“Kellaway, can you pull the card number from the files and set him to it?”
Kellaway nodded right away, thumbing through her phone with expert proficiency. She and Dan headed over to the register behind the bar.
“Brittany, this is very important…do you think you could identify the man she was with? Can you describe him?”
“He was tall. Maybe right at six feet…maybe a little over. Dark hair, good-looking in an unshaven sort of way. He was very intense, just the way he talked to people, you know? He was flirty with me when I served him but not in a gross way.”
“And how did the woman seem to you? In a good mood? Something bothering her?”
“She seemed uptight at first, when the guy was with her. I caught her rolling her eyes a lot, like wishing he’d go away. That kind of thing.”
“You said when the guy was with her. Was he not here with her the entire time?”
“No. I missed what happened but the guy left after a while. When he was gone, I saw the woman looking around nervously. I’m pretty sure she asked the woman beside her if she could use her phone at some point. I remember that because I thought it was weird that she didn’t have a phone. Everyone has a phone, you know?”
“Did anyone else come in to meet her after her date left?”
“No. Not that I saw. I’m sorry…that’s when it started to pick up. I barely remember her paying her check. I felt sort of sorry for her. I got the feeling that her date bailed on her.”
“Do you know how long she was here after her date left?”
“No idea. Maybe half an hour.”
From behind the bar, Kellaway called out. “Got it. Abby Costello paid her tab at six thirty-two yesterday afternoon. Two drinks, one shot, and a burger.”
Avery considered the time for a moment and then added: “Brittany, do you remember Abby and this man maybe having harsh words at the bar?”
“No. Like I said, though…it was clear that she was annoyed about something.”
Avery nodded, her head putting the scenario together. So maybe they had an argument and the guy left…but then abducted her afterwards. Or, if Abby wasn’t into serious relationships like Amy claims, maybe she met up with someone after the guy left. Maybe her date here last night is not the killer. But if it is…we at least need to check it somehow.
She opened her mouth to start asking about the date that had left Abby, but her phone rang before she got the chance. She nearly ignored it but then thought it might be the coroner with some other interesting finding from Abby’s autopsy.
When she saw that the number was one she didn’t recognize, she nearly ignored it. But it was at that moment where something more than gut instinct kicked in. She’d experienced it maybe three times in her career, the urge to act one way or another based on nothing more than sheer feeling. It was almost supernatural in the way it washed through her. She knew she needed to answer the phone.
So she did.
“One moment,” she said to the gathered Mudslide Grill employees. She turned her back to them and answered the call. “Avery Black,” she said.
“Mrs. Black…this is Janell Mitchell calling with Boston Rescue and Emergency Services. I’m calling because I just got a call from one of our ambulance drivers stating that they are on the way to the hospital with your daughter.”
Avery felt the world freeze all around her. Her mind seemed to refuse to accept the words she had just heard. “I’m sorry,” she said. “You said my daughter?”
“Yes ma’am. Rose Black. She should be coming into the ER within the next five to seven minutes.”
“I don’t understand…what the hell happened?”
“We don’t have full details yet, ma’am. But the driver and the medical attending to her seem to believe that it was a suicide attempt.”
“A…what?”
The woman on the other end responded, repeating suicide attempt again, but Avery barely heard her. She was already running to the doors of Mudslide Grill in a half stumble. When she called over her shoulder to let Kellaway know what was happening, she was hardly aware of it. She felt like she was floating outside of herself, watching it unfold from some haunted place outside of this world.
When she pulled the car out of the lot, she saw Kellaway at the door but didn’t acknowledge her. She had already started to cry and in some very dark place within her heart, wondered how she might herself commit suicide if she lost her daughter.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Avery felt like she was drunk. That was how beyond her senses she was as she parked her car in the lot of the ER. Her legs felt wobbly and her stomach was a tumultuous pit that made her feel like she might puke at any moment. She ran into the ER waiting room, running so quickly that she nearly collided with the glass window that separated the receptionist desk from the waiting room area. She got Rose’s checkin information and after showing her badge to one of the women behind the glass, was escorted as far into the emergency room as she was allowed to go.
When the woman stopped her before they reached the exam rooms, Avery nearly exploded. “No,” Avery said. “No…I need to see her and I need to see her now!”
“Ma’am, I understand your distress but even though you have that badge, there are certain rules we just can’t break. I’ve already paged to have the doctor come and speak with you and for now that’s just the best I can do.”
“Well, it’s not enough!”
The woman nodded. “I know. It’s not. But…those are the rules. You’re a cop…surely you understand the need for rules, right?”
It was an elementary tactic, but it worked. It also helped that as she stood at the intersection of four different hallways with the woman, she saw a doctor hurriedly approaching from the left. The woman who had escorted her saw the doctor coming, waved, and took her leave—probably glad to be rid of the panicked and bossy detective.
“Are you Ms. Black?” the doctor asked.
“I am. How’s Rose?”
He sighed and his eyes focused intently on her. My God, Avery thought. She’s dead. It’s too late. I’ve lost her…
“It’s too early to tell right now,” the doctor said. “However, if I had to make a bet—which I never would, by the way—I think she’s going to be okay.”
“And it was a suicide attempt?” Avery asked, still unable to believe it. “They’re sure of this?”
“Yes. And once we get the tests back, I’m pretty sure that will confirm it. She overdosed on Oxycontin. We don’t know how much she took, but the pill bottle was right there by her bed. If it knocked her out this bad, I’d assume she took at least seven to ten pills. Chased it down with half a beer. Nine-one-one got the call an hour ago. From Rose. She knew what she had done and apparently had some grief about it. Changed her mind. It’s the fact that she was coherent enough to make the call that makes me think her chances of pulling through are good. I will tell you, though, that when the medics arrived on the scene, she was unresponsive. She’s still unresponsive but we’re doing our very best to pull her through.”
“Can I see her?”
“Very soon. She’s only been in a room, stationary, for about five minutes. Let us finish getting her squared away and—”
“You don’t understand,” Avery said, feeling like her knees might fail her at any moment. “This is my fault. She did this because of me…because….”
She stuttered into a series of sobs at this point. The doctor stepped forward and braced her up with a hand to the shoulder. “Just a few more minutes and you can see her. You have my word on that.”
Avery nodded and took two steps to the left. There, she placed her back against the wall and slid down to the floor. She then bent her legs, pulling her knees toward her head, and wept as quietly as she could.