Chapter 19
As Madison added the new data to the board the missing pieces of the case were quickly formulating a pattern. “This is no coincidence. I would sure like to get a look at Kim’s book to confirm our theory.”
“I would too. I have a meeting with the chief later, and I think you could use some rest. I’ll make some calls, and we can start fresh in the morning.”
“As much as I would like to stay with this, I’m going to agree with you tonight. My head is throbbing, and I believe one of those pain pills is in order. Why don’t we meet here tomorrow for coffee, around 7:00? Will that work for you?”
Josh nodded as he headed for the door. “Don’t bother to get up and make any coffee. I’ll pick some up on the way.”
Madison walked him to the door, leaned toward him and kissed him on the cheek.
“What was that for?”
She looked up at him and smiled. “For putting up with me.”
“My pleasure, Agent Hart. I’ll see you in the morning, now get some rest. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
Madison smiled as she watched him drive off, then locked the door and turned toward her room. Her head was pounding, and the pain was intensifying. When she left the hospital, she didn’t think she would need to take any pills. Every muscle in her body was aching from the wreck. It was one of those evenings she desperately wished she had a tub. She dropped her clothes to the floor and stood in front of the full-length mirror. Her body looked like it had been painted black and blue. Bruises were emerging that weren’t there at the hospital, or at least she hadn’t noticed them. “No wonder I ache.” She wanted a glass of wine, but if she was going to take a pain pill, she decided against it. She popped one of the pills and crawled into bed.
She was just about to doze off when her cell phone rang. She glanced down to see the caller ID. It read restricted. Thinking it might be Josh at the police station, she answered it. “Agent Hart.”
There was only silence for a moment and then a deep, muffled voice said, “whore” and then hung up before Madison could ask who was calling.
The effects of the pain pill were rapidly working, and she was feeling groggy. Though she was curious about the call, she was dozing off.
Her dreams ran rampant from living in her old apartment near DC to coming face to face with the killer in Maitland. She struggled to make out details of his face, but all she could focus on was a gun being pointed at her. Suddenly, the killer pulled the trigger and Madison went down, and she heard the muffled words, “Whore.”
She woke up and looked at her clock. It was 3:30 a.m. She felt disconnected, and light headed from the medication, but the aches and pains weren’t as bad as earlier. She realized she had fallen asleep naked. She tried going back to sleep, but the dreams and call had set her mind spinning. Could my dreams be trying to tell me something about the caller? She fought it as long as she could, but sleep was not going to return.
Madison turned on the shower and gently wrapped a towel around her head, to keep her wounds from getting wet and then let the hot water slowly run over her body easing her tension until the water started to cool.
She wrapped up in her flannel bathrobe after drying off and decided to make coffee though Josh said he’d be bringing some. That wouldn’t be for hours, and she needed some right away. The outside light hadn’t been fixed yet, so the only light was that from her bedroom area. Maneuvering herself through the office to the light switch at the door, she flipped it on. It cast a dim light toward the parking lot and out of the corner of her eye, someone ran from the sidewalk in front of her office. Her instinct was to run outside and see who it was, but she was in no condition to do any running nor was she dressed for it. She struggled to watch in what direction they retreated and noticed the person ran towards the back parking lot of the abandoned bank. It was too dark to investigate, but as soon as morning came, she intended to check out the area. Forgetting what time it was, she called Josh.
“Logan,” he answered, half asleep.
“Josh, it’s Madison.”
“Didn’t we talk about you getting some rest?” He sat up on the side of his bed.
“I did get some sleep. Oh, crap. I didn’t realize what time it was.” She looked up at the clock. “Well, now that you’re up, I just wanted to tell you someone was out front again. Only this time I saw the direction they were running. When you come over later, we can take a look.”
“I might as well get dressed. I think I need to talk with your doctor and see if he’ll prescribe sleeping pills for you so that I can get some sleep,” he snickered. “I’ll see you later, but do not go out there until I get there. You are in no condition to be wandering around in the dark.”
“I’ll make us a pot of coffee.” Then she hung up.
Madison set up the coffee pot and then headed back to get dressed. Josh would be there soon, in spite of his protesting.
She inhaled the aroma of fresh brewing coffee and was ready for that first cup. She added a large splash of Caramel Macchiato creamer to the mug, and then poured the coffee. Grasping the mug with both hands, she brought it up to her mouth, lingering for a second on the rich whiff of flavor.
