Margaret Daley - Detection Mission

“You do? That’s good. It was probably the K-9 Unit searching for Brady. By the time Lee found you, the kid had been rescued.” Gail lifted the tray of medication she had. “I need to make my rounds.”

Heidi scanned the almost-bare hospital room with no flowers or cards. It hammered home how alone she truly was. Even sitting in bed, she had little to think about other than trying to remember and meeting a dark screen. It would be good to get out of here and try to build some kind of life for herself while she waited for her memory to return. If it returned.

The least she could do was try to make herself presentable to one of the few people she knew. Maybe she should dress. She went to the closet and checked its contents. A set of clothes was hanging up. They must be hers, but she didn’t remember them—buying them or wearing them.

Inside the bathroom, she quickly donned the jeans, which fit her perfectly, and the gray fleece sweatshirt. The small amount of energy she expended dressing herself tired her out. Apparently she wasn’t going to bounce back as fast as she wished.

When she came out of the bathroom, she glimpsed a movement out of the corner of her eye right before a beefy hand covered her mouth and nose.

“The third time is the charm. Good thing I’m a patient man.”

The deep voice of the custodian penetrated her panic-filled mind.

THREE

Lee ascended the stairs to the hospital’s second floor two at a time. He’d hoped to be here earlier, but Austin and he had stayed a little longer in the Lost Woods because reporting the wrecked car had delayed their search. But almost a third of the area had been covered, making for a long day. They didn’t find anything other than the Buick, which might or might not be linked to the kidnapping. To Heidi.

No scent of Pauly in the forest or another grave, however, had been found. He counted that a good day. Pauly could still be alive, passed out drunk somewhere they hadn’t looked.

He caught sight of a custodian going into Heidi’s room at the other end of the hall. Several staff members rushed toward him, passed him and went into a patient’s room nearby. A code blue sounded over the intercom. A nurse hurried with a cart. Lee stepped out of the way and slowed his pace.

* * *

I won’t be a victim, screamed through Heidi’s mind as she twisted and pummeled her attacker. That managed to increase the constriction about her. Finally she went limp, dead weight, which threw off the custodian. He stumbled forward, still holding her, but the hand about her mouth slipped.

“Help. Help,” she yelled.

His hand clamped again over her mouth. “You’ll pay for that.”

The door crashed open, and Lee charged into the room, his gun drawn. “Let her go. Now.” He aimed his weapon at the man’s head.

“I could snap her neck.”

“And you’ll be a dead man. Is that what you want? Right now you’ll be charged with assault. If you hurt her, you’ll be dead.”

Through her haze of terror she heard the man’s heavy breathing. She felt his sweat drip on her, the roughness of his hand. The scent of his body odor as though he hadn’t showered recently assailed her, gagging her.

The hammering of her heart thundered through her mind. She focused totally on Lee before her, a fierce expression on his face, his feet braced apart, both hands on the gun, steady, pointed toward her attacker. Seeing Lee dressed in a uniform accelerated her fear even more as though she’d faced a police officer before with a gun aimed toward her. Was she a criminal?

Slowly the man released his grip on her. She closed her eyes for a few seconds. When he dropped his hand from her mouth, she hastened away from her attacker—away from Lee. She collapsed against her bed, clutching the sheets.

Lee hurried to the assailant, put him up against the wall and handcuffed him. Then he reached into his pocket, withdrew his cell and placed a call to the police station. Taking her attacker by the arm, Lee pulled him to the chair nearby and shoved him down.

“Stay put,” Lee said to the six-foot man then approached her. “Are you all right?” His gaze skimmed over her briefly before he returned his full attention to his suspect.

“Yes.” The word came out on a shaky breath. She glanced down at her hands trembling and sat on the bed, tucking them under her legs.

“I have a patrol officer coming to take this man in. Once he leaves, I want to do some checking here about—” he flicked his gaze to the name badge on the guy’s custodian uniform “—Gus Zoller.”

Her assailant glared at Lee. “I ain’t talking.”

“That’s your prerogative.”

Dazed by all that had happened, Heidi dug her teeth into her lower lip and studied the man. His icy gaze nipped at what little composure she had left. If she could remember, she might know if he was someone she knew—had a reason to try and kill her. But she couldn’t answer that. There was nothing about him that seemed familiar except his eyes. Should she say something to Lee about that?

She glanced at her rescuer and as long as she kept her gaze on his face she was all right, but when she looked down at his badge and dark blue uniform, her throat closed, her stomach clinched. Frustration swamped her. She had reactions to certain things and didn’t understand where they came from. Did she have something against the police?

“Still doing okay?” Lee asked, his gaze trained on Gus Zoller.

“Yes. Thank you for being here.” Her voice still quavered, but she was regaining her composure.

“I’m not sure if I’m glad I was late or not. If I had come earlier, he might not have attacked you.”

“But he would have waited until later. He’s been in here before.”

“Other than yesterday morning?”

“Yes, yesterday evening.”

Lee’s glare drilled into the man. “What happened?”

“I woke up from a bad dream, and he was hovering over my bed. I panicked and pushed the call button.”

“Obviously a good thing you did. Why didn’t you tell me?”

She gestured toward Gus. “Because he said I was thrashing around and he claimed that he was putting up my railing. I woke up punching the air, so I thought he was right.”

“That must have been some dream.”

“You know how dreams are. Often weird with strange things happening.” She hoped that was the case because her nightmare had scared her. Not knowing what was real or not real only heightened that feeling.

The door swung open and a patrol officer came inside. “Is that the suspect you want me to take down to the station?”

“Yes. I’ll be down later to have a little word with him. Book him on assault, for starters.”

“Will do.” The officer grabbed hold of the man and pulled him to his feet.

When her assailant left, some of the tension in Heidi drained away. She dropped her head and inhaled a deep breath. “I wanted to ask him why he was trying to kill me. What have I done to have someone after me?”

“That’s a good question. One I intend to find the answer to. I’ll be asking the man later and will see if I can’t convince him to tell me why.”

“Please do. It may help me figure out who I am.” Even if she discovered something bad, this not knowing was driving her crazy.

“I’m going to talk to the staff and personnel about the suspect. I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Please...don’t leave me alone.”

Lee gave her a reassuring look. “You aren’t alone.” He walked to the door and motioned for someone to come into the room. “This officer will be standing guard. While I’m gone, I’ll have the doctor make sure you’re still all right to leave the hospital.”

“Thanks.” She lay back against her reclined bed and closed her eyes, trying to picture anyone from her past.