Treasure

Dawn was standing by the cruiser, waiting for more information on her daughter, when the radios crackled to life again. “All units, we have a pedestrian with injuries on Cripple Creek Parkway, crossroad McKnight.”

The Chief pointed to two of is officers. “Go,” he said.

“Caller reports victim is teenage female and was nude,” the radio continued.

“OH GOD, TREASURE,” Dawn yelled. The last severe break she had, she had been found naked in the freezing weather.

“Wait, take Mrs. Olson with you,” the Chief told one of the officers. She got in the back seat and the two cruisers took off into the night with sirens and lights.

“Boss, you need to see this,” one of the men said.

“What’s going on, Detective Briggs?”

“The crime scene isn’t adding up with our first thoughts,” he said. “Come on, I’ll show you.” They started walking down into the woods. “First off, her injuries aren’t consistent with Treasure being the assailant.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know Jenny is almost five foot ten, but Treasure is maybe five foot five. The bruising I saw on her neck was up at the top of the throat, just below the jaw. There were no hand prints, so I’m betting the person used a forearm instead of hands. The injuries are what I’ve seen in cases where a taller person is choking a shorter one. If both were standing, Treasure’s arm would be pulling down, leaving the bruising near the shoulders.”

He thought about it for a minute. “Jenny could have been kneeling.”

“I looked, there were no dirt or snow marks on her knees.The struggle would have ground the frozen dirt and snow in.”

He thought about it while his flashlight illuminated the path.“What else?”

“Treasure hit the panic button. Why would you try to kill someone then call for help?”

“I talked a few years ago with her father. When she has these episodes, it’s like a switch in her brain and she’s someone different. When it’s over, she has no memory of what happened. Isn’t it possible she had an episode, attacked her friend, then used the panic button to summon help while running away? And she ditched the tracker so she could get away?”

“I suppose so.” They had arrived at the crime scene tape, two officers were monitoring it while waiting for the crime scene people.

They stayed outside as Briggs used his flashlight to point out some other problems. “There were men here, at least two,” he said. “By that tree is where we found Jenny. The area is pretty trashed from the search and initial care, but those tracks heading back into the woods aren’t us. I followed them, they take a different route back to the parking lot than the one we took. And one of them was bleeding.” He pointed his flashlight at a spot in the crime scene area, this one about ten feet away from where Jenny was found. “There were dog tracks, too. BIG dog tracks.”

The radio came to life. “Chief, the accident victim is the person of interest in the current investigation,” the man said. “Ambulance is on scene, victim is being transported with next of kin to Mayo.”

He was glad they were properly avoiding using names on the radio when not needed. “10-4, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He looked at his detective. “You convinced me. Treat this like an attempted kidnapping until we can get statements from the victims and give me a call when crime scene techs arrive. Meanwhile, set a second boundary a hundred yards back in all directions.I don’t want more evidence being trampled if there are others involved.”

“You got it, Chief.” Clarke turned around and followed their path back to the parking lot. This night had turned bad very quickly; if young women were being attacked in the woods, it was going to be a media sideshow.

Craig pulled to a stop outside the Emergency Room doors as Debbie jumped out, running inside while he found a parking place. By the time he met her at the reception desk, she was sobbing and just handed the clipboard full of forms to him. “She’s here, but we can’t see her yet,” she said as he led her over to some chairs.

“She’s going to be all right?”

“They wouldn’t tell me, just that she is being examined now. She promised someone would be out to talk to us soon.” They sat nervously as he finished the papers and walked back with the insurance card. They watched the national news feed on the television and held each other as they waited.

They saw another ambulance pull in, and behind it was a police car. Debbie’s hand covered her mouth as they saw the red hair and the blood on the face of the young woman. “It’s Treasure,” she said as they wheeled her in. Dawn was let out of the back of the police car, and she was crying as she walked in with the young officer. The frustration and anger boiled over, and Denise almost ran over to confront her former friend. “How could you let her hurt my baby,” she said as she slapped her face.

The officer stepped in front of Dawn as Craig pulled his wife back into his arms. “Getting arrested won’t help our Jenny,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m sorry, Dawn, about everything.” He pulled her back to the chairs, looking back once to see if they were following.

“It’s all right,” she told the officer. “She blames me, and maybe she’s right.” Dawn was barely holding on; she had arrived at the accident scene with the ambulance, and the sight of her broken and bleeding girl was too much. She had called her Mom on the way here, and she was being brought over as well.

