Lazy Bird a Seth and Ava Mystery Read online

  “Good thinking,” Nelson said. “I hate it when he’s angry.”

  “I completely understand,” Bob said. “The man is one of the nicest, kindest human beings I ever met, and he’s terrifying when he’s angry.”

  Bob gave Nelson a nod and walked out of the hospital. Nelson turned to Tessa.

  “Let’s see what we can find out,” Nelson said.

  “Thanks.” Tessa nodded.

  Together, they went to the admitting nurse to see if they could find Martha.

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  Nine

  Somewhere between unconscious and conscious, Ava heard:

  “Oh, my God.”

  Seth! She thought as she struggled to regain consciousness.

  She heard a kind of slapping as if Seth were fighting with someone like an eight-year-old, or he was hugging someone and patting their back.

  “I’m going to use the toilet,” Seth said.

  “Fifteen minutes,” a man with a deep voice said.

  Ava heard the door open and then close.

  “Seth?” Ava whispered.

  “He’s gone to use the loo,” a man with a deep voice said.

  Ava tried to open her eyes but found it difficult.

  “That’s okay,” a man with a deep voice said. “Can you hear me?”

  Ava nodded.

  “You are a very beautiful woman. I’m told that you are brilliant, as well,” the man said. “I’m not surprised. Our Seth has always had a way with the ladies. You should have seen them in ’Nam. Did you ever meet Mitch?”

  “No,” Ava’s voice came out as a croak.

  “Mitch was a gorgeous man,” the man said. “Even at seventeen. He could talk you in or out of anything. But Seth got the ladies. Even at sixteen. Ladies loved our Seth. Every time.”

  The man laughed. Ava opened her eyes to look at the man. He was beautiful. He was at least seventy years old. White hair, shocking blue eyes, perfect teeth, a straight nose, full lips, high cheekbones all set against slightly brown skin. He could be a model, however, he was wearing a doctor’s white coat over a button down blue shirt and tie. He had a badge on his jacket that said, “Dr. Jack Dawkins.”

  “Artful Dodger,” Ava said.

  The man laughed.

  “You’re him,” Ava said.

  “I am him,” the man said.

  “Would you mind helping me get some water?” Ava asked.

  The man got up and grabbed a plastic hospital water jugs with a straw and held the straw to her lips.

  “Small sips,” the man said.

  Ava took a few sips and stopped.

  “Thank you,” Ava said. “Can you tell me what happened?”

  The man smiled at her.

  “Did I have surgery?” Ava asked.

  “You did,” Dr. Dawkins said. “Your bone splintered around the pin and became infected. Who told you that you could walk on that leg?”

  “Doctor. PT,” Ava said. “Told me that I was making myself sicker by babying the leg.”

  “Hmm,” Dr. Dawkins said.

  “Are you an orthopedist and a murderer?” Ava asked.

  Dr. Dawkins laughed.

  “I like you,” Dr. Dawkins said.

  “I find you terrifying,” Ava said.

  Dr. Dawkins laughed again.

  “I understand,” Dr. Dawkins said. “I’m an obstetrician here in Durango. I was a medic in ’Nam, assigned to those idiots who went into the tunnels. That’s where I met Seth and Mitch. I’m one of the only people who knew that Seth was sixteen and not seventeen or eighteen, like he pretended. Your injury is something I’ve seen before and know a bit about.”

  “Oh?” Ava asked.

  “You were shot,” Dr. Dawkins said. “Rifle from somewhere high?”

  “Tree,” Ava said.

  “You were on the ground?” Dr. Dawkins asked.

  “On my knees,” Ava said. “Our friend shot the guy with an arrow as he was pulling the trigger. Bullet got me in the leg.”

  Dr. Dawkins nodded.

  “The bullet went through your leg at a steep angle,” Dr. Dawkins said. “That’s why you needed the pin and why it’s not healing. They tried to save as much bone as possible in Denver. It’s a smart move done by modern doctors. But it nearly always fails in someone as active as you have been. Here, after they cleaned up the break, they had to cut the bone way back and reposition your pin. You’re going to have to grow a bit more bone, but your labs say that you can do it. The apparatus around your leg is electricity to encourage bone growth.”

