Invisible Killer

Chapter 13

It was the next morning at the Schafer household. Lyndsay woke up to a honking noise outside her bedroom window. Slowly, she rose out of bed and approached the window. "What in the world?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. She opened the window and saw Ryan on his motorcycle in front of her house. "Ryan?"
"Are you coming or what?" he hollered.
Lyndsay rubbed her eyes again in order to fully wake up. "What?" she muttered.
Ryan raised his eyebrows in sarcasm.
"Oh yeah...to question Nurse Andrea," she quickly remembered. Ryan nodded his head and slightly laughed.
"I'll be right down." Lyndsay closed her window and locked it back into place. She then threw her clothes on and brushed her hair.
"Lyndsay, honey, Ryan is here," called out Mrs. Schafer as she approached Lyndsay's bedroom door.
"I know, mom. He grabbed my attention with that annoying horn of his." Lyndsay threw her bag over her shoulder and walked up to her mom. "So, I'll be back later this afternoon."
Mrs. Schafer stared at her daughter with a dead eye glare. "Lyndsay? What's that on your face?" she asked.
"What's what?"
"Young lady, don't you play stupid with me. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, why is your eye purple and swollen?" her mother demanded.
"Oh this?" Lyndsay pointed to her injured eye. "It's not a big deal." She tried to walk out the door until her mother stopped her.
"It's most certainly a big deal. If somebody hit you, then I need to know about it."
"Nobody has hit me."
"Then where did it come from?"
"Mom, I don't have time for this. There's somewhere that I have to be. Plus, Ryan is out there waiting for me."
"Young lady, you are not leaving this house until you talk to me."
"Why does it matter? I've been through worse in the past."
"Lyndsay Nicole, either you tell me what had happened, or I'm getting your father up here," threatened Mrs. Schafer. Lyndsay kept quiet. "Lloyd! I need you up in your daughter's bedroom!" she called out for her husband from downstairs.
"Mom, no!" begged Lyndsay.
Mr. Schafer stood in the doorway of Lyndsay's bedroom. "Look at your daughter," his wife told him. He glanced his attention to Lyndsay and immediately became discouraged.
"Hi daddy...," Lyndsay mumbled in an innocent tone with an innocent smile.
"Lyndsay...," grunted her father in a deep voice.
"I can explain...," begged Lyndsay, holding up a hand with a guilty tone.
"Sit down."
"But dad..."
"Sit down!" demanded Mr. Schafer as he raised his voice to his daughter. Lyndsay bowed her head in misery and plopped herself down on her bed. Her father shut the door, leaving his wife out in the hall, and approached the bed.
"Daddy, it's not as bad as you think it is," remarked Lyndsay.
"What happened?"
"It's not a big deal really." Lyndsay slightly giggled.
"Lyndsay, I am not going to play any games like you do with your mother. Now you better tell me what had happened, or you'll be in big trouble."
Lyndsay swallowed a gulp and sighed. "Fine...," she gave in. "Troy may have..." She began to mumbled. "Accidentally punched me in the eye."
"What?" Mr. Schafer's voice became deeper.
"Troy punched me in the eye..."
Her dad crossed up his arms.
"But it was an accident."
"Lyndsay...," her father grunted.
"Dad, just listen..."
Mr. Schafer sighed down on his daughter with disappointment.
"Ryan got mad at Troy, because Troy gave me these bruises...," Lyndsay began as she pointed to her neck.
Mr. Schafer's eyes quickly widened up.
"So, Ryan and Troy started fighting," Lyndsay began again. "Like the responsible one, I tried to get in between them to break it up. Troy was going to punch Ryan, Ryan dodged it, and Troy's fist landed into my eye."
"Five bruises and a black eye...," hissed Mr. Schafer.
There was a moment of silence.
Mr. Schafer uncrossed his arms. "I'm going to kill him..." He opened the door and began to walk down the stairs.
Lyndsay's eyes bulged up with sudden shock. Her heart began to beat faster. "Daddy, no!" she hollered. She immediately ran after him, following him downstairs and to the front door.
