Taken by Tuesday (Weekday Brides Series) (12 page)

“Did he say anything?” Officer Spear asked.

“Uhm, yeah. He called me a bitch. Said something about how easy it would be . . .”

“How easy it would be to do what?”

“I don’t know. I was confused by his words.”

“Was he a big man?” Greenwood asked.

Judy closed her eyes, let herself remember. “Taller than me. His fingers were thick.”

“Thick?”

“Meaty. Almost soft.”

“Fat?” Spear asked.

“I guess. I only felt them when he covered my mouth.”

“Any accent?”

“No . . . wait, no. I don’t think so.”

“You didn’t see the color of his skin?”

Judy was disgusted with her lack of knowledge on the man who attacked her. “He covered my head with something. I only saw shadows through the cloth.”

“According to the witness who found you, your head was covered in a pillowcase.”

Judy nodded. “That would make sense. It was big enough to slip over my head easily.”

“Can you think of anything else?”

Judy swallowed.

“Judy, you were found unconscious after seven. Whoever did this was long gone. By your account you were in the garage at six thirty.”

“Yes.”

“How much time passed during this attack?”

“I don’t know. A few minutes, maybe less before he knocked me out.”

“So you were unconscious in the garage for twenty minutes, more or less?”

Plenty of time for the man to kill her if he wanted to.

“I guess.”

Greenwood raised her eyebrow to her partner.

“One more thing, Miss Gardner,” Spear said when his partner stood.

“Yes?”

“Do you have any idea who would do this to you? An enemy? An old boyfriend?”

The question shouldn’t have shocked her, but it did. “I’ve only been in town for a month. All I’ve done is work. I don’t have any enemies.”

“Everyone has enemies,” Spear countered.

Judy squeezed Rick’s hand. “I can’t imagine anyone we know doing this.”

Officer Greenwood removed a card and handed it to Judy. “If you remember anything, call me.”

“I will.”

Rick lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. “I have a question,” he said, stopping the police from leaving the room.

Why his words felt so much softer, less threatening than the police, Judy couldn’t say. “Yeah?”

“Do you know where your purse is?”

“I-I don’t know. I managed to hold on to my phone during the attack. I’m not sure why. Did the paramedics bring it with me?”

Rick looked around the room. A bag with her ruined clothing sat in a heap inside a patient belonging bag. He stood and brought it over to her.

She looked inside, noticed the blood-soaked clothing. Her purse wasn’t among her possessions.

Judy looked at the officers. “Do you know if they found my purse in the garage?”

“A tube with blueprints was found a few feet away, but no one has said anything about your purse.”

Judy shrugged. “I didn’t have a lot of money in it anyway.”

The nurse stepped back in the room, paused at the door. “Are you about done? The doctor wants to clean her up.”

“We are. I’ll go get the camera.”

“Your brother and sister-in-law are in the lobby.”

“I don’t want Zach to see me like this. He’ll freak.”

“It’s OK, Judy, we’ll keep him out until you’re ready,” Kim said.

“I’ll go tell them you’re all right,” Rick said.

He stepped out of the room and Officer Spear followed him.

Officer Greenwood stepped closer to the bed and lowered her voice. “Now that your boyfriend is gone, I have one more question.”

“OK?”

“Judy, there is no evidence to prove this man left the moment you lost consciousness. You were at his mercy for a long time and completely oblivious of his actions. I know the initial exam didn’t show evidence of a sexual assault. Are you sure he didn’t . . .”

Judy started to shake. “I don’t think so. My whole body hurts.”

“But you’re not sure.”

Judy looked at the nurse, her gaze met that of sympathy.

Kim sat beside the bed. “A rape exam consists of a pelvic exam, much like a pap only with more swabs, hair samples. Anything that could capture DNA. If you want your boyfriend—”

“We just started dating. We haven’t . . .”

“Fine. We can keep him out. This is your decision, Judy. If not knowing if this man sexually assaulted you is going to keep you up at night, then it might be better to take a closer look. If you’ve been sexually active in the past couple of days it might be difficult to tell.”

“I haven’t had sex in nearly a year.”

Kim sighed. “Then it will be easier to determine if something did happen while you were knocked out. It’s up to you.”

Officer Greenwood offered a different kind of advice. “DNA evidence is what puts most of these predators behind bars.”

Judy’s skin crawled. The thought of anyone spreading her open, scraping for answers, left her cold. But how could she move forward with the ugly question in her own head? The memory of the man’s hand on her thigh reminded her of the fear of him doing exactly what these women were worried about.

“My sister-in-law, Karen, is in the lobby. Can you ask her to come back during the exam?”

“Of course. I’ll tell the doctor of your decision.”

Alone in the room, Judy realized that her tears had completely dried up.

