The officers had been waiting for several hours before the doctor finally headed in their direction. Lutz had just gotten off the phone with Henry and Abrams. Between the detectives and patrol officers, the scene was somewhat under control. He pocketed his phone and stood.
“What’s the word on my detective, Doc?”
“You can go in now. Jesse has had X-rays, and he’s stitched up. Nothing is broken, just scrambled, but he’s been given pain medication, so he may become groggy. All in all, he should be okay by tomorrow.”
“We sure appreciate it, and how about Gail Fremont?”
“The same. One hard blow to the right side, which gave her a contusion on the left when she hit the car window. She’ll recover, and she’s downstairs in our secured wing in room 107 with police guarding her door.”
“Thanks, Doc.” Lutz turned to Frank. “Come on. We need to talk to Jesse.”
They entered Jesse’s private room. A table lamp on the dimmest setting cast shadows throughout the space. Bandages covered Jesse’s wounds, and his eyes were swollen from the injuries.
“Who’s there?” he asked.
Lutz stepped closer to the light and pulled the guest chair next to Jesse’s bed. “It’s me and Frank. How ya doing, pal?”
Jesse groaned. “I’ve had better days, but I made it out alive and still have all my fingers and teeth.”
Frank huffed. “And you’re damn lucky. Henry found their bag of torture tools in the van along with a bottle of antifreeze. Needless to say, most of the tools were cutting and clipping instruments.”
Jesse nodded. “And the antifreeze was likely the cocktail they were trying to force me to drink. How’d you figure out Lynn was Gail?”
“Cliff’s Jeep had Lynn’s name and the address of Woodland Tap programmed into the infotainment system. We went from there, watched the camera feed from the bar on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and saw her with both of you.”
Jesse coughed out his response. “The bartender told me she was there with someone a few nights earlier. I should have figured it out. Her dating username was TravelingBabe90, but she said she worked in medical sales.”
Lutz swatted the air. “Don’t beat yourself up. After connecting the dots, we realized Gail Fremont was the last person on our list of traveling nurses who hadn’t been interviewed or seen, except by Tony, who checked her file.” Lutz grinned at Frank. “Mills pulled her DMV photo, and sure as shit, it was the same woman you, Cliff, and I imagine everyone else knew as Lynn.”
“So who was the other woman?”
Frank rubbed his forehead. “Not sure how she plays into the whole scenario yet, but she had that fake Janet St. James driver’s license in her purse, plus that disturbing connection.”
Jesse frowned. “Yeah, what was that?”
“You didn’t notice?”
“Notice something with the woman I smacked with the tire iron? Guess I was busy trying to save my own life. What did I miss?”
“The left side of her face was severely scarred, and according to Don, her jawbone on that side was pinned together.” Lutz sighed. “Not only that, but all her fingers had been removed at the last knuckle.”
“Jesus Christ!”
Lutz continued. “We’ll find out everything tomorrow when Gail is discharged and we interrogate her at the station.”
“I’ll do it.”
Lutz shook his head. “Not the best idea, Jesse. There’s no way you can be objective.”
“I’m doing it, and I’ll be fine. She owes me an explanation. Those bitches tried to kill me, and I didn’t know them from Adam.”
Frank patted Jesse’s shoulder. “Don’t get riled up, partner. You need your rest. We’ll be back tomorrow to pick you up and have Patrol transport Gail to the station. After that, she’s all yours.”
Lutz and Frank walked to the door.
“Hold up. Does Dean have Bandit, and does he know what’s going on?”
Frank nodded. “Bandit is in good hands, and Dean’s happy to care for him. You’ve got a damn good neighbor, buddy.”
“Yep, I sure as hell do.”