With a Vengeance (16 page)

Immediately, four officers responded, including Nate and Baronick, who were two minutes away.

With backup en route, and their response loud enough that anyone inside the hunting blind would have been able to hear, Pete raised his Glock. “You! Inside the blind. Throw out your weapons and then come out. I want to see both your hands.”

The harsh buzz of insects and a few birdsongs were the only reply. A breeze smelling of rain kicked up, fluttering the material.

Pete held his position. Kept his gun fixed on the blind. And waited. If Snake was in there watching him, the kid had made no move to surrender. He’d already taken two lives and left two more good men in the hospital. Pete wasn’t about to give him a clear shot.

A distant rumble grew louder. A vehicle approaching from the direction Pete had just come.

“We’re about to get company,” he yelled. “And things could get sticky for you. Show me your hands and come out
now
.”

Still nothing.

The vehicle grew closer. Or perhaps it was two vehicles. Yeah. Definitely two. The cavalry had arrived.

His radio hissed to life. “Chief?”

Pete recognized Baronick’s voice and replied, “Follow the trail into the woods.”

“Officer Williamson and I are on our way.”

The engines quieted. Two car doors slammed. The trail wasn’t wide enough for a motor vehicle.

Still no movement from the hunting blind.

A minute later, jogging footsteps, muffled by the soft earth, grew close.

“I’m here,” Pete shouted. He waved to catch their eyes and pointed toward the blind, then motioned for them to spread out. “It may be empty, but let’s not take any chances.”

“Roger that,” Nate called.

The Vance Township officer and the county detective moved into position, flanking the hunting blind.

“Last chance,” Pete yelled again. “Throw out your weapons and step out, showing me your hands.”

When he received no response, he signaled to the others. Then the three men moved in with guns trained on their target.

Seventeen

Pete closed in first, his Glock at the ready. Nate and Baronick approached from the flanks. Brown camouflage fabric with mesh windows concealed the interior until Pete was inches away.

“It’s empty,” he said.

Nate holstered his sidearm. “Some hunter probably left it behind once the season was over.”

“I doubt it.” Pete stashed his Glock too. “It’s in too good of shape. If it’d been sitting here since winter, or even spring turkey, it would show more wear and tear from the elements.”

Baronick pulled open the flap serving as a door. “I’d say you’re right about that, Pete. Look.”

He and Nate circled to the opening. Inside, the grass and weeds had been flattened. A set of tires had left a mashed path in their wake—a path that led toward the trail. Careful not to step on the tracks, the men followed them. Once they hit dirt, the indentations became distinct tread marks.

Baronick yanked out his phone. “I’ll get the techs in here to photograph and cast these to see if they match Sullivan’s ATV.”

While the detective made his call, Pete bent over, studying the tracks closer. “There are two sets,” he said to Nate, pointing. “Both from the same tires. He drove in from the east, stashed the quad in the blind, and then drove out, heading back east again.”

Nate scowled down the wooded path. “East?” He turned the other way. “But I caught up to them
west
of here.”

Baronick pocketed his phone. “CSU’s on their way. Did you say he went east?”

“Yeah.” Pete showed the detective the incoming and outgoing tracks.

Baronick slapped at the side of his face. “Damned mosquitoes.”

“Wood flies,” Pete corrected.

“Whatever.” Baronick scratched the bite. “He came and went here. But Nate caught him…” The detective pointed to the west. “There. He must have circled around to throw us off.”

Pete didn’t like it. None of it. “Maybe.” He shook his head. “But I don’t think so. This guy stashed his quad here, not expecting us to find the blind, so why head east to go west? Besides, I don’t think Snake Sullivan is capable of this much thought and planning.”

All three men turned toward the shady trail heading east.

“Baronick, you wait here for the crime scene techs,” Pete said. “Nate, you’re with me. Let’s follow these tracks and see where they go.”

Zoe had Earl drop her off at the ambulance garage in spite of his argument about leaving her stranded. She’d argued that at least there she could beg a ride from someone. If he took her “home” to Rose’s, she’d be stuck.

She needed her truck back.

C crew had the long weekend shift, and every medic in the building wore their exhaustion, fear, and grief on their faces. After Zoe updated them on Curtis’s medical status—leaving out the part about his crazy girlfriend—most of the crew drifted out of the office, some headed for the bunkroom to catch up on sleep, others to the lounge to watch TV.

