Page 52 of Three Girls Gone (Detective Amanda Steele #14)

FORTY-FIVE

Amanda jolted awake, screaming. She was back in the river, everything dark and closing in on her.

She greedily gasped for air, fearing her next inhale would suck in water.

But it didn’t. She was no longer frozen and submersed.

Rather, she was somewhere bright and sterile.

She then noticed a tube going into the back of her hand and other lines running from under the sleeve of a hospital gown to a heart monitor.

She scanned the room. Another bed was across from her, but it was empty. Same too for a chair next to her bed.

“She just woke up.” Trent came hustling into the room with a doctor at his heels.

“Well, hello, there.” The doctor came over to her, eyes full of concern, his stethoscope dangling around his neck. At least it wasn’t Dr.Paulsen with her looking the frightening way she must. Such a ridiculous concern to have right now…

Amanda watched as Trent walked to the other side of the bed. She reached out for his hand, and he took hers and squeezed it. She was safe.

The doctor cleared his throat. “How are you feeling, Amanda? ”

She rolled her head to face him. “Ah, I’m—” She stopped talking, finding that her throat was sore. She tapped it.

“A sore throat and lungs are normal after the ordeal you suffered. Now, if you bear with me, I’m just going to check you over.

” The doctor checked her vitals and put a small flashlight on her eyes.

When he finished, he smiled as he pocketed it.

“You should be just fine. Nothing a little bed rest can’t fix. ”

“Can’t I leave? I don’t have time to… just lie here.” Her body was working against her. It felt like she was chewing glass to talk right now.

“Yes, but you’re going to.” The doctor gave her a tight smile. “Bed rest,” he reiterated and left.

Trent turned on her. “ Can’t I just leave? Now I know the lack of oxygen has affected your brain. You could have died.”

She felt his concern, heard it in his voice.

“But I didn’t.” Images flashed of Trent hovering over her, of him leaning down and…

The focus was hazy, but now she remembered coughing up water.

“You’re why I’m alive. You gave me CPR.” It sank in that meant his mouth would have been on her mouth.

Her cheeks heated, and she let go of his hand. “I’m sorry about…”

“No worries, and as for the CPR, it’s nothing you wouldn’t have done for me.”

“True, but still—” A violent coughing spell wracked her, and the burning in her lungs intensified.

“Just take it easy.”

“Just tell me we got Wilcox.”

“We did.”

She held eye contact, hoping he’d read her mind and continue talking. It would save her throat and her energy.

“Right, so Eloise screamed first, then Wilcox. I arrived first and found Eloise soaking wet and sitting on the edge of the river shivering and crying. Then I saw Wilcox in the moonlight. He was holding you under the…” Trent turned away for a second. “Yeah, well, it worked out. ”

“Keep going.”

“I went in after him. It turned out holding on to you and fending me off was a lot for him. But once I hit him in the head with the butt of my gun, he relented.”

He went in that cold water to save my life… “You could have just shot him from the shore and saved the court time and money.” Saying all of that in one go made her throat feel like it was bleeding, but to hell with it. She had powerful feelings on the matter.

“Not at the risk of somehow hitting you. No way.”

He didn’t just administer CPR. He had been her White Knight. Her insides flushed with heat and softened.

“By then, other officers had shown up and Wilcox was apprehended. Paramedics tended to Eloise.”

“And is she going to be okay? Was she…” Amanda swallowed roughly.

“She’s receiving treatment down the hall and will be reunited with her parents. Paramedics said she will be fine. As for the other thing, the question you don’t want to verbalize. Thankfully, the answer to that is no sexual assault.”

Breathing became easier. Amanda had assumed the worst when she saw the girl’s unicorn pajamas in that room. But what had prevented Wilcox from violating the child? Had he grown a bit of a conscience? Yet he was still willing to kill the girl.

“Eloise was in Hailey’s clothes, though.”

“And the other children’s clothing in that closet. Do we think he abused other girls?”

“There’s nothing to point us at any other victims. It turns out the clothing was brand new.”

She nodded, and her head spun.

“I should leave so you can rest.”

“No, not yet, please. What else have you found out? You didn’t speak with Wilcox without me, I hope.”

“He’s been charged, but I haven’t spoken to him.

I thought you had earned the honors. Far as I’m concerned the waiting will do him good.

But in answer to your question, there are a couple of updates I can share.

I tracked down the owner of the scarf pulled from Hailey Tanner’s body.

It turned out it belonged to Travis Giles’s former tenant.

I reached out to this woman, and she confirmed she had a scarf just like that one and hadn’t seen it in a while, said she must have left it behind when she moved out in August. It makes more sense why Travis Giles was eager to take Wilcox’s cash and not worry about checking out his references.

The property has just been sitting there for months.

But burying his active number in there was one way that Wilcox really messed up. ”

“Glad he did.” She touched her burning throat.

“I should leave.”

“No, please. Keep talking.”

“Let’s see. As you know, the entire rental house was searched. What you don’t know is that CSI Blair found a printer which is a match for the toner used for the notes. She also recovered his laptop. His internet history showed that he stalked Katherine online.”

“That’s how he knew where she moved and where to go. Why he made himself a customer of the diner… All to get close to her and keep tabs on her. But speaking of all this, do we have any idea how he got here? We know he rented the car in town. Did he have another rental before the Kia?”

Trent shook his head. “Don’t know, and I’m not sure it even matters. He probably used cash to get himself to Woodbridge.”

“Anything else or…?”

“Oh, one thing. CSI Blair confirmed the apron from the Scoop has DNA that matches Wilcox.”

“One more victory.”

“All right. I should go. You need to rest. Everyone is worried about you though. Most of your family is in the waiting room, along with several officers from the PWCPD.”

The thought of visiting with everyone was overwhelming, but for one person. “Is Zoe out there?”

He shook his head. “She’s at your house with your mom. Everyone thought it was best she didn’t see you like this. Guess your mom made it sound like she could play hooky from school.”

Amanda’s head was pounding. “School? What day is this?” He’d told her it was the next day, but her brain was too foggy to assign a reference point and get the answer.

“Thursday.”

With that, flashes of the ordeal she’d suffered rushed through her mind. All the water, the bubbles, the thrashing, the hunger for air. Her lungs were still on fire. The recollections washed over her and wiped her out. She couldn’t think about facing anyone right now.

The next thing she remembered was Trent’s voice, sounding like it came from the other side of the world. “I’ll leave you to sleep.”