Page 36 of The Whispering Girls (Detective Katie Scott #14)

THIRTY-FOUR

More laughter came from the living room. Katie put her pillow over her head and groaned. She wanted to push her exhaustion and Echo Forest out of her mind—even for another hour.

What was so funny?

Now she was awake, there was no way she could go back to sleep with the investigation whirring in her mind. There was work to be done and she wondered if Chief Cooper had been located or heard from.

Katie got out of bed with some mild protest, showered and dressed in clean clothes.

Taking a quick look out the window, she could see it was overcast, dreary, and there was deep snow.

Even though it had stopped falling, what there was on the ground would be an inconvenience.

She sat on the bench at the end of the bed and put on her boots.

She was ready for what the day had in store for her.

She opened her bedroom door and could hear the men’s voices even louder. She paused a moment and listened, curious. They weren’t discussing the investigation, from what she could ascertain; they were sharing experiences and funny stories.

Katie walked into the room.

“Hey, partner,” said McGaven. He looked rested and you wouldn’t have been able to tell he had been in an explosion and been struck with shrapnel yesterday.

“Good morning,” she said. “You look like you’re feeling much better.”

“Jack here gave me some great pills,” he said and they all laughed.

“There’s some eggs and bacon in the kitchen in the warmer,” said Jack. “And coffee.”

Cisco bounced around in the middle of the group, wanting to be part of the fun.

“Thank you,” she said and headed to the kitchen.

Katie poured herself a cup and immediately took two sips, letting the heat warm her body.

She thought she would have more energy this morning, but she was still beat.

Her dreams had been vivid and disturbing, which didn’t help.

And now, she was concerned, worried, and not feeling on top of her game.

She wasn’t so sure about having Jack around the investigation.

It wasn’t because she was pointing fingers at him; she didn’t trust anyone who wasn’t McGaven or John.

She couldn’t take the chance that someone might disclose their work and case information—it was possible one of the people they had met in Echo Forest was the killer.

“How did you sleep?” said Jack as he joined her in the kitchen.

“A little restless,” she said .

“Get some food and…a few more cups of coffee.” He smiled.

“It all smells great.”

“There are some bagels and fruit as well.”

“Thank you.”

Jack looked at her hand. “You need to make sure your bandages are changed periodically too.”

Katie grabbed a plate from the cupboard. “I will.”

Jack left the kitchen as Katie made a plate for herself. She didn’t want to seem rude—after all, Jack was allowing them to stay at the lodge and he had been nothing but nice and helpful.

She noticed Cisco’s bowl at the end of the counter where he had been fed his dry and wet food. She smiled, knowing McGaven had fed and cared for him. If anything ever happened to her, she knew her partner would take care of Cisco.

Katie, McGaven, and John sat around the large dining table, each with files and paperwork. Katie was relieved Jack had gone back to his veterinary office. Katie and John updated McGaven about what they had found out last night.

“I tried to call the chief and officers again but there was no answer, so I sent each one of them a text message,” said McGaven. “But still nothing.”

“We’re at a point now that we need to decide what to do. Do we call in county or even the state law enforcement agency? I’m sure the roads aren’t passable yet, they probably won’t be for a while,” said Katie.

She watched their reactions. It was difficult to read John, but she could tell McGaven was leaning toward calling in backup, even though they might not be able to reach them for a while.

“I think we at least need to call Sheriff Scott and bring him up to speed,” said McGaven. “I know you’ve been hesitating for personal reasons, but I think it’s time.”

John nodded. “I agree. He has no idea what’s been going on here.”

Katie knew they were right. In the back of her mind she was deeply concerned about another victim being targeted. If the killer had been prepared to blow up the hospital and injure or kill them, they wouldn’t stop at anything if they had further murderous plans.

“Let’s get him on conference,” she said, knowing a regular phone call wasn’t good enough.

McGaven set up a laptop so that he and Katie could squeeze together to see the video.

Cisco made his way to Katie and decided to rest at her feet.

McGaven sent the sheriff a link and message. He pulled up the conference screen waiting for the sheriff to answer the call. As the crew waited, they gathered the files they’d borrowed from the station and began systematically going through them to see what they could glean.

