When they got to the barn, Hannah led her mom to where the man was laying in the hay on the floor. He wasn’t moving.
Leslie knelt down and put her cheek over the man’s mouth. He wasn’t breathing. Leslie checked for a pulse. There was none. “Go call 911,” Leslie immediately ordered Hannah. She took off like a shot back to the house.
Chapter 5
The airport courtesy van turned into the circular driveway. There were already several cars there. The people from those cars were waiting for the single passenger in the van to arrive home from her trip.
Megan recognized Lisa’s car along with two unmarked squad cars. Megan saw Lisa, Peter, and another woman whom she didn’t recognize waiting for her. She started to panic and it was hard to catch her breath. Something was wrong. Something was wrong about Andrew. Megan started to cry just as the van pulled up along side the other cars.
Lisa walked briskly up to the van and slid open the side door. She saw that Megan was already crying. Lisa grasped hold of Megan’s hand and helped her exit the van. Lisa looked at the Peter and Talia with a nod to retrieve Megan’s luggage. She held on to Megan, whom was trembling uncontrollably with tears just streaming down her cheeks.
“Let’s go inside,” Lisa insisted. Megan just nodded.
Lisa opened the front door and walked Megan into the family room. She had Megan sit down on the sofa. Lisa grabbed a box of tissues from the fireplace mantle and brought them with her back to the sofa.
Peter carried Megan’s luggage into the foyer and set it down. Talia followed closely behind him. Soon the both of them joined Lisa and Megan in the family room.
Lisa had her arms around Megan, whom rested her head on Lisa’s shoulder. From time to time she dried her eyes, but the tears kept coming.
Peter looked at Talia first, then said, “Um, uh, Megan we have some bad…” Peter couldn’t finish he words. He broke down. When Lisa saw her husband, the usually tough guy crying, she started crying too.
Talia sighed deeply. It was up to her to tell Andrew’s wife what happened.
“Missus Knight,” Talia began. “I’m here to inform you that your husband is…” Talia paused. How could she tell Andrew’s wife that he died while begin pursed by her and her deputies. She didn’t force him to do it. Talia pressed on, “That your husband fell through the ice on the lake by JFK Prep. He was there because…” Talia stopped again to collect her thoughts.
“Why was he there?” Megan finally spoke. Talia glanced at Peter and Lisa. The looks they had on their faces told Talia it was up to her to answer, not them.
“Two deputies and I were at JFK to investigate the disappearance of six teenagers on the property,” Talia explained. “We were just coming out of the dormitory when Mister Knight was spotted. He took off running.”
“Why did he run?”
“I had issued an arrest order,” Talia answered.
“Why?”
“Mister Knight had interfered with a previous investigation,” Talia said in her defense. “The orders were if Mister Knight were caught anywhere on the premises of a Sheriffs department investigation, he would be placed under arrest.”
“Why?”
“As I said, he was interfering,” Talia answered. She was angry at being questioned by Megan. It was Knight who was breaking the law that day, not her. How dare his widow have the indignation to question her? Talia shot back, “We gave pursuit and Mister Knight chose to invade us by going across the lake. He was unaware of the sign warning about thin ice. It was not our fault. We broke off the chase. Mister Knight chose to continue.”
“Why?”
“Why do you keep asking me why?” Talia growled.
“Why are you still here?” Megan screamed back. Talia found no support from either Peter or Lisa. It was strange at how, in a room full of people, one could be so alone. She rose to her feet. “I’m truly sorry.” Megan did not answer, but sought out instead, the comfort of Lisa’s embrace.
Talia walked out of the family room and the house. She got in her car and slammed the door shut. They hadn’t recovered Knight’s body as of yet. According to the fire department, the lake at JFK Prep was a spring fed and 30–40 feet deep at the center. With the depth and freezing temperatures of the lake, Knight would only have minutes to get to land and possibly survive. Even then, hypothermia would set in and he’d be dead anyway. Although Knight had shed his coat and he may have been a good swimmer; he would have to get on land and find a way to keep from freezing to death. It sounded too impossible to even believe that Knight could do that. Since they couldn’t locate Knight’s body, Talia had sent a request to have special imaging equipment brought in from the State Crime Lab. Hopefully they would be able to find the body. Unfortunately, it would be weeks before the equipment would arrive, since it was being used by another law enforcement agency in Marathon County. So for now the search for Knight’s body would just have to wait. Talia knew it was rather morbid to just sit by and do nothing, but what else could she do in this case? Talia started the car and drove out the circular driveway.
Leslie tore open the man’s icy shirt. She figured that he must have fallen through the ice on the lake at JFK Prep because it was the only water near her horse ranch. He was in great physical shape and that was probably the only reason he made it this far. She opened the kit and attached the pads and wires as shown by the directions. Leslie turned on the power and waited for it to charge. As soon as the screen indicated it was ready, Leslie hit the button. The man’s body convulsed for a several seconds and then lay still. Leslie felt for a pulse, still none. Leslie charged it again. She stopped to look at the open barn door. There was no sign of Hannah or the sounds of sirens. When the unit was fully charged, Leslie hit the button again. Again, the man’s body rose from the lifesaving charge and quickly fell again. Leslie checked, still no pulse.
“Damn it,” Leslie said. If it didn’t work next time, she would start CPR. There was no way she was going to let this handsome stranger die in her barn. Leslie charged the unit again and when ready, hit the button. This time he gasped for air, his eyes opened and started coughing. He closed his eyes again. Leslie felt for a pulse. There was one and his was breath was shallow. Leslie got up and grabbed some horse blankets. She returned to the man and covered him up. Hannah finally entered the barn.
“I called 911, Mom,” Hannah announced.
“Good honey,” Leslie hugged her daughter.
They heard the approaching sirens.
The first responders swarmed the barn. They checked the man’s vital signs and stabilized him. They wrapped him in a thermal blanket to maintain his core body temperature. With one swift movement, they had him on the gurney and ready for transport to the hospital. Hannah hung onto her mom tightly as they wheeled the man out of the barn. They followed behind and watched them load him into the ambulance.
“Is he going to be okay mom?” Hannah asked, worriedly.
“I think so honey,” Leslie answered.
The ambulance took off with sirens blaring as it headed to Bayport Memorial Hospital.
Megan was sitting in the family room. She was paging through their wedding album, looking at photos of her and Andrew. Her bottom lip trembled and her eyes welled up with tears. Megan closed the album and tossed it aside. She grabbed some tissues just as the doorbell announced a visitor. Megan got up and went to answer the door.
When Megan opened the front door, she saw Chloe, whose eyes were red from crying. They quickly rushed into an embrace and didn’t let go. What didn’t help was that they started crying again. Several minutes later, they parted and Megan led Chloe inside the house. They went to the family room. They sat down next to each other on the sofa. Chloe saw the wedding album.
“Why are you torturing yourself,” Chloe asked holding up the album.