“It looks like someone threw a rock.”
The pulse wave from the explosion knocked out the windows and rocked the truck up onto its side. Drew threw himself over Lilly’s body, sheltering her from the showering glass as the windows imploded. The truck slammed down on all four wheels, and Drew righted himself, stomping his foot on the accelerator. The tires squealed in protest as they shot out into the street. Lilly pushed herself up, brushing the shards of glass off her body. The wind blew heavily through the missing windshield.
“We have to go back!” Lilly screamed at Drew.
“No way!”
“We have to check on her!” Lilly turned around. Black smoke plumed into the sky. A single black car traveled in their wake. Pain gripped Lilly’s belly, and she turned forward, pressing both hands into her sides to counteract the pressure.
“She’s dead, Lilly. And we will be too if we go back. We’ve got problems of our own. I think we’re being followed.”
N
ATHAN STRAIGHTENED HIS
blazer over his button-up shirt, pulling the tabs of his collar over his suit jacket, brushing the lint off the tweed as he walked down the ER corridor at Sage Medical Center. Dr. Anderson had notified him that a rape victim had arrived via EMS. The victim’s details of events were similar enough to Lilly’s that Anderson called Nathan directly. Since Nathan and Brett weren’t on chummy speaking terms, Brett had been notified through dispatch. His partner waited outside the victim’s room, sitting in a chair, trying to smooth over his wrinkled clothes, as well. Though not unusual for Brett to present in such attire, Nathan knew his worry over Lilly and the stress over her case were wreaking havoc in his personal life and he struggled to keep up appearances.
Drew Stipman was still an unknown. There had been a few calls from rural areas in Nevada stating that he had worked for several different places. He generally stuck with those establishments who weren’t too concerned about checking identification, staying no more than two months at a time, and then moving on. He always operated in cash and hadn’t filed a tax return since his prison release. The people who Nathan spoke to consistently commented that he was the nicest, most congenial man they’d ever met. In the short time he’d spent in any particular area, there was story after story about how he’d helped people ranging from moving a coworker to donating his entire month’s pay to a woman who had just lost her husband and was facing eviction from her home. He’d stayed in that place the longest, helping her find new housing and working to get her and her sons stable before moving on.
He was a ghost.
An unknown.
A benevolent entity to all who knew him.
Scattered reports had come in from multiple hospitals in early February from the Las Vegas area concerning a pregnant woman, posing as a doctor, who had requested medical files. Though the media did not list the name of what person this woman was seeking information on, one call to local law enforcement made it clear that it was Lilly searching for information on Drake Maguire. Then, for a couple of months, she was off the grid again until Nathan had received a call from a Dr. Stone.
Evidently, Stone had been watching a local news report about this peculiar pregnant woman scoping out medical charts. All the local media networks were airing a fuzzy image of Lilly at a hospital. He felt she matched the description of a pregnant woman who was recently brought to his facility after fainting. When she suddenly left AMA, he’d contacted Las Vegas police regarding the matter, and they then encouraged him to phone Nathan as Lilly remained a person of interest in Dana’s murder. That’s when an odd morsel of information came to light.
The physician stated that she had been accompanied by a man who claimed to be her husband. In response, Nathan faxed him a photo of Drew Stipman. It was moments after the photo went through that the physician called him back, confirming his suspicion.
Lilly and Drew were together.
Stone pleaded with Nathan to find Lilly. He said he couldn’t divulge specific medical information due to healthcare privacy laws, but that her pregnancy was in jeopardy because of a medical condition she’d acquired. When Nathan pressed him for more information, he was reluctant to continue but made it clear that Lilly could die if she didn’t deliver soon.
To Nathan, it meant she was likely on her way back. Kadin was the only person she trusted with her child. Nathan tried to assure Stone that he would know the moment she was back. He checked the transponder on her car religiously to make sure the batteries were changed and the unit was functioning properly. Savannah had been noncommittal when he begged her to call him when Lilly returned. He didn’t know if his assurances to her that he was Lilly’s only friend on the police force had eased her apprehension.
Their case was in disarray and would likely remain that way until Drew and Lilly were found and could give testimony to their locations and activities. Nathan didn’t feel as if he could ever be himself again until he resolved this situation.
For Lilly.
For all of the women.
Brett stood as Nathan approached.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Fine. What do you know?”
