Web of Deceit (8 page)

“Very funny; you
might want to take some of that energy and hit your messages. Sarah just
called.”

Reeled back to
reality, Beth presses her messages.

“You have one new
message. Message number one …”

“Hi, Beth, it’s
Sarah. Call me, She’s willing to talk to you about Mrs. Freedman.”

Beth grabs the
phone and dials Sarah.

“Hello?” Sarah
answers.

“Hi, Sarah. When
can I speak with Vicky and her mom?”

“Her name is Jade.
You can meet her this morning if you want.”

“Excellent, let’s
meet at Odell’s for coffee and go from there.” Beth grows excited.

Elliot’s face
brightens as he catches Beth’s enthusiasm.

“What time?” Sarah
asks.

“How close are
you? I can be there in twenty minutes.”

“Sounds great.
I’ll meet you there.”

Beth hangs up the
phone. “Hey Elliot, which car do you want to take?” She grabs her coat and
purse.

Elliot pulls the
jeep in front of Odell’s. “I’ll keep it running so it’s warm. Make mine a
double espresso.”

“Got it.” Beth
opens the door and gets out.
The wind’s extra bitter this morning.
She
pulls her coat tight to her as she hurries to the front entrance of Odell’s. As
she opens the door, the wind gusts through causing it to jump out of her hand
and bang against the building. Fighting against the strong wind, she grasps the
handle and pulls it shut. “Windy out there.” She nears the counter.

“Can I help you?”
the new counter person asks dryly.

“I need two large
mocha lattes and one double-shot espresso.”

“That will be
sixteen forty-five.”

“Where’s Odell?”
Beth hands the girl a twenty.

“Day off.”

A sweet brunette
behind the counter soon has Beth’s order ready and packs it neatly into a
divided cardboard carrier. She hands it to Beth. “Have a great day, Beth!”

“You too, Cindy.”
Beth proceeds to the door.
Oh good, there’s Sarah.
Beth sees her friend
ready to cross the street as a white van pulls to the curb in front of Sarah to
park, blocking her view.

*   *   *

Waiting to cross
the street, Sarah watches Beth with the coffees in hand and heading toward
Odell’s front door.
Beth’s got the coffee.
Tires chirp as a white
utility van comes to an abrupt stop in front of her. She starts to walk behind
the van for a better view of oncoming traffic. The rear door flies open and a
burly man springs out and grabs her. He throws her onto the van’s steel cargo
floor. A sharp pain erupts from her shoulder as her body impacts.

“Go!” the burly
man commands the driver. He stumbles back as the van lunges forward.

*   *   *

“That did not just
happen!” Beth screams as the coffees drop to the floor. She slams the door open
and as before, the wind catches hold of it and forces it into the building,
shattering the glass. Not having time to worry, she runs toward the Jeep.

Elliot, having
seen Sarah disappear, has the passenger door open and is yelling to Beth,
“Move! Move!”

Beth slams the
passenger door shut and buckles in. Elliot presses his foot to the floor. The
Jeep’s rear end breaks loose as Elliot forces it into a sharp
one-hundred-eighty degree slide to pursue the fleeing van. Elliot slams his
fist on the wheel in frustration. “I’d be up to the van already if my car
wasn’t out of commission.”

“Left!” Beth
hollers at Elliot. “Is that the same van that heisted your tires yesterday?”

The white van is
forced to swerve and stop to avoid crashing into an oncoming delivery truck.
Before resuming its flight, Elliot gets close enough to read the plate. “That’s
the one,” he says in obvious amazement. The van swerves violently again in
front of them. It continues to weave back and forth. “What’re they doin’?!”

Sarah’s heart
races as she struggles to breathe.
What do I do? I can do nothing.
Proverbs
3:5-6 flash into Sarah’s mind. “Trust in the
Lord
with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
A
sensation
of peace washes over her. She remembers the bottle of mace tucked away in her
left inside coat pocket. “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct
thy paths.” Sarah focuses on the back door.
It’s locked. I will have to push
the lock back as I am opening the door. Father, when do I make my move?

The driver glances
in his rear view mirror. “Who’s following us?”

