The Passenger Read online

  “You need him arrested?”

  “Sedated. But I figured you might want to ask him questions first.”

  “The patient yelling is our accident victim?” Russ asked.

  “Our only patient right now, yes.”

  “How long has he been like that?”

  “Not long. He’s combative. You’ll see. At least he’s speaking words now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He wasn’t making any words when he first came to. He was out cold when he arrived. This way.” Doc Jenner led the way down to the treatment area.

  It was a small emergency room. Only six rooms and they had him in the last one.

  Russ stopped the doctor before they went into the treatment room. “How is he physically, Doc?”

  “Well, he’s gonna be all kinds of shades of blue and purple, but surprisingly, other than a couple sutures to the face, nothing is broken. No fractures. No internal bleeding.”

  “So, we don’t need to transfer him to another hospital?”

  “Nope, we can handle his injuries.” Jenner winced when the man yelled again. “This … needs sedation.” He slid open the glass door to the treatment room, then the curtain.

  The nurse Janey was behind a computer. “Oh,” she said with a smile. “Good. I’ll go get the sedative ready. All yours.” She pushed the rolling stand with the computer past Doc Jenner and Russ.

  Russ stepped in. The young man in bed wasn’t what he expected. He expected someone bigger by the voice. He was not bigger than maybe five-nine, average built, his brown hair was a matted mess and his face had tiny scratches all over it.

  The young man growled, trying to lift up but was restrained.

  “You called the cops?” his voice squeaked. “You called the cops! Good! Good.” He looked at Russ. “You think you scare me? Huh? You don’t scare me.”

  “I don’t expect I do scare you,” Russ said calmly. “What’s your name, son?”

  The young man went silent, even stopped fighting the restraints.

  “He’s not saying or he doesn’t know,” Doc Jenner said.

  “Let me out of here! I’ll go with you, I swear.”

  “Go where?” Russ asked.

  “To find him.”

  “Find who?”

  “The man. There was a man in the car with me!” he screamed. “He’s gone.”

  “You mean he died in the accident?” Russ asked.

  “No, he’s gone!” The young man growled out with a scream.

  “So, someone was with you?”

  “Yes! I’ve been trying to tell them!”

  “Can you tell me your name, son?” Russ asked again.

  The young man twisted and turned and growled again.

  Doc Jenner waved his finger at the young man. “I told you, keep doing that and you’ll feel it in the morning.”

  Russ sighed out. “I don’t think I’m getting anything out of him tonight. Was there anything in his pockets? Any ID?”

  Doc Jenner shook his head. “Nothing.”

  “I’m heading up to the site now. State police are there. They may have found out who he is. We’ll check the plates.”

  “Is Donnie up there?” Doc asked.

  “I’m gonna guess he is, he works nights, and you know your son is always Johnny on the spot when there’s an accident, especially Broke Man’s Curve. Say …” he lowered his voice. “Do you think there was someone else in the car?”

  “I couldn’t tell you.”

  “We’ll look.”

  “I’m here!” the man screamed. “I’m right here!”

  Russ looked at him. “Well, I’m glad you told me that. Thank you.” He returned to Jenner. “Do me a favor. Get me a BAL.”

  “We did.”

  “And?”

  Doc Jenner shook his head. “Barely traceable amount, like cough syrup level.”

  “Do a drug panel.”

  “We did that, too,” Doc Jenner replied. “Nothing. But … it was a fast track and urine, when Dale gets to the lab in the morning, he’ll run the blood we took. Get a better idea. But it’s not alcohol, I can say that with all assurance.”

  Russ looked back at the patient then stepped out of the room with Doc Jenner. “He’s got to be on something.”

  “You would think.”

  “Head injury?” Russ asked.

  “That’s our guess. We’ll know more when we get the blood work back. But now, no fracture of the skull, no brain bleeding. Accident like that, I’m sure he hit his head. We’ll do another scan in the morning,” Doc Jenner said. “Old Joe said he was thrown, but I didn’t see any signs of that.”

  “Old Joe?” Russ questioned. “How would Old Joe know?”

  “He’s the one that found him.”

  Russ whined a little with a slight stomp of his foot. He knew what that meant. He had to talk to Old Joe. Nothing was wrong with him, Russ liked him and all, but Old Joe was long winded, and Russ just wanted to get to the scene of the accident.

  “Told you,” Old Joe said, smugly when Russ approached him.

  “Yes, you did. Now, you can tell me how you happened upon that boy in the middle of the night.”

  “Well, Marge and I were at that new casino across the state line,” Joe said. “You know the one they built …”

  “Yeah, yeah, go on.”

  “Marge just loves that casino. Not that we won anything, but it was tough to get her off this one machine.”

  “Joe, just tell me what happened.” Russ tried to keep his patience.

  “We were coming back on Eighty West, and as we approached Broke Man’s curve, we saw a deer in the road. We slowed, always do on that curve, and sure enough, when we were halfway through that curve, there was that boy in the middle of the road praying.”

  “Wait ... he was what?”

  “Praying.”

  “And you know this how?”

  “He was there, middle of the road, on his knees, looking up.”

  “Okay.”

  “He was praying,” Joe said. “Because he saw us barreling his way, he didn’t have that deer in the headlights look, he wasn’t afraid.”

  “That’s because he’s on something.”

  Joe shook his head. “No. That’s because he was confident, he wasn’t going to die because Jesus was in the car with him.”

  “Metaphorically like the song?” Russ asked.

  “Nope. In the car,” Joe said. “He told us someone was in the car with him. A man.”

  “And you assumed it was Jesus?” Russ asked.

  “Yep. You don’t survive a crash like that if He isn’t in that car with you.”

  With a thinking, ‘hmm’, Russ nodded. “You gotta point. But … I have to work on the assumption that maybe someone else was in that car with him. I’m headed up to the site, thanks for your help.” He took a few steps away and stopped. “However, just in case, once it gets to a decent hour, give Pastor Rick a call. See if he’ll pay a visit to our John Doe, maybe he’ll talk to the pastor.”

  “Will do, Chief.”

  Russ thanked him again and headed out.

  ◆◆◆

  Russ could see the flashing lights of the state police long before he arrived at the accident site.

  The flatbed tow truck was the first vehicle he had seen, then the fire truck. The firefighters were rolling the hoses, while a state police officer directed what little traffic there was around the accident. There was an ambulance there, the lights weren’t on. And Russ could still see the lingering smoke as it floated through the rays of the spotlights.

  He saw State Trooper Donnie Jenner, the doctor’s son, standing outside his squad car.

  “Hey, Donnie,” Russ extended his hand to him. “Glad to see you up here.”

  “Chief.” Donnie shook his hand. “You didn’t need to come out. I could have brought you the report.”

  “I was getting up anyway. How did it happen? Any ideas? Old Joe mentioned a deer.”

  Donnie nodded.
“That’s what we’re going with, coming around Broke Man’s curve, deer was there, he didn’t react fast enough. It was a pretty violent crash, Chief. I can’t believe he walked away from it.”

  “Yeah. You aren’t kidding. Any ... uh, identification on the vehicle.”

  “Frame is still hot,” Donnie replied. “We didn’t see anything in the glove box. Plate was burned beyond recognition.”

  “How about the vin?”

  “We are going to try to salvage it. We’re hopeful.”

  Russ nodded. “The kid said there was someone in the car with him.”

  “That’s what we heard. We’ve been searching.”

  “Could he have been thrown?” Russ asked. “Back at the curve and he’s not been spotted? You’re too young to remember, but in seventy-six, three weeks after that accident they found the body of the other passenger.”

  “True, but …” Donnie said, “In 1976 no one survived to say there were two people in that car. We know. We’re looking. Once it’s light, we’ll be able to see what we can find.”

  “Good boy.” Russ gave a swat to Donnie’s arm. “I knew you guys would be …” his words slowed down when he finally saw her standing on the side of the road. “Excuse me for a second.”

  Shaking his head in a bit of disbelief, Russ walked over to Marjorie Baker.

  She stood on the berm looking down the embankment. Her arms were folded tight to her body, as if she fought off a chill.

  Everyone, including Russ, really liked Marge. She was just a good woman with a big heart. Marge was younger than Old Joe by a good ten years. But Russ always said she was one of the wisest, kindest people he had met. Just looking at her was a welcoming sight. A fuller built woman with auburn-brown hair styled in a way she hadn’t changed in decades. Her smile was genuine and gentle. She was the person everyone wanted around when things went bad. Always the one to give them ‘mama style’ hugs that took it all away.

  It was no surprise she was there.

  Marge was so focused staring out she didn’t see Russ approach.

  “Morning, Marge.”

  “Oh.” She jumped a little, her hand shooting to her chest. “You scared me.”

  “What are you doing out here at four in the morning?”

  Her eyes went forward again. “Praying. You know. Making sure our workers are safe and …” she sighed heavily. “Praying for the other person in the car. That they find him.”

  “You know your husband is convinced it was Jesus in the car.”

  “Oh, no doubt Jesus was in that car in one capacity or another. Look at it. Look at that car, Russ. It’s destroyed. No one should have walked away from that, and I fear if there was another physical human being in the car, he wasn’t as fortunate as that young man.” She glanced at Russ. “I keep thinking about the infamous crash of seventy-six.”

  “Me, too. Marge … was it you who called it in?” Russ asked.

  “Yes. I called. Joe took him into the hospital. It was closer and faster than calling for an ambulance. Plus, we knew, or at least it looked like he didn’t have any life threatening injuries.”

  “I know this is a tough one to ask you,” Russ said. “Do you think he was on something? Joe said he looked like he had no fear of getting hit by your car.”

  “On something I don’t know. All I saw was someone so lost.”

  “And he was conscious when he got in the car?”

  Marge nodded. “When we put him in, yes. He kept saying someone was with him. Someone was in his car.”

  “Anything else?”

  “He said ‘Thank you.’”

  “Huh. He wasn’t angry? Out of control?”

  Marge bit down on her bottom lip as she shook her head. “Why?”

  “Well, he’s being pretty brazen now, combative. By any chance, did he give you his name?”

  “I don’t think he knows his name. He didn’t know much. Trust me. This accident was traumatic. It took the wind out of him physically and mentally.”

  “We’ll figure out it,” Russ said with confidence.

  “I know you will. I have a feeling, just a feeling, that young man is gonna need more help,” Marge said. “Than just figuring out his name.”

  SEVEN

  “I got you.”

  Jonas didn’t know the voice, but it was a part of his dream as he woke up. The room was sunny and bright, a slight cast of yellow peeked through the window, letting him know it was morning. It felt like it.

  But that was all he knew.

  The events of the night before were a blur, in fact everything was a blur. Where was he? How did he get there? Who … was he?

  It was like trying to remember a name, one of those ‘tip of the tongue’ feelings, but it wasn’t simply about a name. It was about his life.

  He turned his head from the window to look at the other side of the room, never even knowing a nurse was there fixing a tube that ran into his arm.

  She gave a closed mouth smile and finished her work. “Would you like some water?” she asked.

  Jonas nodded. His mouth and lips were dry. In fact, his lips felt huge and his eyes sore, like he had been crying.

  He accepted the water taking a few long drinks. “Thank you,” he said. “My face feels funny.”

  “You have a lot of bruising, some stitches. Heard they pulled quite a bit of glass out of your face in the ER.” She stepped back and rolled the tray cart to him. “They brought your breakfast. Are you hungry? Looks like …” she lifted the lid. “Coffee, eggs, bacon, toast and I think … this is oatmeal.”

  Jonas tried to absorb how he physically felt, he knew his head hurt, but was he hungry? He tried to sit up and when he moved, every part of his body hurt. When his arms felt heavy, he was concerned until he looked down and saw he was bound with canvas straps.

  “What … why? Why am I tied to the bed?”

  “Last night you were pretty bad,” she said. “I wasn’t on shift, but the notes say you were violent and thrashing. They sedated you. If you’re hungry, I’ll be happy to feed you.”

  “Yeah, that would be good. Thanks. I think … I think I’m fine now though.”

  “I’ll talk to the doctor about those restraints,” she said, unwrapping the eating utensils.

  “Maybe it isn’t a good idea to untie me.”

  “Why do you say that?” she asked with a smile.

  “What if I was violent because I’m a like a killer or something?”

  “That’s a strange thing to say. Why?”

  “I feel angry. I don’t know why. It just feels like anger.”

  “I don’t know why that is. Maybe something happened before the accident. Hopefully, you’re not a killer.” She handed him the strip of bacon to take a bite.

  “The accident.” Jonas took a bite. “I don’t remember it. There was a man with me. I remember him. He was in the car.”

  “That’s what everyone heard.” She gave him some eggs. “They have been searching for him. All night I think.”

  “Anything?”

  She shook her head. “No, everyone is just hoping it’s not another nineteen-seventy-six.”

  “What is that?”

  “Around here it’s a legend,” she replied. “You crashed on Broke Man’s Curve. Famous for crashes. It was named this because in the fifties a man who was destitute crashed his car there on purpose.”

  “But what happened in seventy-six?”

  “Nothing you should really worry about. A missing passenger thing,”

  “Like me?”

  “Not like you. You survived.”

  “Why don’t I know who I am?” he asked.

  “You have a head injury, and the doctor will be in shortly to talk to you. I promise.”

  She finished feeding him, Jonas didn’t really want much. He told her he had enough when his stomach started to feel queasy.

  He rested his head back and closed his eyes. He was tired again. Sleeping was better than being awake, with a feeling of frustration an
d confusion he closed his eyes.

  He had fallen asleep. Jonas was sure of it, he didn’t know for how long. The man’s voice asking, “Are you awake in there?” Caused him to open his eyes.

  “Good. Good.” The man was wearing a white coat over his hospital scrubs. He lifted a light to Jonas’ eyes. “Just want to check those pupils.” He did his thing then put the light away. “How are you feeling?”

  “Very sore.”

  “You’ll have that. I’m Doctor Jenner. And you are our celebrity patient.”

  “I’m famous?” Jonas asked.

  “Well, not in the Kardashian sense, no.” he shook his head. “A stranger gets into an accident on Broke Man’s curve and lives to talk about it. That earns them celebrity status. Then again, how that is, honestly, we still can’t figure out.”

  “I can’t remember it. I feel awake though. I remember the nurse feeding me. I think.”

  “And that’s your first memory? Ann feeding you?”

  “First clear one, yeah,” he nodded.

  “You don’t remember last night?”

  “No. Well, it’s foggy, but not really.”

  “You have a head injury. We did another scan late last night,” Doctor Jenner said. “I wasn’t satisfied with the first one. With your behavior and all. Definitely showed some swelling. Because of that, we are going to have you stay in here a few days. Once that swelling goes down, I’m confident you’ll regain your memory. Or shortly after.”

  “What if I don’t?”

  Doctor Jenner shook his head. “We can’t think like that.”

  “I mean, how do I know how to talk, but not who I am?”

  “Head injuries are a mysterious territory. We don’t know how the brain works. So …” Jenner exhaled. “Ann, the nurse, tells me you don’t want the restraints removed because you’re worried that you’re a serial killer.”

  “I don’t know who I am. I do feel really angry right now. I don’t know why, and I feel like anything can set me off.”

  “How about once we find out you’re not a killer, we remove those restraints. Some mood stabilizers might help. Head injuries can cause severe mood swings.”

  “Whatever you think.”

  “Good. And don’t you worry about your memory,” Jenner said. “It’ll come back. Either in bits and pieces or something will set it off and bam, you’ll remember. But I’m confident you’ll remember.”