“I mean your clothes and all …”
“Brett, it’s the middle of the night.”
“I know, but you don’t look so good.”
“Can we just focus on the victim?”
“Nathan, I’m worried about you. Once we find Drew Stipman, I think this whole thing will fall into place.”
“Whatever. You have your theory of these crimes settled in your mind.”
“And you’re being completely objective?”
“At this point, no. I’m worried about a friend who’s sick right now. I am in fear for her life.”
“That’s the whole problem, Nathan. Your judgment is clouded for that very reason. You never considered Lilly as a murderer, and I suspect you want to be more than her friend.”
Kadin Daughtry exited the room, and Nathan took a step back. A police officer followed him with several evidence bags and gave a small wave to Brett as he left the building. Nathan fisted his hand inside his pants pocket at the dismissal from his coworker. He stiffened his shoulders and chest, preparing for Kadin’s sharp criticism.
“Detective Long.” He held his hand out. “Thank you for coming personally. I happened to be on call. I was requested by Dr. Anderson to do the rape kit. The victim had several significant injuries that needed consultation anyway.”
Nathan took Kadin’s hand, but held it firmly in his, grabbing his elbow to keep him close. “I need to know if you’ve heard from Lilly.”
“Nathan, it’s not something I’m going to divulge to you.”
“She’s sick.”
Nathan felt a slight tilt in Kadin’s posture at his statement and released his grip.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure I should even be sharing this, but I got a call from an ob-gyn out near Las Vegas. I think that’s where Lilly’s been over these past couple of months, trying to get information on Drake. All he would really say was that she would die if she didn’t deliver soon.”
Kadin walked a few paces to the nurses’ station and set down the chart. “The provider is concerned? Then it’s probably developed to be a little more than PIH.”
“What’s that?”
“Pregnancy-induced hypertension is high blood pressure that occurs during pregnancy. It can be common among first-time mothers. The process isn’t well understood, but if she was in the hospital then she likely developed eclampsia.”
“She could die?”
“One of the end-stage problems of this disease is that you can have seizures. If you can’t control the seizures, then yes, the woman can die.”
“How do you treat it?”
“The only cure is delivery of the baby. That’s why that physician made that statement to you. I promise you, Nathan, I don’t know where she is. We have a plan for the delivery, but now I’m even worried about that. If she has this condition, she’ll need to deliver in a hospital.”
“Let’s focus on this victim, shall we?” Brett interrupted.
Kadin motioned toward the woman’s room. “This is Latasha Diamond, though I’m not sure that’s her real name. She’s a high-priced escort. Works exclusively off the Internet—one of the upper-end sites. Her going rate is five hundred dollars an hour.”
Brett let out a slow whistle. “Why so high?”
“According to her, it’s for a ‘disease free’ guarantee. She gets regular testing for HIV and hepatitis. And the man has to use contraception.”
“What happened to her tonight?” Nathan asked, grabbing his notebook.
“She got a call for a meeting at a hotel. She enters the room. He’s sitting on the bed and requests that she undress. As she’s doing this, he lunges at her and injects some sort of medication into her arm that incapacitates her.”
“Was he wearing a disguise?” Brett asked.
“No.”
“No? Can she provide a description?” Nathan followed.
“I think so. Despite the drug, she is pretty clear on some details. I told her to save that part for you two. Anyway, per EMS, they got a call when a concerned coworker had gone to check on her after she failed to make contact for several hours. She was found in bed, naked, posed, alive, but unresponsive.”
“Do you think you found anything from the exam?”
“Clearly, she was raped. There is significant trauma. There was a semen sample left behind. I’ve already given the kit to one of the officers. I need to ask her some follow-up questions,” Kadin said. “Give me a few minutes, and you can come in. I’ll stay with her. She doesn’t have any family here, and I’m sure you can understand why her coworkers aren’t here, either.”
“What do you think?” Brett asked, turning to Nathan.
“I’m certainly interested in her description of this man. Sounds like our guy.”
“I agree.”
“I think this could be good news for us.” Nathan shrugged out of his coat. “Obviously, our perp feels like the heat is on. He’s not able to follow his normal routine anymore.”
“And who would be watching the good doctor?” Brett asked. “Considering he’s been cleared as a suspect.”
“Not sure on that one,” Nathan said, not making eye contact. “I think this guy is destabilizing. The lack of disguise is evidence of that. At best, he’s becoming sloppy, or at worst he’s too confident to think he can be caught.”
