The Chase (36 page)

Albert leaned towards her. ““I don’t know if your arm’s broke, but you sure banged it up good. Does it hurt bad?”

The room was spinning and Kendall closed her eyes until it quieted. “Only when I move it.”

Albert stood and took a polo wrap from the bandage box. “Let me make a sling for you.”

He knotted the ends together and looped it around her neck, gently helping her ease her arm into it. “Does that feel better?”

She nodded, then instantly regretted it as the spinning began again. “Yes, thank you.”

Albert studied her for a moment. “You need a painkiller.”

“There’s no chance of getting that.”

Albert stood and pounded on the door. “Hey, open up.”

“Albert, what are you doing?”

“Open the door!” Albert pounded with both fists.

A moment later the door swung outward and Earl and Zelda stood in the doorway. Earl waved his gun at them. “What’s going on in here?”

“Kendall needs some pain medicine,” Albert said. “There’s aspirin in the cabinet by the sink.”

Earl narrowed his eyes. “You disturbed me to ask for a bottle of aspirin?”

Albert nodded. “Yeah, and she could use something to eat. The kids could, too. Their lunch is on the bus.”

Earl kicked the door. “What do you think this is, a fucking hotel?”

“What the hell, Earl, it don’t hurt none to give them something to eat,” Zelda said, grabbing the door as it swung closed.

Earl lowered the gun and walked away. “Feed them if you want to. I don’t give a shit.”

Zelda stared after Earl for a moment, then motioned to Albert. “Come on, old man.”

L
ieutenant Mallory was the deputy in charge of the investigation into McGraw’s escape, and Anne gripped Doug’s hand as they sat in the study with Patrick, listening to the lieutenant fill them in on the details of the getaway. The lieutenant had a deep voice and a commanding manner about him, and Anne figured he’d been with the department for a while. He looked to be in his mid-fifties—graying at the temples and sporting the hint of a paunch.

When he finished speaking, Anne asked, “Do you think McGraw was actually injured in the jail fight?”

The lieutenant shook his head. “No. At this point, I’ve got to believe Zeb McGraw staged the fight and had the whole escape plot preplanned.”

Anne frowned. “But wouldn’t he have to be injured in order to be transported to the hospital?”

“He could fake it. Apparently, he was complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath after the altercation with the other inmate, and that pretty much guaranteed him a ride to the hospital to be checked out.”

“Do you have any leads on the identity of the man who helped McGraw escape from the accident scene?” Doug asked.

“Not yet,” the lieutenant said. “But we have several eyewitnesses who got a good look at him. We have an artist working on a sketch right now.”

“What about the woman hostage?” Anne asked.

“Same thing there. No ID as of yet, but good eyewitness descriptions.”

“And you don’t know whether the victim in the car was another hostage or an accomplice?” Doug asked.

“No, we don’t. His face is pretty banged up, so it may be hard to identify him. He’s a young male, probably in his mid-teens, with blond hair and blue eyes. That’s about all we have to go on. I think I mentioned earlier that he had no wallet or any form of ID on him.”

“What’s his condition?” Anne asked.

“Critical.”

“What about the car that was used in the accident? Have you found out whom it was registered to?” Doug asked.

The lieutenant nodded. “It was registered to Zelda McGraw.”

“Zeb McGraw’s sister,” Anne murmured. “Do you think she was the woman with them?”

Lieutenant Mallory raised his shoulders. “We don’t know. By all accounts, it sure looked like the woman was a hostage, but that could have just been a ploy to help them get away. It’s possible the woman was Zelda McGraw and that she was in on it all along.”

“Have you tried to locate Zelda McGraw?”

The lieutenant nodded. “Unsuccessfully, but we have an APB out on her.”

They were silent for a moment; then Patrick asked, “Which direction was McGraw headed in when he fled?”

“West. They fled the scene headed westbound on Route Seven in an old-model brown Toyota Camry with West Virginia tags. We ran the tags, but they’re registered to another vehicle. There were a couple of other vehicles reported stolen in the vicinity this morning, immediately following the escape. We don’t have enough information yet to determine if those incidents are linked to this case, but we’re on the lookout for those vehicles as well as the Toyota.”

The Nextel radio clipped to Lieutenant Mallory’s belt beeped twice, and he removed it and looked at the display. “Excuse me,” he said, holding the radio to his ear.

“Lieutenant Mallory.” He gave a quick nod. “Terrific. Hold on, let me see if there’s a fax machine here.”

He lowered the phone and looked at Doug. “The artist has finished the sketches of the driver and the woman. If you have a fax machine, I’ll have them sent over.”

“Sure.” Doug recited the fax number to the lieutenant.

Lieutenant Mallory repeated the number into the phone. “Please make sure those are sent right way.”

The fax machine on Doug’s desk rang almost immediately, and Doug rose and held his hand out to Anne. They gathered by the fax machine, and Anne felt her chest tighten as she saw the paper begin to emerge from the front of the machine. The fax machine groaned as it spit out the page, and Anne saw the sketched image of a woman’s hair and forehead slowly appear; then there was a brief pause, and the full sketch shot out of the machine.

The lieutenant retrieved the page and turned it around.

Anne clutched Doug’s arm. “That’s Kendall!”

“Oh Christ,” Doug muttered through clenched teeth. “That means McGraw has the kids.”

Lieutenant Mallory frowned as he looked from Anne to Doug. “What kids?”