She carried her coffee to the board and lifted the cover off, then stood back and stared at the pieces of the puzzle that were evolving. The connection to the Art Center was no longer a mystery, but who the unsub was still perplexing and there were still two women missing.
She opened up her computer and typed in Kim’s name, hoping to find out who and where her sister lived. Using her FBI code, she was able to get the phone number of Kim’s sister. They had tried Kim’s number, but it kept going to voicemail. They needed to reach Kim as soon as possible. Getting that book on Kincaid’s models from her was crucial.
There was loud car horn out front. She walked to the door, and there was Josh with his hands full of files and a large box of donuts. “You’ve got to stop bringing donuts, or I won’t be able to fit through the door. Is this a must thing for cops?”
“Can’t do proper work in the morning without a Krispy Kreme donut. Why else would one drink coffee?” he chuckled, as he set the box on the table. He didn’t wait for her to make her selection.; he immediately grabbed the crème filled chocolate one and took a huge bite.
Madison poured him a cup of coffee, and he took a sip to wash down the donut. “Damn, you make a good cup of Joe.”
She smiled. “I do my best.”
She walked back toward the board with her coffee. “Aren’t you going to have one of these donuts?”
She stopped for a moment, “You already took the one I wanted.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I couldn’t resist watching you shove that whole donut into your big mouth.”
“I’m sure there must be another one in the box you’d enjoy.” He carried the box up beside her.
“I’ll check them out later.”
“Okay.” He laid the box down. “Now tell me about what happened this morning when you saw someone running from your door.”
“I was heading to the front of the office to turn on the light. When I did, there was just enough light outside to see a body making a run toward the old bank building. The only thing I could see was that they went around to the back of the parking lot. That’s when I called you. To tell you the truth, I was still feeling a little out-of-sorts from the medication I took last night. My first thought was to chase after them. I think that’s one of the reasons I woke up so early. The damn pill gave me nightmares. I tried to go back to sleep, but I was too restless. So I decided to get up and fix some coffee.” Madison put her hand over the wound on her head.
“Are you still in pain?”
She sipped her coffee. “Not as much as last night. I’m okay, and as soon as it gets light, I’d like to check out the area where I saw the intruder.”
“Yeah, I do too. I’ve got an uneasy feeling about all the strange things going on
around you lately, especially after someone tampered with your car. I had your car towed to the crime lab for testing. Hopefully, the person was sloppy and left some evidence.”
“There’s something else I haven’t told you yet. I had an odd call in the middle of the night.”
“Who was it?”
“That’s the strange thing about it. It was a restricted number, and the voice was disguised. They hung up before I had a chance to ask who it was.”
“What did they say?”
“The only thing they said was whore, and then they quickly hung up. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman.”
“Madison, do you think you should stay here? I know you can be stubborn, but I believe someone has it in for you. You may be in danger. If you won’t stay at my place then will you consider staying at your friend Jessie’s? No one would have to know where you are. We could move all this evidence to one of the back rooms at the station, and it would be safer there.”
Madison was defiance and hardheaded, but her practical side agreed with Josh, at least about the evidence. She was a trained FBI agent and wasn’t going to let some prankster run her out of her office.
“I think you’re right about the evidence, only because I don’t want us to lose any of this now. We’re getting so close, and I’m staying here. I can take care of myself.”
To argue with her once she’s made her mind up would be a waste of time, but he was going to have someone patrol her place. “Okay. I know you’ve made up your mind and I’d be wasting my breath trying to persuade you otherwise.”
“I do appreciate the offer to stay at your house, though.” She quickly changed the subject. “I have Kim’s sister’s number, and I’m going to call as soon as it gets light. I don’t want to call too soon if Kim’s sister is ill, but we need to move on this.”
There was a hint of light coming in the front window, and they were eager to see if they could find anything outside. Madison poured them each another cup of coffee as they went over some of the new details in the case. Neither wanted to get tangled in the over-growth behind those old buildings in the dark. Finally, it looked as though there was enough light outside.
“Show me exactly where you saw the person out front.” They walked to the edge of the curb on the sidewalk and scanned the area for anything that looked new or out of place, but there was nothing. Then Madison led him toward the back. It was clear where someone had trampled the tall grasses, and it led them straight to the back of the bank and fresh tire tracks in the mud.
Josh knelt down at the impressions in the mud. “That rain made it good and muddy here. The forensic team should be able to cast a decent tire print.”
