Page 73 of The Whispering Girls
“Keep your eyes and head on swivel.”
“I’ve got your back,” she said. “It looks like John had other ideas about where he was parking. I don’t see him,” she said.
“That’s who he is…you won’t see him coming.” McGaven gave a sly smile.
Katie always felt a twinge of uncertainty leaving Cisco alone in the car, but it was better than leaving him at the lodge. Too many people had access to that. The town was proving to be deeply disturbing. It was as if the detectives were in some kind of maze, never knowing what was going to happen next.
Katie dismissed her thoughts and put in her tech earplug and attached the microphone to her collar. McGaven did the same. Using their cell phones as walkie-talkies was a risk—they could lose the signal or it could be jammed by an outside source—but it was the best they had.
As Katie checked her firearm, made sure she had another magazine, and attached a flashlight on her gun belt, McGaven did the same. This time Katie also carried another smaller gun in her ankle holster. It may have been overkill, but they were walking into something virtually unknown.
They were both quiet as they prepped themselves. Even Cisco was quiet. It was as if they all knew something was about to go down.
“You know we don’t have to do this,” she said. “It’s just us and John…no backup if it goes sideways. We could call and wait for the county sheriff’s department to arrive first.”
“It’s our duty as police officers, on or off duty, to act if someone needs help no matter what—especially when it’s one of us.”
Katie nodded. There was no way she was going to leave the chief in distress, or anyone else for that matter. “Copy that.”
The detectives got out of the car and shut the doors, barely making a sound.
They headed to the front entrance where there were double glass doors. Normally a red neon “open” sign would be brightening the door area, but there was nothing tonight. It was as if they had cut the electricity completely.
Katie gently pushed the door and, to her surprise, it opened. That made her pause. There was no reasonable explanation for that unless it had been Chief Cooper who had unlocked and entered through that door.
Katie turned to her partner.
He nodded.
She pulled her weapon and entered first. Her boots made a soft whisper on the smooth floor. She replayed when they had come through here to visit the chief. There was a reception area straight ahead and turning right led you down a long hallway with doors on both sides.
Katie decided not to talk if she could help it, so she made a gesture with her hand that she was going down the hallway.
McGaven nodded and kept pace six feet behind his partner.
Katie stopped and listened. Her heart was racing. Her right hand slightly shook, holding her Glock. No, she thought, anticipating her anxiety and military flashbacks returning.She stared ahead, expecting to see some light and not just the reflection from hospital equipment, carts, and outlines of the nurses’ stations. It was quiet too without any sound of the indoor air system or equipment. If Katie didn’t know better, she would have thought she had gone deaf. With very little light coming in from outside, it was difficult to tell if you were indoors or out. The air was stuffy and surprisingly warm.
Katie didn’t turn to look at McGaven, but she knew he was close. Moving forward, her instinct seemed to tell her to go straight to the hospital room the chief had been recovering in. Pulling the flashlight from her belt, Katie switched it on and kept the beam low. It was enough to illuminate the area and give surrounding items shape. The area was just the same, except the bed had been changed and remade with perfect corners. There was no indication of anyone having been there recently.
“What do you think?” whispered McGaven.
“I’m not sure.”
“We don’t know if the chief is here.”
“What if he’s hurt or had another heart incident?”
They left the room and began to systematically try each door off the corridor, including storage closets, offices, and patient rooms. There was nothing.
Katie could feel her frustration rising. She turned to McGaven. “We don’t know for sure if the chief was calling from here, even though his police vehicle is here,” she said. Cold shivers and prickly bumps attacked her spine, but her face felt flushed and hot.
“Wait,” he said. Using his cell phone, he was able to partially pinpoint where the chief’s call originated from. It wasn’t exact, but gave a fairly accurate reading. He looked up. “The chief was actually calling from the area near the cabin.”
“What? The cabin I rented?” she said. “Why?”
McGaven looked concerned and his face appeared to turn white.
“Gav?”
