Out For Justice (12 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Karen made her way out of the courthouse and stepped out into the blazing sunshine. The heat hit her with an intense force after the coolness of the building. She put on her sunglasses and hurried down the sidewalk to find her SUV and get the arrest warrant to Sam.

She let her car idle until most of the hot air blew out the open windows. Putting the SUV into gear, she maneuvered out of the parking lot and into the busy downtown streets. Manipulating her way through the high buildings and narrow streets, she followed the familiar route to I-275. Karen was happy to get back out on the interstate. She rolled up her windows, pressed down on the gas, and her SUV sped up.

The traffic was manageable, so she let her mind wander to the phone call she had last night with Mike. It started out a bit strained, but before she knew it she was laughing and telling Mike stories about the antics of her and her sister from a forgotten time. Mike had been easy to talk to and he opened up as much as she did. She learned that he had two sisters, no brothers, and he was the youngest. His sisters had been merciless about his education into the female mind and tortured him constantly with threats of ruffled dresses and ribbons in his hair. He’d survived with a father who had stuck up for him in a household of women. They managed to get away on fishing trips and camping excursions that only brought them closer together.

Mike asked her why she called, and with a few tips from
Cosmo
, she was able to sound coy and flirting. Couldn’t she have just told him she wanted to hear his voice? That she couldn’t wait until their date? Karen scoffed at herself. That was too sappy for her even with her latent romantic urges. She had been a bit flustered after confessing but recovered well. She remembered the tactics she’d learned from reading another
Cosmo
article and borrowed a tried and true ploy—get the man talking about himself. It worked. Mike kept the conversation light. He would tell a couple of stories, then insist that she tell one as well. He never tried to monopolize the conversation. It wasn’t until Mike said that he’d better go or else he’d get no sleep for work that she realized they’d been talking for over three hours.

Karen smiled then shook herself back to the present. She took the exit for Nebraska Avenue and managed the double lanes of traffic to the now familiar side street and Raymond Thomas’s house.

Noting that Sam’s car was two houses down the street and empty, she parked in front of the house and locked the car doors. She pocketed the arrest warrant, and walked up the sidewalk and to the front door. Raising her hand to knock, Karen noticed it was slightly ajar. Alarmed and cautious, she pulled out her gun, looked from side to side, and then carefully opened the door. Inside, the room was dark after the bright sunshine. She pulled off her sunglasses, placed them in her jacket pocket and looked around.

Hearing a soft moan, she followed the noise and found Maggie Morris sprawled on the floor of the living room. Sam was next to her, his head at an odd angle. Checking Maggie to verify she was breathing, she then checked Sam. She gasped when she saw the blood covering his face and pooled beneath his head. His pulse was weak, but he was breathing on his own. Leaving the two where they were, Karen searched the small house for any signs of an intruder. The house was empty, so she pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911. Confirming that she was a homicide detective and that there was an officer down, she hurried back to the living room to see if she could help.

Worried and not getting any response from Sam, Karen turned to Maggie. She took in the woman’s battered and beaten face and body. Her clothes were torn. It looked like she’d been through hell. She called out her name. “Maggie.”

A feeble moan.

“Maggie, can you hear me?”

Another moan. Maggie lifted an arm as if fending off an attacker.

“Don’t move, Maggie. Don’t move. Help is on the way.”

“Wh-what happened?” Maggie whispered from swollen lips.

“Maggie, who did this to you?” Karen asked.

“Wh-where?” She slowly shook her head swallowed hard then spoke again. “Ra-Ray.”

“Raymond Thomas? Maggie, did Raymond Thomas do this to you?”

“Yes.” Maggie forced the word out in one breath.

Hearing sirens, Karen patted Maggie on the shoulder and told her to take it easy, that help was on the way. She left Maggie to go to the front door and wait for the police and EMTs to arrive.

She waved down the paramedics and directed them into the house. More officers followed in various official and unofficial cars. Anyone within hearing distance of the ‘officer down’ call seemed to be making his or her way to the premises. Karen pointed to the officer in charge and told him that she would be with him shortly. Pushing her way through the room, she managed to make a path to where the EMTs were working on Sam.

“Is he all right?”

