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“So we’re thinking she was at the truck stop, got assaulted by this trucker asshole, was hurt badly but defended herself - and did a damn good job of it - and then somehow made it nearly 20 miles to Barnaby Falls? Isn’t there another town between here and the truck stop? Why wouldn’t she stop there?”
The more I try to wrap my brain around it, the less sense I can make of it. She seemed determined to find someone when she stumbled into the park. Could she have made it that far, alone and injured?
“It’s going to take more digging to be able to put all the pieces together. But if we put it together, someone else could too. The police investigating the incident could easily figure this out, and whoever it is that’s looking for her might hear about the trucker and come looking again.” Bennet makes some good points.
“And you don’t think tampering with her medical records is going to be enough,” Lukas states plainly. It’s not a question.
All of us are silent for a few moments while we absorb all of this information.
“I’m not willing to find out,” replies Bennet. “We need to get her out of here, and we need to cover our tracks.”
“So, what can we do?” I ask, feeling useless.
I’m not an idiot by any means, but I’ve got zero ideas. How do you secretly move someone with a traumatic brain injury, who recently had brain surgery, and doesn’t even know who they are? How do you hide from an enemy you can’t identify?
“I think we might be able to trust Dr. Franks. I plan to ask him some hypothetical questions about moving someone in her condition. He might not like it, but given the severity of her abuse, he might help us. I have some small plans put together that I can execute - transport, appropriate medical supplies, home healthcare, stuff like that.”
I take a moment to appreciate the level of organization and ingenuity that Bennet has displayed in the name of keeping her safe. There’s no way he doesn’t feel at least some of the way I do about her.
Micah chimes in, “You don’t have to hire home healthcare. I can help with dressings, recovery, physical therapy, most anything we need. As long as she’s comfortable with it, of course.”
“That would be best. The fewer people we involve, the safer she will be. I’d recommend we all keep this confidential. I’m doing what I can to wipe as much from official hospital records as possible, and to keep the number of people she comes into contact with minimal. She needs to be a ghost, otherwise, there’s a possibility she could become interesting to the authorities as well as the men looking for her.”
He pauses for a moment. “Right now, our most challenging obstacle is figuring out where we can take her. My local properties are too exposed and public, but if we take her too far it’ll raise questions as to why I’m not around. If you’re all planning to stick close to the situation I imagine that would cause problems for you as well. I’m trying to look for more remote possibilities around town.”
“I might be able to help with that,” I interrupt. “My family owns the Barnaby Falls Bed and Breakfast… or at least we did. I do, that is. It hasn’t been open for business in over five years, it’ll need a little freshening up, but it’s remote and available. There’s only one family, an older couple that used to help us run the B&B, they live close to the property and they’re trustworthy. They helped raise me, and I trust them.”
Bennet looks lost in thought for a few moments while he considers this before giving me a sharp nod. “That could be perfect. This couple, would they be willing to help get the place ready for guests? I’ll make sure they are paid handsomely for their help and confidentiality. We’ll need the whole place cleaned, top to bottom, and a room readied for medical supplies. Food stocked, of course…” He continues to plan everything out loud as if he is making verbal notes.
I want to recoil at his arrogance but honestly, it’s not like I have the funds to pay them. They received a decent severance from the business savings when I shut everything down, and I signed over the deed to the Groundskeepers Cottage, but I couldn’t afford to keep them on staff if we weren’t actively taking guests.
After my mother’s death, less and less people came. I tried to keep the place going at first, but it became a sad, empty shell. Maybe I could have worked harder to keep it running, but too many memories threatened to pull me down. So I boarded it up and left town, and spent the last five years seeking adventure to help distract me from the pain.
“I’ll call them right away,” I tell him, and pull out my phone. Everyone watches me expectantly, so I go ahead and dial while I’m standing in the room with them. Mrs. Coolson answers on the first ring, automatically so excited to hear from me.
“I hope this isn’t too much to ask, and if it is please feel free to decline. But would you and Mr. Coolson be willing to help with the B&B again, temporarily? I have a group of friends who need somewhere to go without gaining a lot of attention.”
Her acceptance is immediate and I can tell she is excited about the prospect of opening again, however temporarily. “That’s excellent, thank you so much. How long do you think it would take to be ready for guests? We’ll need the Lakefront Suite prepared first for a medically fragile guest, but we can help prepare the other rooms. Six people, including myself, but I’ll stay in the cabin. Yes ma’am. Thank you again, Mrs. Coolson, and send my thanks to Mr. C as well. I will keep you updated about when we’ll be arriving, but we’ll see you soon.”
I hang up the phone and give a thumbs up. “Awesome. They can be ready by this time tomorrow, at least with the kitchen and her room. I put her in the Lakefront Suite, which is the nicest and largest room. We might need to pitch in to ready the other rooms, but it’s mostly removing dust cloths and airing the place out. I wasn’t sure if all of you would want to stay, so I told them there’d be six of us.”
Everyone agrees and Bennet texts furiously, already laying down the groundwork for our second issue. “I’ll let everyone know the finalized plans within the hour, I have a few calls to make.”
He starts to walk away, but Lukas calls out to him.
“Hey, Bennet? Why Mia Anderson?”
Ooh, good question.
Bennet hesitates. “I made it up”. He sighs, and I get the feeling he was hoping we wouldn’t ask. “My mother’s name was Mi-Yeong, but her Americanized name was Mia. And I used Lukas’ last name.”
Okay, hold the phone. He put that much thought into an entire fake name? And Anderson is Lukas’ last name?
“Why Lukas? He doesn’t even like her.” I snort out, mostly sarcastically.
Lukas starts to protest, but Micah interrupts him first, telling him not to pretend like he wants to be here. Bennet cuts in to avoid another argument.
“I obviously couldn’t use my last name or Micah’s last name, as both of our families are connected to this hospital. I chose Anderson because he has the cleanest record.” He shrugs like this is a reasonable answer.
