Aunt Kathy—”

His eyes hardened. “Subject’s closed. And don’t go trying to influence Kathy. Maybe you’ve forgotten who you’re working for now.”

Shocked, she could only stare at him for a long moment. “Are you threatening me?”

“Why no,” he said, smiling coldly at her. “I think you’re smart enough not to do something stupid like try to cause your superior problems, aren’t you?”

He glanced over at the entrance. “Well, well, look who’s here.”

Tess felt relief wash over her as Logan strode toward their table but tried to school her expression. Gordon wasn’t going to suspect what she and Logan had been doing that day if she had her way.

“I didn’t think I’d see you again tonight,” she said, smiling at him. “Tired of watching ESPN?”

“Never,” he said, acknowledging Gordon with a nod.

“What game were you watching?” Gordon asked him.

“I fell asleep,” Logan told him.

“If you were so tired, why’d you come here?”

“I wanted to see Tess. And the Chief. Oh, and Kathy. Put your hands on the table where we can see them, Gordon. You’re under arrest.”

“For what? Kathy’s not pressing charges against me,” Gordon blustered. “And
I’m
Chief now while Jeremy is incapacitated.”

“Yeah, wonder how much you had to do with that, too,” Logan said. “You’re under arrest for the murder of two women, Samantha Marshall and Toni Sanchez to start. We expect to file more charges in the next few days.”

“Murder? On what evidence?”

“Remember the quilt?” Tess asked him. “Years ago, you asked Aunt Kathy to make a quilt from the clothing you brought her.”

“That was from my sisters.”

“Some of it. But we’ve already had two items positively identified by family.”

“You took the quilt to the families and had them say pieces of it belonged to their relatives?” he laughed, incredulous.

“We found the clothing. Aunt Kathy kept it all these years. You see, quilters seldom throw perfectly good fabric away.”

“Kathy had the clothing and you’re accusing me?” Gordon scoffed. “That’ll never hold up in court.”

“Chief seems to think it will. There’ll be DNA from the victims on the clothing. Only the killer would have that clothing.”

“Enough talk, Gordon.” Logan said. “Put your hands on the table where we can see them.”

The cafeteria was a little noisy but there was no mistaking the sound of a gun being cocked.

Gordon smiled. “Yes, and it’s trained on Tess.”

“Haven’t you killed enough?” Logan asked, berating himself for not anticipating the man’s actions.

Gordon looked at Tess. “Let’s go.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere with you, Gordon. Give it up.”

He glanced to his left. “Take a look at that kid, Tess. And that old woman at the next table. You willing to risk them?”

Logan watched her head turn slowly and take in the sight of the little boy dipping French fries into a pool of ketchup on his plate. The old woman sat tiredly stirring a cup of tea, her walker propped beside her.

“Don’t listen to him, Tess.”

She waved her hand at him. “Where are you going to go, Gordon? No one’s going to let you go anywhere. Get a good lawyer and fight the charges.”

“Let’s go, Tess. And don’t try anything. Remember, I taught you everything you know.”

A trickle of sweat ran cold down Logan’s back as he watched her stand. Gordon stood as well, quickly slipped his hand holding his weapon in his jacket pocket, and wrapped his arm around her waist. A look of revulsion crossed her face. She shifted her gaze to Logan, and her chin lifted.

“Not a victim,” it seemed to say. He wanted to nod but didn’t dare as Gordon kept his eye on him while he moved Tess toward the door.

Something shifted in the periphery of Logan’s vision. A security guard stood on the far side of the room waiting for direction. He inclined his head toward the doorway where Logan saw Ed.

And Gordon didn’t.

But there were too many people in the room. Logan knew—
knew
—at a deep gut level—if he acted and someone got hurt Tess would never forgive him. Or herself.

Suddenly, Tess was snatching up a walker sitting beside a table and smashing it over Gordon’s head, hitting him several times and then trapping him in the metal frame as he lay on the floor.

Diners screamed and began diving under tables and rushing from the room.

Logan ran to help her as she threw herself on Gordon as he fought back, his head bloody. A shot rang out, and she slumped on top of him but before Logan got to her, she was beating at Gordon with her fists, beating at the hand that held the gun until she captured it.

She fought him as he dragged her off Gordon. The security guard and Ed rushed to immobilize Gordon, pulling the mangled walker off him, flipping him over and snapping handcuffs on him.

“Machiavelli,” she scoffed, breathing hard as Logan held onto her for dear life. “Gordon, you’re nothing but a pathetic excuse for a man.”

Logan held her steady when she sagged against him. “Thanks,” she said at last.

“For what? You saved yourself.”

She stared at him, her face white. “For pulling me off him. I wanted to kill him. I never felt like that before.”

Logan pushed her hair back with hands that shook. “He killed your friend and we don’t know how many other women. He hurt your aunt. And I have a suspicion he’s been making the Chief sick. I’m glad
I
didn’t get my hands on him.”

She rested her forehead on his. “It’s for the courts to punish him. And he’ll answer to God one day.”

Sighing, she drew away and grimaced. “I need to go apologize to that poor woman whose walker I ruined.”

“Sit down,” he said, pushing her into a chair. “I’ll go talk to her. Let me do one thing for you, okay?”

Tess stared at him. “You did more than one,” she said quietly. “I knew I could rely on you. That made it possible for me to keep looking for a way out.”

He found himself smiling. “You can always rely on me. I’ve got your back, partner.”

“Well, we had some excitement tonight, didn’t we?” the woman said as Logan walked up to her with the mangled walker in his hands.

“We did indeed. Are you okay?”

She nodded. “It’ll take more than that to rattle me. I raised six sons who were always walloping each other. What did that man do?”

“We arrested him for murdering several young women. He was trying to take my partner with him to avoid going to jail.”

“Ah. Well, your partner sure beat the stuffing out of him for trying to do that, didn’t she? Good for her. Just shows women can take care of themselves.”

Logan grinned. “Yes, ma’am. She wants me to apologize to you for appropriating your walker. I’m sending one of our officers to borrow you one from the hospital. I’ll bring you a new walker tomorrow.”

She reached for the walker and tried to pull out a bent leg. Logan did his best to help her but it wouldn’t cooperate.

“I’m afraid it’s a goner,” he told her. “I guess we can say it died in the line of duty.”

“That’s a shame. Would have been quite the conversation piece to take to the senior center.”

He was glad to see an officer wheeling a new walker to the table.

“Why, thank you, young man,” the woman told him.

“My pleasure, ma’am. And Officer Jenkins here will see you out to your car.”

“I’m sure going to have a story for the ladies at the bridge game at the senior center,” he heard her say as he returned to Tess.

“Ready to go?” he asked her.

“I wish you meant home,” she said. “That’s hours off. We have reports to do.” She sighed. “First, I need to go talk to my aunt.”

She still looked a little in shock to him, but it was the right thing to do. He was proud of her for wanting to do it.