Scraps of Evidence: Quilts of Love Series Read online

  She got off the elevator and approached her aunt’s room with some trepidation. When she pushed open the door, she saw that her aunt lay sleeping. Claudia sat in a chair beside her, her knitting needles clicking away.

  Tess tiptoed in and put her food and the milkshake on the bedside table. “How’s she doing?”

  “Fell asleep about an hour ago.” Claudia tucked her knitting in her tote bag, stood and stretched. “You let me know if you need me to sit with her again.”

  “I will. Thank you.” She hugged the woman, then settled into the chair and pulled her dinner from the bag along with her notepad and pen in case her aunt woke up.

  Tess had just taken a bite out of her tuna sandwich when the door opened abruptly. “Hello, Tess.”

  She looked up at the familiar voice. Gordon stood in the doorway.

  Logan tried calling Tess at the next red light he had to stop at a few miles from St. Augustine.

  The call went straight to voicemail.

  It wasn’t like her not to pick up. He wondered if her aunt was having a problem. But if she were, he figured Tess would have called him. He checked the time. Certainly, it was possible she’d gone home and was sleeping. There was nothing more he wanted right now. Well, he’d like to see her before he went home, but if that wasn’t possible, then of course, he’d settle for knowing she was all right.

  He drove past her house, and her car wasn’t in the driveway. She must still be at the hospital. He headed in that direction and sure enough, he found it was parked in the visitor section.

  While he wished she’d been able to go home, it did give him the opportunity to see her again and for that he was grateful. The hospital’s main entrance was locked for the night so he went in through the emergency room entrance, showed a security guard his badge, and was directed to an elevator that took him to Kathy’s floor.

  She was sitting up in bed looking a little better than she had earlier. A takeout cup from an ice cream shop Tess loved sat in front of her on her bed table. She smiled and waved to him.

  “Where’s Tess?”

  When she looked confused and shook her head, he pulled out his notepad and pen and handed them to her.

  “I woke up and thought she’d stepped outside with you,” she wrote. “She must just have stepped out of the room.” She glanced in the direction of the restroom door.

  Logan walked over to it but since the door was ajar, he knew he wouldn’t find her there.

  Kathy waved a hand. “Isn’t that her dinner?” she wrote on the pad.

  “Don’t know. I had an errand to run,” he explained as he walked over and examined the take-out dinner that had been barely touched. “But yeah, that’s got to be her food. I don’t know anyone else who puts potato chips inside her sandwich before eating.”

  It was then he saw the napkin that lay just underneath the Styrofoam container. On it was one word—a name: Andy.

  Andy. What did that name mean? Why had Tess written it on the napkin?

  Logan racked his brain. The name seemed familiar but he couldn’t remember why.

  Andy. He paced the room, returned to stare at the napkin.

  He glancd at Kathy when she picked up the TV remote and turned on the news.

  Logan felt punched in the gut.

  “Kathy, did Gordon stop by?” he asked casually as he turned his back for a moment, picked up the napkin, and tucked it inside his shirt pocket.

  When he turned around, he saw she was shaking her head. “Just Claudia, Pam—Chief’s wife—and Tess.”

  He nodded, careful not to show the dread he was feeling. But he needed to get moving and find Tess. Gordon had her, and he doubted it was for a chat about work. She wouldn’t have scribbled “Andy” and left it there with an uneaten dinner.

  “I’m going to go find her,” he told Kathy. “She might be out at the nurse’s station or down the hall making a phone call. I’ll be right back.”

  He didn’t find her anywhere. His heart raced.

  What did you do when you suspected the police chief of murder—and he had the woman you loved?

  Logan went to the nurse’s station and asked her to page whoever was in charge of security for the shift. In just a few minutes, the man was striding down the hall.

  “Kevin Sanders. How can I help you?”

  He showed his badge and asked if he could see the security tape of the hallway and elevator.

  “Can you tell me what this is about?”

