Authors: Samantha Lovern
Carlos, the man in the back of her wagon, had been carrying two guns and a pocket full of change, but no wallet. The man was dressed well, right down to his shoes. She knew the type. She’d seen many of them pass through the doors of the hospital, but most of the time, they were sporting gunshot wounds, not injuries they’d sustained from an early-morning plane crash.
“Hang on, Maggie. I’m taking the turn into the parking lot.”
“I got a grip. I’ll start getting the gurney ready; count off as you pull into the parking lot. You’ve heard me talk about it.”
“Okay, we’re almost there. Three . . . Two . . .One.”
Fran slowed down and seconds later two male nurses came out, opened up the tailgate, and as she climbed out they were pushing the man inside. Fran patted Maggie on the back. “You can have that job. I’m going inside where I belong.”
“Sure thing.” Maggie jumped in the beach buggy and pulled alongside Fran. “You could always try your hand at driving.”
“No, thanks. You can go back to Stanley.”
“I think he’s off today. If we get a call, I can take Hunter out.”
“You trust his driving!” Fran yelled as she came to the ER entrance.
“I’m ready to meet my maker, if need be.”
Fran laughed as she walked through the doors. “I am too, but that doesn’t mean I go looking for trouble.”
Fran walked down the hall, following the young crash victim into one of the ER rooms. She hurried scrubbing up, and a minute later, she was busy collecting the man’s personal items.
Once they were all in a bag, she handed them to another nurse. “There’s a gold bracelet that says in case of accident contact Mrs. Carlos Santora. Call her ASAP. I didn’t see a wallet, but you can look again and see what I missed.”
“Yes Ma’am.” The nurse answered.
The usual tests would be run, and Fran started getting Carlos Santora’s IV ready. She guessed they’d order him a CT scan and an x-ray.
Fran noticed the man wore no wedding band, not even a hint of a tan line on his finger, but if the gold chain was right this one was married. She looked down at the man, tilting her head. “Why are all the handsome men trouble makers?”
“They’re not.”
Fran shook her head, but didn’t look up as their local Dr. McDreamy walked in. “I’m not a trouble maker,” he said.
“Do you practice in plastic surgery too? Because I’ll bet your nose will grow if you repeat that line.” Fran turned, smiling at the good doctor.
“What’s a little trouble between friends?” Dr. Russell flashed a smile and began looking over his patient. “Would you like to assist me in giving this young man a few stitches?”
“I suppose I could do that.”
“Don’t do me any favors,” he teased.
“No worries there.” Fran flashed her own fake smile back at the doctor. He’d been hitting on her for months. She’d not given in, though she was tempted. Dr. Russell dated too many women to suit her. She wanted someone who was planning on dating her, and her alone.
She’d kept her distance and admired him from afar. She dared not give him even a hint that she was attracted to him; if so, it would be on. The man’s brown hair and deep brown eyes made him very attractive, but the way he flirted with everything in a skirt kept her from doing more than looking.
They worked closely while giving the young man several stitches; Fran glanced up and spoke. “He’ll appreciate that you managed to do this without shaving any of his wavy locks.”
“I know how important a man’s looks are. Besides, I’d hate for his wife to sue me for ruining the looks of her husband.”
“Well, whatever the reason, job well done.”
“A compliment from you? Fran, are you softening up?”
“Not so you’d notice.”
Max moved in, bending over his patient for the last stitch, brushing his shoulder against Fran’s arm. She knew it was intentional and when he straightened for a moment, they were close. He let his eyes linger a moment, and then he smiled. “I’ll let you clean him up. Care to join me for a cup of coffee?”
“I better not. I need to go clock in.”
“I’ll let you speak to his wife; she’s on her way down.”
“What makes you think I want to do that?”
“Now, Fran. I know how your brain works. I bet you have this man picked out to be some gun dealer, or drug pusher. I just figured you’d like to meet her. If not, I can find someone else to share a cup of coffee with.”
“I think that’s blackmail.” Fran kept her back turned to the good doctor and busied herself with washing away the blood from her patient’s head. She felt Dr. Russell close behind her, felt his warm breath on her neck.
“Call it what you like. Are you game, or not?”
Fran paused. “I’ll meet you in the cafeteria in ten minutes.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
When Max left the room, Fran let out a long sigh. She should have just told him no, but he was right. He knew her like a book, and she wanted to meet the wife.
She’d wanted to go into law enforcement, but felt her talents would be better spent in nursing. She couldn’t hold a gun on another human being and pull the trigger.
The yearning to solve cases and find clues hadn’t left. She took one last look at the young man. “Carlos, I’ll get to the bottom of this, one way or the other. You can bet your Armani shoes on that.”
Chapter 3
Spring Break
“Don’t you think it’s time you got out of bed? I know you’re on spring break, but you never sleep this late.”
Antonio heard his mother calling from downstairs. He sat up, squinting, trying to come out of a deep sleep. He glanced over at his clock. It was ten a.m. His mom was being nice because of the fight. Most of the time, she called for him at the crack of dawn. Antonio rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his coal-black hair as he hurried down the stairs.
“I’m coming,” he called, as he half-slid down the rail. His mom was trying to forget last night; he could do the same. He smiled as he met her gaze. “I’m awake if you need to go to work. I can watch the twins.”
“I might take you up on that offer. Why did you stay in bed so long?”
“I didn’t sleep good.”
“Well, come on. The twins just walked out the door. I don’t have to go in for a couple of hours. All kinds of people are out on the beach. A plane crashed. Let’s go take a peek.”
“Do you think we should? We might get in the way.”