L
ieutenant Mallory sent a car to pick up Margaret, and twenty minutes later she was seated on the couch next to Anne. Doug shifted restlessly by the fireplace.

The lieutenant opened a folder and handed Margaret a sheet of paper. “Do you recognize this woman?”

“Of course,” Margaret said. “That’s Kendall.”

“Kendall Waters?”

“Yes.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“And she accompanied the kids on the field trip today?”

“Yes.”

The lieutenant nodded and handed her another sheet of paper. “What about this man, do you recognize him?”

“That looks like Stephen Lloyd.”

“Are you acquainted with him?”

Margaret nodded. “Yes, he talked to me about boarding his horses with me.”

“Stephen Lloyd?” Anne repeated. “Didn’t Kendall go out with him?”

“Yes, she did,” Margaret replied.

Lieutenant Mallory hunched forward in his chair. “Miss Waters is dating this man?”

“No, they’re not dating,” Margaret replied. “In fact, I spoke with Kendall about Stephen just this morning, and she made it clear that she has no romantic interest in him. But she did go out with him once or twice. In fact, she went to the polo match with him last evening. What does he have to do with this?”

The lieutenant let out a heavy sigh. “This sketch is of the man who helped Zeb McGraw escape from jail this morning.”

“Oh my Lord.” Margaret’s hand flew to her chest. “I knew there was something that didn’t ring true about him.”

Lieutenant Mallory pointed to the sketch of Kendall on Margaret’s lap. “And that sketch is of the woman at the scene of McGraw’s escape, who appeared to be a hostage.”

Margaret’s mouth dropped open. “Are you saying that Zeb McGraw has something to do with the disappearance of Kendall and the children?”

“I’m afraid it looks that way, Mrs. Southwell. I need to get as much information as possible from you about the children, the vehicle they were riding in, and who might be involved in their disappearance. You need to tell me everything you can think of, even if you don’t think it’s relevant to the children going missing. All right?”

Margaret raised a shaky hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. Her lips moved slightly, as if she were speaking, but no sound came out.

Anne reached for her arm. “Are you okay, Margaret? Would you like a glass of water?”

Margaret’s eyes opened. She took Anne’s hand in hers. “I just had to say a prayer.” Her voice quivered. “Lieutenant, proceed with your questions.”

He nodded. “Okay, let’s start with the bus the children were riding on.”

“It’s from the Greenfield Academy.”

“Do you use the same bus for all your field trips?”

“Yes, for the last couple of years, anyway. A friend of mine runs the Greenfield Academy, and they let me use their bus for my camp field trips, since school’s not in session.”

“Do you use their driver as well?”

“Yes, Louise Parker.”

“And she drives for all your field trips?”

“Yes.”

Lieutenant Mallory took a moment to write on his notepad. “Okay, what time did the bus arrive today?”

Margaret paused for a moment. “I guess it was a couple of minutes before nine. I didn’t really notice when it drove in, because things were a bit hectic in the barn.”

“Why was that?”

“The assistant camp counselor, Elizabeth, didn’t show up like she was supposed to this morning. My insurance doesn’t allow for the kids to go on the field trip without two employees present, so Kendall was in a frenzy, calling all over trying to find Elizabeth. When she couldn’t reach her, Kendall talked to me about who else might be able to substitute for Elizabeth.”

“And what did you tell her?”

“We finally settled on letting Todd, one of the stable hands, go along. He’s a nice boy and the kids like him, so he seemed like the best choice under the circumstances.”

“Okay, let’s stop here for a moment. Tell me more about Elizabeth. What’s her full name?”

“Elizabeth Carey. Her father’s a vet at the Equine Medical Center.”

The lieutenant wrote on his pad. “And you said she’s the assistant camp counselor. Has she worked for you long?”

“No. She just started this week. We made a deal to trade board and training for Elizabeth’s horse in exchange for her helping out at camp.”

“And had she been reliable up until today?”

“She sure had. Elizabeth was a great help all week. It was a shock when she didn’t show up for work today.”

“And you still haven’t heard from her?”

Margaret shook her head.

Lieutenant Mallory signaled to a deputy who was standing nearby. “Get Dr. Carey at the Equine Medical Center on the phone for me.”

“Yes, sir.”

The lieutenant turned his attention back to Margaret. “Tell me about the boy who substituted for Elizabeth.” He looked at his notes. “Todd.”

“Todd Rucker. He’s a nice boy who’s worked for me for a couple of weeks, maybe a month. He mucks stalls, mostly.”

“And was he agreeable to accompanying the children on the field trip this morning?”

“Yes, he was. He said he felt bad that Elizabeth hadn’t shown up for work and that he’d be happy to help us out.” Margaret frowned. “He and Elizabeth had become rather close, and I think maybe Todd felt like he was helping Elizabeth out by going along on the field trip.”

“Can you describe him for me?”

“He’s tall—not quite six feet, but he probably will be when he finishes growing. He has blond hair, kind of on the longish side. And striking blue eyes.” Margaret pursed her lips and gave a small shake of her head. “I think it’s his eyes that captivated Elizabeth.”

“When we’re finished talking, can you call your farm and get his employment information for me?” the lieutenant asked.

“Of course.”

“All right. What happened after you and Kendall agreed to have Todd substitute for Elizabeth?”

“Kendall rounded up the kids and they got on the bus and left.”

“Did you go out to the bus with them?”

Margaret shook her head. “No.”

“Did you have any contact with anyone on the bus after they left your farm?”