Chapter Twelve

He took it back . . . the first fifteen minutes in the lobby held nothing on the last forty-five. Rick had barely made it into the crowded waiting room to talk with Zach and Karen before the nurse followed him out to retrieve Karen. In hushed tones, Kim told them Judy agreed to a sexual assault exam because of the time she had been unconscious.

By the time Neil arrived in the ER, Zach and Rick were doing their best caged-animal impressions. They finally moved to the outside where they couldn’t scare the small children.

“I don’t think the media has wind of this yet,” Neil told them. “The garage is swarming with police. Once word got to them about whose sister Judy was, the team doubled.”

“Are there any cameras in the garage?”

“Only by the exit and the elevators.”

“Will we be able to view the tapes?”

Neil stood taller. “Remember Dean Brown? He worked on Eliza’s case.” Dean was a detective and connected to Gwen, Eliza, and Samantha. If strings could be pulled, he’d be the one to do it. “Dean’s working with the locals. Being a pseudo-father to the first lady of the state had its advantages. We should have something to look at in the next few hours.”

Zach reached for his phone. “I should call Mike and my parents.”

“Hey.”

They all turned around and found Karen, ghost white and stoic, standing in the automatic doors of the emergency room lobby.

Rick approached her first.

Karen shook her head. “She wasn’t. He didn’t.”

Rick held on to the wall beside him to stay standing.
Thank God.

Zach slid a hand around his wife’s waist to hold her up. “Can we go in?”

“Yeah, but just for a few minutes. The stitches took longer than the doctor thought they would. This bastard carved into her arm.”

Rick remembered the bandage on her arm, but assumed it was scrapes from the garage floor.

“What?”

Karen turned her wrist up and made an X over the underside of her arm. “Could be a letter or just slash marks. One cut rather deep and it started to bleed a lot when the doctor started cleaning it.”

Rick turned to Neil. “I want this bastard.”

Neil clasped his shoulder. “We’ll get him.”

It was a promise, one Rick would hold his friend to.

Nightmares plagued her sleep. Memories, images, and the feeling of a stranger’s hands on her body threatened to rob her sanity. The first time she woke, Karen was at her side, the next her mother was there holding back her hair when the food they’d given her the night before emptied into a basin.

Much later, the pasty film in her mouth had her lips sticking together when she uttered the word
water
. Somewhere in the night, she’d been transferred into a larger room with more monitors and more IVs going into her.

Meg scrambled to her feet when Judy woke.

“Hey . . . here.” Her best friend looked like she’d slept in a chair. Meg offered her a pale orange cup with a straw. “Just a sip.”

It only took a sip to make her stomach reject the fluid. The passing of time was evident, yet she didn’t remember any of it.

“You’re not in New York.”

Meg tilted her head. “You know who I am?”

Judy’s swollen right eye made her wince when she smiled. “Of course. That’s a stupid question.”

“You didn’t yesterday. Oh, Judy. We’ve been so worried.”

“What? I remember leaving the ER, then I fell asleep.”

Meg held one of Judy’s hands in both of hers. “You fell asleep and didn’t want to wake up. They did a second CAT scan and found a little swelling.” She patted the side of her head. “The doctors brought you up here and said we just needed to wait.”

“Up here?” She looked around the room.

“ICU.”

That explained the amount of medical equipment, the glass doors. “Is my mom here? I remember her being here.”

“She is. Everyone is.” Meg choked up. “I called your cell on Saturday. When Rick answered, I was all laughing . . . happy that you two hooked up. Then he told me what happened. God, Judy. I’m so sorry.”

Though her friend cried, Judy couldn’t feel the tears. She knew if she started to shed them, she’d never stop. “I’m OK, Meg.”

Meg swiped at the tears under her eyes, a pathetic smile followed. “I told the nurse I’d let her know when you woke.”

Judy stopped her before she left the room. “Meg. What day is it?”

“Monday. Almost four in the afternoon.”

The bastard took more than twenty minutes. He took two days of my life.

A slow, steady stream of people visited her once the nurse managed a few tasks. Her parents were first, both had swollen eyes and heaps of remorse. She assured them she was going to be fine. Her dad never wanted her to go to LA, wanted her home in nowhere, Utah, where she could find the right man, settle down, and raise a few kids. She couldn’t offer her dad anything other than a repeated statement of, “I’m fine.” The lie came to her lips freely.

When Mike walked in the door, she met him with a frown. “What? Aren’t you supposed to be making all the women happy in another country?”

Mike offered a smile, even though his eyes told her he didn’t feel it. “You’re the only woman I’m thinking about right now.”

She accepted his hug. “I’m OK, Mike.”

“Really? Yesterday you were doing an
Exorcist
remake. I’d have made a YouTube video if I needed the money.” His eyes were smiling a little now.

When Judy laughed, her skin stretched over the swelling on her face. “It hurts to laugh. Stop.”

“I was born to entertain, sis. Can’t help it.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I needed that.”

