Her Last Breath: A Kate Burkholder Novel (30 page)

“So we have a pattern.” He pauses, thoughtful. “Even though Paul Borntrager—the likely perpetrator of the discipline—is deceased, I’m bound to notify Children Services. As you know, that will prompt an investigation. A social worker will likely perform an in-home evaluation.”

“As much as I don’t like the idea of putting David through any more emotional trauma, I think that’s our best route. Our only choice at this point.”

“Now that I know about Armitage’s findings, I’ll direct Children Services to the clinic as well. They’ll want to talk to him, of course. They’ll want to know if he has documentation. Some physicians maintain photo or video records.”

“You know they’re going to remove David from the home, don’t you?”

“Temporarily, I’m sure.”

I fall silent, trying to get my head around all of this and how it will affect the case. How it will affect David. And Mattie.

“Kate.” Doc Coblentz says my name gently, as if he already knows the direction of my thoughts. “I know you were close to this family. I just want to say this is not an indictment against the mother. If she’s innocent in all of this, and by all indications she is, Children Services will conduct a psychological evaluation and see to it that she gets some parenting classes or counseling. It’s a win for her and the boy.”

I sigh, unhappily. “I’ll make the call to Children Services,” I tell him. “Tonight.”

“I know it’s not an easy thing, but it’s the right thing to do. The only way either of us will have any peace of mind.”

When I end the call, I’m still ruminating the “peace of mind” comment.

*   *   *

Ten minutes later, I’m back in the Explorer, heading toward the station. Doc Coblentz’s words dog me, running through my head like a ticker tape repeating the same bad news over and over again.…
the vigorous use of a switch is not an acceptable form of discipline for any kid, much less a child with special needs …

I never would have thought of Paul or Mattie as abusive parents. The notion is a weight on my chest I can’t dislodge. I rap my hand against the steering wheel. “Damn you, Mattie. How could you do that to those kids?” I mutter.

I wish I hadn’t pissed off Tomasetti earlier. I’d like to run this by him, get his take on it. I’m thinking about biting the bullet and making the call when I pass by the Hope Clinic. A light in the front window snags my attention, telling me Armitage is still there, working late. I make a quick turn into the lot. There’s no vehicle in front, so I drive slowly to the rear of the building. Sure enough, there’s a silver Lexus parked at the side. I resolve to talk to the doctor first and then make the call to Children Services.

I park head-in against a row of scraggly bushes, walk around to the front of the building, and take the steps to the porch. I knock. Moths and other insects circle the light as I wait. After a moment, I try the door. Surprise ripples through me when the knob turns. Pushing open the door, I step inside. The place is so quiet I can hear the bugs striking the window.

“Hello?” I call out. “Dr. Armitage? It’s Kate Burkholder.”

I walk past the reception desk, peer over the counter. The phones are quiet, the desktop tidy. I go to the door that leads to the rear and push it open. Three of the four exam room doors are closed. The fourth, Armitage’s office, stands open, the light from his banker’s lamp bleeding into the hall. I call out again, but no one responds. I’m midway to his office when I hear the French door open. Smoke break, I think, and continue toward his office.

Armitage startles upon spotting me, nearly dropping the ashtray in his hand, a distinctly feminine yelp escaping him. “Shit, Chief!”

“I didn’t mean to startle you.” I raise my hands. “I was making my rounds and saw the light.”

He lets out a belly laugh. “Just don’t tell anyone I screamed like a girl.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.” If I knew him better, I might have razzed him. Since I don’t, I keep it professional.

“You’re not going to scold me for leaving the door unlocked, are you?” he asks.

“I was thinking about it.”

“You know, when I was working at the clinic in Cleveland, I’d never dream of leaving the front door unlocked, especially at night. Here…” He shakes his head. “I guess I’m getting lax.”

“Well, clinics have become targets of drug thieves in the last few months.” I tell him about a local veterinary hospital that was recently burglarized.

“I do keep some drugs on hand here at the clinic. Sleeping aids. Antianxiety drugs. Samples I’ve received from my pharmaceutical reps.” He shrugs. “Living in a town like Painters Mill … you don’t think about crime like that.”

“Look, Dr. Armitage, I stopped by to follow up on our earlier conversation about the Borntragers.”