"Nobody is going to hurt my daughter and get away with it." Mr. Schafer opened the front door.
Lyndsay grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the door. "But dad, it was an accident," she pleaded.
"I don't care. You are my little girl. I'm not going to let some punk hit you and not come by to apologize."
"What are you going to do, dad?" Lyndsay began to lose control of her temper. "Call the police?"
"I'm going to kill him."
Mr. Schafer tried to leave again until Lyndsay pulled him back into the house.
"Daddy, you can't!"
"Why not?" Mr. Schafer raised his voice up in his daughter's face.
"Dad, he's 17 years-old. That means that he's a minor. You cannot abuse a minor, especially since you're not that close to him."
"Who said?"
"The law!"
Mr. Schafer calmed himself down and stared down on Lyndsay.
"I realize how protective you are, especially since I'm your only daughter," Lyndsay began again. "I appreciate that, and I love you for it." She pointed outside. "But if you go out there and abuse a random minor, you're going to get arrested." Her voice got higher. "If you get arrested, I may never see you again."
There was a moment of silence.
Lyndsay continued on. "I understand how angry you are with Troy. I'm just twice as angry him as you are." She began to tear up and sniffled. "Rachelle..." Lyndsay held her hand up in the air. "Is stuck at the hospital, barely able to breathe or walk." Lyndsay started crying. "She's miserable with having to suffer from all of that pain. Do you know what's worse? Every time that Rachelle gets slapped in the back of the head, Troy is never there to help me and Ryan. He's not doing anything to help Ryan and I find the killer. Ryan and I aren't getting anywhere, and I don't know what else to do!" she wailed.
Lyndsay busted out crying and laid her head onto her dad's chest.
Lyndsay was still crying. "Rachelle's going to die, and it's going to be all my fault!"
Lyndsay's parents looked at each other in guilt.
"Lyndsay?" mumbled Mr. Schafer as he pulled her away from his chest. Lyndsay used her fingers to wipe away the tears from her eyes. "Let me tell you something..." Mr. Schafer closed the front door for some privacy.
Lyndsay dried up her tears.
"Lyndsay, you're right," her father began. "I am very protective of you, but it's just because I love you. You are my only daughter. You and your mother are all that I care about. I don't ever want to see the either of you get hurt. Now you're also right; I don't know that Troy guy very well. But when you told me that he hit you, accident or not, it really agitated me. Although now...it doesn't bother me anymore. I'm just glad that you're okay."
Lyndsay began to half smile and moved closer to hug her father. "I love you...," she mumbled, softly smiling as she hugged her father.
"I love you, too...," replied Mr. Schafer, hugging his daughter. They hugged in silence.
A few seconds later, there was a knock at the door. Lyndsay and her father immediately released the hug. Mr. Schafer opened the door and saw Ryan on the front porch.
"Ryan?" whispered Lyndsay. She forgot that he was waiting for her outside.
"Are you alright?" he hesitated, slightly breathing heavily.
"Of course..."
"I just saw you tearing up, and I wanted to make sure that you're okay."
Lyndsay smiled. "Don't worry, I'm fine now."
Ryan smiled back at Lyndsay with a gentle touch.
"Permission to hug your daughter, sir?" Ryan asked Mr. Schafer politely.
Mr. Schafer nodded his head. Ryan gave Lyndsay a quick hug and released it.
"Are you ready?" Ryan asked Lyndsay as he held out his hand.
Lyndsay kissed her dad on the cheek and took Ryan's hand.
"Hang onto him...," Mr. Schafer whispered to Lyndsay as he winked at her. Lyndsay smiled with a guilty conscience. Her and Ryan shut the door behind them and climbed onto the motorcycle. They were situated on the motorcycle, and they put on their helmets. Lyndsay wrapped her arms around Ryan, and they headed on their way to the hospital.
They were a few blocks down their path when Lyndsay had a question. "So what's with the horn?" she asked Ryan.
"It makes the motorcycle stand out. Besides, how else am I suppose to get your attention?" he answered.
Lyndsay sarcastically smiled. "So you got it just for me?"