“What, the snarky
Exorcist
comment? I’m serious. You kept telling me to put the toilet seat down. Scared the crap out of me. To which the toilet seat was down.”

She laughed and pain rattled her entire body. “Stop.”

“How are you feeling?”

The lie was there. “I’m fine. Only hurts when I laugh.”

Zach and Karen made their way in with her younger sister, Hannah, at their heels. There were equal parts happiness to see her awake and to find her comprehending their words and concern.

At some point, the doctor made an appearance and asked that everyone leave. Her lack of appetite told him she still wasn’t ready to leave the observation of the ICU. She might be making sense but they wanted to keep her another night at a higher intensity of care until they saw a clear CAT scan and a return of her desire to eat.

Karen and Meg returned to the room after the doctor left. “You don’t need to stay,” she told them.

Meg snuggled into her chair and flipped on the TV. “I told Rick I was going to be here until he returned.”

“And I’m Meg’s ride,” Karen offered.

“Where is Rick?”

Karen and Meg exchanged glances. “He and Neil are investigating the guy who did this to you.”

No one had even mentioned the assault since she woke. It was as if an act of God had placed her in the hospital.

“Do they have anyone yet?”

Karen shook her head. “No. The videos didn’t show anything.”

“Videos of what?”

“The garage had some surveillance videos. Not a lot, but some. The man who found you didn’t see anyone running away,” Meg said.

“They’ll find him,” Karen told her. “Gwen told me they’ve mobilized a small task force. They’ll find him.”

She couldn’t think about any of that right now. Her body hurt too much, her head was ready to explode with every brain cell used on the man who did this to her.

“I assume someone told my boss where I am.”

“Are you kidding? The police have talked with just about everyone in your building who might have been there Friday night,” Meg told her.

“No one was in the office when I left.”

“Well, the police closed the parking lot all weekend and have questioned everyone from the security guards in the lobby to your boss.”

“I’m not complaining,” Judy said, “but I’d imagine women are abused in a city this size every day. Why are they working so hard on this for me?”

Karen twisted the blinds to curb the direct light of the setting sun. “There is the Neil and Rick factor.”

“What factor is that?”

“Marines. Those two aren’t going to rest until the man who did this is behind bars.”

Even in pain, Judy felt her insides warm to know Rick cared enough to work hard to find the man behind her pain.

“Then there is the Eliza factor.”

“I hardly know Eliza.” They’d met a couple of times. Yeah, it was impressive to meet the governor and his wife. To know that Karen and Eliza were good friends was a nice perk.

“But I
do
know Eliza. She and Carter take it personally when someone in their circle is hurt.”

“I’m not in their circle.”

Karen offered a small smile. “You are, hon. Sometimes family isn’t about the people you’re born to, but those who care enough about you to support you . . . or pull a few favors to help right a wrong for someone you know. What happened to you was beyond wrong. Getting this dirtbag off the street is a public safety concern for everyone. The fact that the governor has a direct line to you makes this a priority.”

“Don’t question it,” Meg told her. “You just need to get better so we can both move back into Michael’s house.”

“Wait . . . you’re not there? Where are you staying?”

Meg bit her bottom lip. “Oh, well . . . either with Karen and Zach or at the Tarzana house. Everyone thought it was best.”

“Why?”

“They never found your purse. We changed the key codes and locks, but we thought it was best that no one was there alone until after this guy is caught. There are two extra rooms at the Tarzana house.”

“Not that you need to think about that,” Karen said. “You’ll stay with us when they let you out of here.”

“That’s crazy. The commute to work would take hours.”

Karen and Meg just stared at her.

“What?”

“You’re thinking about work?”

She wiggled up in the bed and frowned. “Well, maybe not today.”

Karen waved her off. “No need to think about that now.”

Meg changed the subject. Told her that Lucas and Dan stopped by the night before only to be stopped in the lobby. The media had gotten wind of the assault. Now that Mike roamed the halls of the hospital, they were camped out to gather a statement or two.

Rick was exhausted. The sleep he managed in the past three days rivaled that of some of his missions overseas. It didn’t stop him from turning over the active investigation for a few hours to sleep in an uncomfortable chair by Judy’s bedside, a task he only relinquished to Judy’s mom for a few hours on the second night.

Word had come via Zach that Judy was awake and making sense. Rick had seen his share of enlisted men with their bells rung to know about concussions. The swelling was minimal, so he knew it was only a matter of time for Judy to come back to them. Not that he was ever more than an hour away at any time.

The investigation was an exercise in frustration. They had little to go on. No eyewitnesses and not one camera that captured even a shadow.

As Rick parked in the now-familiar lot, he shoved his keys in his pocket and looked around. Even the hospital lot had cameras. It helped that there was a hefty fee for parking, which often gave the driver a false sense of security. But in the case of the hospital lot, there was actual uniformed security riding around in golf carts. Not armed security, but at least someone with a uniform and an ability to call for help.