“You mean about the children?”

I tell him about the coroner’s discovery of bruises on Norah. “I’m bound to notify Children Services now.”

“I see.” His expression turns troubled. “That’s going to be difficult for Mattie.”

I nod. “Dr. Armitage, do you think Mattie had anything to do with any of those bruises?”

“I talked to both Paul and Mattie during the months I’ve been treating the children. I can tell you right now she isn’t the one who spanked those kids, Chief Burkholder. Paul was the disciplinarian in the family. He doled out the punishment when it came to the kids.”

“The social worker will probably want to talk with you.”

“You know I’ll help in any way I can.” He shakes his head. “I just hate to see this happen to Mattie, especially now that she’s lost Paul.”

“Me, too,” I tell him, meaning it. “But we have to think of David.”

He nods, but his mouth is pulled into a grimace.

“I appreciate your time, Dr. Armitage, especially so late.”

“No problem.” He motions toward the hall. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

He takes me down the hall and through the reception area. At the front door I extend my hand and we shake. “Don’t work too late, Doc.”

“Twenty minutes and I’m out of here.”

I hear the door close as I descend the steps. Flipping on my Maglite, I traverse the lot to where I parked the Explorer. I’m rounding the front end when something metallic glints in the beam of my flashlight. I glance down to see part of a large steel pin lying in the gravel beneath the bushes. I kneel for a closer look. I almost can’t believe my eyes when I see that the pin has been sheared in half.

A tingle of recognition moves through me. “What the hell?”

I’ve seen the other half of that pin. I’ve held it in my hand. Pondered its existence. It’s the missing half of the pin found at the scene of the hit and run. How did it get here?

Tugging an evidence bag from a compartment on my belt, I use it to pick it up. It’s L-shaped, with a cotter pin intact and still in place. I stare at it, trying to make sense of it. But my heart is pounding because my brain has already made the connection. I don’t want to give voice to the thoughts running through my head. Once I unleash that beast I won’t be able to contain it. The last thing I want to do is overreact and make an accusation that can’t be taken back.

But I don’t have the luxury of sticking my head in the sand. It’s possible the driver of the truck that hit the Borntrager buggy, for whatever reason, pulled into this lot the night of the murders, perhaps to hide. It’s possible that the pin, having been somehow loosened during the impact, fell out and landed here in the gravel.

I look around, my eyes gravitating to the old barn and detached garage. Both buildings were originally part of the farm before the house was donated to the clinic. I don’t know if Ronald Hope retained ownership, intending to use them to park his tractor and farm implements or if they’re now part of the clinic. The one thing I do know is that either building would be the perfect place to stash a vehicle you didn’t want found.

I glance right to see the slant of light coming from the French doors of Armitage’s office. He told me he would be working another twenty minutes. Enough time for me to move the Explorer and have a quick look-see in those outbuildings.

Tossing the evidence bag onto the passenger seat, I start the engine, back out of my parking space, and make a right onto the street. Twenty yards down I find a two-track entrance to a hay field that’s shrouded by trees. I pull in and cut the engine. Grabbing my Maglite, I slide out and, sticking to the shadows cast by the trees that grow alongside the road, I backtrack to the clinic.

Once again in the rear lot, keeping an eye on the French doors, I jog to the nearest outbuilding, which is a dilapidated two-car garage. The area is overgrown with weeds and scraggly young trees that have sprouted through the gravel. I stop at the window, set my Maglite against the glass, and peer inside. I see two rusty fifty-gallon drums. An old rotary push mower. A workbench that runs along the wall to my right. Rotting peg-board that hangs at a cockeyed angle. No vehicle in sight, so I start toward the barn.

The massive wood structure was once painted red, but the years and elements have faded it to the color of old blood. Much of the siding has rotted and fallen away. The window glass is long gone. To the right of the barn, an old wood gate has fallen onto its side. I can see where a horse once cribbed at the top rail and gnawed it nearly through. I’m surprised to see evidence that a vehicle has been back here, the grass crushed beneath tires, and I wonder who would be driving around here and why.