  “I’m sensing a ‘but,’” Ava said.

  “But, you have to stay off it for at least two months,” Dr. Dawkins said. “Maybe longer. Depending on how fast the bone regrows.”

  “Shit,” Ava said. “I’m in the middle of this case.”

  Ava looked at the man, and he gave her a bright smile. He was truly shockingly handsome.

  “Senator Hargreaves said that you could grow a beard in a day,” Ava said.

  “It’s a skill,” Dr. Dawkins said with a laugh.

  “Can you still?” Ava asked.

  “Yes,” Dr. Dawkins said. “Listen, we’re running out of time. When Seth gets back, I’m just a doctor here at the hospital. “Seth said that someone found the missing-person report and the case file for the homeless guy in the construction dumpster. You were assigned to work the case?”

  “Who is the man in the dumpster?” Ava asked.

  “He was my elder brother,” Dr. Dawkins said.

  “I’m sorry,” Ava said.

  “I always assumed that my employers thought that he was me and killed him,” Dr. Dawkins said.

  “How did he break his hyoid?” Ava asked.

  “He’d tried to hang himself that year,” Dr. Dawkins said. “We had a shitty childhood. He was shipped off to ’Nam right after I was. Before you say that it’s impossible for two brothers to be deployed, it happened to a lot of poor people. We were poor.”

  “We were both nuts when we got back from ’Nam,” Dr. Dawkins said. “I was recruited as a covert assassin for a secret branch of the CIA, and my brother fell into drugs and alcohol.”

  “How did you get out?” Ava asked.

  “They killed my brother,” Dr. Dawkins said. “Hell, he probably told them that he was me. He couldn’t handle surviving when so many had died. It’s hard for people to understand, but because the draft selected poor people, it selected all of our friends. We lost a lot of friends — something like half of our high school graduating class. We both felt so unbelievably guilty for simply surviving. We’d killed people, done what we were ordered, and watched our friends go home in body bags.”

  Dr. Dawkins shrugged.

  “My mother called me and said that my brother was missing again,” Dr. Dawkins said. “I went looking for him about the time they pulled him out of that dumpster.”

  “What did you do?” Ava asked.

  “I went back to the hotel and fell apart,” Dr. Dawkins said. “I had come to Colorado through Denver, so I’d spent the night with Mitch. He wasn’t married then. Seth was married to his crazy first wife. When they hadn’t heard from me, Mitch and Seth came down to find me. They buried the missing-person report on my brother. Put me in the mental hospital under my new name, and I stayed there for more than a year. Somehow, they got me legitimate identification and fixed it with the VA so I got benefits. You know, everyone owes O’Malley a favor.”

  “It does always seem that way,” Ava said with a nod.

  “When I got out, I took the MCATs to shut Seth up. Mitch filled out my application to medical school,” Dr. Dawkins said. “I’d been a medic. I wanted to help create life since I’d taken so many lives. Seth paid for all of my treatment and schooling, every bit of it. He told people that he’d spent the money on drugs. But more than half of that money was for me. He got me references and helped me settle here.”

  Dr. Dawkins shrugged.

  “I have a wif
e and three grown children. A bunch of grandkids,” Dr. Dawkins said. “They are good people, my children. And, I try to live every day to make up for the lives I took.”

  Ava looked at him, and he gave her a soft smile.

  “They’re going to tell you that you were pregnant and lost the baby,” Dr. Dawkins said.

  “I was?” Ava asked. “I thought O’Malley had a vasectomy.”

  “He did. After Bonita was killed,” Dr. Dawkins said. “He and Mitch had them together.”

  “That’s what I thought.” Ava nodded.

  “This little fib was so that we could cover you and I having some time together,” Dr. Dawkins said. “Do you mind?”

  “Not at all,” Ava said. “Were you able to stay clean?”

  “I haven’t touched a drop of anything since my brother died,” Dr. Dawkins said. “My mind is clear. I work hard every day to keep it that way. I volunteer on the reservations a couple times a year and go overseas to help in developing nations. I love my wife. I’m a good doctor with a reputation for helping indigent women through difficult pregnancies. I try my damnedest, every minute of every day, to be a decent human being.”