  He measured the man and went with his gut. “One of our officers is missing. She was last seen here visiting a patient.”

  “Come to my office.” Once there, he sat and began tapping at the keyboard of his computer.

  It took a few minutes but Logan had his answer: there was Tess walking down the hall with Gordon. She appeared calm, as if nothing were wrong. The time stamp showed her walking past just twenty minutes before. Logan felt the first surge of hope. The shorter the time from her going missing, the stronger the chance he could find her alive.

  “Can I get a closeup?”

  When the image of Tess’s face was enlarged, Logan saw the truth as she glanced at what she must have seen was a security camera: there was a trace of fear in her eyes but her chin was lifted high. She was showing determination to the man she walked beside.

  “The hospital entrance,” Logan said tersely. “Can you give me a view of the entrance a few minutes after this?”

  But there were no images of Tess leaving the hospital with Gordon.

  “What about other entrances?”

  Sanders was texting on his cell. “I’m asking the guards at the other entrances. We should have a response very quickly.”

  Logan met his gaze. Nothing was quick enough.

  “I’ll be right outside.” He stepped outside the office, pulled out his cell, and called a friend on the force.

  “I need a favor,” he began. “I need you to ping Tess’s cell phone. And please, no jokes about me stalking her.”

  Fortunately, Ed didn’t joke, and he didn’t fool around. The last location was the hospital Logan stood in.

  Logan slammed a hand against the wall.

  “You want me to check there for you? I can go there now.”

  “I’m already here,” Logan said tersely.

  “Can I ask a question?”

  “If I can answer it, I will.”

  “Is Gordon looking for her?”

  Logan hadn’t expected a question like that. “I can’t answer that.”

  There was a pause. “Do you want me to meet you at the hospital?”

  Once again, Logan was faced with having to trust someone he didn’t feel he knew as well as he’d like—with something as monumental as Tess’s safety.

  “Yeah,” he said. “How soon can you get here?”

  “Ten minutes.”

  “No lights, no siren. I’m in the security chief’s office on the first floor. Ask for Kevin Sanders if you have any trouble finding it.”

  He walked back into the security office. “What’s the word?”

  “No one’s seen her leave. Doesn’t mean she didn’t. But most of the security staff here knows Tess, and they didn’t see her.”

  He told himself maybe Gordon still didn’t know about their suspicions. Maybe he and Tess were in the hospital cafeteria having coffee. Tess was a smart woman. She wouldn’t jump the gun and confront him.

  Logan told himself maybe he was just in denial that something bad had happened to Tess.

  “I asked a fellow officer to ping her cell, and the location of the last call came from here in the hospital,” Logan told Jason. “That could either mean she made her last call from here or she’s still here.”

  “Just say the word, and we’ll do a floor-by-floor search.”

  “Do it.” Logan had a photo of Tess he’d taken on the sailboat that day before she’d gotten sick. He sent it to Sanders to use for the search.

  “No one’s to make contact with her—especially if she’s with anyone
.”

  “Got it. Wait, got a text coming in. She’s in the cafeteria. Whitney says she’s with a guy.”

  “Get a description,” Logan said tersely.

  Sanders tapped at the keyboard of his cell and looked up. “Fiftyish. Crew-cut.”

  “It’s Gordon.”

  “So, does that mean everything’s okay?”

  “No,” Logan said. “Don’t stand down. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

  And he was out the door.

  20

  Tess felt her stomach knot the moment Gordon walked into her Aunt Kathy’s room.

  “I thought you weren’t going to be able to come back today.”

  He walked in and glanced at his wife. “Taking a break. How’s she doing?”

  “The nurse gave her more pain meds an hour or so ago. I don’t think she’ll wake up for a while.”

  She hoped he’d do his usual duty visit and leave quickly, but he lingered.

  “What are you eating there?”

  “Tuna sandwich.”

  He made a face. “I feel like a steak. Want to join me?”

