Sneaking Suspicions (The Tharon Trace Mysteries Book 1) (17 page)

CHAPTER 28

Max showed his badge and passed through security.  He paused outside Dana’s ER room to ask Simon, “Is she awake yet?”

Simon shook his head and folded his arms. “No.  Doc called in a neurologist to take a look at her.  He asked me her history.  I haven’t a clue if she’s ever had a head injury before.”  He scratched his jaw. “Did you know she listed me as her emergency contact?”

Max raised an eyebrow, creating a wrinkled arch in his forehead. “I’m sure that’s because she’s got no family.  She’s practically married to her job, so I guess that would make you her next of kin.”

Simon’s head snapped up. “You think that’s all it is?”

Max rested his hand on Simon’s shoulder, “My friend, the only two people who didn’t know how you felt about each other was you and Dana.  Of course that’s not all it is.  She’s crazy about you.  And we all think pretty highly of her, so don’t hurt her.”

Simon leaned against the door frame again. “I don’t intend to.  Where’s Brandt?”

“He’s in surgery at St. Joe Hospital, getting his wrist and shoulder sewn up.  His face and neck got burned pretty badly so he’ll end up in the burn unit.”  He grinned and shook his head. “I wish I could have seen Dana and those kids take him out.”

Simon frowned.  When Dana dropped her phone it landed at an angle that he saw her get shot.  He tried to scrub the image from his mind.  “Any word on Burt Payne or the third man?”

Max scrunched his weathered face as he surveyed the bustle of the ER.  “Still not in custody.  Burt must have hidden near the road and left right after we entered the woods.  The third man is Marty Phillips.  His prints were found at the shop where the children were held captive.  Detective Bohman thinks it was his blood inside the door.  The gun that killed the lady near the trail matched the gun that shot both the victim and the Trace’s dog yesterday morning.”

Kaid overheard them from the room next to Dana.  He poked his head out from behind the curtain of his exam room.  Wrapped in a warm blanket, he padded out wearing thick webbed socks on his feet.  “That’s because Burt shot the man by the creek and he shot the lady and her dog, too.  She didn’t tell him that she saw us.  If she had, he would have killed us there by the river.  She helped save us.” His voice cracked with emotion.

Marilyn tried in vain to get Kaid to lie back down.

Max and Simon looked at Kaid.  Max’s voice was gentle when he asked, “You saw him shoot her?”

Kaid thought a moment.  “I saw Burt turn the corner in his car a few streets away.  We scrambled down the bank and held onto some trees.  The lady recognized Burt.  I heard her call him Burt Payne.  Then he told her he was sorry and he shot her and her dog.  One of the bullets hit the tree I was hanging on and I slipped and almost fell into the river.  Helm caught me and when he started to slip, Tharon grabbed him.  We managed to get back up to the trail after Burt drove away.  After that we were afraid to ask anyone else for help.”

Max swallowed a lump in his throat.

“Thank you,” Simon said gently.  “You and your friends have been very brave and your information will put Burt away for a long time.”

Tom and Tharon walked out of her exam room.  Her feet were wrapped in the same bubble-like footwear as Kaid.  She saw Kaid talking to the Sheriff and said something to her father before she walked over to Kaid.  “Did you tell him yet?”

Kaid shook his head. “I wasn’t sure who to tell.”

Tharon turned to Max and Simon.  “How long have you been in the Sheriff’s department?”

Simon looked at her with a puzzled expression, “Fourteen years, but I’ve only been Sheriff the last six years.”

Max said, “Twenty-five years.  Why do you ask?”

Tharon and Kaid looked at each other and nodded.  Tharon looked around nervously to see if anyone was listening.  An orderly stood counting and recounting things on a cart; a man from housekeeping paused his mopping to watch them.

Simon noticed her hesitation and the way both she and Kaid looked nervously around.  “Why don’t you both come in here and we can shut the door to talk.”  He ushered them into Dana’s room.

Tharon breathed a sigh of relief as she took her father’s hand and pulled him into the room with her.

Kaid turned to his mother. “I’ll be back out in a minute.”  She opened her mouth to protest but he shut the door behind him before she could say anything.

