Earthcrack: A Lin Hanna Mystery (39 page)

She settled herself in the bed to wait
for her breakfast, which arrived shortly.

The nurse looked around the room and
noticed the bathroom door that stood ajar.
 

“You’ve been up,” she scolded, “Let me
check that IV, you may have dislodged your port!”

Lin didn’t try to defend herself but
submitted silently to having her IV checked.
 
Nothing was amiss but the nurse wasn’t
happy as she left the room.

It was difficult to eat with only a left
hand, and that tethered to an IV line, but Lin managed to drink some juice and
milk.
 
Her efforts with the cereal
and fruit were less successful.
 
She
really wasn’t very hungry anyway.

Soon a young aide came in to bathe her
and refresh her bed linens.
 
Settled
against clean sheets and pillows with a fresh hospital gown, Lin began to feel
somewhat better, at least physically.
  
She tried hard to remember details of the attack but they still eluded
her.
 
She could only remember the
harsh words, the wrenching pain, and the weight of her assailant pushing her
into the door.
 
Maybe it was the
meds and maybe just the overall stress and frustration she felt, but Lin felt
tears well in her eyes.
 
Why was she
not able to control this crying?

She was still crying, albeit quietly when
Sue came into the room.

“What’s wrong!” she exclaimed when she
saw Lin’s tear stained face, “ should I call the nurse?”

“No, don’t, I’m much better this morning,
really—just frustrated at being so helpless.”

“It may be the meds working on you, but
you have to also remember that you experienced a very violent assault
yesterday.
 
That would shake up
anyone!” Sue responded.

“If you feel up to it, I’ll sit you up in
the chair here.
 
Maybe getting out
of that bed for awhile would help.” Sue offered.

“I’ve been up once already,” Lin
bragged.
 
“I think I wasn’t supposed
to do that.”

“We’ll be careful and I’m here to help.”
Sue helped Lin to sit on the edge of the bed again and then gently led her, IV
pole and all to the high backed recliner where she had spent the night.
 
Lin felt chilly and welcomed the warm
blanket tucked around her legs.
 
Sitting up did make her feel better.

Lin had barely gotten settled in the
chair when she looked up to see Neal Smith standing in the doorway.
 
His face appeared gaunt and drawn as if
he hadn’t slept much at all.

Seeing that Neal had arrived, Sue quietly
slipped out of the room, murmuring something about going to find some coffee.

Neal stood near the door for a moment,
saying nothing, but his eyes reflected the hurt and caring he felt.
 
He crossed the room and pulled the other
chair—a smaller straight chair—up as close as he could to Lin’s
side.
 
He reached out and gently
touched her left hand—carefully avoiding her IV.

“ I am so sorry, Lin.
 
I feel so bad about this,” his voice
reflected his anxiety

“ Unless you were the guy who wrenched my
arm and shoved me into that door, you have nothing to apologize for,” Lin
managed to smile.

“But somehow, I think I should’ve been
able to do something to prevent this mess,” Neal shook his head, “Maybe if I
had never tried to help Cullen—had never been so greedy myself—this
entire situation would never have developed.”

“Don’t go down that path, Neal.”
 
Lin was serious, “ it does no good.
 
We can’t change anything in the past and
I seriously doubt that your decisions were the only ones that led to any of
this—life just isn’t that simple!
 
All we can do is live in the present and do the best we can.”
 
Lin carefully lifted her left hand and
stroked Neal’s face.
 
There were
tears in his eyes.

“I haven’t done my best—not for a
long time I’m afraid—but I’m going to do something about that—today,”
Neal placed a hand gently on her bandaged shoulder and leaned toward her,
lifting her chin with his other hand.
 
His eyes met hers with warmth and tenderness.
 
His lips were ever so gentle on
hers.
 
He tenderly traced the scrape
on her cheek.

“I have to go, now,” he said, “but I’ll
be back tonight.”

“I may not be here,” Lin said hopefully. “I
hope Dr. Barnes will release me today—I’ll be staying at Walnut Canyon
with Sue for the time being, I suppose.”

“I’ll call later then,” Neal said, “but I
will try to see you tonight—if you feel up to it.”

When he had gone, Lin sat back and
thought about what he’d said.
 
She
wondered what he planned to do today and hoped that, whatever he did, it would
be what was right for him.

By the time Sue returned to the room with
two steaming cups of fresh Starbucks coffee from the lounge downstairs, Lin was
more than ready to get back into the bed.
 
It wasn’t long before she drifted off into a peaceful nap while Sue sat
down to read.
 
