Detection Mission. Margaret Daley

still in the hospital, unresponsive. On top of that, Captain Slade McNeal’s dog, Rio, was stolen at the same time and hadn’t turned up. Something big was going down in here. According to Pauly Keevers, a snitch, a major crime syndicate was operating in town so low under the radar that no one knew who The Boss was or the second-in-command. Both used ruthless tactics to get their way.

      “I fell over there.” The young man stopped on the path and stepped around some brush. “There’s the blood.”

      Lee stooped to examine a pile of dead leaves caught against the trunk of a tree. Dried blood caked them. He peered up at the man. “Thanks. I’ll take it from here.”

      “Do I have to stay? I need to get to work soon.”

      “Does the officer have all your contact information?” Lee asked.

      “Yes, he does.”

      “Okay, then...you’re free to go. Just let the officer know I’m setting up a search.”

      As the young man jogged away, Lee rose and took Kip off his leash. If there was a body to be found, his cadaver dog would find it. And from the indication of the amount of blood loss, there very likely was a body somewhere. Kip put his nose to the ground and set out. Lee kept him in sight as his border collie went to work.

      Ten minutes later, Kip stopped and barked. When Lee approached his dog, he stood next to a spot of disturbed ground, his head down, staring at the churned earth.

      “What have you found?”

      Kip barked again, his gaze still trained on the dirt.

      Lee put on some latex gloves, stooped and began to dig carefully. From his dog’s behavior, something dead was buried here. When he saw a piece of blue fabric, he ceased.

      “Good boy,” Lee said, as he always did whenever his cadaver dog found a body, then he scratched Kip’s favorite place before rising. “I’m calling this in.” He rotated in a slow circle, searching the area for any other signs of another grave.

      Pulling out his cell, he placed a call to the station to report a body being found. Then while he waited for the crime-scene techs to show up, he checked the surrounding area in case there was another body. There were several low-level criminals missing, including Pauly Keevers who had assisted them recently. Was the body Kip discovered one of them? And could there be other graves in the woods?

      * * *

      Her lungs burned from lack of air, but she couldn’t stop running. He’d catch her. Branches clawed at her, scraping across her skin. Stinging. A tree limb slapped against her face. The darkness of an approaching night crept closer, disguising the terrain and making her path difficult.

      Instead of slowing down, she increased her speed. The sound of him crashing through the woods behind her filled her with terror. The pounding of her heart outpaced the pounding of her strides.

      Then her foot landed in a hole, and she stumbled, flying forward. The hard impact with the ground knocked what little breath she had from her. The cold earth welcomed her.

      The crush of leaves and snap of branches echoed through the trees. He was coming to get her. Kill her this time.

      She scrambled to her feet and started forward when a body slammed into her...

      She jerked, raising her arms to strike him. All she encountered was air. Warm air. Not cold. As the nightmare evaporated, her eyes popped open. She was still in the hospital, and the custodian from earlier today stood at the side of her bed with a plastic trash bag in one hand.

      His frosty eyes on her, he inched closer.

      A scream welled up inside her. Clamping her lips together, she fumbled for her call button and pushed it while scooting as far to the other side of the bed as she could.

      “Ma’am, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

      “You didn’t?”

      “You were thrashing around. I was going to put up your railing so you didn’t fall out of the bed.”

      She peered down at his other hand without the trash bag and noticed it was clasped around the bar. “I’m fine. Just a bad dream.”

      The door opened and the young, redheaded nurse called Gail came into her room. “Is something wrong?” The nurse looked from her to the custodian.

      She couldn’t think of anything to say to Gail, especially when the man who caused her to push the call button was standing nearby. “I—I—was wondering when the doctor would be by. I thought he would be here by now.” Even to her it seemed like a lame reason to bother the busy staff.

      The custodian stepped away from the bed, picked up her trash can and emptied it into the plastic bag.

      The nurse didn’t say anything until after he left the room. “Did he bother you? He’s relatively new here and may not know all the procedures.”

      “No, not really.” Some of the tension siphoned from her once the man was gone. “I had a nightmare and woke up with him in my room. It scared me, I guess. I pushed the button without really thinking.” She curled her hands until her fingernails stabbed into her palms. Why did everything frighten her?

      The nurse gave her an empathic look. “Are you recalling anything that happened to you?”

      Remembering the nightmare, she almost said yes, but she didn’t really know what was real and what was...fear of the unknown. She shook her head. “I still don’t remember who I am.”

      Gail slid her hand into her pocket. “I have something of yours. I was going to give it to you when I brought your medicine later.” She withdrew a gold heart locket and passed it to her. “You were wearing it when you came into the hospital. I put it in a safe place so when you got better you could have it. It’s beautiful. There’s a name carved into it.”

      “There is?” She took it from the nurse and held it in her palm.

      “I hope it helps you to remember. Sometimes an object will spur a memory.” Gail started for the door but paused before leaving. “I’ll make sure the other member of housekeeping assigned to this floor will take care of you. She’s an older woman. You might feel more comfortable with her.”

      As the nurse left, she stared at the locket with intricate etching in it. She opened it and saw a picture of a young woman with long blond hair, probably around eighteen. Heidi was engraved in the other side. Touching her own blond hair, she wondered if this was a photo of her. From the vision she’d seen earlier that day in the mirror, it could be.

      What did she call herself? Jane Doe? That didn’t sit well with her. It made her seem like she was nobody—not worthy of a name. That, more than anything, bothered her. She couldn’t form any kind of picture in her head of who she was. Did she like steak, going to the movies, reading books? What were her likes? Dislikes? The black hole her memories were lost in terrified her.

      She made her way to the bathroom again to study her reflection and then reexamined the photo in the locket. There were similarities in what she saw in the mirror and the woman in the picture. Was it her when she was younger? How old was she now?

      Is Heidi my name?

      “Heidi,” she said, and liked how it sounded. A sense of comfort surrounded her. She needed a name, and Heidi could be it.

      Just the effort of walking into the bathroom sapped her energy, especially after spending the day wondering why the police officer had left her bedside to go back to the Lost Woods where they’d found her. Leaving the bathroom, she nearly ran into Officer Lee Calloway, dressed in casual clothes, not his uniform.

      He stepped back to let her pass him. “The nurse said you were up.”

      “Yes.” She stated the obvious because she didn’t know what else to say. As she shuffled toward the bed, she felt his dark gaze on her and, surprisingly, it didn’t bother her. She needed answers and hoped he could tell her more about his finding her.