  Dr. Dawkins nodded.

  “That said, if you need to arrest me, I’ll go without a fuss,” Dr. Dawkins said.

  “You are not my case,” Ava said. “My case is the man in the dumpster.”

  “My brother,” Dr. Dawkins said.

  “We’ve been harassed and haunted by sketchy people with no names, no warrants, and even sketchier stories,” Ava said. “They burned down a dear old lady’s home! Not to mention that I’m lying here right now because of the pressure put on my boss to get this case solved. I was told by freaks and liars that I needed to find the assassin, but my case is the man in the construction dumpster.”

  Dr. Dawkins nodded. He took a breath to say something else, and she just said, “No. I don’t want to hear any more about the past unless it’s embarrassing stories I can tease my husband about.”

  Dr. Dawkins laughed.

  “I didn’t know what I’d get when I came in here,” Dr. Dawkins said. “I’m glad you are who you are.”

  “Thanks. I think,” Ava said. “Can you help me with my case?”

  “I can try,” Dr. Dawkins said.

  “Your brother was wearing a heavy overcoat,” Ava said. “Grey. It was super clean — no DNA, no hairs, no body fluid. That’s unusual for that kind of coat, especially one found in a dumpster. Senator Hargreaves said that you had a coat like that.”

  “I did,” Dr. Dawkins said. “I can’t tell you why the coat was so clean, but I can tell you that my mother bought the coats at an estate sale — one for me and the other for my brother. I had mine with me. My brother’s was hanging in the coat closet.”

  “Is your mother still alive?” Ava asked.

  “No,” Dr. Dawkins said. “She died while I was in the mental hospital. She’s in Cedar Grove Cemetery, next to my father.”

  “Her home?” Ava asked. “Do you still own it?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do,” Dr. Dawkins said. “It’s off Highway H just below Menefee Mountain. It’s a shack, really. We’ve updated it and call it a ‘cabin,’ but it’s really a shack. My son and I use it when we go deer hunting and fishing. We keep a simple fishing boat there for the nearby reservoir. Why?”

  “You said that the coat was hanging in your mother’s coat closet,” Ava said. “He and the coat were found in a dumpster. It stands to reason that he was killed in your mother’s home.”

  Dr. Dawkins gave Ava a long look.

  “What was that?” Ava asked. “I really don’t need you going rogue and killing someone.”

  “Why do you say that?” Dr. Dawkins asked. “I haven’t killed in more than four decades.”

  “Experience,” Ava said. “If you know something or remember something, let me know. We’re working this case. We’ll figure out what happened to your brother and make sure that whoever killed him is brought to justice. Then, we’ll bury him in that cemetery.”

  “Cedar Grove?” Dr. Dawkins asked.

  “That one,” Ava said. “You think Seth and Mitch boiled your brother’s bones?”

  “No,” Dr. Dawkins said. “I don’t know how they could have done anything while taking care of me.”

  “I think you’re right,” Ava said. She thought for a moment and then shrugged, “We’ll figure it out.”

  “Tell me — is it like the movies?” Dr. Dawkins said. “If my brother was killed in my mother’s home, can you find the forensics?”

  “Absolutely,” Ava said. “Even if someone tried to clean up.”

  “Huh,” Dr. Dawkins said.

  “One last question,” Ava said.

  “Okay,” Dr. Dawkins said.

  “Do you know anyone with a Smith and Wesson .357?” Ava asked.

  Dr. Dawkins thought for a long moment and then nodded.

  “Can you give the details to my associate Dr. Nelson Weeks?” Ava said. “He’s around here somewhere.”

  “Big guy? Looks deadly?” Dr. Dawkins asked. “He protested the idea of you being pregnant. Tried to keep me out of here.”

  “How did you get in?” Ava asked.

  “O’Malley,” Dr. Dawkins said. “Dr. Weeks was called to the ED to look at something.”

  “Find him,” Ava said. “Tell him everything you know about the owner of that weapon.”

  “How do you know he’s trustworthy?” Dr. Dawkins asked.