With his attention
off Sarah for a second, the burly kidnapper glowers out his rear window and
shouts, “How should I know?!”

Unnoticed, Sarah
slips her hand into her pocket to retrieve the mace and lurches for the door.
The burly man, apparently more keen that his stature suggests, catches Sarah’s
movement immediately. He reaches to restrain her as she blasts him with mace.
He screams, “You …” Instinctively, he moves his hands to his eyes.

Sarah sprays the
mace toward the front of the van, hoping to hit the driver’s eyes next. The
driver quickly snaps his head around toward the commotion in the back of the
van. Clearly not as smart as his counterpart, the spray of mace hits its
intended target. For a moment, both hands leave the wheel, causing the van to
swerve violently before he regains some control. With her burly assailant
distracted for the precious time needed, Sarah opens the rear door of the van
searching for inspiration. The cold air blasts her face as the pavement streaks
by beneath her.

*   *   *

The passenger-side
rear door of the van bursts open revealing Sarah perched at the edge of the
opening. Beth’s heart leaps to her throat. Not thinking, she unbuckles her seat
belt and rolls down her window shouting, “Get closer, get closer!” Beth leans
out the window and reaches toward her friend shouting, “Hang on, Sarah, we’re
coming!”

*   *   *

Sarah holds the
van door at arm’s length with fear rising inside.
I can’t jump.
Proverbs
3:7 is her next thought.
“Be not wise in thine own eyes: Fear the
Lord
, and depart from evil.”
She
jumps.

*   *   *

A second later
Sarah launches herself into the air and away from the rear of the van. Time
stalls as the horror of the moment reaches Beth’s mind. Elliot reacts with pure
instinct and the Jeep’s tires squeal as it lunges to avoid Sarah’s falling
body. Sarah impacts the pavement with a crushing force. Her body skids several
yards before starting to roll. Beth’s left ribs slam against the front of her
open window before she is thrown back inside the Jeep as Elliot locks the
breaks and skids sideways to an abrupt stop in front of Sarah’s still body.

“Call 911!” Beth
yells as she runs toward Sarah. “Sarah!” Beth falls to her knees beside her
unconscious friend. “Oh Sarah, please be OK,” Beth pleads as she moves Sarah’s
blood-soaked hair away from her forehead revealing the gash. The left side of
Sarah’s face is bleeding profusely. Her face is covered with blood from
multiple abrasions and peppered with small specks of stone from the asphalt.
Her lower left lip has been lacerated and is starting to swell.

The sound of
distant sirens offer little comfort as Elliot kneels beside Beth. “It’ll be OK,
Beth. They’re on the way.”

Within minutes the
ambulance arrives and pulls to the side of the road in front of the police
cruiser redirecting traffic. Three paramedics jump out with equipment in hand.

Still by her
friend’s side, Beth gazes in a trance at the nearing men. “She jumped from a
van going over sixty miles an hour.”

One of the men
regresses to the ambulance. The other two men are already in motion doing what
they do best. They are systematic and efficient.

Feeling as if she
is in a bad dream, Beth steps back out of the way and watches through her
growing mental and emotional fog.

“Put the C collar
on,” the paramedic in charge says. “You ready with that board, Harley?” he asks
the man that had gone back to the truck.

“Ready,” Harley
says.

“Log roll her.”

They roll her body
to the right and slip the back board under her. Once the board is in position,
they roll her back onto the board.

“Start bandaging
the head, Tom,” the lead paramedic says as he makes eye contact with Harley.
“Let’s get the heart monitor goin’ and then we’ll hook ’er up to the IV.”

After stabilizing
Sarah, the paramedics load her into the ambulance. As the lead paramedic closes
the door, he senses Beth’s devastation. “You following us?”

“Yes, we’ll be
right behind you.”

Beth reaches in
her purse and pulls out her cell. She flips it open and notices she has three
new texts.
No time.
She dials a number. It rings.

“Hello?” Sarah’s
mom, Elizabeth, answers.

Tears stream down
Beth’s face as she struggles for control. “Hi.”

“Oh, Beth, how
good it is to hear from you,” Elizabeth’s cheerful voice says.