While Josh scoped the area where the car had run through the mud, Madison walked around toward the front of the bank, which faced her parking lot. There appeared to be a small area where someone or something had been sitting. No one could be spotted in there from any passing cars. She called out to Josh. He looked around but couldn’t see where she had gone. She called again, and he heard her voice coming from the opposite side of the tire tracks. She was aiming her flashlight around the ground and then looked up at Josh. “I think someone has been watching me for some time. This grass is nearly dead. Somebody spent a great deal of time here, more than once. It’s a perfect view of the front of my office.”
“Somebody is stalking you, Madison.”
“I can see that, but why?”
“Have you noticed anyone watching you when you’re out?”
“Josh, this has nothing to do with me. It’s the case. We’re getting too close and they either want to know what we know, or they’re trying to halt this investigation. They obviously don’t know me very well, or they’d know this will only make me work harder to find them. I think it’s time we got back and call Kim. If we have to drive up to her sister’s, we will. I don’t want another day to go by without checking Kincaid’s schedule.” Madison stormed off toward the office, and Josh stayed with the tire tracks until the forensic team came to process the site. After the team had finished, Josh headed back to Madison’s, but she was on the phone when he came in.
Josh sat waiting for her to finish the call and hoped that they would finally get what they needed from Kim. Madison hung up the phone and turned to Josh. “Kim never arrived at her sister’s.” She sat down at the table. “Her sister has been trying to call her for days and kept getting Kim’s voicemail, but last night when she tried, the machine said the voice mail was full. She’s very worried about Kim.”
“Are you telling me we might have another missing woman?”
“I don’t know, but it’s looking that way. Damn it! We haven’t found the last of our missing women and now this. I have an idea that maybe Kim’s things may be at the art center. She may have put that book with some of her personal items. I heard Alice tell someone that they each have a drawer they use in one of the closed studios to keep personal items. Let’s see if we can find anything there.”
Josh scratched his head. “Madison, we know this case involves the models but how does your friend Aspen, and Kim, fit into this?”
“That does add another element, but I still think Kincaid has the answers.”
Madison started for the door and flung it open. “Hey, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s barely daylight. I doubt that anyone is at the center yet, and you didn’t eat your donuts.” He grinned as he raised his eyebrow.
“Oh yeah, you’re right. I am hungry, but not for donuts. Since you’re the only one with a car right now, would you mind taking me to get a real breakfast?”
Madison felt with every fiber of her being that they were closing in on the killer. Her adrenalin was pumping. It was that feeling she’d get each time she was in the process of capturing the unsub on a case with her colleagues in DC. It was hard to believe a case in this small town could arouse such passion in her.
Madison was so excited she had forgotten about her appearance when she stepped through the doors of the restaurant. Lisa let out a holler from behind the counter. “Good grief, Madison! What happened to you? Were you the one in that wreck down the street the other day?”
Madison was amazed at how perceptive Lisa was. Someone must have mentioned it to her, and she never forgets a thing. “Yes. My brakes gave out, and I skidded into the oncoming traffic.”
“Are you okay? You look terrible.”
“Gee, thanks,” Madison snickered.
“I mean you look like you were really hurt. Are you sure you shouldn’t be in the hospital or something?”
“I’m fine, Lisa. Please, don’t make a fuss.” Madison hurried to the booth in the back but heard Lisa saying something to Josh as she sat down. “Detective Logan, is she going to be okay? She doesn’t look good.”
“The doctors said she’d be her old self in no time, but I’m sure she appreciates your concern.”
“I’ll bring your coffee right away,” Lisa said hurrying off to the back.
“If I’d known I was going to cause such a stir, I’d have eaten your damn donuts.”
“People care about you,” Josh whispered.
“I know. I just didn’t want to make a scene.”
Josh chuckled. “Honey, you’d make a scene any time you entered a room.”
Madison reached across the table and smacked him on the arm and then laughed too.
Lisa set down their coffee, and it was back to business, “Now what can I get you two lovebirds?” She winked. Madison just rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Lisa, just give me what I always have.”
“Me too,” Josh added.
When Lisa left, Josh leaned across the table. “Lovebirds?”
Madison just kept shaking her head.
After they had finished their meal, they drove toward the Art Center. Alice was just opening up. “Good morning. How are you feeling Madison?”
“Feeling much better, Alice. You mentioned the other day that some of the volunteers kept their
personal things in the closed studio, and I was wondering if Kim kept any of her things in there?”
“I’m not sure. I have seen her in there from time to time, but she’s all over this place.”