"Maybe...," Ryan sarcastically grinned. Lyndsay slapped him on the side of his helmet.
They passed a few more blocks, and they finally arrived at the hospital. They entered the building and approached the Nurse's Station.
"Good morning! I'm Sally Walton. How can I help you?" the nurse greeted with a friendly smile of generosity.
"Good morning! I'm Lyndsay Schafer, and this is my partner Ryan Jones. We would like to speak with Nurse Andrea," Lyndsay introduced.
"I'm sorry, who?" The nurse was confused.
"Andrea Jensen? She's Rachelle Truman's nurse."
"I'm sorry! I'm new here, and I just started today. Let me look at the computer for the previous records."
"Okay...," mumbled Lyndsay.
Nurse Sally pulled up the records and looked under Rachelle's name. She noticed that the spot was blank in the "Assigned Nurse" slot. she then directed her attention back to the teens. "Hmm, it looks like that Ms. Truman doesn't have a nurse assigned to her. Is she supposed to be at this hospital?"
"Ms. Walton, Rachelle has been a patient here for weeks now. Nurse Andrea took care of her ever since day one. Does Ms. Jensen not work here anymore?" said Lyndsay.
"I'm not exactly sure, but let me go find somebody who might know."
"Thank you..."
Sally left the desk to go find somebody.
"Is this 'Andrea Jensen' just a made-up character who's secretly attempting to kill Rachelle?" wondered Ryan.
"At first I didn't think so, because she was so sweet. But now, I'm becoming real concerned," answered Lyndsay.
"Ms. Schafer? Mr. Jones?...," said Dr. Baxter, entering the conversation thanks to Sally.
"Dr. Baxter?" responded Lyndsay becoming surprised.
"I apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, Ms. Jensen is no longer an employee here."
Lyndsay and Ryan became concerned even more.
"How come?" asked Lyndsay.
"She was arrested...," answered the doctor.
"What?..." Lyndsay's eyes bulged up with surprise.
"Why?" asked Ryan.
"Apparently, she was the one who administered the Ketamine drug," explained Dr. Baxter. "We found all of the drug's information in her search history on her laptop. Ms. Schafer, I am truly sorry that I let her do that to you."
Lyndsay became confused again. "I'm sorry to rain on your parade sir, but there's no way that she could've done it. She's too sweet to be responsible for something like that."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Schafer. I don't know what else to tell you."
Lyndsay and Ryan looked at each other in silence.
"She's down at the Lincoln County Jail if you want to go talk to her," Dr. Baxter added.
Lyndsay, filled with blank emotions, turned around and slowly exited the premise.
"Dr. Baxter, you wouldn't happen to have the laptop that she used, would you?" asked Ryan.
"As a matter of fact, I do. Why?" replied Dr. Baxter.
"Do you mind if I were to borrow it for a few hours?"
"Not at all. It's in my office. I'll be right back." The doctor left to go into his office. Ryan waited for the doctor at the Nurse's Station. Dr. Baxter walked back up to Ryan. He handed him the laptop that was wrapped in a plastic bag.
"Thank you, Dr. Baxter," said Ryan as he shook his hand. Ryan left out the front door and caught up to Lyndsay.
"Hey...," he called for Lyndsay.
"What?" Lyndsay looked at Ryan. She then quickly became concerned when she saw the laptop in his possession. "What are you doing with that?"
"This is the laptop that Ms. Jensen used. Someone clearly used this laptop to frame her. That means that there has to be two sets of fingerprints: hers and someone else's. If we did a fingerprint analysis, we'd be able to trace that unknown set of fingerprints."
"And whoever those fingerprints belong to, is the one who gave me that Ketamine drug."
"And the one who's trying to kill Rachelle."
"Ryan, you're a genius!"
They high-fives each other.
"Now, let's go get our priority done-questioning Ms. Jensen," insisted Ryan. They hurried to the motorcycle, put on their helmets, and rode into town to the Lincoln County Jail.
When they arrived at the county jail, Lyndsay and Ryan approached the front desk. They met with a guy on the computer.
