Death and Deceit (24 page)

Although Nurse Wilson was plump, she was agile. Like lightning the plastic tube appeared in front of the doctor, and she was turning on the suction.

“Free fall,” a second nurse, tall and dark, bellowed. “Seventy...sixty.”

“Christ,” Farley growled. “He’s got to be leaking blood somewhere. Units
now
!”

Two doctors and three nurses made up the trauma team that swarmed about
Ricardo Alvarez. Their mission was just beginning. Before the day was over Ricardo
Alvarez might flourish under the guidance of the hospital staff, or he might deteriorate and
be rushed to Harbourside, but what was most likely, he might possibly die.

An eerie calm crept over the intensive care room. Ricardo’s dark handsome face wore a ghoulish shade of grey. Circular patches of electronic gear dotted his chest. A breathing tube hung from his mouth. An ECG monitor beeped rhythmically as the trace lines made little mountains and peaks on a green screen. IV dripped methodically above Ricardo’s head. His long, muscular arms rested peacefully at his side.

****

Liz and Kent walked the distance that would lead them to Kent’s car. Liz scooped up all of Jessie’s clothing that hadn’t blown out of reach. They were thirsty and hungry and worried about Jessie.

Once on the path, shaded by the forest of trees, they remained quiet until they reached the car. Kent tossed the tire iron and flashlight into the trunk of his car. He had been carrying Jessie’s overnight bag that Liz had tucked all the retrieved clothing into. He placed it in the trunk also and shut the lid. Liz slid into the passenger side and shut the door. Kent slid under the wheel and they drove into Wakefield to make their statements to the police.

****

The Wakefield Police Department was housed in a century-old heritage building.
People in the town of Wakefield had talked about tearing it down just last year, but a save-the-heritage-building committee had been set up by the chief himself. You might
have thought that the police department would have loved moving into a brand new
building of their own, but not Chief Davis. He was all for restoring and remembering.
He liked their headquarters just as they were, and there wasn’t a member of his staff that would go against Chief Davis’s wishes.

Two hours after leaving the cabin, Liz and Kent ascended the old stone steps of the historic building. Liz had worn Kent’s jacket in order to cover her torn blouse. Kent pulled open one of the heavy, large doors, and their footsteps echoed as they walked down the wide hallway.

They came to Chief Davis’s door and Liz knocked, then turned the knob and slowly pushed on the big door with the heavy, opaque glass window. Inside, a young receptionist wearing small, dark-rimmed
glasses looked up inquisitively.

Kent cleared his throat. “We’re here to see Chief Davis. He wants to take our
statements in the Alvarez shooting.”

“Oh, yes.” The receptionist nodded. “Have a seat, please.” She pushed back her
secretary chair and walked to another heavy door with the same style glass top. She knocked three times then entered. No more than a minute later she returned. “You can go in now.” She smiled slightly and returned to her desk.

Chief Davis leaned back in his big leather chair and watched as Liz and
Kent entered the room and took seats. Kent noticed the chief was still chewing on something just as he had when they’d met at the cabin. This time he noticed it was a toothpick, and Davis kept switching it from side to side around his mouth.

“You took your time getting here,” Davis remarked. He pulled himself closer to his desk and rifled through some papers.

“We had a long walk through the woods to get back to the car,” Kent replied.

Davis ignored his answer and continued. “Young Ricardo is in a bad way. She did one good job on him.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kent shoot back.
Davis had irked him ever since he’d met him, and the chief’s current remark
made Kent’s blood boil. “But she was only protecting herself,” he snarled.

“Maybe so, maybe so,” Davis replied. “But from what I’ve heard of late, Ricardo was only trying to protect
her.
”

“That’s bull,” Kent yelled.

“Kent.” Liz raised a hand and touched Kent’s arm. She turned her gaze on Davis. “Mr. Alvarez attacked her in the cabin. If she hadn’t gotten away he would have raped her. I saw it all with my own eyes.”

Davis continued to munch on his toothpick. “That will be part of your statement
I’m sure, Miss. And you’ll get your chance to make it. But first let me explain something.” He reached up and removed the toothpick much to Kent’s relief. “After you called, Morgan, I got to thinking. The boys hadn’t returned yet from the motel, so I made a call to the Harbourside Police. I talked to a colleague of Ricardo’s who set me straight on the story. Seems Ricardo called into the station earlier Friday night. He asked for some personal time off and said he was leaving town for a while. He told the colleague confidentially that he was doing a personal favour, and professional too, for a young woman in trouble. He said the woman in question was being harassed, and he was afraid for her. So he was taking her to a hideaway for a while to get her out of danger and help her to calm down. You see, Ricardo believed that Miss Jessie was scared out of her wits. Is that true?”

“Ah...yes, I suppose that’s right. She was very afraid. But she didn’t agree to go with Ricardo, he forced her,” Liz said.

Davis gave her a dubious look. “The colleague said that Ricardo mentioned she was frightened of a boyfriend? Would that be you, Morgan?”

“It was all a misunderstanding,” Liz said. “Kent was not the perpetrator.”

Davis switched his eyes from Kent to Liz. “And how do you know that, Miss?”

Liz glanced at Kent who immediately broke in. “Both Liz and Jessie were grasping at straws. Yes, they were frightened, frightened enough to suspect anyone, even me.”

“And you were innocent, of course,” Davis said.

“I am, yes,” Kent replied.

Davis continued, “When you called me, Morgan, I was shocked to hear your
story. I’ve known Ricardo since he was a kid. Granted he was a bad little bugger,
but he grew out of it, and he became a fine man of the law. I encouraged him that way myself.” He shook his head slowly and dabbed at his small eyes. “I have to tell yah, I’m afraid for him. It don’t look good.”

