Forgetting Jane (6 page)

E
lias left the hospital in a rush. He drove straight to the lake to clear his head, and body.
What a fucking idiot
. He actually gotten a hard-on when her brown eyes went wide and sparked with anger. His dick sprang tight against his jeans and he had a hard time walking.

He made a sweep of the area, and somehow, even in the cold weather, the smell of cow manure filled the air and stifled the sweet scent of coming winter. Not finding a damn thing, he drove back to town with a clearer conscience.

Heading down Main Street, the eight-block radius of town had a quiet lull. The same feeling he got when he was a child. That was another reason why he escaped into the military. The same drudgery day in and day out, with a side slap across the face every other day, when he used to find his mother beaten.

Breaking free from all that was around him, good and bad, had been the best thing. That change made him a better person, or so he thought when Elise was killed. Truth was it hadn’t made a damn bit of difference. He was still fucked up.

After he pulled up to the small police station, he noticed Harold’s red pickup truck parked two spaces down. A bad feeling came over him. Elias walked into the square brick building, and expected chaos.

To his surprise, no one at the front desk, he called out a hello, but there was no answer. Then Cindy Lee peeked around the corner from the dispatch room and thumbed toward the back room.

A clank from the storage area got his attention right away. Elias headed back, and stepped into the eight by ten square room. His three officers, Tom, Tyler, and his wife Beth, stood in the corner, oblivious to him, whispering something.

Tom seemed to be doing all the talking while Tyler and Beth stood there in silence.

“What’s going on?” Elias spoke loudly, and startled all three. He eyed all the officers, and quickly knew the beef of the situation. “Why are you here, Tyler?”

“Nothing. Just giving these two a little pep talk,” Tom replied with a smirk and walked out of the crowded space with a big fat grin on his face.

“Do I want to know?” he asked quietly to Tom.

His second shook his head no.

Elias furrowed his brows and frowned at Beth and Tyler. The two stood in the room like statues. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with them. “We’ll talk later.” Their eyes were cast down to the floor and nodded.

Right now, Elias was worried more for his friend. “I saw Harold’s truck outside. Where is he?”             

“I did my usual patrol around the hospital and found Harold’s truck in the back. I called in and Magda confirmed that Harold was visiting Jane Doe. And he brought Traitor with him. Would you believe he brought in that dog?”

“He brought Traitor into the hospital?”

“Yep.”

“I must have just missed him.” Elias shook his head. “What did Magda do?” That woman wouldn’t tolerate a fly in the hospital.

“Nothing. She said Jane was ecstatic to see who had saved her life. So, she held her tongue.”

Elias wanted to wring Harold’s neck, but at least he had the right idea about the dog. The animal made Jane happy, and that mattered, especially after he left her in an agitated state. “Then what?”

“So I waited for him to come out and I made him follow me here, and then I put him in the green room.” Tom flicked his thumb back toward the holding cell.

“Did he put up a fight?” Elias knew the answer to that. Harold hated confined spaces.

“What do you think? He was about to cry when I closed the cell door behind him.” Tom laughed. Actually, it wasn’t funny but Elias had to stay impartial.

“What about Traitor?” Elias asked as he pulled off his coat and threw it on a chair.

“I drove the dog home and came back.”

Elias gave him a nod. “Do me a favor and stick around. I want a word with you.”

“Sure.” Tom walked to his desk and sat. “I have a bit of paperwork to finish.”

Elias opened the door to the holding area. The jail cells were located in the back. He stuck his head inside and saw Harold pacing like a caged cat.

Harold and his older brother Raymond were the only friends Elias had growing up. The three together stuck like glue until Eli took off into the military at eighteen. Harold joined three years later, but he got a dishonorable discharge two years later for punching his sergeant. He’d never been normal since he got back from Iraq. His temper was on a short fuse. Eli learned to never underestimate Harold’s short skinny stature, which reminded him of an anorexic with muscles.

Harold looked up at the groan of the steel door. “It’s about damn time, McAvoy. I didn’t do anything wrong. Your Deputy Fife threw me in here for no good reason. I want the fuck out of here.”

“Harold, you were told not to visit Jane until this investigation is over. I wasn’t saying it for my health.” Elias unlocked the cell door and opened it wide but stood in the doorway. “But what you did for Jane was good. However, don’t do it again.”

“I thought Jane would want to meet Traitor. He was the one who found her. And I thought it would make her feel better and heal faster.”

“Like I said, that was thoughtful but don’t do again. I mean it, Harold. Next we catch you, I’ll let you rot in here.”

“Fuck you, Elias. I didn’t do anything wrong,” Harold shouted but his voice cracked as he plopped down on the cot.

Elias’s jaw went rigid, his teeth ground together. He took a deep breath and exhaled hard, grabbed the metal doorway and squeezed tight. “I told you, Kantor, I don’t want anything or anyone to impede this investigation and that includes you. I’m assuming our conversation at the hospital didn’t get past your thick skull. You cannot see her. She is now in protective custody until all this is over.”

Harold stood and said, “You are acting like I’m a suspect.”

“For right now, everyone is, until we get more details on who tried to kill Jane.” Elias didn’t want to discuss it any longer. He left Harold’s cell door open and walked away. He stood in the doorway to the main part of the station and watched his friend ponder what he needed to do.

“Are you coming?”

Harold rushed out of the cell, and followed Elias halfway across the station, then abruptly stopped. He spun, with a look of anger on his flushed face and pointed his finger at Elias. “What’s the real reason you don’t want me near her—Wait.
You
have a thing for her, don’t you? I see it.”

Elias had never seen anyone’s skin shift from pale pink to red in a matter of seconds.

