would certainly come up with some charges to keep him in jail for a long time. Either way she would have him arrested. Andrew looked at Talia standing there all smug. He gave her a salute and headed across the ice.
Talia’s mouth dropped. She couldn’t believe what Andrew was doing. The idiot was continuing across the ice. Was he so desperate to get away from her? Talia almost couldn’t watch and was about to turn away when they all heard it. It started out low and soon came to a thunderous sickening cracking sound. The ice was giving way. Talia rushed to the edge of the lake and stopped.
“Don’t move!” She screeched. It was too late. They all saw the terrified look on Andrew’s face as the ice split open and swallow him up. He was gone in a matter of seconds!
Talia tried to go after him, but the deputies restrained her.
It seemed like an eternity before the local fire department emergency crew arrived. Talia was pacing back forth, impatiently waiting for them to get their ice gear on and airboat ready to go. An overwhelming feeling of remorse suddenly washed over Talia. She never imagined that her lust to have Andrew put away would have ended this way. It was no longer a rescue mission, but a recovery one.
Leslie was still wearing her fuzzy slippers and bathrobe. Her ash blonde hair was swept up and held in place with a red banana clip. She finally had a day off from work at the hospital. On those days it was always her turn to make breakfast.
Leslie had just finished whipping up the scrambled eggs when her daughter Hannah threw open the kitchen door and rushed inside. She was all flushed and panting to catch her breath. Hannah brushed her brown hair out of her eyes.
“Mom,” Hannah gasped, trying to catch her breath from running.
“What is it?” Leslie asked.
“I…I was feeding the horses when this man came stumbling into the barn,” Hannah finally blurted out. “He looked at me and just fell down in the hay.”
“What?” Leslie stammered.
“His lips were blue and his clothes looked wet,” Hannah said.
“Show me,” Leslie said. Before they left, Leslie grabbed the portable defibulator from underneath the sink. She had bought just in case there was ever an emergency and for the fact that they lived out in the country far away from the hospital in Bayport.
When they got to the barn, Hannah led her mom to where the man was laying in the hay on the floor. He wasn’t moving.
Leslie knelt down and put her cheek over the man’s mouth. He wasn’t breathing. Leslie checked for a pulse. There was none. “Go call 911,” Leslie immediately ordered Hannah. She took off like a shot back to the house.
Chapter 5
The airport courtesy van turned into the circular driveway. There were already several cars there. The people from those cars were waiting for the single passenger in the van to arrive home from her trip.
Megan recognized Lisa’s car along with two unmarked squad cars. Megan saw Lisa, Peter, and another woman whom she didn’t recognize waiting for her. She started to panic and it was hard to catch her breath. Something was wrong. Something was wrong about Andrew. Megan started to cry just as the van pulled up along side the other cars.
Lisa walked briskly up to the van and slid open the side door. She saw that Megan was already crying. Lisa grasped hold of Megan’s hand and helped her exit the van. Lisa looked at the Peter and Talia with a nod to retrieve Megan’s luggage. She held on to Megan, whom was trembling uncontrollably with tears just streaming down her cheeks.
“Let’s go inside,” Lisa insisted. Megan just nodded.
Lisa opened the front door and walked Megan into the family room. She had Megan sit down on the sofa. Lisa grabbed a box of tissues from the fireplace mantle and brought them with her back to the sofa.
Peter carried Megan’s luggage into the foyer and set it down. Talia followed closely behind him. Soon the both of them joined Lisa and Megan in the family room.
Lisa had her arms around Megan, whom rested her head on Lisa’s shoulder. From time to time she dried her eyes, but the tears kept coming.
Peter looked at Talia first, then said, “Um, uh, Megan we have some bad…” Peter couldn’t finish he words. He broke down. When Lisa saw her husband, the usually tough guy crying, she started crying too.
Talia sighed deeply. It was up to her to tell Andrew’s wife what happened.
“Missus Knight,” Talia began. “I’m here to inform you that your husband is…” Talia paused. How could she tell Andrew’s wife that he died while begin pursed by her and her deputies. She didn’t force him to do it. Talia pressed on, “That your husband fell through the ice on the lake by JFK Prep. He was there because…” Talia stopped again to collect her thoughts.
“Why was he there?” Megan finally spoke. Talia glanced at Peter and Lisa. The looks they had on their faces told Talia it was up to her to answer, not them.
“Two deputies and I were at JFK to investigate the disappearance of six teenagers on the property,” Talia explained. “We were just coming out of the dormitory when Mister Knight was spotted. He took off running.”
“Why did he run?”
“I had issued an arrest order,” Talia answered.
“Why?”
“Mister Knight had interfered with a previous investigation,” Talia said in her defense. “The orders were if Mister Knight were caught anywhere on the premises of a Sheriffs department investigation, he would be placed under arrest.”
“Why?”
“As I said, he was interfering,” Talia answered. She was angry at being questioned by Megan. It was Knight who was breaking the law that day, not her. How dare his widow have the indignation to question her? Talia shot back, “We gave pursuit and Mister Knight chose to invade us by going across the lake. He was unaware of the sign warning about thin ice. It was not our fault. We broke off the chase. Mister Knight chose to continue.”
“Why?”
“Why do you keep asking me why?” Talia growled.
“Why are you still here?” Megan screamed back. Talia found no support from either Peter or Lisa. It was strange at how, in a room full of people, one could be so alone. She rose to her feet. “I’m truly sorry.” Megan did not answer, but sought out instead, the comfort of Lisa’s embrace.
Talia walked out of the family room and the house. She got in her car and slammed the door shut. They hadn’t recovered Knight’s body as of yet. According to the fire department, the lake at JFK Prep was a spring fed and 30–40 feet deep at the center. With the depth and freezing temperatures of the lake, Knight would only have minutes to get to land and possibly survive. Even then, hypothermia would set in and he’d be dead anyway. Although Knight had shed his coat and he may have been a good swimmer; he would have to get on land and find a way to keep from freezing to death. It sounded too impossible to even believe that Knight could do that. Since they couldn’t locate Knight’s body, Talia had sent a request to have special imaging equipment brought in from the State Crime Lab. Hopefully they would be able to find the body. Unfortunately, it would be weeks before the equipment would arrive, since it was being used by another law enforcement agency in Marathon County. So for now the search for Knight’s body would just have to wait. Talia knew it was rather morbid to just sit by and do nothing, but what else could she do in this case? Talia started the car and drove out the circular driveway.
Leslie tore open the man’s icy shirt. She figured that he must have fallen through the ice on the lake at JFK Prep because it was the only water near her horse ranch. He was in great physical shape and that was probably the only reason he made it this far. She opened the kit and attached the pads and wires as shown by the directions. Leslie turned on the power and waited for it to charge. As soon as the screen indicated it was ready, Leslie hit the button. The man’s body convulsed for a several seconds and then lay still. Leslie felt for a pulse, still none. Leslie charged it again. She stopped to look at the open barn door. There was no sign of Hannah or the sounds of sirens. When the unit was fully charged, Leslie hit the button again. Again, the man’s body rose from the lifesaving charge