Randy Nichols, whose sister Tracy was the youngest member of Zoe’s crew, stayed behind. He handed her a cup of coffee and motioned for her to have a seat on the bench in front of the window.

“Actually, I want to dig through the files,” she said.

He propped a hip on the corner of the desk. “I thought you looked like you were after something more than just giving us the latest on Curtis’s condition.”

“You thought right.” Zoe crossed to the pair of metal filing cabinets where they stored the run reports. “Do you know anything about a traffic accident on Oak Grove Road about a month ago?”

Randy slid from the desk into its chair. “Oak Grove Road? No. Was it on this shift?”

“No.” She set her cup on top of the cabinet and opened the drawer containing the most recent reports. “Curtis and Barry took the call, so it was B crew.”

“Was it a bad one?”

“Curtis said they hadn’t thought it would amount to much.”

“But?” Randy raised an eyebrow at her.

“I don’t know.” Zoe thought of Lucy’s interruption. “Someone came in before he could tell us the rest. But he hinted it might have something to do with what’s been happening.”

Randy tapped some keys on the computer keyboard. “Do you have a patient’s name?”

“Sorry. I’ve told you all I know.”

“Huh. You don’t have much to work with. Then again, Oak Grove Road? Not exactly a lot of traffic out there.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” She shuffled through the papers, searching for dates from last month.

Randy rolled the chair back and stood. “I’ll go in the back and ask the other guys if they remember hearing anything.”

“Thanks.”

The latest dates in the drawer Zoe opened went back three weeks. Curtis had said a month or less, so she started pulling each call sheet to check the call’s location. She’d made it through a half dozen records when the front door crashed open.

Lucy stormed in, fists clenched at her sides.

Zoe let the report she was scanning drop back into its folder and closed the drawer with a metallic clunk. “Hey, Lucy.” She glanced toward the door to the back and wished Randy hadn’t left. “I thought you were spending the day with Curtis.”

The girl marched across the office toward Zoe. “He made me leave.”

Taking an involuntary step back, Zoe bumped into the filing cabinet, rattling it and the coffee cup on top. “I’m sure he must be tired and wanted to rest.”

Lucy stopped inches in front of Zoe, glowering up at her. “He’s not tired. I’m just not the one he wants to be with anymore.”

The admission startled Zoe. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

Well, she was right about that.

“
You
wanted him to break up with me,” Lucy hissed.

Zoe opened her mouth, but Lucy shoved her before Zoe had a chance to say anything.

She staggered into the filing cabinet again, harder this time. The cup tipped, slopping hot coffee on her shoulder before crashing to the floor and exploding into shards.

Zoe ignored the bite of the burn and shoved Lucy back. “Back off,” she told the girl while tamping down her own rising anger. Lucy was shorter and thinner, and in a catfight, Zoe knew she’d be able to take down the crazy little bitch, but somehow she didn’t think beating the crap out of Curtis’s ex would do much to help him.

Besides, heavy footsteps from the back told Zoe help was on the way.

Zoe’s retaliation seemed to stun Lucy, but it didn’t cool her down. She raised fists as if ready to come out of her corner swinging.

Randy and the other five C crew members appeared in the doorway. Randy rushed forward, snatching Lucy from behind and pinning her arms. “What on earth is going on here?”

Zoe rubbed her stinging shoulder. “I wish I knew.” She took a step toward the restrained hellcat, glass crunching underfoot. “What is your problem, Lucy?”

The girl squirmed against Randy’s grip, but he had a foot of height and close to a hundred pounds on her. Angry tears brimmed in her eyes. “Curtis broke up with me because of
you
.”

Randy shot Zoe a questioning look over Lucy’s head.

“
Me
?” Zoe choked. “I don’t
think
so.”

“You’ve got the hots for him. And he’s in love with you too.”

“I—
what
?”

“So he dumped me for you—you
whore
.”

Zoe flinched. The last time someone had called her that was in high school. Both she and the other girl had been expelled for the resulting fight. The other medics must have sensed the potential for fisticuffs. They all piled into the office, taking positions to block or tackle as needed.

