Murders & Romance: A Psychic Detective Romantic Mystery (Isaac Taylor Mysteries Book 5) by Lashell Collins (ready player one ebook .TXT) 📗

He pulled his credentials from his pocket and flashed them at the receptionist behind this desk.

“Detective Sgt. Ike Taylor. This is my partner, Detective Pete Vega. We’d like to speak with Amber Camden.”

He eyed the woman with a steady I’m-not-playing-games-here gaze, refusing to take no for an answer. The girl seemed trapped in his stare for a few seconds. Then she quickly picked up the phone.

Isaac had no idea who she spoke with, but two seconds later, a woman with short blond hair came from around the corner. She was tall and stocky. The kind of woman one might refer to as corn-fed.

“Detectives? I’m Josephine Turner. Head nurse of the hospital. How can I help you?”

“We’d like to speak with a patient. Amber Camden.”

“Well, is there some problem with her family? Some news you wish to give her?”

“I’m afraid the details are a police matter.” Isaac stared at her, trying to gage the reason for her odd question.

“Well, I’m sorry, detective. But speaking with Amber Camden is out of the question.”

“I will come back here with a court order, if I have to.”

“I’m afraid that wouldn’t do you any good. You see, Detective… Amber Camden doesn’t speak. She won’t be able to answer any of your questions.”

Isaac and Pete looked at each other.

“You mean she’s mute?”

“It goes deeper than that.” Josephine motioned for them to follow her, and they walked slowly down the hall.

“It’s not simply that Amber is mute. At one time, she was a perfectly normal teenager. But when she came to us, she had recently suffered a very traumatic event. Her selective mutism was the result of that trauma.”

“That trauma being her rape when she was a senior in high school?” Isaac asked.

“No. The inciting incident for her mutism was the humiliation she suffered in court during the trial of her alleged rapists. After they were acquitted, she never spoke another word. Still hasn’t. She simply sits and stares. She’s in an almost catatonic state. It’s been over four years now.”

Josephine stopped walking and gestured to the room on their left.

Isaac turned and noted that they were at the open doorway of a patient’s room. A frail young woman with mousy brown hair sat in a chair facing a window.

Isaac glanced back at Josephine, who nodded.

He took a breath and then stepped inside the room, walking slowly toward the woman.

“Amber? Amber Camden?”

There was no response.

“Amber, I’m Detective Ike Taylor. I’m here with my partner, Detective Pete Vega.”

He pointed to the doorway where Pete still stood.

“We’d like to talk to you about… well, about the men who hurt you.”

Amber never moved.

Never acknowledged him.

Never even blinked.

Isaac looked at Pete, who gave him an I-got-no-clue-what-to-do-now look. He turned back to Amber and tried again.

“Amber… the three boys who hurt you? They’re all dead now. Do you know what could’ve happened to them?”

Amber didn’t flinch at the news. He wasn’t even certain she could hear or comprehend a word he was saying.

Isaac sighed, and walked back to the door.

“Thank you for allowing us to try, Nurse Turner.”

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry she can’t help you. Although I can’t say that I’m sorry to hear her rapists are gone, though. Whatever they did to her was cruel enough to land her in here, so they couldn’t have been very nice young men.”

“No. I don’t suppose they were. Thank you for your time.”

He and Pete left the building and headed for the car.

“Since Amber can’t talk to us about her old rape case, we’re going to have to find someone who can.”

“Well, all three accused rapists are dead, so what’ve you got in mind?”

“I think we need to talk to her male relatives — father, brothers, step-father, uncles, cousins…”

“Uh, you realize that could potentially be a whole lot of people, right? Especially on top of the pertinent people connected to each of our victims.”

“You got a better idea? Because yes, we do need to speak with those closest to each of our victims, but we also need answers about this rape case, and her family can give them to us. In fact, the very nature of the crimes makes it more than likely that someone in her family is our revenge killer.”

10

Sidney pulled to the curb in front of the Hope House and got out of the car. Every step up the walk reminded her of the previous night and the way that sneaky bastard had cupped her chin, leaned in, and kissed her.

“The nerve,” she mumbled to herself.

And then telling her that she wanted him to kiss her!

Oh, if he showed up at the shelter today, she just might be tempted to sock him in that smug, smarmy grin of his.

At least Isaac had come to her rescue. Not that she’d needed him to. But he was there, like always, being wonderful.

That brought a smile to her lips, and she thought about how sweet he’d been to her the past few days. He’d been her rock since their loss, and she wasn’t sure she could’ve gotten through it without him. She truly loved that man.

She stepped through the front door of Hope House in an instantly better mood. On her way to the back office, she spotted Zoe and two of the residents in the living room.

“And there’s our conquering heroine now!”

Zoe sounded chipper as she motioned to her, and Sidney got the distinct impression that she’d been the topic of their discussion.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning to you.”

She smiled at them and then continued on to the office to put her things away. She wasn’t at all surprised when Zoe followed after her.

“I hear you were really quite something last night. Taking on Ann’s drunken husband in an actual fist fight!”

“It really wasn’t that dramatic.” Sidney sat down at her desk.

“That’s not what those present have been telling me. Julie called me first thing this morning. And then when I got here, Ann and Tyneesha can’t shut up about it. They say you were like