Silent Killer Page 0,97
located here in Dunmore.”
“Damn,” Jack mumbled under his breath.
“I’ll wait until morning to tell Seth and call J.B. and Mona.”
“You’ll have to tell Seth, but Lorie will call the Cantrells. I’m sorry that I can’t come straight over there, but—”
“I’ll be all right. You do your job and help find the person responsible for these murders.”
“We’re doing all we can, honey.”
“Yes, I know…I know.”
“I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Okay.”
She had no more than said good-bye and turned on the bedside lamp when she heard footsteps in the hallway. She got out of bed and picked up the phone base lying on the floor. By the time she had set it back in place, Seth called out to her from the doorway.
“Who was on the phone?” he asked, as he entered the bedroom.
“Jack Perdue.”
Surveying her face and apparently sensing the worst, Seth said, “Something terrible has happened, hasn’t it?”
“There’s been another murder.”
“The Fire and Brimstone Killer?”
Cathy nodded. “Reverend Bruce Kelley from Decatur. I know his daughter, Kim Randall. She’s the director at Bright Side.”
“Oh, Mom.”
Looking at Seth, she saw a sad, vulnerable boy who had lost his father to an insane killer, a boy badly in need of comfort. When she held open her arms, he didn’t hesitate. He went straight into her embrace. She held her tall, teenage son in her arms and asked God to give her the strength to help them both. The memories of Mark’s brutal murder, his funeral and the days that followed came rushing back, front and center, for both of them. First she had to fight her own demons, and then she could help her son vanquish his.
The neighbors stayed there at the house with her mother and Mirabelle, allowing Kim and her siblings to drive to Nashville, where their father was being treated for life-threatening burns. When they arrived at the Burn Center, located on the fourth floor of the main hospital, the morning nurse in charge of the ICU, Susan Bolden, came out and spoke to them.
“The first forty-eight hours after a burn injury are the most critical,” she explained. “Our immediate concerns are to prevent fluid loss and to do all we can to prevent infection.”
“When can we see him?” Kim asked.
“Right now, the staff is working with him. He’s been given a tetanus vaccination and is receiving fluids, electrolytes, antibiotics and pain medication through an IV. He’s also been catheterized.”
“Is he in horrible pain?” Kira asked, tears dampening her face.
Nurse Bolden grimaced. “He is in considerable pain, but the medication is helping him.”
“Is he going to die?” Kevin asked.
“I can’t answer that,” Nurse Bolden replied. “Dr. Cummings will speak to you sometime later today. But in the meantime, rest assured that we’re doing everything possible for your father.”
“Will he need skin grafts?” Kim asked.
Nurse Bolden glanced away as if she couldn’t bear to look at them, but she recovered quickly and replied, “It’s too soon to know what type of treatment will be required. For now, that’s all I can tell you. We have a visitor’s lounge on the eleventh floor for the families of our patients. It will probably be during the one o’clock visitation time before y’all can see Reverend Kelley. You might want to have breakfast in the cafeteria or drive to a nearby restaurant. Leave your cell numbers, and someone will contact you if there’s any significant change in your father’s condition.”
With that said, Nurse Bolden disappeared into the intensive care unit. Kim looked at Kevin, who stood there with his shoulders slumped and head bowed. She knew he was praying. When she glanced at her sister, Kira immediately burst into tears and hurled herself into Kim’s arms.
“Daddy’s going to die, isn’t he?” Kira trembled as she cried.
Kim stroked her sister’s back and wished she could promise her that their dad would live. She couldn’t. From what the Decatur police officers had told them, their father had been doused with gasoline and set on fire. Just like the other three clergymen. Mark Cantrell had been the first. Kim knew his wife, Cathy, who had been a volunteer at Bright Side. It didn’t seem possible that the same deranged killer who had murdered Cathy’s husband, an Athens minister and a Catholic priest had now tried to kill her father. Why hadn’t that monster been caught and put behind bars?
By seven that Saturday evening, it seemed to Cathy that half the world had stopped by her house during the day. Of course, that was a huge exaggeration. Lorie had