Chapter 10
1375 Words
Chapter 10
I looked at my watch. Thirty minutes past my scheduled appointment. I didn’t want to complain since my Monday appointment was last minute. Doc fit me in as a personal favor considering I’ve been his patient and friend for several years.
With some time to kill, I looked around the waiting area. The salmon and teal colors meant the first wife decorated the lobby in the eighties. I wondered when the second wife would refurbish.
My cell phone vibrated. I saw caller ID. It was the office.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Jake, are you coming back to work?” Lou Ann asked.
“I was hoping to but I’m still waiting for the doc to give me a clean bill of health.”
“I thought your shoulder was better.”
“Yeah, I want a second opinion. Still getting arm pain when I move it.”
I also have other reasons to be here.
“So what’s up?” I asked.
“This detective. Ivan—”
“I know him,” I snapped and regretted it a second later. In a calmer voice, I asked, “What did he want?”
“He said he an important message about the Peoples’ case.”
Lou Ann’s voice didn’t change.
Guess she’s used to my moods lately.
“All right, let me write his number down.”
After taking the number, I ended the call as Doc Jeffries came out to the lobby. He smiled and waved me in. I walked to his exam room. On the way, I saw a familiar flag encased in the shadow box on the wall. There was a picture of Doc from Desert Storm next to it.
“We’re checking out your arm and shoulder, right?”
“Yeah, doc.” I said. “Thanks for fitting me in.”
“No worries. I’m glad you’re doing better. I saw the news reports, and I called Noah to find out how you were. All right, Jake, shirt off.”
I took off my shirt, when he asked, “How’s Noah?” He felt my arm.
“You don’t know?” I sighed. “Right now, we’re taking a break.”
“Oh?” He pushed on the top of my shoulder. “How does that feel?”
“Okay. But still get pain when I lift it to this point.”
“Raise it.” I raised my shoulder. “As I push down, tell me if it hurts.”
I tried to raise it but before it was completely parallel to the ground, I felt a sharp pain. “That’s where it hurts.”
Doc continued, “I looked at the X-Rays from the hospital and everything came out normal. But you may have a tear. I’ll order an MRI, and refer you to an orthopod.”
“Is that it then?”
“Well, let me just check a few things.”
He placed the blood pressure monitor on my arm.
“Blood pressure’s a little high.” His eyebrows knitted with concern. “Anything else going on?”
Tell him.
“Not getting much sleep. Still get nightmares about what happened with Anton.”
He clicked his pen and grabbed my chart. “I can prescribe something to help you sleep. Just can’t drink Jameson with it.” He looked up, crossed his arms, and watched my reaction.
“I don’t have any alcohol in the apartment since your nephew and godson and I started dating.”
“Noah’s a good kid,” he said. “Shame that DUI cost him a job, and shame that his whole family still has problems about the two of you.” He tore something off a pad. “Here you go.”
“What’s this?”
“It’s a scrip to help you sleep.” He went further. “It also doesn’t hurt to see a shrink considering what you’ve been through.”
“I don’t know,” I mumbled.
“I can also give you a sample scrip for your high blood pressure.”
“Think my BP’s high from work too. Have a murder case I am working on.” I looked at Doc. He had my chart and scribbled something.
“Oh?”
“The M.E. thinks the female victim was choked to death.” Doc flipped through my chart. “You’ve investigated a lot of those when you were in the Army, right?
“I’ve done some autopsies in my past life.” He took his pen and pointed to his silver mane. “Where’d did you think I got all my white hair?”
I thought about joking about his first wife but decided not to bring that up. “Just talking out loud, if you are, let’s say, incapacitated by a blow to the head, would you wake up if you were being strangled?”
“With the air passage tightening, cutting off air, most people wake up. But if the person was knocked with a traumatic injury to the brain, the victim would be confused. It’s a horrible way to die—strangulation.”
He handed me a plastic packet.
“What’s this?”
“Sample medication to help. They’re muscle relaxers. Try it and come back in a week or so, and also I want to see how your blood pressure is then.”
