“We've got a live one,” Shaun told him excitedly.
Aidan frowned into the phone, attempting to figure out what he’d heard. “What?”
Shaun informed him a possible Carnations Killer victim had managed to escape, but they didn't know other specifics at this time.
The room started spinning after Aidan sprung upright in his bed.
“She’s alive?” he repeated, unable to believe the news.
Shaun told him she was taken to the Georgia Regents Medical Center. After scribbling on a pad where to go in the hospital, Aidan said he was on the way.
Throwing on clothes in the dark, he began buttoning his pants as he ran down the stairs.
There was no telling if he'd be back before Cheyenne woke to find he had left, so Aidan wrote a quick note telling her he was called out, and he would touch base with her later.
Grabbing his keys from the counter, then the floor after dropping them, Aidan hurled himself into the car, waiting impatiently for the garage door to open, then left the house.
Careful not to go too far over the speed limit, he went downtown to the hospital and parked in the parking deck.
Shaun had arrived at the same time, and they found the victim together. Aidan introduced himself and Shaun to the Richmond County police lieutenant and learned his name was Dirk Powell.
The victim lay on the bed wearing a hospital gown. Her eyes were covered with white patches and her body held deep gashes and bruises. Aidan made notice of the taser marks on the side of her neck.
They were told that along with broken ribs and bones, her corneas were damaged. However, they were confident she'd heal with little to no loss of her eyesight. The doctors kept her hooked up with tubes, and the room was filled with the rhythmic beeping of machines.
“Has she said anything?” Shaun asked Lieutenant Powell.
The bald headed older man shook his head. He crossed his arms over his chest, puffed his stomach out and put a scowl on his lips.
The look on his face as he glanced between Shawn and Aidan said that he didn’t like federal agents at all.
Aidan walked to the side of the bed and leaned in.
“She won’t answer.”
Aidan eyed at the lieutenant and said, “Maybe not, but I’m going to try.”
He looked at the victim.
“Ma’am.” Aidan waited. “I’m Special Agent Aidan O’Reilly. Can you hear me?”
A few minutes crawled by and he began to suspect she was unconscious—either from the pain or the drugs the doctors had given her. But soon, her head moved slightly, and she released a weak moan. Her hands jerked on the bed.
From the corner of Aidan's eye, he noticed Lieutenant Powell taking a step forward. Aidan held out his hand, a silent gesture for him to stop.
“Ma’am?” he repeated in a low voice. “Can you hear me?”
She parted her mouth to speak, but her words were almost inaudible. He leaned in closer.
Getting nothing valid from her, he decided the medicine the doctors put her on sent her back into a deep sleep.
The doctor came in to inform them they needed to leave and allow his patient to rest. Aidan handed him his card and requested that he call as soon as she was able to answer questions.
In the hallway, Aidan told Lieutenant Powell that under no circumstances should the public know the victim was still alive. He still wasn't sure of the circumstances, so Aidan didn't want to risk that the offender would come to the hospital and finish her off.
After much prodding and threatening to speak with the lieutenant’s superior, he finally agreed to say nothing until the Bureau authorized him.
After he stalked away, Shaun asked Aidan what the girl had said.
“I couldn’t make it out.”
“How did she manage to escape?”
Without answering, Aidan looked over at the closed door, where their victim rested.
“We need to have men stationed outside this door,” he said. “I don’t want her to be alone for even a second. Maybe he let her escape for reasons we don't know, maybe she was lucky. But until we find him, that woman’s life’s in danger.”
“I’ll call it in,” Shaun replied, grabbing his phone from its holder clipped on the side of his jeans.
After the call was made, they made their way to the waiting room, where the witnesses who brought Carol to the emergency room sat. Although the police already questioned them, Aidan want to be certain nothing was overlooked.
The woman, possibly in her early forties, sat in the corner of the room, her arms wrapped around a little girl. Aidan guessed her to be close to ten. She blinked repeatedly like she was trying to stay awake.
Aidan introduced himself and asked, “Can you tell us what happened?”
The woman—Sheila Grayson—told them she and her daughter were passing through town. The girl, Kayla, saw someone running wildly through the streets, screaming “somebody help.” She'd brought it to her mother's attention. The woman tripped but didn't get up. They saw she was sobbing and didn't seem to be able to move. Sheila told her daughter to stay in the car as she went to see what was going on.
The only thing the woman would tell her was that a man was trying to kill her.
She begged Sheila to help her, so she assisted her to the car and rushed her to the hospital. By the time they'd arrived, the woman was hardly breathing.
After Aidan finished writing his notes, he thanked Sheila, then knelt to be at eye level with Kayla. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he offered her a smile.
“You're a hero, Kayla. You saved someone's life tonight.”
She smiled sleepily, and Aidan rose to his feet. He told Sheila she and her daughter were free to