“Since when do you care about things like that? Come on, I don’t want Tommie or Tina to get too much of a head start.”
“Okay, I’m coming.” Antonio paused, grabbing a hat and a pair of sunglasses before he walked out the door. He didn’t think the shadow had seen him, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
As they walked toward the beach, they could see that most of the crowd had thinned out. “Not much to see,” and “they won’t let you get very close,” a couple called out as they passed by.
Antonio looked at his mother, hoping she’d turn back, but she paid the people no mind. They walked along in silence until Antonio noticed the police vehicles. “I wonder if they took the man to
your
hospital?”
“What man?”
Antonio fumbled for words. “Uh . . . I guessed it would be a man . . . in the plane. Maybe it’s a woman.” He looked ahead, thinking he’d have to be more careful.
“I guess they would have taken them to Mercy. It all depends on which ambulance got here first.”
“Maybe you’ll hear what happened when you go into work.”
“I might.” Rosa smiled. “For someone who didn’t want to come out and look, you’re becoming very interested in what happened.”
“I know. I just hope he . . . whoever was in the plane is all right.”
“I’ll see what I can find out.”
Antonio nodded as he pressed his lips shut to be sure and not say anything else. He walked along, kicking a rock, until they came to the yellow tape. There were several officers walking around, looking at the scene.
They didn’t seem to be in a rush, and Antonio began to calm when he didn’t spot the man from the crash in the crowd. He’d more than likely be long gone by now, not wasting his time hanging around the site of the crash.
Antonio glanced at one of the cops that was checking out his mom, and his brow furrowed. He knew his mom was pretty, but why did every man who passed by have to acknowledge the fact by staring or smiling.
The man walked by, stealing glances, and Antonio noticed that his mother was looking back. He wanted to say something, but he knew better. She was the adult and the slap she gave him told him that she would do as she pleased.
One of these days, maybe when he turned eighteen, he’d show her. He might even take his brother and sister and move in with grandma. She’d feel bad then, about all the men she’d brought home.
Antonio crossed his arms and gave the cop a dirty look when he looked back once more. It didn’t seem to do any good, and before he knew it, the man was walking over.
The man made his way, passing through the crowd, asking if anyone had seen anything. Antonio wanted to step back and leave, but he didn’t. The officer was wearing his badge on his belt, and his shoulder holster made him look intimidating.
“Miss, I’m asking folks if they’ve seen anything this morning that could be helpful.”
“We don’t live far from here, but no, we didn’t see anything.” Rosa looked at Antonio, and he only shrugged. “I’m a nurse. I would have come running if I’d heard the crash.”
“A nurse.” The officer repeated, looking back at the plane as if thinking. “I wonder if I could get you to take a look at something, if you don’t mind.”
Antonio rolled his eyes as the officer flashed his mom a smile. The man didn’t want her to look at anything; he wanted to get her phone number. Maybe he wanted to ask her out. Of course, his mother would accept.
“I don’t mind. I’m not sure if I can help.”
“We’ll see.” The officer raised the yellow tape, and the four of them walked under. Tina and Tommie followed dutifully behind their mother, and Antonio walked behind.
“Hey Stella, come over here and show these nice kids your beach cruiser.”
“Sure thing, Patrick.”
“You don’t mind . . . do you? The plane’s a mess. I don’t want the young ones to see it.”
“That’s fine. Kids, behave.”
Antonio wanted to say, ‘what about me,’ but as usual, he didn’t speak, and he was all but ignored. Since no one said anything, Antonio followed behind this ‘Patrick’ person and his mom. He also listened.
“I wanted you to take a look at the inside of the plane. We found one man, but both seats have blood on them.” They walked over to the plane and Rosa peeped inside, shaking her head.
“Did he live?” Rosa’s brow furrowed.
“Yes, he’s at Mercy General.”
“Really? I work there.”
“Small world, isn’t it?” the officer noted.
Rosa grimaced and looked back inside the plane. “How many people did you find?”
“One, so far.”
Antonio expected his mother to play dumb. She usually did when around a man she was attracted to, but she didn't this time. He even smiled as she talked. It was about time she showed a man she was smart, and could think for herself. After all, she was a nurse.
“I guess you’ll just have to wait for the DNA samples. It’s going to be difficult to tell. The impact would have been hard, and it’s possible the blood could have sprayed to both seats, but unlikely.”
“We’ve taken the samples; now we wait. What do you think, kid?”
Antonio looked up. “Me?”
“Yeah. What do you think happened?”
*****
Detective Patrick Donigan watched the young man squirm. He’d been about to walk on past when the little girl yelled at her brother. When he heard ‘Antonio,’ he wondered; could this be the owner of the knife they’d found? The name on the old knife was worn, and all he could make out was An----o. “Do you think there were two men?”
“I don’t know.” Antonio glanced at the plane.
“Oh, come on. I’ll bet you’ve watched a hundred movies about stuff like this. You’re not curious.”
“Go ahead Antonio, don’t be shy. He’s got a great imagination.” Rosa looked back with a smile and Patrick knew with her good looks and figure, children or not, he might just have to ask her out.
Antonio shrugged, looked into the plane and stepped back. He was thinking and after some time, he spoke. “I guess there could have been two men. Maybe one ran off. Maybe he wasn’t as hurt as the other guy.”
“That’s what we’re thinking. There’s no trail of blood, or anything to go by. If there was another man, we don’t know which way he went. Since this is a public beach, there’s so many footprints from the last few days it’s hard to tell if there’s any fresh tracks.”
“Antonio, you know this beach as well as anyone. Which way’s the best way to the street?” Rosa glanced at Patrick and gave him a flirtatious smile.