Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

needle marks around the neck. And taser punctures. Two sets.’
    ‘Two sets? Are you sure?’
    ‘I see a lot of taser punctures in the ER,’ Rampor said, ‘so yes, I’m sure. One set in the middle of his back are starting to heal over. The set on his thigh are fresher.’
    ‘How much fresher?’
    ‘Hard to say exactly. Maybe as long ago as last night.’
    That didn’t make sense. ‘After he was out in the snow or before?’
    ‘I’d have to examine the affected area under a scope to know that and even then I may not be able to tell. Is it very important?’
    ‘I don’t know. It’s something Ford can answer when he wakes up. Did you do any tox scans?’
    ‘Yes. We found very high levels of ketamine.’
    ‘What about fentanyl?’
    ‘We didn’t test for that.’
    ‘Why did you test for the ketamine, doctor?’
    ‘Because of the way he woke up the first time – terrified and out of control. He’s a big kid. It took three of us to hold him down.’
    ‘Emergence phenomena from the ket,’ Joseph murmured. Hallucinations were a common side-effect, especially when used at sedative levels.
    ‘I’d say so. He was screaming “Kim” and “Heather”.’
    ‘Heather? Maybe MacGregor? That’s Kim’s last name.’
    ‘Could have been, I suppose. We were too busy holding him down to dissect what he was screaming.’
    ‘When did he wake up?’
    ‘About a half hour after the EMTs brought him in. I hesitated to tell his mother, but we had to sedate him. But the sedative should have worn off some time ago.’
    ‘What if the ketamine was mixed with fentanyl?’
    ‘Then his sleeping so much longer would make sense.’
    ‘He was probably dosed with a fentanyl-ketamine cocktail at the same time as the second taser attack. The question is why.’
    ‘That and how did you know about the ketamine in the first place?’ Rampor added.
    ‘One person was murdered at the scene where Ford was abducted. Our ME found traces of fentanyl and ketamine in the victim. It made sense that Ford was drugged up at the same time so that he could be transported. But why he was dosed again, so close to being found . . . that makes no sense. Not yet, anyway.’
    ‘If you think I should tell Ms Montgomery about the extra sedation, I will.’
    ‘No, as long as he wakes up soon. I don’t want her to have to worry about why he was dosed a second time. Let her be happy that she has him back.’
    ‘He really is lucky. If he hadn’t been discovered when he was and by whom, we could be talking about the loss of several toes, at the very least. But he was found by a retired nurse who knew what to do. By the time the EMTs arrived, she was warming the boy’s extremities according to best practices.’
    ‘I’ll make sure Ms Montgomery knows. I know she’ll want to thank that person when she’s feeling more like herself.’
    ‘Call me if she needs anything.’
    Joseph thanked the doctor and went back into Ford’s room, pulling up a chair to the side of the bed and gently pushing Daphne into it. ‘Don’t worry, honey. He’ll wake up soon and you’ll take him home.’
    Again the nod. ‘I’m fine, Joseph. Really. You go do what you need to do.’
    He kissed the top of her head. ‘All right.’
    He stepped back into the hall and was joined by two men in suits. They introduced themselves as Agent Kerr from the Pittsburgh field office and Detective McManus from Wheeling PD. They’d shaken hands when the elevator door opened and out walked Deacon Novak, sunglasses shielding his eyes.
    More than one of the nurses gave Deacon the up-down once-over, fanning themselves as he walked by, but he behaved as if oblivious. Joseph had witnessed the women in VCET flirting shamelessly with Deacon, but the guy let it roll off his back.
    Joseph didn’t see it, but more power to the guy if he had it.
    ‘How is Ford?’ Deacon asked, peering into the boy’s hospital room.
    ‘He hasn’t regained consciousness yet,’ Joseph said, ‘but he’s stable. Gentlemen, this is Special Agent Novak. I’d like him to work with you in your investigation. We need to know where Ford was being held. Two others are still missing.’
    ‘Happy to have the help, Novak,’ Agent Kerr said. ‘Ford Elkhart appears to have been pushed out of a vehicle into the yard where he was discovered. The woman who lived there was on her toes. She saw him lying there, saw the tire treads on the road were filling up with snow, so she grabbed the shower curtain out of her