Chapter 13
With the announcementthat Cass had been found, Walker picked up another file full of papers from his desk and handed the lot to Sam. “Let’s get your fingerprintsdone.”
Once he had prints, he passed the file on to the secretary to match against government data.Then he caught Sam’s elbow and steered her out of the building and toward his official car. “Now we can go see theocean.”
He was more eager than she to get his hands on Cass. Sam was trying to read the file as she walked and slowed hisspeed.
She waved the papers at him in protest. “You’re takingmeto see Cassandra? What about the others who really know her? Should we let themknow?”
“How? Call? I’m not driving back up there. What are the chances that any of the Lucys stay connected to their computers orlandlines?”
“Probably not good,” she admitted. “But I can’t say for certain that the person in my head is actuallyCassandra.”
“If you recognize her as the person you met at the restaurant, we’re on the way to solving two mysteries. I’m willing totake the chance.” If Cass could bring him closer to his father’s murderer, he was all overit.
She slid into the passenger seat and began flipping through his file folder as well as the papers the secretary had handed him. “Coroner’s report on the skeleton.” She handed him a brownfolder.
Walker grabbed it before he started the car. “A blow to the back of the head. If it’s my father,that’s the only way they could have done it—from behind, and even then, it’s suspicious. They may have drugged him first. He never drank to excess. They don’t have the DNA back yet, but everything else fitshim.”
He slapped the folder back in her lap and turned the key in the ignition. The sheriff wouldn’t appreciate him leaving the county without permission, so he’d just forget to lethim know. At this point, they could fire him, and he’d still begood.
“They don’t have a medical reason for Cass’s coma,” Sam said worriedly, apparently reading the hospital report. “She had no identification on her when a maid found her in a hotelroom.”
“Did she have a car? Was there any luggage in the room that might beyours?”
She shot him a puzzled glance. “Why wouldshe have my things? From what I’ve heard, she’s hardly a pursesnatcher.”
“Because this case is weird from top to bottom andsomeonehas your purse. If you remember seeing Cass in Monterey, it’s the next naturalstep.”
“You think I druggedher?”
“Given your squeaky clean record, if anything, Cass drugged herself. She has a history with drugs, you don’t.” His mind was runningfull throttle. “Does the report say they checked the parking lot at the hotel where she wasfound?”
“They did a cursory check but haven’t invested time in running every plate,” she said, reading through thereport.
He radioed in a request for another sweep of the parking lot and told the Monterey police that he was bringing in someone to ID their Jane Doe. Butheknew what Cass lookedlike. Taking Sam was just a meaningless gesture of hope that something would jog hermemory.
There was no fast way to traverse narrow county roads to the coast. Due to the rugged terrain, the major state highway ran parallel to the Santa Cruz mountains and the Pacific, through rolling valleys of grape vines and nothingness. Walker tried to imagine the woman beside him traveling this roadat night, in a fugue state—as she called it—with no knowledge of the geography or facilities.Mindlessmight be the best way of traversing thisroute.
They pulled over once to refuel and refresh. Sam spent most of the drive with her head buried in his files on his father and Cass. He had a lot of research in there. She only spoke when she had questions. He took radio calls from the office.When the sheriff’s assistant called to say Sam’s fingerprints matched her TSA file, he pumped his fist in the air. Sam slapped his hand in acknowledgment and went back toreading.
Even though they’d verified her identity, she still had no memory of whoSamantha Moonwas. Got it. At least she wasn’t waving sticks and chanting. The scientist doing research was morerelaxing.
It wasdinnertime before they made the outskirts of Monterey. If he’d been in his hybrid i8, he’d have cut the time considerably. In an official vehicle, he had no excuse to turn on the emergency signals and break thelimits.
“Need food?” he asked, glancing her way at the first red light intersection theyhit.
She looked at him as if he were the crazy person. “Cassfirst.”
“A ladywith her priorities straight, right. I’ll take you to eat on the oceanlater.”
That earned him a beatific smile. He’d chew tacks to earn that smileagain.
He needed to get a grip. It was probably just the adrenalinerush.
Walker pulled into the hospital parking lot and helped Sam out of the SUV. She tugged nervously at her hair, pulling it back up in combs and buttoning herjeans jacket over her dirty shirt. He could tell her she’d look like a regal princess even if she wore rags, but that probably wasn’tappropriate.
He flashed his badge, and they were directed up to the ICU. While Walker checked in at the desk, Sam strode straight to a window as if she knew where she was going. The patient inside looked like all the other patients being watched—swaddledin blankets, pale, shrunken, and surrounded by beepingequipment.