“Would you mind if Josh and I have a look?”
“No, not at all. Just let me get you the keys,” Alice reached into the drawer at the reception desk for the keys. “Do you need me to show you which one it is?”
Josh reached for the keys. “You can just tell us where it is. I know you have a lot to do, and we’ll get out of your hair.”
“It’s right around the corner, down the pathway. It’s the last studio. You can tell no one is using it because it will be the one filled with boxes.”
It was easy to find which studio it was. The others were well organized and apparently being used for classses. The last studio was off to itself. The place was so cluttered that it made it difficult to maneuver. There was a series of cubbies in the back, with large plastic tubs in each of them. Names were written on the front of some of the tubs; Aspen, Alice, Kim and several other names they didn’t recognize. Alice had mentioned other students used them to store some of their supplies.
Josh reached up and pulled out Kim’s plastic tub. Papers and photos filled the tub along with a bag that contained some personal items. They sifted through the items and finally, at the bottom, was a brown ledger. Madison untied the leather strap that held it closed. It had dates of every event, meeting, and project that Tyler Kincaid had scheduled since the day Kim took over handling his affairs. She had become his personal assistant and had meticulously documented everything, down to the exact locations where he took his models for his paintings.
Josh and Madison were ecstatic. They could now complete a timeline of Kincaid and match it to the timeline of the missing women. Josh put the book into his jacket and they left the room. By the time they got back to Alice, visitors were arriving to see the exhibit. Alice stepped up to Josh, “Were you able to find anything?”
“Maybe.” Without sounding alarmed, he pulled Alice over to the side. “Alice, has anyone heard from Kim yet?”
“No. I don’t think so, but I have to tell you, I’m worried about her. This isn’t like Kim. She would at least call Mr. Kincaid. Her sister must be very ill,.”
“How do you know he hasn’t heard from her?” Josh asked.
“Because I asked him.”
“What did he say?” Madison quietly asked.
“He just said she had a family matter and would probably call when she’s ready to come back.”
“Well, thank you for your help, Alice,” Madison said. “I’m sure Kim appreciates your filling in for her.”
Josh tried to hurry Madison out the door before Alice suspected something was wrong and started asking questions they were not at liberty to answer. That would have only triggered her curiosity. They had all they needed for the moment and were eager to get back to work.
When they arrived back at Madison’s office Josh suggested they move everything to the station in the back room before they went any further. Madison’s heart was pounding, and her adrenaline was racing. She didn’t want to squander the time moving everything when they were so close to finding the answers. “Let’s just go over Kincaid’s book and update the board. I’m sure his timeline is going to pull all this together.”
He gave up on the idea to try and convince her otherwise. They took a seat at the table facing the board and thumbed through the pages of the book to see if they could spot where he met the first model. Madison flagged the times Kincaid began each painting for his latest exhibit and the times he finished each one. She was impressed by the detail Kim took to document every infinitesimal aspect of Kincaid’s project, right down to the paints he used. “Damn, this woman is detail-orientated. This book is going to help us nail the bastard.”
When they finished marking the pages, Madison stepped up to the board and correlated the times against the missing women. When she finished, she stood back and stared at their findings. “Got you!”
Josh quickly interjected. “Not so fast, tiger. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We still have to check out his alibi for the times the women went missing and the times of their deaths. Don’t forget; we still have two missing. It would help if we could locate them to cement the timeline.”
“You’re right.”
She walked back to the table, sat down, and propped her head in her hands. She continued to stare at the board, going back and forth until she almost made herself dizzy. Her head was pounding, and the pain from the accident started creeping in against her temple, but she couldn’t pull herself away. There was still something missing, and it was driving her crazy. It was right there in front of her, and she couldn't see it.
Her face grimaced as she put her hand to her head. “Hey, there, why don’t you take one of those pain pills and lie down for awhile? I’m not going anywhere. It will give me time to read more in this ledger.
She resisted the idea and then decided she’d split one of the pills in half. That way she wouldn’t be so loopy. She wanted to be clear-headed. There was something she wasn’t seeing, and it was eating at her, but the more she struggled, the more the pain intensified. “Yeah, I think I will. But if you find anything, you wake me immediately. I feel there is one more thing we’re missing..”
Josh was surprised that she heeded his suggestion. Madison was a strong-willed woman and didn’t take suggestions well, at least from him. He watched as she slightly struggled back to her room behind the curtain. She was feeling the effects of the wreck more than she was letting on but he was glad she was going to rest.