A sob tries to
escape Beth, she struggles to push back every emotion. “Sarah’s been in an
accident. We’re on our way to Boston General. I don’t know how bad it is yet,
but … she’s unconscious.”

For a moment,
there is silence on the other end. Then Elizabeth’s tender voice says, “We’ll
meet you there.”

The ambulance
pulls in front of the Emergency Room entrance. Thirty-five seconds later, the
paramedics are rushing Sarah through the open sliding-glass doors and down a
hallway toward a free trauma unit.

*   *   *

Elliot stops
behind the ambulance. “You get out here, I’ll park.”

Beth, half out of
the car, thanks Elliot as she closes the door and rushes into the hospital, not
quite sure what to do or where to go.

*   *   *

Beth approaches
the nurse behind the desk.

“Can I help you?”
the middle-aged nurse asks with disinterested nasality.

“They just brought
my friend in. She was in an accident”

The nurse reaches
for the clipboard with the appropriate forms attached. “Fill this out to the
best of your ability, please.”

“Thanks,” Beth
replies as she takes the clipboard and searches for a chair distanced from the
other people in the waiting room. She finds a seat and fills out the
mind-numbing paperwork. Two minutes later, she lifts her head as Elliot walks
through the main entrance doors. Behind him follow Sarah’s parents, a sweet,
gentle couple in their late fifties. Forgetting her usual controlled demeanor,
she leaps out of her chair and races toward the entrance.

*   *   *

Elliot opens his
arms to reach for her.

Beth continues
past Elliot and approaches the older couple with open arms and tears streaming.

Elliot spins
around to find Sarah’s parents comforting Beth. “Edwin,” Elliot extends a hand
to greet Sarah’s father.

Edwin’s bright
blue eyes are filled with kindness and tears as he pushes out a short yet
friendly, “Hi.”

A petite woman
stands next to Edwin with salt and pepper hair. Her hazel eyes are brimming
with tears as she reaches to embrace Elliot with her free arm. “I’m so glad you
two are here,” Elizabeth says.

*   *   *

More than an hour
passes when finally a doctor comes through the set of double doors. “Are you
with the accident victim?”

“Yes,” Beth
replies without hesitation.

“I’m Dr. Jamison.
We have given her a preliminary examination. There is no evidence of internal
bleeding or broken bones yet. The results of the CT scan will be available
within another hour or so. We’ll know more then.”

“Will she be
alright?” Elizabeth asks.

“It’s too early to
tell,” the doctor says honestly.

“What aren’t you
telling us?” Beth cross-examines him.

The doctor pauses
a moment. “We did a sternal rub. She didn’t respond.”

“And that means?”
Beth’s irritation fills the room.

“She’s in a coma.”

Beth’s irritation
vanishes and her face whitens.

“Dear Lord, please
be with Sarah,” Elizabeth prays aloud. After a moment she asks, “When can we
see her?”

“We will know more
with further testing,” the doctor says, “But it’s too early to tell for sure.
She needs a few stitches, and we need to make sure she is stable before moving
her to a room.”

“Make sure it’s a
private room. I’ll pay for what her insurance won’t cover,” Beth says. “She’ll
need enough room for her parents to stay with her at all times if they want. Be
sure she gets the best. Money is no object. Do you understand?”

Clearly not
intimidated by the attractive redhead with a bank account, the doctor starts to
say, “I won’t guarantee anything …”

Elizabeth
interrupts and extends her hand to the doctor. “Thank you so much for all
you’re doing for our daughter, Dr. Jamison.”

“As soon as we
know more, we will let you know immediately.”

As the doctor
leaves through the double doors, Elizabeth takes Beth by the arm. “While I
appreciate what you are doing, you know that Sarah wouldn’t want special
treatment.” Elizabeth puts her arm around Beth and pulls her close.

“But, what if …?”

“I realize this
must be bringing back some bad memories for you. But, I assure you, God is in
control. Nothing will happen that isn’t part of his plan.” Elizabeth leads Beth
to the seats where Elliot and Edwin are waiting.

“Forgive me if I
sound disrespectful, Elizabeth, but how can I believe he has a plan if I’m not
so sure I believe there even is a God?”

“That is a good
point, my dear, and we’ll talk more about God when you are ready.”