It takes a good bit of effort to shove open the massive sliding door, but I take the time to close it behind me. Inside, I flick on my Maglite. Dust motes fly in the beam. The interior smells of dust, moldy hay, and rotting wood. Part of the loft has caved in and boards are scattered about the dirt floor. Above me a startled pigeon takes flight, sending a shower of dried bird shit to the ground. I look up, see the stars through the hit-or-miss boards of the roof. I can hear bats squeaking from the rafters.

I step over a pile of wood, bent nails sticking out like rusty claws. My beam illuminates falling-down stalls, the wooden rails broken and lying on the floor in heaps. Cobwebs cover every surface. I fan the beam in a three-hundred-sixty-degree circle. That’s when I spot the newish-looking silver tarp in the corner. Threading my way around the fallen boards and other debris, I make my way toward it.

I suspect there’s an antique vehicle under the tarp. Maybe a vintage car or farming implement. After my
mamm
passed away, my siblings and I sold an antique manure spreader for five hundred dollars to one of the tourist shops in town. It sits on the front lawn of the shop to this day.

From ten feet away, I see newish rubber tires peeking out from beneath the tarp. I reach for the corner and pull it off. Dust billows in the beam of my flashlight. I barely notice as the gray Ford F-250 looms into view.

CHAPTER 22

I’m so stunned by the sight of the truck, I take a step back. I run my beam along the side of the vehicle. It’s an older model, but not vintage. Late nineties, maybe. Then I’m around the hood, my eyes seeking out the grille. Something twists in my chest when I spot the snow blade affixed to the front end. The slab of steel where the bumper should be.

“Oh my God.” In the silence of the barn, my voice is wispy and high.

I kneel for a closer look. A sound escapes me when I see black paint on the blade.
Buggy paint.
There’s no doubt in my mind that this is the vehicle that hit the Borntrager buggy.

“Son of a bitch.” I hit my lapel mike. “Six two three.”

“Go ahead,” comes Mona’s voice on the other end.

I hear a sound behind me. I spin and catch a glimpse of someone standing there. A burst of adrenaline sends me scrambling back. Simultaneously, I reach for my revolver, yank it out. Before I can bring it up, something slams into the left side of my head.

White light explodes behind my eyes. Pain streaks from my temple to my chin. I careen sideways, lose my balance. My shoulder hits the floor. My head bounces against the hard-packed dirt. Stars fly in the periphery of my vision, but I don’t let go of my weapon. Disoriented, I roll, blink to clear my vision, bring up the .38.

The second blow comes down on the crown of my head. The impact snaps my teeth together. I hear my scalp tear. My vision dims. The next thing I know I’m laid out on the floor, looking up at the rafters. I don’t know how much time has passed. I have no idea if I’m injured. The one thing I do know is that I screwed up and it’s probably going to cost me my life.

Dr. Michael Armitage stands over me, my .38 in his right hand, my flashlight in his left. He’s red-faced and sweating profusely. His hair is mussed and pasted to his forehead. But a cold calm resides in his eyes. The transformation from mild-mannered doctor to violent thug stands in such stark contrast that I almost can’t believe my eyes.

I taste blood, feel it pooling in the back of my throat, and turn my head to spit. I start to sit up, but he jabs the gun at me. “Stay down. Don’t get up.”

I lie on my back, look up at him. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Everything I swore I wouldn’t.” He uses the muzzle of the gun to tap on his temple, one side of his mouth curving into a smile. “That happens when we don’t exercise our best judgment, doesn’t it?”

“I’m a cop.” I intended the words as a reminder that he can’t do this to a police officer and get away with it. But my voice is little more than the chirp of a baby bird.

“I know what you are.”

“You can’t do this. You won’t get away with it.”

“I guess we’ll see about that, won’t we?”

I can tell by the way he’s holding my weapon that he’s not proficient with a firearm. He’s high on adrenaline. His hands are shaking. But his finger is inside the guard, snug against the trigger. That’s the thing about revolvers; they’re idiot proof. Proficient or not, he’s close enough so that he could easily get off a lucky shot.

There’s still a chance I can regain control of the situation and end it before anyone gets hurt. But it’s not going to be easy.

“It’s not too late to stop this right now,” I say quietly.

“So if I let you up, we can just shake hands and forget about all of this and be best friends again?” He barks out a laugh. “Please. You insult my intelligence.”