Chapter Five
"Rick! Are you okay? Rick!" Joshua beat furiously on the door to Richard Ryan’s apartment. If he didn’t answer in the next minute, Joshua planned to break down the door. He heard someone fumbling with the locks.
"Joshua?" Rick managed to open the door.
"Rick! Jesus man! What’s the matter with you? Come on, sit down." Joshua put his arm around Rick and helped him to the sofa.
"Caiti…"
"What about her? Rick, what is it? Do you know something about your sister? I know that you guys have a special telepathic connection."
"She’s alive. She’s not far away."
"Rick, talk to me." Joshua felt his forehead.
"Oh man, you’re burning up!"
"Caiti…somebody’s taking care of her…but she needs a doctor."
"Oh my God! Then she’s alive? She’s okay?"
"Yes."
"Oh man, you’re incredible. Whatever this connection is that you have with your sister is truly amazing. This fever you have is probably in some way connected to her. I’m going to try and get this fever down and then call my lieutenant."
"Okay." Rick felt too weak to argue. Joshua gave him some aspirin and put a cold towel on his forehead. Then he called Lieutenant Walker.
"Walker here."
"Lieutenant, this is Joshua Martinez. Any word about my girlfriend?" Lieutenant Walker sighed. He knew what it felt like to be young and be in love. Remembering when he was around Joshua’s age and falling for his own wife, he knew that he had to be sympathetic towards the young detective.
"We did view the security tape. Caitlin was definitely grabbed and forced into a van."
"What was the make and model? Did you see a license plate number?"
"Calm down, Joshua. We were able to obtain a large amount of information from the tape. We got the license plate number and traced it back to a priest at Saint Ignatius. He’d reported the van stolen about three days ago."
"So that trail is dead. What about the man who grabbed Caitlin?"
"We’ve got a serious record on him. His real name is Matthew Perkins. He’s got about a dozen aliases. We’ve got him on record for theft, aggravated sexual assault, extortion, and a long list of other crimes. The most critical piece of information we have is that this man used to be a running partner with Cherren White."
"Wait a second. Do you think that Cherren White had something to do with this? Do you think that he arranged to have Caitlin kidnapped?" Joshua wasn’t even trying to keep the anger out of his voice.
"I doubt it. Cherren White is under heavy guard on death row at the prison. I have a feeling that this man called himself exercising some kind of revenge on Caitlin. We’ve got all of the area hospitals on alert, and we’ve sent Caitlin’s picture to police stations all over the state."
"Thanks Lieutenant."
"We’re going to find her Joshua. I know that she’s not well."
"She can’t last long without her insulin. Time is running out on her."
"I know. That’s why I’ve got men combing the city and the south suburbs looking for her. Listen, I need to let you go and get back to work."
"Thanks again lieutenant." Joshua hung up and turned to Rick.
"They have a few leads on the case. You okay brother?"
"I’ll be fine. It won’t last long, hopefully." Joshua touched his shoulder.
"How long has this been going on? This telepathic connection between you and your sister?"
"Ever since we were born. It just got stronger when she got sick."
"What was it like when Caitlin was first diagnosed?"
"I was in gym class. Seventh grade. Caiti hadn’t been well for awhile. Mom was going to take her to the doctor. She passed out at home and had to be rushed to the hospital. I was in the middle of a basketball game when I couldn’t breathe. I remember waking up on the floor. I just knew that my sister was dying. They were so worried that they tested me for diabetes, but I came out negative." Rick stopped to wipe tears from his eyes.
"When Caiti came out of her coma, the first person that she asked for was me. I stayed at her bedside more than my parents did. I remember that she was so weak that she couldn’t sit up or feed herself. I used to feed her, brush her hair, and catch her up on the gossip at school. I’d die for my sister."
"It’s just so amazing what you two share. Why haven’t you pushed me away? It seems like you’d be rather possessive of Caitlin."
"You’re a good man, Joshua. Caitlin glows when she’s around you. I know that you love her deeply and that you wouldn’t hurt her for the world. You’re good for her."
"Thank you. That means a lot coming from you. Why don’t you try and get some sleep? I know that you hardly slept after last night."
"Yeah. If you want to stay, you’re welcome."
"Thanks. I’ll just watch some ESPN or BET or something."
"Wake me up if your boss calls." Rick closed his eyes and settled down to sleep.
"Please God, please bring home the woman I love…Amen."
…Eric read the thermometer a second time. It was reading steady at a hundred and three degrees.
"You’re really sick aren’t you? How are you feeling honey?"
"Sore. Really cold and hot." Eric sighed. It was time to bear his face to the world and take Caitlin to the hospital. He couldn’t deny it any longer. She might be developing an infection from what she’d endured at the hands of a kidnapper.
"Okay. I think that it’s time for me to get you to a doctor. Can you sit up for me?" Caitlin tried and tried, but she couldn’t push her weakened body up from the bed.
"No…I’m too weak…" her eyes filled with tears.