“Which can be good and bad for us,” Brett said.
“Shall we?”
Nathan followed Brett into the room. Kadin stepped back and allowed Nathan to take his chair at the bedside.
“Latasha, this is Detective Long. He’s a friend of mine. You can trust him.”
Nathan tried to prevent his surprise from showing. “Ms. Diamond. I’m a detective with the police department.”
Her eyes were transfixed on the television.
“Ms. Diamond? Dr. Daughtry has told us you may be able to provide a description of the man who did this to you.”
No response. Nathan waved a hand in front of her face. The woman batted it down, her eyes never leaving the TV screen.
“Latasha?” Kadin asked.
Nathan waved him off and turned to the TV himself. FOX News was airing a story about a car explosion, speculating that it might have been a bomb, which had killed a local physician outside a small diner near Las Vegas late this morning. The woman was a geneticist whose specialty was DNA profiles. A pregnant woman and man were seen entering the diner shortly after this doctor. According to the waitress who served them, all three had met and talked for nearly an hour but never ordered anything.
“Could it be that someone was unhappy with a paternity test result?” the anchor asked before popping up a video taken of two “persons of interest” the police were looking for.
The video was not grainy and showed Lilly with another man walking into the restaurant. As Nathan watched, Latasha raised her arm and pointed to the screen.
“That’s the man who raped me.”
“What?” Brett asked, turning as well.
“I swear that’s him,” she insisted.
“But that guy was in Las Vegas this morning,” Brett said after listening to the story unravel over the next few minutes.
“It’s Drew Stipman,” Nathan said.
“Then he couldn’t have done this crime. Las Vegas is at least twelve hours. The doctor was attacked around ten o’clock.”
“We need to check Drake’s whereabouts,” Nathan said.
At that moment, Nathan received two text messages. The first started with the numbers 911. A message from Savannah: “Lilly’s back. She’s sick. She’s in labor.”
The second text was automated from the transponder Nathan had planted on Lilly’s vehicle. Her car was on the move.
Nathan turned to Kadin. “I have to go, and I need you to come with me.”
“I’m on call.”
Nathan showed Kadin the text, and he nodded in understanding.
“I’ll call Melanie to cover for me. Tell her it’s an emergency.”
“Brett, you need to find Dr. Maguire. Detain him if you can.”
“I need to gather up some supplies,” Kadin said.
“Meet me in the parking lot in ten minutes,” Nathan said.
Nathan checked the contents of his trunk. He’d prepared for this day ever since Lilly had disappeared. Kadin approached him from the side, carrying a large duffel bag, and Nathan began to rearrange the trunk’s contents to make room.
“Do I even want to ask what all this is?”
“Weapons, rope … yeah, you probably don’t want to know.” Nathan grabbed the bag from Kadin and secured the trunk. “I need to make one stop.”
“I know where she’s going.”
“Things may have changed. We need to find out if she is still with Drew. If she is, Savannah may know if he’s a friend of hers or not. She’ll have a feeling if Lilly’s being coerced.”
“Who’s Savannah?”
“Lilly’s aunt.”
“She has family?”
“Look, Kadin, There’re probably things I know and things you know. Let’s just put it aside for now and find Lilly. Make sure her baby is okay.”
“Whatever you want.”
Savannah’s house was close to the hospital. Nathan exited his car, and Kadin followed up to the porch. Savannah was waiting for them on the threshold.
“Good to see you, Savannah.” Nathan embraced her to calm her trembling. He wasn’t sure if it was the cool night or her nerves. “When did she leave?”
“About thirty minutes ago.”
“Was there anyone with her?”
“A man.”
“Do you know him?”
“No, but he looked a lot like that officer who’s been coming by to check on Lilly’s car.”
“What officer?” Nathan pushed her back so he could look into her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Well, there’s been a policeman coming by every so often, like you do, to check the tracking device on Lilly’s car.”
“And he looks like the man who’s now with Lilly?” Nathan’s muscles tensed. His heart dropped into his feet. His precautions for her safety had been breached. It was like a shark coming into a diver’s protective cage.
“Yes.” Fear crept into her eyes. “You didn’t send him?”
“No.”
“Then who was it?”
“Savannah, if this man comes back, I need you to call the police. Don’t let him inside.”