"Excuse?" asked Lyndsay. The officer perked up from the computer screen. "I'm Lyndsay Schafer, and this is Ryan Jones. We would like to speak with one of your prisoners."
"Name?" asked the officer.
"Andrea Jensen," answered Ryan. The officer looked through the system for the prisoner.
Seconds later, the officer found a match in the system's records. "Okay...," he began as he pulled out a plastic bucket from underneath the desk. "Please place all of your electronic devices into this bucket."
The teens did as they were told.
"Now, please step over to the side and place your hands up on the wall," said the officer. The teens did so, and the officer patted them down for any murder weapons. "Follow me...," he said.
Lyndsay and Ryan followed the officer through the door, down the main hallway, and into an available interrogation room. They walked into the room and took their seats. "She'll be brought in shortly...," said the officer as he closed the door.
"So we're clear that she didn't do it?" asked Ryan.
"Ryan, let's just see what she has to say," responded Lyndsay.
"So you think that she did it?"
"I didn't say that..."
"Do you think that she didn't do it?"
"Ryan, it doesn't matter right now. I didn't say that she did it, and I didn't say that she did not do it. I just want to hear what she knows. Okay?...I don't want to have another breakdown...," explained Lyndsay.
The door opened, and two officers walked Ms. Jensen into the room. They sat her down and hand-cuffed her hands to the table. "Hello, Ms. Jensen...," Lyndsay greeted with a gentle smile.
"What are you kids doing here?" asked Andrea very confused.
"Well...," began Lyndsay softly. "We were going to the hospital to ask you some questions when Dr. Baxter told us that you got arrested for the Ketamine incident. So...here we are..."
"Okay...I told Dr. Baxter that I had nothing to do with it. Sweetie, I am not the one who injected that drug into your body. I'm not the type of person who would do something like that."
"Then how come all of that Ketamine search history was on your laptop at work?" asked Ryan.
"Somebody must have used it to look up the information. They could've done it when I was still logged on, and when I had my back turned."
"Do you know of anyone who might frame you for it?" asked Lyndsay.
"This might sound crazy, but I don't have any enemies. Whoever did it probably just used me to cover up their tracks. I swear from the bottom of my heart that I would never do something like that. And if you still don't believe me, then I'll commit to a polygraph test."
"That will work," expressed Ryan.
"Ryan!" grunted Lyndsay as she slapped him across the upper arm. She turned her attention back to Ms. Jensen. "Ms. Jensen, we know that you didn't do it. We just wanted to speak to you to see if you know of anything that could help us in the case."
"If I did, I'd sing like a bird," said Andrea.
"Well, thank you for your time," announced Ryan. He stood up from his chair and waited for Lyndsay at the door. Lyndsay watched Ryan walk away and looked back at Andrea. Andrea began to tear up.
Lyndsay placed a hand on top of Andrea's. "Don't worry, Andrea. We'll get you out of here," she whispered with a soft smile.
Andrea began to cry. She attempted to hug Lyndsay but struggled to with the handcuffs in her way.
"Here...," mumbled Lyndsay. She stood up from her chair and hugged Andrea tightly. Andrea cried even more.
The officers approached the table to break up the hug. Lyndsay released the hug and pulled away. The officers unlatched Andrea's cuffs from the table and walked her out of the interrogation room. Lyndsay became speechless as she watched the guys walk Andrea back to her cell.
Ryan walked to the table to check on Lyndsay. "Lyndsay?...," he mumbled for her attention. She perked up, saw Ryan, stood up from her chair, and walked out of the room with Ryan.
Lyndsay and Ryan walked down the hall, not saying a word. They were halfway down the hall when Ryan heard voices. They were coming from behind him, getting louder and louder. Ryan looked behind him, saw four officers running in his direction, and hurried after Lyndsay to get her out of the way.
"Lyndsay!" Ryan grabbed her arm and pulled her into his chest against the wall. The officers scurried down the hall-past the teens.
Lyndsay became concerned. Her mouth dropped slightly as she watched them hurry along. She tired to walk down the hall until she was stopped. She felt Ryan's arms still around her waist. "Uh, Ryan?" she muttered.