As she drifted off,
Lin realized she hadn’t drunk her coffee—oh well, she thought sleepily—I
probably should avoid caffeine anyway.

Dr. Barnes arrived shortly before
noon.
 
He carefully examined her—gently
probing her head wound and the scrape on her cheek.
 
He asked about her pain, checked her
eyes and reflexes and then sat down in the straight chair—pulling it
close to the side of the bed.

“You are a very lucky lady,” he shook his
head as he spoke. “You have a mild concussion and your shoulder is pretty much
a mess but it could’ve been much worse!
 
You have no broken bones—the tendons in the shoulder are stretched
and torn but still—no broken bones.
 
I can’t promise that you won’t need some shoulder surgery later but, for
now, I think we should just keep it immobilized and give it time to heal on its
own.”

“Does it have to be taped so tightly,”
Lin asked.

I’d like to leave it taped for at least
24 more hours—then we might try a sling—it will have to be strapped
down though—you mustn’t move it.
 
I’m going to discharge you since you have someone to help you,” He
smiled appreciatively at Sue, “ I’ll leave some prescriptions at the desk—including
something for pain.
 
I noticed that
you refused that this morning.
 
That’s
ok—but if the Tylenol doesn’t work, you’ll have a prescription.
 
I’ll see you in my office tomorrow
morning to check that shoulder.”

Sue had had the foresight to bring Lin
some fresh clothing—just in case.
 
As soon as the IV was removed, Lin found that she could manage fairly
well with her left hand—and a bit of help.
 
She was soon ready to leave but Sue
suggested that they stop by to check on Sophie’s Dad before they headed home.

The elderly man was actually doing pretty
well.
 
Sophie told them that he
would probably be discharged to a rehab center near the hospital over the
weekend.
 
Her mother would remain in
Flagstaff at the Taylor House for the time being so that she could be close to
him; Sophie planned to take Michael back home to the reservation.
 
A friend was coming to drive them back
tomorrow.

“One of the conditions of his release is
that he go back to school,” Sophie reported, “He and Teddy are not going to be
charged with murder—but there still may be some charges coming related to
the things they were doing for Raymond Tso.
 
Actually, I think he’s excited about
going back to school.”

Lin smiled, “ I’m sure he’ll do well and
I expect that his age and situation will be taken into account when it comes to
possible charges.”

Sophie seemed relieved that her son’s
ordeal—at least the worst part—was over.
 
She expressed concern about what had
happened to Lin.
 
Her own bruises
were healing well but her father faced a long ordeal of rehabilitation.
 
“Now you,” she sighed, “what’s next!”

“Hopefully, this will all be over soon,”
Lin tried to reassure Sophie, “Tso is in jail and two of his men have been
arrested also.
 
The fellow who
attacked me should be picked up soon.”
 
Lin certainly hoped this was all true.

It felt good to be back at Sue’s
apartment.
 
Lin was resting
comfortably seated in an easy chair with her feet propped on an ottoman.
 
A soft pillow placed beside her injured
shoulder provided support.
 
Sue
bustled about in the kitchen and soon appeared with a tray full of food that
she placed on a table close to Lin’s left hand.
 
The savory aroma from the cup of warm
soup alerted Lin to the fact that she hadn’t really eaten since the previous
day’s breakfast.
 
She felt ravenous.

 
Sue had made things easy to be handled
with one hand—soup in a cup, sandwich cut in half, and a huge chocolate
chip cookie which she had managed to salvage from the ruins of the dinner
purchased at Wildflowers. Lin ate every crumb.

When Sue had cleared away the tray, she
went back to the bedroom to change into her volunteer uniform.
 
She was scheduled to work a partial
shift that afternoon.

“I can beg off if you need me to stay
with you,” she offered, “ Mike, my supervisor, said that would be ok.
 
I could take whatever time I need for
you.”

“No, no,” Lin insisted, “ I’m mobile and
I’m feeling pretty good actually.
 
I
hurt but it’s not unbearable and I have my Tylenol if I need it!
 
Please go ahead.”

“Billy Taylor called and said he was
coming back to talk to you this afternoon.
 
Can you manage getting up to go to the door or should I ask him to come
to the visitor center first to get a key?”
 
Sue questioned.

“I’m fine, I can manage.”
 
Lin pointed to the hiking stick that Sue
had placed beside the chair, “With this I can manage just fine.
 
Go ahead and don’t be late.”

After Sue left, Lin felt sleepy so she
carefully moved from the chair to Sue’s sofa where she stretched out for a
nap.
 
