“I have to go home,” Liv said reluctantly.
“We’ll call you when we have the test results,” Dr Adams assured her.
“Or if she wakes up?” Liv turned to look at the woman.
Dr Adams nodded. “We will. Check with the ER secretary to make sure we have your updated number.” She glanced at the clock, a faint grimace on her face. “If you’ll excuse me.”
Liv nodded but didn’t move. Dr Adams disappeared out the door of the small room, leaving Liv standing there with her Gram.
“I’ll be back,” Liv promised, giving her another kiss on the cheek. She studied her lying in the bed, so pale and almost disappearing into the blanket. She would be back, as soon as she could get Mocha somewhere.
Then she turned and departed, her heart heavy.
23
Tuesday 25th October; 8am Tuesday 25th October; 8am
Ryan hated that she had to go to the station and leave Liv behind with her Gram at the hospital the night before. On top of it, she couldn’t go back for at least a day or two. If she wanted any hope of piecing the cases together, she needed to be at the ME’s office in order to attend Charles’s autopsy and get the toxicology reports for Ashley. She ran a hand through her hair. There was so much that needed to be done. The patrol officers had already talked to the family, and interviewed her friends at school. Nothing.
She and Dane stood not far from the autopsy table, next to the forensic investigators and the autopsy assistant. Elliot was almost done, which Ryan was quite thankful for. “Anything else?” Ryan asked, breaking the silence. Well. The silence, except for Elliot talking to herself.
“Cause of death is hanging,” Elliot said. “Just like Cairo’s.” Her face was impassive.
Ryan exhaled in a rush, wanting to sigh. “So same killer?”
“Possibly.” Elliot frowned. “It’s hard to tell. However, given the staging at the crime scene in the photos I was shown, it’s a good bet.”
Ryan nodded to her, but her mind was miles away. She turned to Dane, who was frowning at Charles’s body. “Did the physical evidence go back to forensics?” she asked, thinking of what they had found in Charles’ house.
Dane nodded, but there was doubt on his face. “If Steven planted them there, I doubt he left any evidence.”
“Maybe he killed Charles for killing Cairo?” But Ryan rejected that almost as soon as she had said it. Charles’s murder matched details they had not released to the press.
Like those blasted cards.
“Ryan.” Elliot’s voice distracted her. She turned to look at the ME, listening. “Let’s talk about your missing girl.”
Ryan nodded to Dane and followed Elliot as she took her gowns off and headed to her office. It was both her office and another mini-laboratory, but without specimens that required full protective gear. Instead there were a few microscopes, and small boxes that held dozens of slides.
“The killer was looking for something.” Elliot’s voice was grim. She pulled out a file with the standard nude drawings that the pathologists marked injuries on. “Although the knife cuts looked random, there was one in her abdomen that was particularly deep.”
“Like black market deep?” Ryan frowned.
Elliot shook her head. “He cut into her stomach.”
Ryan stared at her. “What for?”
“I’m not one hundred percent sure,” Elliot started.
“But?” Ryan raised her eyebrows.
“There were trace amounts of cocaine in her stomach.” Elliot looked at Ryan, her gaze steady. “She had drugs in her stomach.”
“Like a drug mule?” They were way too far north for drug mules. Weren’t they?
“I think that’s the gist, yes.” Elliot pointed to another mark. “The killer immobilized her quickly in order to cut out what they wanted, apparently.”
“And the strangulation marks?” It was easy enough for Ryan to remember the ligature marks around the victim’s neck.
“He strangled her once he’d cut out what he needed. The extra knife wounds were just rage, most inflicted after her death.”
Ryan leaned back in her chair, stunned by the news she had received. She wasn’t entirely surprised, not really, but it threw her case into a whole new dimension. “So she was a drug mule,” Ryan repeated, still trying to absorb the information.
Elliot’s dark eyes met hers. “Yes. Someone is trafficking drugs through Amaranth, and they’re using teenagers to do it.”
Tuesday 25th October; 8am
Liv sat at the coffee shop with Mocha by her side. She was stroking the beagle’s soft ears, her mind a thousand miles away. Abby was working and River was on the way to cover Liv’s shift so she could go see Gram in the hospital. River was also going to take Mocha home. Liv would see her as often as she could, but it wouldn’t do Mocha good to be home alone from her family.
“What happened?” River shoved open the door and came in, her hair going everywhere and her purse half-open.
“You didn’t have to drop everything and run,” Liv said, startled. She hadn’t expected River for another half hour.
River just looked at her. “Is Gram okay?” River had never met Gram, but she knew of her. Gram was as private as Liv’s mom had been.
“She’s in the hospital.” Liv’s voice was grim. Gram may not be thrilled with that when she woke up, but she was going to have to deal. “I’ll text you when I can come get Mocha.”
Liv could see on River’s face that there was a question she wanted to ask that she wasn’t certain if she should.
“Ryan’s at work,” Liv said simply.
A smile flashed over River’s face. Liv wasn’t sure what that simple sentence proved, but it didn’t matter. They could sort that out later, once everything with Gram had been resolved.