Simon pulled up a chair and a stool for the children to sit on and said, “What did you want to tell us?”

Tharon exchanged a worried look with Kaid.  She turned to the Sheriff. “Before we escaped we heard Burt and Marty talking to that officer who I cut.  We recognized his voice in the woods.  They said that they were going to take our school bus hostage.  They were going to claim the people wanting to secede were behind it.”

Kaid nodded his head.  “Yeah, but it’s supposed to be a trick.  The government is behind the kidnapping and they want to make it look like they’re coming to the rescue, but it’s just an excuse to keep Indiana from succeeding.”

Tharon corrected him. “No, from ‘seceding’, from leaving the Union.”  She looked the Sheriff square in the eyes. “They said President Hamron wants to make an example of Indiana and plans to make it the first police state.  That man we saw Burt kill was some kind of police spy.  They were trying to stop him from telling about the hostage plan.”

Simon weighed what they were telling him.  The representative from the governor had told him an invasion was coming but the hostage plan was new information.  Silar hadn’t been able to let authorities know any details of the plan.  “Did they say anything about when the invasion is to happen?”

Kaid snorted. “Yeah, Thanksgiving is when Hamron wants to invade.  I guess he wants us to be thankful he comes to save us.”

Tharon leaned forward and said, “Officer Brandt said if word got out about the hostage plan that they’d go to plan B.  He said a lot of their own people would die with that plan.”

Simon squatted down in front of them.  “Did they say anything more about this other plan?”

Tharon and Kaid looked at each other and shook their heads.

A worried look crossed Simon’s face. “Did they know you heard them talking?”

Tharon shook her head. “I don’t think so.  We escaped right after that.  But Officer Brandt and Burt were talking about it in the woods.”

Simon scratched his chin. “I heard that much over Deputy Donovan’s phone.”  He was at eye level with them.  “You children have done a great thing in giving us this message.  You may have saved a lot of lives.  But I’m afraid if people know you told us you might be in greater danger.  Will you trust me to notify the people who need to know?”

Tharon looked up at her father who nodded his head.  “Okay.”  She looked up at her father again, then back to the Sheriff.  “Did you find Burt and Marty yet?”

Simon touched her shoulder. “Not yet, but we have all of law enforcement focused on finding them.”

“That might not be enough.”  Tharon held the Sheriff’s gaze. “That Officer Brandt said they’ve spent ten years putting their people in every level of law enforcement and government.  That’s why we wanted to know how long you worked here.”

Kaid’s eyes got big and he whispered to Tharon. “What if they recruited people who worked there longer too?”

A suspicious expression clouded her features.  She looked the Sheriff square in the eyes. “How do we know we can trust you?”

“You can trust him,” Dana said in a weak voice.  “I swear to you on my life he can be trusted.”

Simon spun around and with a sigh of relief said, “You’re awake.” He stood next to the bed and took her hand.  “You had me worried.”

While Dana had the adults’ attention, Kaid whispered, “Should we tell them about someone wanting to take you?”

Tharon shook her head and whispered, “I think they heard that in the woods.”

Tom opened the door and motioned for Tharon and Kaid to follow him.  “Come on, Helm’s waiting for you.”

Kaid touched Tharon’s shoulder as they left the room, “Have you been crying?”

She shrugged. “A little.  My mom’s baby died.  She’s here in the hospital.”

Kaid gripped her hand.  “I’m sorry.”

“Let’s not tell Helm.  He needs to get stronger and I don’t think me crying will help him.”

“Unless he’s really out of it, he’ll know something’s wrong.  You just watch.”  He nudged her with his elbow, “You know I’m your friend too, don’t you?”

Tharon gave him a light punch on the shoulder.  “I guess.  I missed you, jerk.  Don’t ever dump me like that again.”

He said in a serious tone, “I won’t.  I promise.  I’ll always be your friend.”

She smiled. “Me too.”

Together they said, “All for one and one for all.”

Max nodded to Tom and watched Tharon and Kaid as Tom took them to Helm’s room.  Max shook his head and muttered, “I don’t know whether to be impressed with how calm they are after what they’ve been through, or worried that they’re not more upset.”