She awoke to a knock on the
door and Billy Taylor’s greeting, “You OK in there?”

“I’m coming, I fell asleep—be there
in a minute,” Lin replied.
 
She
carefully got up with the aid of the hiking stick and made her way to the front
door.

“Hey, you look a lot better than you did
last night!” Billy seemed surprised. “Of course hospital wear is not especially
flattering,” he laughed.

“I’m doing fine,” Lin told him, “ still
pretty sore but even the pain is subsiding.
 
My head is still muddled though—for
the life of me, I can’t remember much about the attack or my assailant.
 
There is some detail nagging at the
corner of my mind that I keep struggling to remember—maybe it’s important—but
it just isn’t there!
 
I really can’t
add anything to my earlier recollections at this point.”

“Try not to worry about it.
 
Just relax.
 
You do have a mild concussion and that
is probably affecting your recall.
 
It will come—with time.
 
Meanwhile, the tribal police are questioning all of Raymond Tso’s close
associates and they are looking for that blue SUV.
 
I feel certain they’ll have this guy
soon.
 
In any case, everyone up
there should be aware by now that Tso is in custody so I doubt any of his
cohort would act against anyone at this point.
 
They can be sure they would be
caught!
 
The man did have a lot of
connections though.
 
His loan
business had teeth into a lot of folks on the Rez.
 
Still, I think you should be quite safe
here, with Sue.

“I want to get back to Wupatki as soon as
possible,” Lin responded, “I know that Danielle is managing but she could use
more help and I could at least answer phones and run the cash register—stuff
like that.
 
Maybe I’ll come back
after I see Dr. Barnes in the morning.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard,” Billy
warned. “Wupatki will still be there and Danielle and Toby can manage.
 
Besides, I think the SCA volunteers
arrive next week also.”

Reminding Lin to call him if she began to
remember more about the attack, Billy soon took his leave.
 
Lin passed the remainder of the
afternoon reading and napping.
 

Neal had promised he would call but as
five o’clock approached she still had heard nothing from him.
 
She tried not to think about him—but
his worried face kept reappearing in her mind.
 
She was worried about him also—about
what he was going to do and what would happen to him—and to their
relationship.

It was time for more meds.
 
So far the Tylenol was holding her pain
down to a dull ache.
 
She was
grateful for that as the stronger stuff made her already impaired memory even
fuzzier.
 
Lin made her way to the
kitchen where she poured herself a tall glass of soda to wash down the
pills.
 
She then settled herself on
the sofa to try to read but she soon fell asleep again.

It was already dusk when she awoke.
 
Sue was stirring in the kitchen and some
delightful smells were drifting Lin’s way—she realized she was hungry
again.

She glanced at the clock—almost six
and still no call.

“What’s cooking?” she called to Sue.

“My famous homemade lasagna.” Sue
replied, “I bought ingredients earlier this week but haven’t had time to make
it until now.
 
It should be ready in
about half an hour.”
 
Sue came into
the living room.
 
“Sleep well? You
were really sawing logs when I got home.”

“Really,” Lin replied,
 
“guess my body is trying hard to mend
itself.
 
I must admit I’m feeling
much better with all the rest I’ve had today.
 
I think I could go home tomorrow—after
I see Dr. Barnes, of course.”

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea….”
Sue started to admonish Lin but then thought better of it, “ …but maybe—just
see what he says.
 
By the way, Neal
called the visitor center this afternoon.
 
He had tried to call your cell—guess the signal was not good—sometimes
it’s fine here but then…”

“What did he say?
 
Is he coming over?”
 
Lin was surprised at her own eagerness
to see him.

“ No,” Sue replied, “he said to tell you
that he wanted to come but he was still tied up with some sort of business in
town and thought he would be until later this evening.”
 
Sue hesitated, “He didn’t say, but maybe
it relates to his dealings with Cullen and John Sessions last year—the
stuff he told you about.
 
The stuff
you promised not to tell the authorities.”

“Don’t worry,” Sue added, “ I’ve not
spoken to anyone but you about any of this and you can trust me to keep your
confidence.
 
I’m a reporter, remember—confidential
informants and all that!”

“Oh, I do trust you Sue,” Lin hastened to
say. “Maybe he’s getting some advice from someone—some help in knowing
what he should do but I don’t know.
 
Guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

“Well, anyway, he said he’d meet the two
of us for breakfast at Brandy’s tomorrow at eight.
  
Apparently he lives near there and
I knew we would not mind eating there again.”
 
Sue smiled. “Besides, Dr. Barnes’ office
is less than 3 blocks away from there.
 