“And you.” Harold pointed at Tom. Bits of spittle sprayed out of his mouth when he shouted. “If you ever come near me again…”             

Tom’s smile changed to a vicious frown. He took a couple of long strides toward Harold while pulling back his sleeves. Harold’s mouth snapped shut and he shuffled backwards as the officer rushed forward.

Elias stepped in front of Tom and grabbed his arm. “Tom,” he warned.

“I know. It’s not worth it.” Tom pulled his arm away and walked off toward the back room.

Elias walked up to Harold, looked down straight into his friend’s eyes. “I think it’s best you leave.”

“Answer my question first. Why?”

“Why what?” Those two words came clipped and hard, which made Harold wince a bit.

“What is the real reason why you want me to stay away from Jane? Eli, you know me since we were kids. I would never harm a person, especially a woman, specifically Jane.”

It was taking everything Elias had inside him to not grab Harold by the throat and throw his ass back in the cell. The stubborn bastard was assuming shit. “I’m doing my job, Harold. And my job is to protect the people in this town, and that includes you and Jane. Especially Jane. I want to catch the asshole that tried to bury her—who tried to kill her. So, I suggest you occupy your time doing something else instead of seeing Jane and riling up my officers.”

Harold’s face turned a darker crimson. Sweat beaded across his brow. “This is bullshit. I found her! If it weren’t for my shot, she wouldn’t be alive! I have no choice but to look out for her!” Harold was waving his arms like a lunatic.

Leaving only a slice of space between them, Elias leaned in and grabbed his neck. Harold stopped his protest when his back came up against the brick wall.

“She isn’t a wounded dog you found, asshole.” He wanted to knock some sense into his friend. “Jane is very lucky to be alive, but it does not give you the right to do as you please.” Elias’s voice dropped into a low menacing whisper. “Listen to me and listen good, you son of a bitch, because I’m only saying this once more. I want you to stay away from her. Or your ass will be in jail until this case is closed. I don’t care how long it takes. You can rot.” He released his grip.

Harold’s face paled and he nodded his head.

Elias stepped to the side, which gave Harold space to escape. He took it without any encouragement and fled the station.

Silence spilt over the station. Elias turned around and headed to his office. “What is everyone staring at?” he barked. “Tyler, why the hell are you still here?” He narrowed his eyes on the tall lanky officer. “Tom, head out. I’ll talk to you later.”

They all stood there, gawking at him as though he had three heads. “Go, or get back to work.” Elias slammed his door shut, which knocked down a pile of magazines from the top of the cabinet.

He waved off the mess and threw himself into the chair.
What the hell is wrong with me?

What he needed to do was calm down and focus. This case, Jane and now Harold grated at him. He blew out a slow breath and looked around the room. He couldn’t quite concentrate on what he needed to do next.

Why would Harold assume that he himself had ulterior motives regarding Jane? He was only doing his job. And what was with Harold’s obligations to her? He said he had to look out for her. What the hell did that mean? He should have pulled him back into the cell and interrogated him.

Everything about the Jane Doe case was strange. From the way she was found to the lack of evidence. And with her ghost sighting in the bathroom, he wasn’t sure if she needed to be committed.

He rubbed at his aching shoulder and neck. The strain of the day wore on him. The taste for nicotine and a beer formed on his tongue. He needed to redirect his energy toward something other than his current aggravated state and gnawing addiction. It didn’t help the office smelled of cherry wood smoke. And sweat.

He picked up the pile of missing person reports Ryan had put on his desk. Elias noticed the DNA reports from Jane’s case. It was his fifth time looking through the report.

Nothing had changed from the first time he studied the information. He took the fax, placed it in the Jane Doe folder. Elias’s stomach ached every time he saw the results. This case was nowhere near the end. He slipped the file in his side drawer and shoved it closed. Then the thought of the girl in the yellow dress had him considering driving around the neighboring farms and house around the lake and find that girl.

Oh hell, ghosts
. He couldn’t believe he actually regarded what Jane was saying. Talking with Jane was truly disappointing, since he got nowhere with her and the investigation.

Elias tried concentrating on the mass of paperwork and items strewn in front of him but wasn’t in the mood. Instead, he scanned the small space. It’d been six months since he’d taken over and the place had turned into a bigger pigsty.

When it had come down to this office, the old chief of police had everything where he wanted. No one touched any of Henley’s things. He’d know right away when something was out of place. Eli figured the old man had a compulsive disorder of some sort.

He never cleared up after Henley’s death. His magazines were still piled up neatly on one of the filing cabinets—well, most of them were. Stacks of folders were heaped on top of the other. Small trophies adorned the few shelves and medals of different citations of valor were hung on the walls.

Eli hadn’t had a chance to go through the old man’s things and weed out what he didn’t need. As he picked up the old chief’s nameplate on the edge of the desk, the same question arose. Why? After years of commendable service, why would he kill himself?

In the two years Elias worked with Henley, the man had never missed a day of work. When he didn’t show up for duty and hadn’t called in, Tom had driven over to his house. After breaking in the front door, he’d found the old man dead on his recliner. He had shot himself in the mouth with a forty-four.              

Even after all this time, Henley’s suicide still bothered Elias.                           

A knock on the door disrupted Elias’s thoughts. “Come in.”

Tom popped his head in. “Mayor Daniel’s here.”

The mayor pushed past Tom, gave him a dirty look and walked in. “Chief McAvoy, I want a word with you.” He sat down and turned toward Tom. “Alone.”

Tom closed the door but not before he gave the man a look that could melt the back of the mayor’s head.

“What do you need, Mayor? I have tons of work to do.” Elias knew what the nosy bastard wanted.

Daniels placed his cane on the edge of the desk and pointed a bony finger at Elias. “I want to know what you are doing about the Jane Doe case. It’s been weeks. What’s the progress?”