“I think they are three incredibly resourceful, brave children.” Simon said. “Call Penni and have her get Murphy and Jackman down here to help guard these kids—and make sure Fort Wayne has a guard on Brandt.”  He clenched his jaw. “I don’t want anything to happen to him before we get a chance to question him.”

Max raised an eyebrow.  “If what those kids said is true, how do we know who to trust?”

“We don’t.  We’ll just have to keep our eyes open.”  Simon watched Dana’s features go slack.  He pressed the call button and held her hand.  He sighed when he felt her pulse.  “We can’t let distrust and suspicion cripple us.  One thing we’ll do for sure is get the word out that we know about the hostage plan.  That should at the very least discourage them from endangering children.  We’ll just have to make sure we’re ready for whatever else they may have planned.”

CHAPTER 29

Matt pulled the curtains back and made room for Kaid and Tharon.  Marilyn pushed a wheelchair into the room but Tharon and Kaid stood next to the bed.

Helm lifted his head off the pillow.  His skin still looked pasty and he had dark circles under his eyes but his smile made it all the way to his eyes.  “Hey, are you guys okay?  My dad told me what you did for me.  Thanks.  I guess I was pretty out of it.”

“We’re okay, we just got these cool duck feet now,” said Kaid, slapping his feet on the floor.

Tharon drew her blanket around her shoulders and stood next to Helm.  “I’m so sorry you got shot.  That should have been me.  If I hadn’t almost cried—”

Helm tried to reach for her hand.  She saw how weak he was and closed her hand around his.

Helm squeezed her hand weakly and said, “I think the only thing worse than getting shot would have been seeing you get shot.”

She thought for a moment. “I guess it would have been better if Kaid was the one who got shot.”

After a moment of stunned silence the three burst into laughter.  Helm’s chuckle turned into a cough that wracked his body and left him gasping for air.

Nurse Ellen put some oxygen tubes in his nostrils.  “This will help him breathe better.”

Tharon and Kaid stopped laughing and drew closer to his side.  Tharon drew his hand to her and laid her other hand on his chest, “Breathe with me.  Slow and steady.”

Helm locked eyes with her and, except for a few mild coughs, matched Tharon’s breathing.  “Thanks.  That helps a lot.”

When Helm calmed his breathing, Kaid said, “That was a funny joke, Tharon.”

Tharon gave him a teasing smile. “Who said I was joking?”

They all grinned but tried not to trigger another fit of coughing from Helm.

Helm studied Tharon’s face, even after the laughter; he saw the trace of sadness in her eyes.  “You’ve been crying.  What’s wrong?”

Kaid nudged Tharon with his elbow.  “Told you.”

Tharon tried to brush him off. “It’s nothing for you to worry about.  Doc said you need to get strong for surgery.”

“Just tell me or I’ll worry even more.”

Tharon took a deep breath, saying it was even harder than hearing the news and she was surprised it was more difficult to tell Helm than Kaid.  Her voice broke with emotion as she spoke. “My mom’s in the hospital.  Her baby died.”

He gripped her hand weakly and said, “I’m so sorry.  This isn’t a very happy birthday, is it?”

She shook her head and gave him a bleak smile.  “I forgot it was my birthday.  You know what that means?  We’re the same age now.”

Helm coughed again.  When he caught his breath he said, “Only until January ninth, then I’ll be a year older than you again.”

Nurse Ellen and Doc Walker came back into the room.  Nurse Ellen spoke quietly to Tom, Matt and Angela and had each of them sign the consent for the transfusion on the electronic tablet she showed them.  She lifted the blanket to check Helm’s legs.  Angry red spokes radiated from his knees.  His legs showed marked signs of swelling.

Doc put his hands on Tharon’s shoulders. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

She glimpsed the marks on Helm’s legs and nodded her head.

Helm lifted his head off the pillow.  “What is she going to do?”

Matt and Angela stood on the other side of the bed.

Doc said, “Helm, you need a blood transfusion and Tharon insists on giving you some of hers.  We checked both your blood types and they match so Tharon can donate some blood to help you get strong enough for surgery.”

Helm looked from Doc to Tharon and back to Doc. “Will it hurt her?”

Doc patted his arm. “No.  We are only going to take a little and she’ll be just fine.”