Kent grew restless. Davis’s melodramatics were getting on his nerves. “What about the statements, Davis? We’d like to get going. We’ve got a two-hour drive back home, and we’re pretty wiped out. What’s happening with Jessie? Have you really arrested her?”

Davis rose, pushing his chair noisily back ignoring Kent’s question. “All right. I get your point. You’re first, Miss.” He turned to Kent, “You can wait in the lounge.” He beckoned Liz to follow him, and they all left the room. Kent was shown to a waiting room by the receptionist. Liz followed the chief through another half-glassed door off the waiting area.

When the statements were taken, Kent hurried Liz out of the building. At the car she stopped him with her touch. “We can’t go home yet, Kent.”

“I’m not planning to now. I asked Davis if I could see Jessie and he said I’d have to wait until they were done with her…whatever that means. I guess we might as well go for some breakfast and come back and see if we can see her then.”

****

Kent pulled into the parking lot of a small, one-storey bright red diner. Dazzling black shutters bordered the front windows. Only one space remained in the crowded lot. Liz opened the car door and got out, while Kent stood there ready to close the door.

He winked at her. “Come on, pal, let’s go get breakfast.”

Liz sighed and followed Kent into the restaurant. Although she was horrified at the thought of Jessie being arrested and what might happen to her next, she was at least relieved that Kent was not mad at her, at least he wasn’t acting that way.

After they’d had breakfast, they returned to the police station and were told that they could now see Jessie. Liz and Kent followed a police officer who led them to a dreary-looking cell.

Jessie sat inside looking forlorn and frightened. Kent wanted to scope her up in his arms and take her out of there, but he knew he was helpless right now. The officer opened the cell door and Kent and Liz walked inside. Kent sat beside Jessie and put his arm around her. Liz sat on the other side of Jessie, watching. When Kent said nothing but just continued to hold Jessie, Liz
asked the question both she and Kent had been dying to know, and she hoped Jessie had an explanation.

“What provoked Alvarez to kidnap you, Jessie?”

Kent perked up his ears and
listened to Jessie’s story.

“It started a long time ago. And it took me awhile to figure it out. He kept saying
I had left him and it wouldn’t happen again. That I’d rejected him somehow in the past.”

Jessie turned to address Liz. “Remember the blind date that Alan was so upset about? The friend of his who I stood up?”

“No!” Liz gasped. “Not him.”

“Yes,” Jessie confirmed turning back to grasp Kent’s hand.

“What’s this about?” Kent asked.

“My brother Alan had a friend many years ago who wanted a date with me. But I
stood him up. That was Ricardo. After all these years he was still after me. He claimed he met me by accident at the police station, but he confessed to being Gary Burke on the chat line.”

“Whoa,” Kent said. “He really is a sicko.”

“I wonder if he’ll live,” Jessie said half heartedly.

“He’s in really bad shape,” Liz replied. “What was he planning to do with you?”

“He was hoping to brainwash me I figured,” Jessie said. “He thought if he got me
to himself, he could convince me to fall in love with him. It was so obsessive, so unreal.”

Jessie looked sadly into Kent’s eyes. Liz watched the two of them. Made for each other, she thought. But when would he tell her she sent the e mails?

Jessie pondered. “Rick is a strange, sick man that’s for sure. But he had his share of heartache as a kid. His dad beat up his mom and his sister ran away from home. But when his mom was left alone, Rick took care of her. He went to school and tried to be a good person. Then his mother killed herself. If it had not been for his obsession with me—”

“Then it would have been someone else, Jessie,” Kent cut in. “You’re right
about his life. It ruined him. And you turned out to be his victim just like his mother was his father’s victim. That’s how it goes, passed down from generations. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know that.” Jessie sighed. “But he didn’t lie to me. He told me he was Gary
Burke and that he had promised himself a long time ago he’d find me and he did. The only part I couldn’t understand was when he denied sending the e mails. I thought at the
time, why couldn’t he just admit it? He’d admitted everything else.”

Liz squirmed on the seat. Now was Kent’s chance to explain the
e mails. Now was the end of her friendship with Jessie, the end of any chance to develop a relationship with Alan.

“You can’t figure out a psychopath, Jessie,” Kent said. “When this is all over, we’ll put it behind us. I’ll help you, and Liz will too.”

Liz let out a long, silent breath. The numbness in her toes shot straight through her and her body relaxed, although she couldn’t quite believe what she’d heard from Kent. He wasn’t going to tell Jessie. It was going to be their secret. Maybe someday, she thought, and again maybe not. Some things were better left unsaid.

Jessie turned and looked at Liz. She extended her hand in friendship and smiled. “You gotta be thee best friend a girl ever had, Liz.”

Liz stretched out her hand, grasped onto Jessie’s and squeezed. “And I never
want to break our special bond,” she replied to Jessie.

Suddenly Jessie remembered something. “Did you notice all those black and white photos displayed on the corridor walls when you came in? Old shots of the former hospital now torn down, pictures of the old gypsum plant, and one of the gypsum plant owner?”

“I glanced at them,” Liz said. “Why?”

“Well, it made me stop in my tracks. I was shocked.”

“Shocked? About what?” Kent asked.

“The man in the photo wore old time clothing, but
those eyes were starkly familiar. I almost keeled over when I read the name plaque. It was like I’d seen a ghost. The owner of
Wakefield Gypsum has eyes exactly like Ricardo Alvarez. And that’s not all. His name is also Ricardo. Ricardo Gomez. He’s got to be a relative.”

“So what?” Liz asked.

Jessie glanced at her friend. “Nothing, I suppose. But seeing those eyes stare out at me gave me the creeps.”

“That’s to be expected,” Kent agreed. “After what he put you through.”

“I know,” Jessie said. “But I still wish he wouldn’t die.”