“Serial killers are good at hiding their deviant tendencies,” Eli said, then shook his head. “It burns me up that we missed what was right under our noses, though.”
“The bastard…” Asher said, sounding even more groggy.
“Maybe we should relocate to the waiting room and let the patient have peace to sleep?” Noelle suggested.
“No,” Asher muttered, “I’m fine.” The word was barely out of his mouth before his breathing shifted to a deep, slumberous cadence.
Kansas leaned forward and gently touched his cheek, whispering, “Oh, Asher. I’m sorry I’ve been so awful to you. Please get better.” When Kansas glanced up, her gaze narrowed on her cousin’s puzzled look. “What? Can’t I be worried about a colleague?”
“Did I say anything?” Eli asked, his grin teasing.
“So, Scott’s on the run?” Noelle asked, in summary more than for information. “Now what happens with the investigation?”
Eli’s blue eyes were icy with purpose when he faced her. “We find him.”
The afternoon stretched out, with Asher’s three visitors finding ways to pass the time and grapple in their own ways with the twist the investigation had taken. Neither Eli nor Kansas was willing to leave Asher’s bedside for more than a few minutes to get coffee or use the restroom.
When the doctor checked on Asher, he said that CT scans showed Asher had a concussion. While the doctor was also concerned about possible infection in his numerous open wounds, antibiotics and a few days of rest would get him over the hump.
“When can he return to work?” Eli asked, knowing that he needed Asher’s help to bring Scott in. The sooner, the better. Sure, he could read in ABI agents from other offices in the state, but Asher had been with the investigation from the beginning and shared the personal interest in bringing Montgomery to justice.
“Let’s not rush things,” the doctor said. “He’ll need a couple days here before he’s released, then a week or more bed rest at home. After he’s released, someone will need to stay with him and monitor him for side effects. Seizures, trouble walking, signs of memory or sensory loss. Head trauma is serious business, and healing takes time. And he’ll need clean bandages every day until the wounds are past the worst.”
After the doctor left, Noelle could see Kansas’s stress levels were off the charts. Clearly she was fretting over Asher’s condition in light of the doctor’s caution. Deciding she could help Kansas by distracting her from her worry, Noelle searched for a conversation topic they hadn’t already covered that afternoon. “Tell me more about your role with the ABI, Kansas.”
Eli’s cousin smiled weakly at Noelle, though concern for Asher still filled her eyes. “I’m not specifically with the ABI. I’m with the state troopers in search and rescue.”
“That’s right.” Noelle said, remembering that from when she’d been introduced to Kansas last week. “That’s got to be difficult work. Stressful.”
Kansas nodded distractedly. “But satisfying. Recently, I’ve helped with a few cases of missing persons that the ABI wasinvolved with. In fact, we’ve had more cases than usual for such a small town recently, because—”
Eli’s cousin stopped herself. Shivered. “I just can’t get over the idea that Scott could be responsible for…” Her blue eyes found Eli’s again. “I worked with Scott on the Whitlaw case a couple months ago, and he was so friendly toward me. He even apologized for not being more helpful with what his DNA tests revealed.” Her nose wrinkled. “It makes my skin crawl, thinking he could be involved with the murders of those women!”
Eli nodded. “I know. We don’t have more than circumstantial evidence against him now, but it certainly looks bad for him.”
“I don’t know how you two deal with so much tragedy and evil every day and not lose all faith in humanity,” Noelle said, again trying to steer the conversation away from Scott, at least for a while. “My computers and numbers are dry and boring sometimes, but comfortably emotionless and drama-free.”
“Oh, not all of my searches have sad outcomes.” Kansas tugged up a corner of her mouth. “In fact, much of the time we’re witnesses to happy endings.”
“I love a happy ending,” Noelle said.
“Don’t we all?” Kansas grinned, then continued. “For example, a few months ago, we saved a couple of lost hikers at the Muskee Glacier Pass. They’d gotten dehydrated and confused and were wandering aimlessly until a bush pilot spotted them from the air. Then last summer, we found a runaway teenager from Shelby on the Two Bears River Trail north of town. His mother was so relieved to have her boy back safely, she hugged us as hard as she hugged him.”
“I can imagine,” Noelle said, though her heart stung, knowing her parents had never loved her that deeply.
“Probably the sweetest rescue was when we brought an elderly fisherman home after he got stranded. We reunited him with hiswife on their forty-fifth wedding anniversary. She cried and said we’d given her the best anniversary present of all.”
When Eli grunted, Noelle glanced his way, expecting to see him grinning over Kansas’s stories. Instead, his frown was deeper than earlier. He stared at the floor, clearly lost in thought.
“Eli, what’s wrong?” Noelle asked.
“Where was the fisherman found?” he asked, his dark gaze lifting to Kansas. “Was it Lake Chahoogee?”
Kansas tipped her head and blinked. “Um, no. He was on Byers Lake. But…” she wrinkled her brow in thought “…we did have a medical evac from Chahoogee a couple years ago. After a few years, you get calls from all over the state. Why do you ask?”
Eli dragged a hand down his face as he mumbled a curse under his breath.
“What is it, Eli?” Noelle asked, his behavior stirring a jittery feeling in her belly. Lake Chahoogee rang a discordant bell with her, as well, though she couldn’t determine why. It unsettled her to think Eli had struck on something disconcerting as well.