He too, felt they were over-looking the final piece of the puzzle. Maybe the answer was in Kincaid’s ledger. He started reading it from the beginning while Madison rested. As he continued to read, it read more like a diary than a ledger. It was taking on a life its own, a chronicle of everything this man had done from the moment he started his projects. The more he read the more uneasy he felt.
Then he got to a section that explained the sites where Kincaid took his models to pose. These sites are eerily familiar. The hair on the back of his neck started to stand up. He glanced up at the board under the missing women, and something stuck out right away. “Shit,” he blurted out, not realizing it would wake Madison. Madison pulled the curtain back. “What did you say?” she mumbled wiping her eyes. It was too late. She had heard him and knew he had stumbled onto something. She sat at the edge of the bed until she got her composure and then walked up to the table.
“What is it?”
“I think I found what we’ve been missing. Look at this entry.” Josh pointed to a page in the ledger. Madison sat down hard in the chair and grabbed the book from his grip. Her eyes were still a bit blurry from the medication, but she could make out what it was saying and knew right away that it corresponded with the data on the board.
“Do you know what this means?” Josh said, grabbing her.
“I believe I do.”
This time it was Josh who jumped up to the board and started scribbling down what he just read. Madison staggered, attempting to get closer to the board to see what he was writing. When he finished, he turned to her. “It was right there in front of us the whole time, but now it makes sense.”
“I can’t believe I missed that. I remember vaguely Kim mentioning something about the landmarks of his paintings, but I never put it together until now.” Madison turned to Josh, “Do you see what I’m seeing?” She grabbed his arm.
“I do. But are you up to checking this out now?”
“You bet your tight ass I am.”
“Agent Hart,” he said laughingly.
Madison shuffled all the papers and the ledger into her bag and headed for the door. “I think we’d better check this out before we brief the chief on this.”
“I agree.”
They drove back to the Art Center. There was no one in the reception area, so they rushed back to
the gallery. They were looking for something specific and went directly to the paintings that they believed were of the two women still missing. Josh studied them carefully. “I think I know this place.” He leaned in as close to the painting as he could. “I’m pretty sure this is an old abandoned slave gravesite near the edge of the swamp, behind the orange grove off of the Maitland Avenue exchange.”
They dashed toward the front door, nearly knocking over Alice. “Sorry, Alice. We just got an emergency call, got to run,” Josh said as they fled through the center’s front door.
Madison's pulse was pounding. If what they were thinking was right, they were about to bust this case wide open.
The traffic was exceptionally heavy that time of day, but Josh didn’t want to turn on his siren and draw attention to what they were doing. The closer they got to an old dirt road that veered off the highway, the more the sweat was running down Josh’s forehead from the anticipation. Although Madison was still feeling the effects of the pain pill, she was burning with the idea of what they might find. They could barely speak as the car meandered along the old path. It was apparent not many people had traveled there in quite some time, and the mud made it difficult to maneuver through the trees.
They finally made it to the other side of the grove. The swampy landscape near the lake came into view. Josh looked around. “I know that place is around here somewhere. It’s been so many years since I’ve been out here; I’m not quite sure where it is.”
Josh parked the car, and they proceeded on foot to the edge of the marshy grasses along the lake, looking for any signs of the old gravesites. Since there were no tombstones, other than homemade plaques their families had placed over the graves, it made it difficult to locate them. Besides, it was only a rumor that they even existed. Madison headed in one direction and Josh walked toward the other side of the marsh. They slowly pushed away the tall grasses looking at the ground for anything that might resemble a plaque. Josh hollered.“Over here, Maddy!”
She started to run in his direction and realized that was not a good idea. She grabbed her head with both hands and went down on her knees. Josh had his attention on the primitive rocks that indicated dates and names of those who died. When he looked up again, he couldn’t see her. He stood up to see what she was doing, and then he saw her. She was lying on the ground out cold with part of her body covered by the grasses. He took off towards her, buy by the time he got to her; she had raised her head. “I guess I tripped,” she said, in denial.
“Tripped? Honey, you passed out. I think I need to take you to the hospital to make sure you’re alright. What good is finding anything if you’re going to kill yourself?”
“Honestly Josh, I feel okay. We’re already here, let’s see if we can find something.” Josh helped her stand. She was still unsteady for a moment and held onto his arm.
“Okay, but when we’re finished here, I’m taking you to the hospital for x-rays. You might have hit your head again when you passed out, so don’t argue with me or we’ll leave now.”
