Mona didn’t seem convinced. “Are you using?”
It wasn’t like Marla hadn’t heard that before. No one ever believed her. “What difference does that make?”
“Maybe you imagined this? Dr. Buckner went home earlier.”
“I’m telling you he didn’t make it out of the parking lot by himself.” She massaged her nose with the heel of one hand. “I know what I saw.”
Mona shrugged.
“You don’t have to believe me.” Marla turned toward the entrance. “Come see for yourself.”
CHAPTER 12
5 1/2 HOURS EARLIER
Chief Cassandra Crowe didn’t know what to make of the call. A doctor kidnapped? From the ER parking lot? That made no sense. Had Tanner’s Crossroads ever had an abduction? Well, one that she could remember. Back when she was a young officer and her father was the chief, an estranged father took his five-year-old daughter. Not very far. Just to a local diner for breakfast. The mother had been hysterical but all was resolved after the child finished her pancakes and licked the syrup from her fingers.
The other thing that struck Cassie as odd about the call was that Mona Faulk had said the witness was Marla Jackson. Not exactly the most reliable human she knew. Not anymore.
Seeing, even thinking of Marla, always disturbed her. Churned up feelings of failure. Not just Marla’s but also her own. She and Marla had been classmates, and friends. Back in the day. Where Cassie had been the best female athlete in school, Marla had been the prettiest. By far.
Unlike some of the others in their class, Cassie never envied Marla’s looks, believing, even at a young age, that such beauty carried heavy burdens. Always on display, the focus of ardent male attention at any gathering, and having to deflect unwanted advances on a daily basis. That Marla had a knack for rejecting such come-ons, while making the dejected souls feel okay about it, had always amazed Cassie. Marla had a gift beyond her beauty.
Cassie never felt Marla envied her own athletic prowess. Some did, but never Marla. In fact, she had been one of Cassie’s biggest supporters. Never missing one of Cassie’s softball or basketball games, the latter being Cassie’s best sport.
During their senior year, when Marla began experimenting with drugs, Cassie tried to dissuade her. For a while, she believed she had. After graduation, as Marla slid ever more deeply into the drug culture, Cassie again stepped up. As a young cop, she had arranged rehab for her. Twice. Neither took and Marla continued on her own private road to hell. Anyone who saw her today would know she had arrived but, unless they knew the old Marla, they could never imagine just how far her fall had been.
That was the source of Cassie’s feelings of failure. Why hadn’t she been able to help? Why couldn’t she find just the right words, the right buttons to push, to get Marla back on track? She had always prided herself on her abilities to persuade others to do the right thing and stay on the right path. But everything she tried fell flat and Marla was lost.
Cassie swung into the ER parking lot, slid into a space near the entrance, and walked to where Mona and Marla stood. Near a white Toyota Land Cruiser. A mist of rain filled the air.
“Chief,” Mona said. She held an umbrella. “Maybe you can figure this out.”
“What’s the story?” Cassie asked.
Mona nodded toward Marla, who wore a hoodie, cinched around her face, hands stuffed in its pockets, a blue backpack over one shoulder. Marla told her what she had seen. She spoke rapidly, stumbled out the story. She kept her eyes down, rarely glancing up at Cassie, like a kid trying to convince a parent they were innocent.
“You sure?” Cassie asked.
Marla sighed. “Yes, I was using. Yes, I wasn’t sure at first. But I walked over here and found the car door open and his stuff inside.”
Cassie saw a white coat and briefcase on the backseat.
“And then I saw those,” Marla pointed to the vehicle’s roof.
Cassie saw a wad of keys on a gold metal ring with a matching tab that read “Buck.” The ring also held the fob and the key to the Land Cruiser. Cassie picked them up.
“I know what I saw,” Marla said.
Cassie circled the vehicle. The other doors were closed. No evident damage, nothing laying on the concrete nearby. When she returned to where Marla stood, she said, “I believe you.”
Marla visibly relaxed.
“What did they look like?”
“I was over in the park.” She pointed that way. “Sitting on the bench, so I couldn’t see them all that well.”
“Do your best.”
“One was tall. Over six feet for sure. He had dark hair in a ponytail. The other guy was smaller and wore a cap or something. Both wore black clothes.”
“Their vehicle?”
“An SUV. A big one. All black and the windows looked tinted.”
“Did you get the make or license plate?”
Marla shook her head. “I don’t know cars all that well.”
“Anything unusual about it? Odd lights, decals, anything?”
“Not that I saw.” She rubbed her nose. “Sorry.”
“You’re doing great.” Cassie smiled. “Which way did they go?”
Marla pointed. “Toward downtown.”
Cassie turned to Mona. “Did you call him?”
“Yeah. His cell went to voicemail. I left a message for him to call us back.” She pulled a scrap of paper from her jacket pocket. “I wrote the number down for you. I figured you’d want it.”
“Thanks.”
“I started to call his father but thought I’d better wait to see what you thought.”
“Who’s his father?”
“He’s the emergency contact Buck gave us.”
“Buck?”
Mona smiled. “Dr. Buckner. His name’s Bradley, but everyone calls him Buck. He insisted we did, too.”
“Is he new?” Cassie asked. “I haven’t met him.”
“Yeah. Been here less than a week. Filling in for Dr. Wilkens.”
Cassie nodded. “When’s she due?”
“Three weeks, I think.”
“You have the father’s number?”
“Yeah. Inside. He’s a doctor back in North Carolina where Buck is from. Apparently runs a fairly large clinic.” Mona’s eyes widened. “Do you think this could be a