“We don’t know yet. He’s not conscious. He looks like he took a hard blow to the face.” 

“Where are you taking him?”

“University. We’re leaving in two minutes.”

“I’ll be right behind you,” Karen said, then swiveled her head looking for the officer in charge. She needed to talk to him before she left. Spotting him just inside the front door, she left Sam in the capable hands of the paramedics and went to do her job.

“Sergeant Brooks? I called the 911 in. I was on my way back with an arrest warrant and discovered the assault.”

“How’s Sam?”

“They don’t know. He’s still not conscious.”

“I won’t keep you long. I know you want to get to the hospital and check on Sam.” Sergeant Brooks patted Karen’s arm then motioned for her to tell him what happened.

“Maggie Morris was able to tell me that Raymond Thomas was their attacker.”

“The one who the arrest warrant is for?”

“Yes. Sam had been here waiting for Thomas while I went downtown to get the warrant. It was—”

“Was that such a good idea, Detective?” Sergeant Brooks frowned at Karen.

“We thought so at the time.” Karen’s back stiffened. She held her head high.

“It doesn’t seem so now, though, does it?”

“It’ll all be in my report.” Karen kept her face blank. She didn’t want to get into an argument right now. Her first concern was for Sam. She needed to call Sam’s wife and have her meet them at the hospital. “If you have no more questions, Sergeant, I’ll take off for the hospital now. I want to be there when Sam’s wife gets there.”

Brooks shook his head. “No, not right now. We’ll handle it from here.” He stopped Karen from leaving by placing a hand on her arm. “Sam will make it. Don’t worry.”

“Thanks.” Karen turned toward the door and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed Sam’s home number then swallowed hard. The news she had to break to Sam’s wife wasn’t going to be easy.

“Hello?”

“Mrs. Anderson?” Karen pushed her way through the throng of people who were being kept away from the house by patrol officers. The neighbors stood on the sidewalk and gawked while talking amongst themselves—most in Spanish.

“Yes.”

“Mrs. Anderson, this is Karen Sykes. Your husband’s partner.”

“Yes, Karen. How are you, dear?”

“I’m fine, but…but Sam isn’t. He’s being taken to University Community Hospital. There was an incident. He was assaulted. We don’t know all the details yet, but as soon as Sam regains consciousness, we’ll know more.” Karen found her SUV and motioned to one of the patrol officers that she wanted to move it.

“Oh my God. I’m on my way.”

“Mrs. Anderson? I’m so sorry.” Karen maneuvered her SUV through the myriad of other patrol cars, fire trucks, and more. It wasn’t easy, and she had to honk her horn several times to get vehicles to move out of her way, but she made it to Nebraska Avenue. It was a short distance to the hospital and she could be there in less than ten minutes.

“Thank you. Are you at the hospital now?”

“No, I’m on my way as well. I’ll meet you in the Emergency Room.”

“Fine. I’ll see you there.”

Karen pressed the disconnect button to end the call and tossed her cell phone to the passenger seat next to her.

Concerned about Sam, Karen drove with one part of her mind on the road while she pondered the current situation. Sam was hurt. Seriously. Was there something she could have done had she been there? Damn it, their plan sounded so good this morning, where did it go wrong?

Sam had been confident when they’d discussed their idea. He was going to keep surveillance on the house and monitor it for activity. Did he see Thomas go in the house? Did he try to handle Thomas on his own? Without a warrant? There were too many unanswered questions. And all the answers lay with Sam.

Wait, what about Maggie? Karen felt a surge of renewed energy. Maggie Morris had been there as well. She’d be able to explain what happened inside the house and tell her how Thomas had overcome the both of them. Karen’s mind raced. She needed to get to Maggie as soon as possible. She had to let the doctors know that Maggie was an important witness who probably needed protection as well.

Turning into the emergency entrance to the hospital, Karen pulled into the first parking spot she saw and hurried inside.

Pulling out her badge, she flashed it at the security guard patrolling the emergency area and asked to see the doctor on duty.

“What does this pertain to?” the guard asked, hitching up his trousers and scratching his stomach.

Karen took a deep breath and managed to speak in an even tone. “I’m Detective Sykes. My partner Sam Anderson and another victim, Maggie Morris, were just brought in here by ambulance. I need to find out how they’re doing and talk to them if I can.”

