Fatal Secrets - Desiree Holt Page 0,49
snatched it out of the console cradle.
“Alex?”
“Yeah. I’m here.”
”Is it them?”
“It is.” There was a short pause. “It’s pretty bad, Hank.”
Nausea welled up in Hanks’s throat as panic gripped him. He had to swallow twice before he could say anything again.
“Are they—” He couldn’t get the words out.
“No, but it’s not good. Something pretty damn big, maybe a semi, smashed Sean’s truck into a bunch of trees. He’s got a concussion, for sure, and a broken arm. Don’t know about internal damage. But at least he’s awake, although pretty groggy.”
“And Zoe?” Hank clenched his fist until the nails dug into his palm.
“Not so good.” Alex paused. “She’s still unconscious. She also has a broken arm, and the EMTs think she may have a cracked rib or two. And there’s a possibility of internal bleeding.”
“Motherfucker.” Hank wanted to hit something. Or someone.
“They’re loading both of them into ambulances right now. Taking them to the trauma center in Billings.” He recited the name to Hank. “I’ve got the sheriff himself here, and we’ve all taken a bunch of pictures. He’s sending someone to the truck stop to take statements there in case anyone knows anything. And, Hank?” His voice dropped.
“Yeah?”
“Sean managed to give me his phone. All he said was ‘pictures,’ but I went to his photo file, and there’s some shots he took of a semi and a couple of other cars in the truck stop parking lot.”
“License plates?” Hank snapped.
“Believe it or not, yes. Your cousin is one smart cookie. I’m forwarding them to you. I could run them, but I think it’s better to keep them off the public lines. Your guys can do it better and more quietly.”
“I’ll call them now.”
“Don’t come here,” Alex told him. There’s nothing for you to see, and I’ve got shots of everything. Get to the hospital. I’ll meet you there.”
Hank disconnected the call, looked up the hospital address to program into his phone, and turned off onto a different highway. Then he pulled over to the shoulder of the road and called the war room. Charlie Zero (real last name Zalman) happened to answer the phone.
“Sadie said you took off like a bat out of hell,” he said to Hank. “She wants us to find out what the hell is going on.”
“She won’t like it, that’s for sure. I’ll call her myself, but here’s the gist.” He gave Charlie a brief but detailed account of everything he knew so far, which wasn’t fucking much.” I’m sending you some pictures of license plates. Run them through our secure systems. Alex doesn’t want them out on the public data bases. I’m emailing you the photos right now. Call me the minute you have something.”
“Will do.”
He pulled onto the highway again, let out a slow breath, and speed-dialed Sadie.
“Where the hell are you?” she answered the phone.
“I’m, uh, on the road.”
“I guess so. You ran out of here like your pants were on fire. What’s the emergency? And have you heard from Sean and Zoe?” One second later she said, “Wait. Is this about them? What’s happened? You’d better tell me right now, Hank Patterson.”
“I will, but just be calm, okay?”
Carefully he told her what he knew, doing his best to play down the seriousness of the situation.
There was a long moment of silence. “But they’re both still alive.”
“Yes. They are.”
“And you have a lead on who did this.” Statement, not question.
“I do. The guys in the war room are tracing license plates as we speak. Sadie, they’ll be fine. I’ll call you with an update from the hospital.”
Another moment of silence. Then…
“I’m calling that helicopter service. I’ll meet you there.”
He knew it was no use to argue with her. For one thing, the cost wasn’t a problem. Besides the nice living Hank made, Sadie had a fat bank account from her movie contracts. And trying to talk her out of this would be waste of time. One of her best friends was seriously hurt. Emma was still at a playdate. There was nothing stopping her.
“Be careful,” he told her.
“Without a doubt. See you soon.”
Baron (otherwise known as Elliott Craig, gripped his cell phone so hard it was a wonder he didn’t break the case.
“This is what you call taking care of things?”
“It’s a touchy situation,” Verne (Randall Vicks) told him. “Obviously, she doesn’t scare easily. We can’t go after her friend. That fucking Brotherhood Protectors outfit is worse than a secret army. That SEAL she’s hooked up with sticks to her like a barnacle