"Yeah?" answered Ryan.
"You can let go of me now."
"Huh?" He saw where his hands were. "Oh yeah, right..." He released his arms from Lyndsay's waist.
"What was that all about?" wondered Lyndsay.
"I don't know..."
There was a moment of silence.
"Come on, let's check it out!" Lyndsay suggested and hurried after the rushed officers.
"Lyndsay!" Ryan sighed as he ran after her.
They eventually caught up to the huddle of officers.
"What's going on?" wondered Lyndsay. She quickly became shocked. She saw something strange through the middle of the huddle. Through the opened cell was Bruce Kenzington, dead on the floor with a gun next to him. Lyndsay's facial expressions instantly froze up.
Seconds later, Ryan eventually caught up to Lyndsay. "Lyndsay, you can't just go butting into someone else's...," he began until he lost train of thought. He looked forward and became shocked to see a dead body. "Isn't that...," he whispered as he pointed to the victim.
"Bruce Kenzington...," finished Lyndsay.
"Our main suspect...."
"Well apparently, not anymore..." Lyndsay walked over to an available officer. "Excuse me, sir..." The officer turned to face her. "What happened here?"
"It appears that Mr. Kenzington had committed suicide last night around 10:45 p.m.," answered the officer.
The teens became silent.
"I don't know much details, but it looks like that that's what happened," the officer continued.
Lyndsay and Ryan stared at each other with suspicion.
"Why would he commit suicide?" wondered Ryan, quite confused.
"Oh gee, I don't know. Maybe it's because he didn't want us to bother him anymore. What do you think?" snarled Lyndsay. Ryan rolled his eyes with sarcasm. "So where's the murder weapon?"
"Right here," answered the officer, handing her the evidence bag with the gun inside.
"Lyndsay, what are you doing?" asked Ryan.
Lyndsay mumbled into Ryan's ear. "There's no way that Bruce committed suicide. There has to be another set of fingerprints on this gun. I figured that we can swab the murder weapon for other fingerprints like with Ms. Jensen's laptop."
"Oh, now you're talking." They knuckle punched each other.
"Now give me a cotton swab," inquired Lyndsay, holding out her opened palm to Ryan. Ryan pulled out a free cotton swab from his backpack and handed it to Lyndsay.
"Thank you...," said Lyndsay. "Here, hold this." She handed the bag with the gun to Ryan.
Ryan opened the bag, Lyndsay pulled out a blue plastic glove from her back pocket, and slid it onto her left hand. Lyndsay then reached into the evidence bag and carefully pulled out the gun. She took the cotton swab and slowly swabbed the gun. Finally, she placed the gun back into the evidence bag. Ryan closed the bag and handed it back to the officer. He pulled out a ziplock bag from his backpack, and Lyndsay carefully placed the cotton swab down into the bag. Ryan then zipped the evidence bag closed.
"Booyeah!" Lyndsay cheered with joy as she high-fived Ryan.
Back at the hospital, Rachelle was sound asleep taking a snooze. While she was asleep, someone entered through the door to her room. They approached the side of the bed where Rachelle's head was hanging off the pillow. The mysterious figure pulled out a piece of cloth, poured a few drops of Chloroform onto it, and immediately suffocated Rachelle over the mouth with it. Rachelle soon became out cold. The figure stepped back, pulled out a match, lit the room on fire, and quickly escaped. The room began to become full of flames.
At the Nurse's Station, Nurse Brittany began to smell something odd. "Do you smell something?" she asked Sally.
Sally stopped typing on the keyboard to smell the air. She instantly saw flames erupting. "Fire!" she screamed. Her and Brittany made a run for it as Sally pulled the fire alarm.
Back at the jailhouse, Lyndsay and Ryan watched the paramedics load the dead body onto the gurney. The paramedics then proceeded to roll the gurney down the hall. Lyndsay and Ryan followed behind the paramedics out the front door. They watched them load the gurney into the back of the ambulance.
"Now we're getting somewhere," said Ryan, feeling confident.
