“I’m a medical coder,” she said.
“Did you notice anything odd in any of the transcribing you had done? Make a report to anyone?” Chay asked.
Ava watched him work, which made him want to impress her. He’d had time to gather his thoughts while he’d waited for the appointment. One of the things he’d learned from his mentor was to be methodical. Slowly work through every detail. It had led to a record number of arrests and convictions for the perpetrators that Chay arrested.
“No. Nothing like that. I don’t believe it was work related…them taking me,” she said.
“Probably not, but better to cover all bases. Who is your boss at work?”
Fern gave him the name; he jotted it down.
“Had you been out and maybe rubbed anyone the wrong way?”
“Uh, I didn’t really ever go out. I had lunch with some work colleagues at Chili’s at Christmas, and that’s about it. I’d madetwo runs to the library to pick up books and DVDs I’d put a hold in for.”
Chay jotted that down.
“Okay, so, the men who took you. Did you notice them at all before the day they abducted you, perhaps turning up in places you frequent?” he asked.
She shook her head and wrapped her arms around her body. For a minute she closed her eyes, breathing deeply, and Ava leaned closer to the other woman. The tension left Fern’s body and she opened her eyes. “No. I didn’t see them when they took me, either. I heard a van pull up behind me. I was grabbed…it was terrifying… I tried to get free.”
Chay felt compassion for the ordeal that Fern had survived. She went on to tell him that she couldn’t see anything when they dumped her in the van. She kicked and hit out at them but felt the prick of a needle and got drowsy as her hands and feet were bound.
“What’s your next memory?”
“The guys coming in to feed me,” she said.
“Would you be able to describe them to me?”
“I really can’t recall what they looked like. They weren’t visibly Native American, if that’s what you’re asking,” she said. “They sounded like they were from Utah, like the guys I know. One of them was taller than the other.”
“My height?”
“A bit shorter, I think. I wasn’t really clearheaded. Whatever they were giving me was pretty strong. I really hated being drugged. I had no control over anything, and it stirred up memories from when I was a teenager. I sort of focused on the granola bar they kept trying to feed me. I threw it at them once, but they only came once a day, so I was hungry. They let me use the bathroom and then I’d pass out again. It’s all just so hazy.”
That fit with what she’d reported. “Then one day you woke up and they weren’t there?”
She shook a little bit, wrapping her arms around herself again. “It took me a while, maybe an hour or so, to realize that I was awake and they weren’t coming. It was the first time in days that I was aware. Cold and scared, I tried to figure out how to escape.”
She looked at Ava and spoke directly to her.
“I wasn’t sure if they were coming back but was afraid they’d get back before I could get out of the cabin. I was panicking. I just wanted to get away from them.”
“That makes sense,” Ava said softly. “You did really well. Got away, and even though you hadn’t meant to knock over the heater, that fire saved your life.”
Fern nodded. “Funny how an accident did that.”
“Maybe your subconscious knew it would be a signal and help would arrive.”
“Maybe it was just dumb luck,” Fern said wryly.
It was the first glimpse of personality he’d seen from her, and he hid his smile. He asked her a few more questions, but after the fire there had been others involved, so he had multiple accounts of what had happened.
“Did you see any signs that anyone else had been held in the cabin?” he asked her as he was wrapping up.
“I didn’t think to look,” Fern said. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You’ve been very helpful,” Chay said. “Thank you again for talking to me today,” he said, standing. He tipped his head to Ava, who smiled at him, and then he left.
