Part 29 (2/2)
”No,” he said softly, tightening his hold on her hand. ”She can't stay there any longer. I'll speak to Miguel.” He glanced around, realizing for the first time the man should have been there. ”Where is he?”
”Still in Modesto, I guess. The hospital called the motel where they were staying. Someone spoke to Mariano, but Miguel wasn't there.”
”I'm sure he'll come as soon as he gets word.”
”Raul was here until a few minutes ago. Sam Marston brought him over. He stayed until the doctor sent him home. He wouldn't leave until he was sure his sister was going to be all right.”
”But they're pretty sure she will be.”
She nodded. ”Pretty sure. They'll transfer her to the County Hospital in Mason if she has to stay very long.”
”How about you? Are you all right? Some of the things you told me on the phone I'm not sure I would be.”
She bit her bottom lip, and he saw that she was fighting back tears. ”It was the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced, Zach, like some kind of horror movie. It started like before like the time you were there, but this time it got worse. I couldn't move and neither could Maria. I suppose being so frightened is what brought on the hemorrhage, or at least that's the logical explanation.”
”But you aren't sure that's really what happened.”
She shook her head. ”I'm not sure of anything anymore.”
”What about the message you said appeared on the wall?”
She swallowed and glanced away. ”The letters looked like they were written in blood. Leaveor they will kill you and your baby.” She s.h.i.+vered, crossed her arms over her chest against the cold air blowing down from the air conditioner.
”Maria saw it, too, I gather.”
”She just sat there staring at it, sitting in the bed in all of that blood.”
”What happened next?”
”I called 911, then I ran and got some towels. We used them to slow the bleeding. Then the ambulance pulled into the driveway and things got hectic. By the time the men ran into the bedroom, the message was gone.”
”Gone? What do you mean, gone?”
”It disappeared, Zach. As if it had never been there. The wall was completely blank. It was the same freshly painted white it was before.”
Zach raked a hand through his wavy dark hair. ”None of this makes any sense.”
”Not unless you believe in ghosts. I saw her, Zach. Long blond hair, big blue eyes, wearing a little pink pinafore. She was there at the foot of the bedand I could see right through her.”
A shudder whispered through her. He didn't believe in ghosts. Yet Maria's brush with death made it clear they couldn't ignore the things that were happening in the house any longer.
”I'll speak to Miguel as soon as he gets back to town. I'll tell him his wife is moving out, whether he likes it or not, and he had better give some thought to moving himself.”
”What about Carson? If Miguel moves out, Carson will fire him.”
Knowing it was true, Zach released a frustrated breath. And even if he went to the guys at the farm labor union, it might not do any good. ”Maria has to leave. No question. I can try to talk to Carson, but I doubt he'll listen. So far, Miguel doesn't appear to be in any danger, so maybe it won't matter if he stays.”
”Have you heard anything from that investigator you hired?”
”He's promised to call me tomorrow.”
”I hope he finds something.”
”So do I.”
Twenty-Five.
Elizabeth left the hospital sometime after two in the morning. Zach followed her back to her apartment to be sure she got home safely, but didn't come in. She had asked him if he needed a place to sleep, but he said he had called ahead and reserved a room at the Holiday Inn.
She wished she weren't so disappointed. More than anything, after the terrifying events of the night, she wanted to fall asleep in Zach's arms, to feel safe and secure, at least for a while. Perhaps he would have liked that, too.
But until they both knew what they wanted, until they could deal with their feelings, whatever they were, staying apart seemed the wisest course.
The clock in the kitchen read ten o'clock when the doorbell rang and Zach arrived at her apartment the following morning.
”Murphy called,” he said as he walked into the living room. ”I figured you'd want to know what he had to say and there are some things we need to discuss.”
”I'm glad you came.” She just wished she weren't quite as glad as she was. ”The coffee's on. You want a cup?”
”Sounds great.” Following her into the kitchen, he sat down at the table while she poured him a mug of rich dark coffee. She placed the mug in front of him on the table, then sat down in a chair across from him.
”So what did Murphy have to say?”
”I told him we'd spoken to the police in Fresno and also the cops here in San Pico. Since the authorities don't believe the victim came from anywhere in the valley, he's been working his way south. He talked to the police in Santa Clarita then the authorities in the San Fernando Valley. He's using the description of the little girl Maria says she saw, the same one you gave me last night.”
”Does he know we're looking for a ghost?”
Zach shook his head. ”I saved that little surprise for later. I figured he might not turn up anything and if he didn't, it would probably be better if he never knew.”
”But you said he called this morning.”
Zach nodded. ”About an hour ago.” He took a sip of his coffee and gave up a sigh. ”Yesterday, Ian spoke to a friend of his in the FBI. Over the years, he's been involved in a number of missing person cases. I guess he's made some useful contacts. His friend spent the afternoon searching FBI cold case files, looking for children reported kidnapped in the years between 1967 and 1971.”
”When the Martinezes lived in the old gray house.”
”Exactly. It took a while, but believe it or not, the guy came up with the name of a missing child who fits the description. Murphy took the information and cross-checked it with a disappearance that was reported in the L.A. Times, the story of a little girl who went missing in September of 1969, blond, blue-eyed, nine years old. He hasn't got much of anything elseexcept that she was abducted right out of her own front yard.”
”Oh, G.o.d.”
”Yeah. Sounds a little like what happened to Holly Ives, doesn't it? Young girl taken brazenly in the middle of the day? Murphy doesn't know if this is the girl we're looking for, but he wants us to talk to one of the LAPD detectives who worked the case back then. He's retired now, living in the San Fernando Valley. I thought we'd drive by the hospital and check on Maria, then head down to L.A.”
Her pulse was racing. This was the first real break they'd had, the chance, at last, to find some answers. After last night, she was desperate for an explanationany explanationno matter how far-fetched it might seem.
”What about Miguel?”
<script>