“Really, I think I’ll be okay. Just job stress.”
“Take the pills,” he insisted.
I finished putting on my shirt and walked out. I heard his voice behind me. “Noah’s a good guy. He loves you. I hope you guys get back together.”
* * * *
It’s a horrible way to die.
Doc’s words echoed in my mind as I walked to the car.
Who would want to murder Hannah? If the trail led only to Frank, then he would spend life behind bars. I never asked him if he killed Hannah. But, it didn’t matter to me if he was innocent. My job was to force the state to prove its case.
I took out my cell and called the number Lou Ann gave me as soon as I got on the road.
After a few rings, a greeting, “Detective Petrov.” His voice stern, slightly nasal, and a hint of Russian accent to his voice.
A split second pause before I said, “Ivan, it’s me.”
“Jake?”
“Yup. Heard you called.”
“Are you alone?
“In my car. Why’s it important that I have to be alone?”
“Hold on a sec.”
I heard a door open and then wind.
“Sorry, had to step outside where no one else can hear me. Your dead girl—Hannah—she has a history in Ohio that’s sealed.”
“What does that mean?”
“Could mean anything, Jake. Maybe a juvie record. But what’s interesting is she had a string of trafficking charges as an adult—none resulting in convictions.”
“Well, the only thing that would explain that is if she was a confidential informant with the police.”
As soon as I said this, a light bulb came on.
“Ivan, was Hannah King an informant at Pineridge?”
“Pineridge doesn’t have a drug task force, so no. But you didn’t hear that from me.”
“Thanks for the info.”
“Hey, got a couple of more for you so don’t hang up.”
A text came through while Ivan talked. I looked quickly at my phone.
Elena. I read the text. Back row, left.
“You still there?” Ivan asked.
“Yes.”
“Well two things, FDLE ran the prints off the mug again since Elena didn’t trust Pineridge to get the prints analyzed right.”
“And?”
“Your guy’s prints were on the mug.”
Bad news.
“Thanks for the uplifting information.”
“Not done yet. Those were just fingerprints we’re talking about. FDLE analysts think there’s DNA underneath the dead girl’s nails, and it’s trying to run the DNA off the blood from the mug. Both will take weeks to get the results.
Something I didn’t expect. When was Elena going to mention DNA under Hannah’s fingernails?
“Thank you, Ivan.” I cleared my throat, “What do I owe you?”
“Nothing.”
“You sure?”
I didn’t believe he didn’t want anything. Ivan’s aggressive personality, in-your face attitude, which doomed anything between us from the get-go, also included being a tit-for-tat kind of guy. It was like that in the bedroom, and he was like that in real life.
“Well, if you really want to thank me, how about dinner tonight at Texas Cattle Company? It’s Monday night so we probably don’t need reservations.”
I hesitated before I answered. This didn’t sound like a good idea. But I needed Ivan to give me information quicker than Elena would. I knew Elena wasn’t a concealer but she would wait until the strategic moment to disclose information. Her job was not to be my friend, or my ex-wife, in this case, but to get a conviction.
“Would love too, but my daughter’s play tonight. Hey, let’s shoot for Wednesday. If that’s okay.”
“I think that’s good for me, Jake.”
I gritted my teeth when he said my name in that tone. “All right, call you Wednesday to firm up the details.”
* * * *
The bright lights of the stage made it harder for me to scan the audience. This meant I couldn’t see the faces seated watching my daughter.
Chelsea stood to the left on the stage in her costume. She couldn’t see me I assumed because of the lights but I still smiled when I saw her move closer to center stage.
Suddenly, I saw a hand wave. It took a couple of seconds for me to realize it was Elena. She pointed to an empty seat next to her. I walked around to where she sat. She was close to the end of the row. Taking her aisle, I stopped for a second, realizing that Gary was there next to her.
Gary moved his legs to the side to allow me to walk in. Elena did the same. I focused my eyes on the empty chair but as I made my way, I saw a familiar face next to the empty chair on the other side of Elena.
My heart beat faster.
Noah.
- Writer