He’s in the Professional Building adjacent to the hospital.”

After dinner, Sue cleared away their
dishes and washed everything up.
 
Lin felt bad that she couldn’t help.
 
She did manage to pick up scattered
items that surrounded her “nest” on the sofa and tidy up the living room a bit.

In a few moments, Sue returned with cups
of freshly brewed coffee.
 
Lin chose
to sit in the chair where she could place her cup on the table that was
there.
 
It was within easy reach of
her left hand.

“Maybe some caffeine will help clear my
head,” Lin suggested. “ I’m not on any strong pain killers but I’m still so ‘foggy’
about the attack.
 
I keep thinking
there is some significant detail I should be able to remember—but I can’t
seem to shake it loose.”
 
She took a
long sip of the savory brew.

“If it won’t bother you, I could try a
technique we reporters sometimes use when we are interviewing those who have
experienced a traumatic event.
 
We
have them close their eyes and then guide them in talking through things step
by step—reliving the experience so to speak—but, if that would
bother you, let’s not do it.
 
Your
memory will probably return in a few days anyway.
 
It’s common to be fuzzy with a
concussion—even a mild one.”
 
Sue had seated herself on the sofa across from Lin.

“Let’s try,” Lin replied, “I do want to
remember and we can always stop if I begin to feel uneasy.”
 
She settled back comfortably in the
chair, leaning into the pillow that supported her shoulder, and closed her
eyes.

Step by step Sue began to lead her
through events following her departure from the sheriff’s office the previous
day.
 
After a few initial questions,
Lin was describing things on her own with Sue simply asking, “What happened
next?” when she paused in her account.
 

Lin could initially describe her activities
clearly and easily—leaving Billy’s office, going to Wildflowers, what she
ordered, etc.—but, as she approached the account of the attack, she
became fuzzier.
 
She described
getting out of the car with her hands full and then having to place the bags of
food on the stoop to retrieve the key.
 
She remembered being grabbed, the twisting of her arm, being pushed into
the metal numbers on the front door, the harsh warning whispered in her ear--there
was something else, something she felt, she struggled for memory…

Sue’s quiet voice broke in, “ Your
attacker whispered in your ear, his face had to be close to yours—did you
smell anything unusual, feel anything?”

“That’s it!”
 
Lin cried out, “something I felt—his
face was rough against my ear and neck—rough and scratchy.
 
He had a beard…or at least a lot of
stubble!
 
That’s what I felt—rough
stubble on his face!”
 
Lin felt
relief at having jogged that bit of information from her memory.
 
She felt sure that was the piece which had
been eluding her, but why did she feel that was so significant?

“That’s what I have been trying to
remember, I feel certain,” Lin remarked, “but the funny thing is, I’m not sure
why I think that’s important.”

Sue sat quietly for a moment before
speaking. “ I think I may know why,” she said, “didn’t Deputy Taylor say they
were questioning men who were known as close associates of Raymond Tso on the
reservation?”

“Yes, he did, but how does that relate to
what I recalled?”
 
Lin asked.

“ Well, most Native-American men have
very light facial hair—you will rarely see a Navajo with any semblance of
a beard or even a moustache.” Sue exclaimed. “That means your attacker was
likely not native—or at least not full bloodied. That could be
meaningful.”

“Maybe,” Lin said. “I’ll certainly try to
talk to Billy tomorrow and tell him what I recall now.”

Lin was surprised at how tired she was
after all the napping she had done but she decided to go to bed early.
 
Sue found some extra pillows for her to
use to prop against her arm and shoulder and she took a couple of Tylenol to
help ensure she would sleep comfortably.
 
She drifted off pretty quickly but her last thoughts were—“if my
attacker wasn’t native—then who was he?”

***

Sue came in to wake Lin up at six-thirty
so she would have plenty of time to wash up and get ready.
 
Lin didn’t attempt the shower with her
strapped up arm but she did manage a thorough sponge bath.
 
Finding a shirt to fit over her shoulder
was a bit of a problem.
 
She had
worn an oversized tee shirt belonging to Sue the previous day and she had to
borrow a loose fitting sweatshirt this morning.
 
She looked a little odd with the loose
hanging empty sleeve but it was the best she could manage.
 
It would probably be a bit warm later on,
but it was fine for the cool morning hours.

“After your appointment we may have to
make a trip to Wal-Mart,” Sue ventured.
 
“I had shoulder surgery years ago—messed up my rotator cuff
skiing.
 
Loose tee shirts or tunics
are the best way to go—at least until you are told you can move the arm a
bit.”