Chapter 45

The woman Darrell followed to the hospital was trying to wake. The doctors attended to her superficial wounds and kept her monitored because she was having difficulty becoming conscious. Darrell had tried to stay awake in the chair in the corner of the room; however the monitors had a steady lulling rhythm to them. Slowly he gave into his body’s desire to relax and sleep.

When he woke, daylight flooded into the room and he had found a blanket covering him. He rubbed his eyes, looked at his watch and then over to the woman in the hospital bed. To Darrell’s surprise the woman was sitting up staring up at him.

“Hi, I’m Detective Darrell Darker. Are you Bridgette? Bridgette Westholm?”

The woman started to nod up and down and then suddenly shook her head side to side. She tried to speak but only muted sounds came out of her mouth.

“Ssshhhhh. Don’t try to speak. I’ve got paper and a pen right here.”

Darrell stood up, pulled the blanket off, reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the paper and pen. He walked over to the woman and handed her the tools. Her eyes were starting to tear and she was visibly shaking. As she wrote, tears streamed down her face.

Are you a cop?

“Yes” Darrell said

Who is Bridgette?

“You are not Bridgette Westholm?”

The woman shook her head.

Where am I?

“You are at Lakeside Hospital.”

Where is my sister?

“I don’t know. What is your name? I promise I will find her.”

Joanne Horne

Please-I need to know she is safe. I need Melissa.

Darrell grabbed her hand and looked into her pale green eyes and spoke.

“Joanne, I will get your sister, and I will bring her here, OK?”

Joanne nodded.

Darrell smiled at the woman and then squeezed her arm. He got up from the bed and left the room, leaving the woman in her silence and confusion. Darrell stopped at the nurses’ station to get Joanne’s progress. The nurses told Darrell that Joanne would make a full recovery despite not having her tongue. Darrell felt relief and pity. He left the hospital on his next mission; finding Melissa Horne, then to go to the morgue to get the latest on the three dead women’s autopsies.

Darrell drove to Joanne Horne’s home and pulled into the driveway. He shut the car off and looked at the small bungalow he had parked beside. It had been three hours since he left the hospital. He had tracked down the sister and after visiting social services, the high school and the local hangouts he had hoped that Melissa Horne was here. As he got out of the car, the front door to the small bungalow opened.

“Hi.” Darrell spoke as he reached for his badge and walked towards the opened door.

“Are you Melissa Horne?”

‘Ya!” was all the girl said.

“I’m Detective Darrell Darker, I’m here about your sister…” before Darrell could finish his sentence the young girl collapsed in the doorway and began to sob.

Darrell dove to catch the girl. He caught her under the arms, helped her to her feet and walked her into the small living room and sat her on the couch. He waited until the sobbing slowed before he spoke again.

“Melissa?” Darrell asked as her grabbed her hand, the girl looked up him with the same pale green eyes Joanne had.

“Your sister is at the Lakeside Hospital. She’s going to recover fully. She’s been through something terrible and she is going to need you to be strong for her. She will need a lot of patience also. Do you think you can do that?” Darrell asked.

Melissa nodded her head.

“I can! I want to see her.”

Darrell gave the young girl the information and offered to drive her to the hospital. Melisa refused the ride and called a cab. Darrell waited until the cab came, went out and paid for the fare and then watched the cab and Melissa leave. Darrell got back into his car and backed out of the driveway and set his sights to the next task. A grim feeling overtook him as he drove to the morgue.