  She’d rather climb into a shark tank and be eaten. “No, but thanks. I think I’ll head on home, since the nurse doesn’t expect Aunt Kathy to wake up tonight.”

  Then his attention shifted. He walked over and frowned when he saw the roses he’d brought lying in the wastepaper basket. “What are these doing in here?”

  “You’d have to ask your wife.”

  His eyes narrowed. “What are you saying?”

  She took a breath and met his gaze. “I think you know.”

  “No, why don’t you tell me.”

  Tess wiped her hands on a napkin. “I haven’t said anything before. But it’s time. It’s time you stopped hurting my aunt.”

  “Did she tell you that?” he thundered.

  “Ssh!” she hissed. “You’ll wake her up.” She met his stormy gaze. “You know she’s not going to talk against you. Abusers count on that.”

  “This is none of your business.”

  “You made it my business when you raised your hand against her,” she said quietly. “I’m sworn to serve and protect and not just some citizen on the block. It includes my family. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure my aunt doesn’t get hurt again.”

  He walked over to stand before her, the table her dinner sat on the only thing keeping him from coming closer. “She’s not going to leave me.” He folded his arms over his beefy chest and glared at her.

  There was a knock on the door. A nurse walked in with her computer on a rolling cart. “Visiting hours are over in a few minutes.”

  Gordon quickly wiped the anger from his expression and turned to flash a smile at the woman. “Sorry, I just came from the station. Wanted to see the wife before I headed home.”

  “Oh, I didn’t realize it was you.” The nurse gave him a big smile. “I suppose we can make an exception and let you stay a little longer.”

  “No, no,” he said magnanimously. “I wouldn’t want you to give me special treatment. C’mon, Tess, what do you say to a steak?”

  Her appetite gone, she closed the top on the Styrofoam container. “No, thanks, like I said, I want to go home.”

  “Well, coffee then,” he said, using a persuasive tone, his eyes on the nurse as she took his wife’s vital signs. “We’ll finish our discussion.”

  Tess told herself he was playing her under the benevolent gaze of the nurse. But maybe she could talk him into counseling . . . at the very least, persuading him he and Aunt Kathy should take a little time away from each other.

  The nurse finished up and turned to leave. And as she did, Tess caught Gordon giving her an assessing glance. Tess frowned, angry he looked at another woman like that with his injured wife lying just a few feet from him.

  Then ice ran in her veins as she remembered her and Logan’s suspicions.

  She didn’t want to be left in the room with him again. While he was preoccupied with the nurse, she quietly reached for her pen and scribbled on the napkin she’d placed on her lap. Then she pushed it just under the edge of the Styrofoam container.

  So she’d go downstairs to the cafeteria and have coffee with Gordon. Maybe she was a crazy optimist about thinking she’d talk him into counseling. In any event, she wouldn’t be in this small room with him. When Logan returned, she’d be able to walk away and find out what had happened at the state lab.

  “Let’s get that coffee,” she said and she stood.

  Gordon nodded, so sure of her acceptance that he didn’t bother to look in her direction.

  They went through the line for their coffee and found a table. Gordon reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of sugar that he ripped open and dumped into his coffee.

  “You carry your own sugar?”

  “I’m tired of only finding the fake stuff on the table,” he said. “So where’s Logan?”

  “Watching some game on TV.”

  “Which one?”

  She shrugged. “Who knows. He loves ESPN.” Her coffee tasted bitter. She chose a pink packet of sweetener and stirred it into the coffee.

  Coffee. The chief said that Gordon had brought him coffee. He did that at the station a lot.

  She glanced up and found Gordon watching her. It was a little unnerving the way he did it. She told herself to relax and act natural. No way was she letting him know that she suspected him of anything.

  “I’d like you to consider counseling,” she began. “I know someone who—”

  “That again?” he snapped. “Like I said, it’s none of your business.”

  “When we were in Aunt Kathy’s room, you said we could talk about it.”

  He shrugged and let his eyes roam around the room. Then he tensed. Tess followed the line of his look and saw a security guard at the periphery of the room. The man glanced around the room, then in their direction, before moving on.