  “He’s the Grand Master of the Order of the Templars,” Ava said. “While that doesn’t necessarily make him trustworthy, he is honorable and very loyal. He’s been my friend for a long time. You have a lot in common with him. You’ll like him.”

  Looking unsure, Dr. Dawkins nodded.

  She pointed at him.

  “Remember your promise,” Ava said. “You are not to go after this person. We will get him.”

  “Are you sure?” Dr. Dawkins asked.

  “I have found evidence for the capture and prosecution of every case we’ve worked on,” Ava said. “Every case, including a corrupt sheriff, a Mob boss, and disgusting politicians. I’ve set up a lab to run Native American rape kits. That created a federal case that’s already prosecuted and convicted five serial rapists, with more to come. I will find whoever killed your brother, and I will put them through the justice system. That, I can guarantee.”

  Ava gave him a fierce nod. Dr. Dawkins sighed.

  “Okay,” Dr. Dawkins said with a nod. “I’m going to check out these things you’ve told me, but if what you’re saying is true — only then will I speak with Dr. Weeks.”

  “Fair enough,” Ava said.

  He looked at the clock and stood up.

  “You get your rest,” Dr. Dawkins said. “I’ll get the keys to my mother’s home and directions. I’ll leave them with Seth. I’ll check out what you’re saying about your work and speak with Dr. Weeks. If I figure out what’s nagging at me, I’ll let you know.”

  “Promise me that you will trust me to do my job,” Ava said.

  “I promise,” Dr. Dawkins said.

  “Do you mind if I tear the house apart?” Ava asked.

  “Not in the least,” Dr. Dawkins said. “If you wreck it too much, I’ll just have to build something nice. My wife would love that. It’s a beautiful spot. I’ve just never had the heart to tear down my father’s house.”

  Ava held out her hand, and Dr. Dawkins shook it. The door started to open.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss, Mrs. O’Malley,” Dr. Dawkins said. “This kind of thing happens in one in three pregnancies. You are very young. I’m confident that you and your husband will have many more children.”

  Ava gave what she thought was a sincere nod. The nurse came into the room, and Dr. Dawkins left.

  The nurse checked her vitals, gave her medications, chatted about nothing, and left the room. Seth came in when she left. He leaned over to kiss her and then sat down in the chair by her bed.

&
nbsp; “I knew you never spent all that money on drugs,” Ava said.

  “I spent a lot of money on drugs,” Seth said.

  “Uh-huh,” Ava said.

  Seth laughed.

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  Ten

  Dr. Dawkins had kept his word.

  He’d found Nelson and given him the details of who he knew that used a Smith and Wesson .357. The two had gotten along so famously that Nelson was invited home to meet Dr. Dawkins’ wife and family. Nelson retrieved the keys and a map to the property. He took DNA from Dr. Dawkins’ son so that they would have comparative DNA without triggering alarms that would uncover Dr. Dawkins’ location to those who wished him dead.

  Because of the weird interest in this case and the fact that she was in the hospital, it took Ava and Seth more than a week to assemble a team of people she trusted to do the forensics of the cabin.

  The plan was that they would spend today and possibly tomorrow collecting samples at this “shack.” In exchange, they had an all-expense paid week in the gorgeous Colorado Mountains. Their families were due in a few days.

  The nurse helped her into a wheelchair and wheeled her out to an outdoor patio where the team was assembled. Ava looked at the team she and Seth had created.

  Captain Ferguson, Seth’s good friend and Ava’s first boss at the Denver Police’s Crime Scene Unit had taken a week’s vacation to come to help. He was going to run the scene. He’d arrived with three of Ava’s friends who were also his best forensic s-scene technicians. Ava’s childhood friend, Denver Police SWAT Captain Jet Martinez, had arrived with two of his most trusted officers to act as protection for what he called “the forensic geeks.” Bob had selected two people who’d retired from the FBI forensics team. His two people picked two other people who they felt were trustworthy.

  From Ava’s team, Nelson was responsible for organizing the collection of their forensic samples and Bob was running the technical acquisition of forensics. Leslie came down to find what others had missed. Joan had agreed to stay in Denver to keep her FBI-chief husband out of the loop. Fran was staying in the lab to get ready to process everything they found.