"Don’t cry. I’ll carry you. Come on honey. Up we go." Eric slid one arm behind Caitlin’s back and the other under her legs. He carried her outside to his car, opened the front door, and sat her on the passenger’s side.
"It’s not that far from the hospital. We’ll be there in ten minutes."
"Mr. Malone…I’m so tired…I just want to go to sleep." Caitlin began to slump over in the seat.
"No, no, you can’t sleep now. Stay awake. Come on sweetheart, sit up for me." Eric gently pushed her back into a sitting position. He started the engine and drove out to the main roads.
"Try and stay awake Caitlin. I need you to stay with me. Talk to me, honey. Can you remember anything about what happened to you? Who beat you up? Who kidnapped you?"
"A man…a very handsome man…wearing a trench coat…dark hair and eyes…"
"What else? Is there anything else that you can remember?"
"Followed me from a store…a van…he hit me…tied me up…I can’t remember anything else."
"Hey, you did really well. That was good. More will come back to you once you’ve been treated."
"Why me? What did I do wrong?"
"Shhh, don’t think like that. You didn’t do anything to deserve something so awful. Whomever did this to you will be punished. He’s going to pay for hurting you this way."
"He might come back…to kill me…"
"No he won’t. I won’t let anything else happen to you." Eric pulled into the hospital parking lot.
"We’re here." Eric went around to the passenger’s side and said, "Hold onto me. That’s a girl." Caitlin locked her arms around his neck as he lifted her out of the car. Eric raced towards the emergency entrance. He burst through the automatic doors and shouted,
"I need a doctor over here now!" A couple of nurses saw him with the injured girl in his arms and paged the ER physician on duty. An orderly rolled a gurney over to him.
"Lie her down. We’ll put her in the first treatment bay." Eric obeyed, but Caitlin wouldn’t let go of him.
"Mr. Malone, please don’t leave me."
"I’ll stay as long as I can. Don’t worry. These people are going to take excellent care of you." Eric held onto Caitlin’s hand while they wheeled her into a treatment bay. By then , the doctor was waiting for them.
"What do we have here?"
"She was attacked and left for dead. I found her last night."
"What’s her name? How old is she?"
"Her name is Caitlin Ryan. She’s twenty-three. She can’t remember who she is or anything from her past. The only reason that I knew that is that I found this on her." Eric gave the doctor the pharmacy slip.
"Are you her boyfriend?"
"Ah no, just a concerned friend. Is she going to be okay? I brought her in as soon as I could."
"We’ll run some tests and see what we can find out. I’ll have to ask you to wait in the lobby."
"Okay, but can I say goodbye to her?"
"Sure."
"Caitlin, they say I have to wait outside. I won’t be far away. I’m going to try and call your mom."
"Please…don’t leave me…I still can’t remember anything."
"I have to. These people have a job to do. They’re going to run tests and make sure that you’re okay. But you’re safe with them. That man can’t come back and hurt you again."
"Promise?"
"Promise." Eric slowly lowered her hand to the side. The nurse drew the curtain around the bed. Eric went back to the triage area. He found a comfortable spot in the window seat and stared out the window. At least now, Caitlin would be in good hands. He fished out his cell phone and dialed information. He looked up a listing for the name "Ryan" on the south side. There were only three, Richard, Caitlin, and their mother, Thelma. The operator connected Eric at no charge. He took a deep breath and waited.
"Hello?" a sweet female voice answered.
"Mrs. Thelma Ryan?"
"Yes?"
"You don’t know me, but my name is Eric Malone. Do you have a daughter named Caitlin?"
"Yes! Do you know where she is? Do you have her?" Thelma’s voice rose to panic.
"No ma’am, nothing like that. I found your daughter outside my home. She’d been horribly beaten. I just brought her to the hospital. She’s alive, but she has amnesia. She had some insulin on her with her information on it. I’m at Saint James Hospital in Olympia Fields."
"Oh my God! Oh sweet Jesus! My daughter has been missing since last night! Young man, you have no idea how happy you’ve made me! My son and I will be there soon."
"I’ll be in the ER lobby, Mrs. Ryan."
"Thank you so much!" Thelma hung up and hurriedly dialed Rick’s number.
Joshua was laid back in a recliner flipping through channels when the phone rang. He answered right away.
"Hello?"
"Joshua? This is Mrs. Ryan."
"Mrs. Ryan, what’s up? Your son isn’t feeling very well. Is something wrong?"
"I just got a phone call from someone who said that Caitlin is in the hospital in the south suburbs. She’s alive! My baby is alive!"
"Say what?" Joshua thought that maybe he was dreaming.
"She’s alive!"
"Where is she?"
"Saint James in Olympia Fields. I know exactly where that is. I had surgery there back in ’85."
"I’ll come and pick you up in twenty minutes. Wait for us." Josh hung up the phone. He was about to wake up Rick when suddenly, Rick sat straight up on the couch.
"Caitlin is alive. She’s alive…but she’s hurt."