The waiting room started to fill up as they waited for news; Jenny’s grandparents showed up with their other daughter, and a pair of detectives showed up. They took Dawn into a room and took her statement, and then returned her to the room. Everyone looked up when a Doctor came into the room, and the receptionist pointed to Jenny’s parents, who stood up as he walked. “She’s going to recover, and she’s asking for you,” he said.

“Thank God,” Debbie said as they followed him to the doors.

“She can’t talk yet since her throat is swollen from being choked. We are taking her in for a CAT scan as soon as it opens up, but she wanted to see you first.”

One of the detectives followed them. “I need to ask her a few questions if she’s awake,” The doctor nodded, then led them back into one of the trauma rooms.

Debbie rushed to her daughter’s side. Jenny was sitting up in the bed, with a oxygen tube in her nose and ice packs around her neck. Her eyes opened wide and she started to cry as she hugged her Mom. “Baby I love you,” she sobbed. Craig went to the other side of the bed, holding her hand as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Are you all right,” Mom asked. Jenny nodded, and Debbie stood up, her hand gripping Jenny’s still. She looked at her daughter; her eyes were bloodshot, she could see bruises on her throat and a bump on her temple. “You’re going to recover and I’ll make sure Treasure never hurts anyone again,” she said.

Jenny’s eyes got wide and she shook her head. She pointed at the detective and beckoned him to come closer. “Miss Jenny, we need you to tell us what happened,” he said.

“Here, you can use this,” the nurse said, handing her a small white board and a dry erase marker.

“Where is Rea,” she wrote.

“She’s here, she was hit by a car a few miles from where you were found,” the Detective said.

“They took her she tried to save me.”

“Who took her,” the Detective asked.

“Two men & big black wolf hybrid. Grabbed me choked me.”

He wrote down the information. “Can you describe either of the men?”

“Didn’t see guy behind me. Big,6-6 ish, barrel chest, strong arms.” He wrote it down and she erased it. “Guy 2 White 6’ 200 lbs sandy blond hair to shoulders.”

“Any identifying marks? Clothing?”

“Black coat, ski cap, jeans.”

The detective wrote it all down. “If I get a sketch artist down here, could you help her with it?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Dark, scared.” She erased it. “Is Rea ok? Did they rape her?”

“I don’t know. She’s alive, my partner is in with her now.” She started crying, along with her Mom, who now realized Treasure was just as much a victim as her daughter was. She owed Dawn an apology.

“He said they would kill me unless she cooperated.” She showed them the board, then erased it. “She gave up and they still did this.” She touched her throat. The nurse handed her some ice water, letting her sip it to soothe her throat. She started writing again. “Find the bastards,” she wrote.

“We’ll do everything we can,” the detective promised.

Another nurse came in the room with a gurney. “Radiology has an opening for her, we’ve got to go,” she said. The two disconnected her IV, then scooted her over onto the gurney. “The doctor is keeping her overnight for observation,” the new nurse said. “When she is done with the scan, we’ll move her to a room and come get you.”

“Thank you,”

They returned to the waiting room, where Dawn and her Mom were being consoled by friends. She knelt in front of Dawn, tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Dawn, Treasure didn’t hurt Jenny, she tried to save her,” she said. “She gave herself up for her and they still almost killed my baby.”

Dawn opened her arms and pulled her in; she couldn’t hold a grudge against her friend, not with the history her daughter had. “She’s… she’s going into surgery,” she told her. “Broken left arm, collarbone, they’ve got to wire her mouth shut because her jaw is broken. Oh God…” They hugged each other for a few moments as the crowd tried to give them a little privacy.

The second detective came out of the ER, and they went to a corner to talk. The first showed his notes from the interview with Jenny. “She was wearing gloves, so no DNA under her nails.I’ve got nothing else,” he said.

“That matches what Treasure was able to give me,” he said. “Walking, the dog stopped them, and they backed into two guys. Your first guy had short hair, graying on the sides, wearing a black leather jacket. She said she might be able to identify the two, but they had to take her into surgery.”

“We should get the sketch artist out here tonight, while it’s still fresh. Jenny will be up in a room in an hour or two.”

“Was she raped?”

The second detective shook his head no. “The doctors examined her, there were signs of a struggle but nothing on the rape kit. She got lucky, kidnapped and naked, they must have panicked and tossed her out of their car onto the road.”

“Where she almost gets hit by another car,” he said. “We have some time, let’s go interview the guy who found her. Maybe he remembers a car he passed. She couldn’t have been on the road that long.” They walked out of the room, leaving the rest behind. A news van was already pulling up, and one of the officers went out to talk to them while the parents were escorted to a conference room in the hospital.

Kidnapping, attempted rape, a naked girl found in the road… this was going to be a circus.