“Why don’t you go on over there to that room and tell the triage nurse who you are and why you’re here? They’ll get you back to see your partner as soon as they’re able, I’m sure.”

The “Thank you” Karen tossed over her shoulder filtered behind her as she hurried into the room the security guard had pointed to. Inside, a nurse stood up from behind a desk and said, “We’ll call you in the order of your emergency. Please go—”

“I’m not a patient.” Karen showed the nurse her badge. “I’m Detective Sykes and my partner Sam Anderson was just brought here by ambulance. I need to see him.”

The nurse took a look at Karen’s badge, and then looked at her face. She must have seen the seriousness and no-nonsense behavior Karen portrayed and said, “Please wait right here. I’ll go back and see what I can find out for you.”

Karen thanked the nurse. She paced the small space in the triage room while she waited for the nurse to return. The longer it took, the more nervous Karen got for Sam and his injuries.

It must have been only a few minutes, but to Karen it seemed like hours when she heard her name from out in the lobby.

“I’m looking for Detective Sykes, she’s supposed to meet me here. My husband was brought in by ambulance. I want to see him. Now.”

Karen spied Sam’s wife talking to the security guard. “Mrs. Anderson, I’m Karen Sykes. I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances.” Karen helped steer Mrs. Anderson away from the security guard and over to the triage room.

“How’s Sam. Have you heard?” Mrs. Anderson kept clenching and unclenching her hands. She would wrap her arms around herself one minute and then smooth out her blouse the second. She acted as if she would normally be in charge, but felt at a loss for her current situation.

“There’s a nurse checking right now. She’s only been gone a few minutes.” Karen lifted a hand to pat Mrs. Anderson on the arm, then dropped it. It was a weak attempt at sympathy and she didn’t like it when others did it to her.

“My poor Sam. What happened? Who did this? Do you have the assailant in custody?”

“We’ve got good police officers working on that right now. The suspect’s name is Raymond Alan Thomas and we’ve got reason to believe he’s involved in a murder we’ve been investigating.” Karen lowered her voice. “Apparently, Sam was caught unawares at the suspect’s home and was beaten along with the suspect’s girlfriend. By the time I arrived, the suspect had fled. I called 911 and here we are.” Karen held out her arms to encompass where they stood in the corner of the hospital emergency room lobby.

“Where’s that nurse?” Mrs. Anderson spun around searching for anyone who could help answer her questions.

“Wait, there she is.” Karen stopped Sam’s wife from leaving and walked up to the nurse who was heading her way. “How is Sam? What did you find out? Can we see him?”

The nurse held up her hands as if to ward off the barrage of questions. She cast a questioning look at Mrs. Anderson.

Karen understood. “This is Mrs. Anderson. Sam’s wife. I asked her to meet me here at the hospital.”

The nurse nodded. “Let’s go into triage and I’ll explain what’s happened so far.” She ushered the two women into the small room and shut the door. Instead of sitting behind her desk, she stood as well and said, “Our trauma team is working on both Mr. Anderson and Ms. Morris. They’ve both suffered serious injuries to the head and face. They’ve been taken down for CT scans so that the doctors can access the extent of their injuries.”

“Is Sam awake?” Karen asked.

“No, Mr. Anderson hasn’t regained consciousness yet. However, Ms. Morris is conscious and able to talk, albeit very carefully. Her mouth has been injured as well.”

The nurse grabbed for Mrs. Anderson’s hand. She held it tight. “Honey, your husband is being intubated.”

Scared, Sam’s wife looked from the nurse to Karen then back again. “What does that mean, intubated?”

“It means that we have a machine breathing for him. He can’t breathe on his own right now. The doctors say that this is common in these types of injuries to the neck.”

“Ca—Can I see him?”

The woman with the take-charge attitude seemed to crumble before Karen’s eyes. She felt so sorry for Sam’s wife. She also couldn’t help her right now, except to help catch the man who did this to him. She turned to the nurse, “Can I see Maggie Morris? There are a few questions I need to ask her.”

“The doctor said you can see her when she comes back from having a CT scan. They’ll send someone out to get you.”