Madison didn’t respond but nodded her head in agreement. He led her slowly over to where he had discovered the stones used as grave markers. “I think this is the place.” She opened her cell phone to one of one of the paintings. “I believe you’re right.”
They studied the angle of the photo in relationship to where they were standing. “I think this was painted a little bit more toward that far side,” she said. They pushed the grasses aside as they made their way to that spot. As they got closer, Josh noticed something close to the lake. He tried to walk out hoping Madison would wait, but she nearly knocked him over to get there.
There, among the tall grasses by the lake was a decomposing body. They turned to each other. No words were necessary. They knew who belonged to the remains. Josh called the station and then the coroner. Madison just stood there shaking her head, and Josh stood there with his hands on his hips. As much as they were excited to prove their theory, it would be another confirmation that none of the missing women would be found alive. Madison was sickened by the carnage this killer had imposed on this quiet community.
The sirens announced the squad cars arrival. The coroner wasn’t far behind them. Within moments, the team had secured the area and taped off the site. Doc Webb walked up with his team. He stopped in front of Josh and Madison. “Are you thinking this is one of the missing women you were looking for?”
“We think so, but we won’t know until you confirm the ID for us,” Madison replied softly.
“I’m going to put this at the top of my schedule. I can tell you it’s a female. You have your work cut out finding her killer,” Doc said, as he turned toward the corpse.
They wrapped the body, or what was left of it, into the black bag and hoisted it onto the gurney. Doc and Jimmy struggled to wheel it through the mud to coroner’s van. Madison and Josh watched as another victim was carted off. Then they joined in combing the area for evidence with the forensic team, hoping the killer left a piece of himself. Beneath where the body had been was a mangled bullet. It was photographed tagged and bagged, but from the looks of it, Josh was sure it was from the same weapon that shot the other women. Madison was doing her best to stay alert through the sharp pain that was radiating through her skull.
Josh approached her, “I think we’ve done everything we can here, now I need to get that hard head of yours checked.”
Madison started to say she was fine, but Josh interrupted, “I told you not to argue with me on this. You’re going if I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you myself.”
Madison tried to hold back her laugh at the vision of him trying to do that. “Okay, I’ll go. But we’re not done; not by a long shot.”
He took her arm and smiled. “I know, and as soon as we get the doctor’s okay we’ll continue.”
Josh drove her to the same hospital where Aspen was recovering. He pulled up in front of the emergency room and walked her in. He flashed his badge which expedited the processing. They came out with a wheelchair and immediately took Madison to the back. Josh waited for what seemed hours, and then a doctor came out. He looked so serious that Josh began to sweat with fear. “She’s fine. She’ll be out in a minute, but I would recommend her taking it easy for awhile. No rough stuff.” The doctor winked at Josh. “A few of the stitches came loose, but we fixed her right up.”
Josh was about to reply to the doctor when a nurse wheeled Madison out to the waiting room. “She’s good to go, but you might want to go a little easy on her,” the nurse said winking at Josh.
As Josh was wheeling Madison toward the doors, she looked up at him. “I need to see how Aspen is doing before we leave. Would you mind finding out what room she’s in?”
“No, not at all.” He walked to the information desk, flashed his badge again and talked to the receptionist. Madison couldn’t hear what they were saying, but when Josh returned he said, “She’s no longer here. They discharged her last night, and they don’t know where she is now. We’ll make a few calls when we get back. Now let me get you out of here.”
He wheeled her to the car. He sat for a moment looking at Madison when he got into the car. “I wonder what all that was about? The doctor said the same thing to me the nurse did.” Josh started up the car. Madison turned to him, “I told the doctor the stitches must have come loose from our rough sex,” she said calmly, as a matter-of-fact.
“You didn’t?”
She turned to him and grinned. “Oh yes, I did.”
He wasn’t sure if she was kidding or not but was glad she was feeling better and could joke.
“I need to get you back so you can rest for awhile.” He pulled out onto Highway 17-92, heading back toward Maitland.
“No. We need to move on this now. If the killer thinks we’re onto him, things could change quickly.”
“Don’t worry, no one but the department and Doc Webb knows, and they’re sworn to secrecy. Nothing is going to happen the rest of the day s
o get some rest, please. Besides, I’ll be there with you.”
She reluctantly agreed, since the pain in her head was still throbbing, but she didn’t like the idea of having a babysitter hovering over her. She popped another pain pill and hit the bed.