The potential scene flashed through Zoe’s mind. Pete being summoned to a brawl at the Mon County EMS garage. Finding Zoe and Lucy tussling on the floor. He would side with Zoe, of course, and toss Crazy Lucy in jail. On the other hand, he was a little busy trying to solve a couple of murders and didn’t need the added aggravation.

Zoe inhaled a calming breath. Blew it out slowly. “All right…look. Curtis isn’t interested in me, and I’m definitely not interested in him.”

“Liar,” the girl snapped. “I’m not blind. I can see how he looks at you. And how you hate when I’m around.”

She had that much right. Only her reasons were way off base.

Randy must have given Lucy’s arms a squeeze because she let out a whiny yelp. “Let go of me, you Neanderthal.”

He started walking her toward the still-open front door. “I’ll let you go once you’re off EMS property.”

She stagger-stepped until she realized she was out-muscled. “Fine. I’m leaving.” She squirmed. “Now let me go.”

He released her, but stood firm, letting her know the only direction available at the moment was out.

With a growl, Lucy slouched her way to the door, but paused and turned back toward Zoe, shaking a finger at her. “This isn’t over. Curtis is mine, and I
will
win him back. You just watch your step.” Her jaw set, she blew out of the office.

“What the hell was that all about?” Randy asked.

“She’s nuts.” Zoe tugged her damp shirt away from her skin, pumping a little cool air against the burn.

“I got that much. Are you okay?”

“I think so.” She glanced at the mess on the floor. “Looks like we’re down one mug.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He directed two of the guys to clean up the mess. “You,” he said to Zoe, “go have a seat in the back. I’m gonna get something and then I’ll be right there to take a look at that burn.”

“But—”

He extended one arm with a finger pointing at the doorway to the lounge. “Go.”

No longer in a fighting mood, Zoe acquiesced.

After collapsing onto the lumpy couch, she stretched the neck of her t-shirt over her shoulder, craning her neck to get a look at the damage from the hot coffee. Her skin was pink rather than angry red with no sign of blistering. A little aloe should do the trick.

A few minutes passed before Randy joined her, carrying another cup in one hand, a file folder and a box of gauze squares in the other, and a bottle of saline clamped under one arm. He offered her the cup first. “I thought you might want a refill on the coffee. Try not to wear it this time.”

She made a face at him. “Ha, ha.” But she accepted the mug.

He took a seat next to her, eyeing her shoulder. “Doesn’t look so bad.”

“No.” Zoe sipped the hot brew. “And I don’t need all that.” She nodded toward the saline and the bandaging he’d set on the couch between them.

“I guess not.” He held up the folder and removed a sheet of paper. “But you may want to see this.”

She set the mug on the end table and reached for the report. “What is it?”

“You were talking about the run out on Oak Grove Road. It didn’t strike a chord with me until your little scuffle with Loco Lucy.”

Zoe was glad she’d already swallowed the coffee. Otherwise she’d have choked on it. “
Loco
Lucy?”

Randy shrugged. “It’s what some of the guys call her.”

“How did I not know this?”

“You don’t hang out with us at the bar.” He tapped the paper. “Anyhow, I remembered hearing about a call and thought it might be the one you were asking about, so I pulled the report.”

Zoe scanned the nearly indecipherable scrawl on the page. Dated three weeks ago, it indicated Barry and Curtis had been on the crew responding to a vehicular collision on Oak Grove Road. Vance Township VFD had also responded, although the report didn’t name which firefighters had been at the call. Nothing unusual there. Two cars had been involved in the accident. Only minor injuries noted, with no one requiring transportation to the hospital, and the ambulance returned to the garage.

Disappointed, she said, “This doesn’t tell me much.”

“No, it doesn’t. It was a very forgettable call. On paper.”

“What do you mean?”

Randy removed another sheet of paper from the folder. “One of my guys stopped in that day after they’d gotten back. I remember he mentioned Curtis was acting jittery. When asked about it, Curtis dodged the questions, and Barry just waved them off, saying it was nothing. But he got the impression that it was definitely
not
nothing.”

She reached for the second paper. “What’s this?”

Randy handed it to her. “The reason Loco Lucy’s appearance reminded me about the call.”

The second sheet of paper was one of the release forms they required patients who refused transportation to sign. Considering what Randy had said, she expected to see Lucy’s signature at the bottom.

Zoe was close.

The signature on the form belonged to Hector Livingston, Lucy’s father.