"Let's head back to my place to do the fingerprint analysis on the pieces of evidence," said Lyndsay. Ryan nodded his head in agreement.
They started to walk down the sidewalk, and a fire truck frantically passed with its lights and siren going off.
"What's going on? Is there a fire somewhere?" wondered Ryan.
Lyndsay watched the fire truck ride down the street. She quickly became shocked when she saw where the fire was. "Ryan?...Ryan?...," she hesitated, pulling on his shirt sleeve.
"What?"
Lyndsay pointed towards the hospital. "Look!"
Ryan looked in the direction that Lyndsay was pointing at and became blank. "Isn't that where Rachelle is?" he hesitated.
"Yes! Come on!"
They began running as fast as they could down the sidewalk to the fire. As they running towards the hospital, a car pulled up to them. "Hey guys! Do y'all need a ride?" asked Troy.
Lyndsay and Ryan were running as they were talking to Troy while he was slowly driving down the road. "Why do you care?" hissed Lyndsay.
"Aren't y'all heading to the hospital?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Come on, hop in!"
"Come on, Lyndsay. It'd be faster than running our legs off," suggested Ryan.
Lyndsay sighed. "Oh alright..." Her and Ryan immediately climbed into the bed of Troy's pickup. Troy then flew down the street to the hospital.
"Hurry, Troy! The flames are getting bigger!" cried Lyndsay, tapping the roof of the truck. Troy drove as fast as he could.
In a hurry, they arrived at the hospital. Troy jumped out of the driver's seat. Lyndsay and Ryan climbed out of the bed of the truck.
"Oh...," Lyndsay began to freak out. "Where is she? Where's Rachelle?"
"She's got to be around here somewhere," said Ryan, looking around. Lyndsay grasped a hold of his arm. "You don't think she's..."
Her and Ryan froze with their mouths dropped. They slowly turned their heads towards the front of the building. "Oh no...Rachelle!"
"I'm coming for you, Rachelle!" cried Troy, hurrying inside the burning building.
"Troy! What are you doing?" demanded Lyndsay. She tried to run after him, but Ryan pulled her back into his arms. Troy ran into the burning hospital in order to save Rachelle from inside.
"Rachelle!" screamed Lyndsay.
Ryan pulled her into his chest and held her with comfort. Lyndsay scrunched up his shirt in her hands, screaming Rachelle's name.
Seconds later, Troy slowly walked out of the building, carrying Rachelle in his arms.
"Lyndsay...," mumbled Ryan, nudging her shoulder. Lyndsay perked up, and her mouth immediately dropped with surprise. She quickly stopped the tears.
Lyndsay watched Troy help the paramedics lay Rachelle onto the gurney and began to run towards him. She approached Troy and became sympathetic when she watched the paramedics pull the gurney away from them with Rachelle on top.
Lyndsay spoke to Troy. "You ran into a burning building...and walked out with her in your possession...," she mumbled.
"Of course...," answered Troy.
Lyndsay was speechless. She lowered her eyebrows in depression.
"Lyndsay, we couldn't just let her die. She had to be rescued, or we would've lost her," Troy added.
Lyndsay stared at him with dead silence.
"Would you rather have had me left her to die?" Troy continued on. There was a moment of silence. "Say something, Lyndsay..."
"I'm done...," Lyndsay muttered quietly. Troy's eyes widened up. "I'm officially done with you..." She walked away from Troy and headed to the ambulance with Rachelle in the back.
"Come on, Lyndsay...." Troy begged as he saw her walk away.
Lyndsay climbed into the back of the ambulance and sat on Rachelle's left side. Ryan also climbed in and sat across from Lyndsay. Lyndsay slid as close to Rachelle as she could, grabbed a hold of Rachelle's hand in sympathy, and watched the paramedics place an oxygen mask over Rachelle's nose and mouth.
"Oh Rachelle...," mumbled Lyndsay. She looked out the door at Troy in depression. The driver closed the doors as Lyndsay stared at Troy. The vehicle began to move, and Lyndsay turned her head away as the ambulance left Troy. The ambulance then headed to the other hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska.