“Hello,” he said. He walked out of the ICU and down the hallway.
“Grimm, sorry to have missed your call. I have the information you requested. The toxin that the CI unit was testing turned out to be nothing more than Chlorine. We checked with the water company, and they had infused a new batch into the Altoona water system. Maybe too much was directed to Quinn’s bathroom pipes somehow, but we don’t think it was intentional. We think she just had that threatening message written on her mirror and the other happened when she turned on the water causing the steam to diffuse it and her to begin coughing.”
“A coincidence then?” Grimm said.
“It looks like it. You said yourself that the trip to the ER proved to show no damage once she was checked out.”
“True. But she was stabbed here in Lewistown and after surgery, she had a reaction to something and started convulsing. The doctor wanted to make sure it wasn’t caused by that toxin.”
“Doubt it, but I’m not a medical professional. Who’s the investigating officer on the stabbing down there?” Phillips asked.
“Frankly, I’m not sure. The two officers who showed up were about to get off duty yesterday when they swung by the hospital, and I haven’t seen or heard from anyone today. I reported in with the desk sergeant this morning and gave them an update on Quinn’s condition.”
“I’ll give them a call and see what I can find out. They don’t need to be dragging their feet on this. Whoever tried to murder her needs to be caught. This has gone from threats to action in less than twenty-four. I’m not liking this time frame,” Phillips said.
“Thanks,” Grimm said. “Oh, you should know we’ve had to put her under an alias here. So, if the police try to check up on her they may find out she isn’t here or that she has passed away. Once she had that reaction, they covered her up and moved her from the room like she had died. They weren’t sure what was the cause and until they knew if someone had tampered with her medication or saline bag, they weren’t taking any chances.”
“Smart move. I won’t ask her name and I won’t inform the officers of what is going on either. We don’t know who might be tapping in on calls.”
“Did Quinn tell you about the FBI agent who has reached out about the missing women? He’s started a task force. His name is Agent Keaton Street. You might want to touch base with him if you run across any information that he can use on the Barbie Martin case. I know he was starting to focus on Sandy Cranston since she was the first missing woman.”
“Thanks for the tip. Do you have his info?”
“Not on me, but Quinn has his card in her purse, and that is back where we are staying. I can text you this evening,” Grimm said.
“That’ll be fine. I’ll be in touch to find out how she’s improving,” Phillips said before the line went dead.
Two days later…
As soon as Quinn got out of the hospital, she wanted to go to the Sky Bear Brewery to talk to the owner. She wanted to pick up right where she left off in her investigative reporting, but Grimm wasn’t having it.
“I told you before we left the hospital that you were going straight to Burrows’ cabin and resting,” he said, driving down the highway toward the cabin.
“But I feel fine. I can walk without pain. You’ve seen me,” she protested.
“Right. And you also heard what your doctor said. No working for a week,” Grimm reminded her.
“He doesn’t understand the deadline we’re up against. We’ve got to get to the bottom of things,” she said.
“These women have been missing for a while now, I think another week will not bring them home any sooner.”
“Heather Randall hasn’t. Every hour counts for her,” Quinn said. “Besides, we’re going to pass right by the Sky Bear going this way.”
“How do you know that?” he asked.
She pointed at a sign up ahead that said exit here to the Sky Bear Brewery. “We can eat? I must keep up my strength.”
He groaned. He knew he shouldn’t, but she wasn’t going to stop arguing with him over this the whole way to the cabin if he didn’t stop. He veered off the exit and she clapped.
“We’re eating. That’s all.”
“Are you saying I can’t talk to the waitress who serves us, or the owner if he’s there?” she asked. “What harm does talking do?”
“You’ll be expending energy that you should be conserving. That’s what harm talking to these people does when you’re in a weakened state after being stabbed,” he explained, pulling up to the door. He stopped, got out, and came around, helping her out of the jeep. He walked her over to the bench outside of the door. “Now, you sit here and wait for me to go and park. I’ll be right back.”
She gave him a two-finger salute, with a smile plastered on her face which made him want to kiss her. And kiss her well this time. Not just a brush on the lips like he had before.
Whoa, where had that come from?