  Tess wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but then she caught a glimpse of another passing by the entrance of the cafeteria.

  “What’s going on?” Gordon asked her.

  “Don’t know. Shift change? Listen, I really want to talk about you and Aunt Kathy—”

  His eyes hardened. “Subject’s closed. And don’t go trying to influence Kathy. Maybe you’ve forgotten who you’re working for now.”

  Shocked, she could only stare at him for a long moment. “Are you threatening me?”

  “Why no,” he said, smiling coldly at her. “I think you’re smart enough not to do something stupid like try to cause your superior problems, aren’t you?”

  He glanced over at the entrance. “Well, well, look who’s here.”

  Tess felt relief wash over her as Logan strode toward their table but tried to school her expression. Gordon wasn’t going to suspect what she and Logan had been doing that day if she had her way.

  “I didn’t think I’d see you again tonight,” she said, smiling at him. “Tired of watching ESPN?”

  “Never,” he said, acknowledging Gordon with a nod.

  “What game were you watching?” Gordon asked him.

  “I fell asleep,” Logan told him.

  “If you were so tired, why’d you come here?”

  “I wanted to see Tess. And the Chief. Oh, and Kathy. Put your hands on the table where we can see them, Gordon. You’re under arrest.”

  “For what? Kathy’s not pressing charges against me,” Gordon blustered. “And I’m Chief now while Jeremy is incapacitated.”

  “Yeah, wonder how much you had to do with that, too,” Logan said. “You’re under arrest for the murder of two women, Samantha Marshall and Toni Sanchez to start. We expect to file more charges in the next few days.”

  “Murder? On what evidence?”

  “Remember the quilt?” Tess asked him. “Years ago, you asked Aunt Kathy to make a quilt from the clothing you brought her.”

  “That was from my sisters.”

  “Some of it. But we’ve already had
two items positively identified by family.”

  “You took the quilt to the families and had them say pieces of it belonged to their relatives?” he laughed, incredulous.

  “We found the clothing. Aunt Kathy kept it all these years. You see, quilters seldom throw perfectly good fabric away.”

  “Kathy had the clothing and you’re accusing me?” Gordon scoffed. “That’ll never hold up in court.”

  “Chief seems to think it will. There’ll be DNA from the victims on the clothing. Only the killer would have that clothing.”

  “Enough talk, Gordon.” Logan said. “Put your hands on the table where we can see them.”

  The cafeteria was a little noisy but there was no mistaking the sound of a gun being cocked.

  Gordon smiled. “Yes, and it’s trained on Tess.”

  “Haven’t you killed enough?” Logan asked, berating himself for not anticipating the man’s actions.

  Gordon looked at Tess. “Let’s go.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere with you, Gordon. Give it up.”

  He glanced to his left. “Take a look at that kid, Tess. And that old woman at the next table. You willing to risk them?”

  Logan watched her head turn slowly and take in the sight of the little boy dipping French fries into a pool of ketchup on his plate. The old woman sat tiredly stirring a cup of tea, her walker propped beside her.

  “Don’t listen to him, Tess.”

  She waved her hand at him. “Where are you going to go, Gordon? No one’s going to let you go anywhere. Get a good lawyer and fight the charges.”

  “Let’s go, Tess. And don’t try anything. Remember, I taught you everything you know.”

  A trickle of sweat ran cold down Logan’s back as he watched her stand. Gordon stood as well, quickly slipped his hand holding his weapon in his jacket pocket, and wrapped his arm around her waist. A look of revulsion crossed her face. She shifted her gaze to Logan, and her chin lifted.

  “Not a victim,” it seemed to say. He wanted to nod but didn’t dare as Gordon kept his eye on him while he moved Tess toward the door.

  Something shifted in the periphery of Logan’s vision. A security guard stood on the far side of the room waiting for direction. He inclined his head toward the doorway where Logan saw Ed.