The laptop chimed and everyone was ready.

Sheriff Scott’s authoritative demeanor filled the screen.

He was dressed in his police uniform, his five identifying stars gleaming, distinguished with his cropped grayish hair.

It was difficult to read his expression.

Katie couldn’t tell if he was annoyed or relieved to be talking with them.

“Good morning,” she said.

Still keeping his stern expression, the sheriff nodded. “It’s been interesting reading your first few reports, but I haven’t heard anything else from you. However, I’m aware of the storm that has hit Echo Forest.”

“Yes, sir, we’re basically snowed in here. The roads are closed,” said McGaven.

“I see,” he said. “Then why don’t you tell me about the hospital explosion?” His expression changed slightly to a more worried appearance.

“How did you hear about that?” said Katie, treading carefully. Even though the sheriff was her uncle and only family, there were many emotions vying for her attention. She kept calm and focused.

The screen blurred in and out a couple of times.

“When I didn’t hear from you and the cell phone connection was interrupted, I made some calls to emergency services in that area. I also heard about the third homicide victim and the deaths of two hospital workers.”

Katie could feel his intensity even through the computer screen. “We’ve been bombarded with a serious situation, multiple homicides, and no backup.”

“What do you propose?” he said.

“We haven’t seen or heard from the police chief or his two officers for more than twenty-four hours,” said McGaven.

Katie glanced at her partner. When he said those words aloud, it sounded bad—really bad.

“What have you uncovered?” said the sheriff, taking a breath as if to calm his growing irritation.

Katie was worried he was going to pull them and order the state police and investigators to take over. She couldn’t blame him, but they’d started this and she wanted to finish it.

“We have a couple of new leads as well as some suspicions that we wanted to pursue, sir,” said McGaven.

“Which are?”

“Which are…a forensic lead we need to run down. A piece of carpet fiber that was found at the crime scene. And there’s a trail. And there is a connection to a cold case here from fifteen years ago,” she said, flinching slightly because she’d made it all sound too trivial.

“And you think this will solidify your case? ”

“Yes, sir. There are town secrets and it’s been difficult to get people to open up, but we are slowly breaking down barriers.”

Sheriff Scott took a moment, never averting his gaze from his detectives.

“I’ll give you forty-eight hours to produce a suspect or an arrest. Not a minute longer.

I will have the backup agencies on standby,” he said.

“I hope I won’t regret this because by all accounts I should be pulling you out and letting state authorities take over right now.

I need to hear from you any way you see fit—text, email, phone call—every six to eight hours.

No exceptions. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll be calling in reinforcements immediately. ”

The signal on the conference blurred again as if on cue for the magnitude of the situation.

Katie was relieved they had more time, but she also knew it was a big risk. “Thank you, sir,” she said.

“Be careful,” he said and then looked at Katie directly. “Take care of each other.”

The call disconnected.

Katie sat there staring at a blank screen. She’d noted the tone of his voice when he told them to take care of one another.

“You heard the boss, forty-eight hours,” said McGaven.

“And not a minute more,” she said.

“Wow, that was intense,” said John.

“He’s tough, I know, but he cares about all his officers and detectives,” she said. “How do you want to do this? We need to find out about Bill Westin and a few others.”

“I’m getting closer to finding out the make and model of the tire impressions. It’s a bit more complicated when I don’t have my lab to work in,” said John.

“I’ll look up background and addresses for both work and home on some of these persons of interest,” said McGaven.

Katie glanced at the time. It was prudent to research before they left. It would allow the snow to melt and perhaps recede from roadways. Turning to McGaven, she said, “Are you okay to go out and conduct surveillance? Maybe even investigate?”

“I’m fine. My chest still hurts once in a while, but really, I’m fine,” he said.

“When you’re done with the searches, I want you to change bandages.”

“Look who’s talking?” he said.

Katie let out a loud breath. “I will change mine too.”

While McGaven and John searched and examined their assignments, Katie decided to take the time to concentrate on the killer who had set out to murder Theresa, TJ, and Natalie.

It looked as though the other nurse and security guard had unfortunately been collateral damage, helping to set the stage and leaving no witnesses.