Georgie Girl Ch. 16-18

"Johnny's right, Georgie. None of that stuff matters until you get yourself all healed up. You listen to him. He's got a good head on his shoulders."

I looked at Nan and gave her silent thanks for her support. The more I was around her, the more I loved and respected her. She was a beacon of light when things were dark.

We had used up our time and I kissed Georgette gently on the lips before we left. He eyes were closed by the time we were out the door and I turned back to look at her one more time. She was pale and her eyes seemed sunken. Tubes and wires were seemingly everywhere around her. But, she knew who we were and she knew in general what had happened to her. That was the good thing I took away from our brief moments together.

As we returned to the waiting room, Thomas approached me.

"Sergeant Kranowski would like to talk to us. I'm not sure what about, but he said it was regarding Georgette's accident. I think we should all go talk to him if he'll let us."

"Yeah. Let's go. It will give us something else to think about besides Georgette's condition."

Nan and I told Sarah about our conversation, such as it was, with Georgette. It was more than they had observed when they visited her. I took that as an encouraging sign that she was becoming more aware of herself and her situation.

We trooped into the highway patrol offices and asked for Sergeant Kranowski. He appeared a minute or so later and I saw his eyes widen as he took in the four of us. Thomas took over at that point.

"Sergeant, this is my wife, Sarah, and her mother, Nanette desBiens. We thought we should all hear what you have to say."

He looked a bit uncertain before he made a decision.

"Okay, let's go into the interview room. I warn you now, the chairs aren't terribly comfortable," he offered with a slight smile.

We followed him into a stark, plain room in pale green with a single table and three chairs. A large, darkened window took up most of one wall. Kranowski disappeared for a moment before he returned pushing two office chairs on casters.

"I think the ladies might be more comfortable on these," he said.

"Thank you, young man, that's very considerate of you," Nan said.

I could see the sergeant respond to Nan's typical upbeat nature. It seemed to relax him and we all sat around the table.

"I'd offer you some coffee, but you wouldn't want to drink it without a health warning," he grinned.

"So, what have you learned?" Thomas asked in his usual to-the-point manner.

"Well, at the scene we found the vehicle down in a shallow ravine. It had rolled over several times and was a real mess. The airbags in the front and sides had deployed and that made us wonder how your daughter had so many injuries. Our guess is that the vehicle only rolled partway down the ravine before it was hung up on a rock. It stopped there by the look of it.

"We think your daughter then tried to get out of the vehicle and maybe, if it was precariously balanced on the rock, her shift in weight might have been enough to dislodge it and it rolled the rest of the way down the side of the ravine. It's pure speculation right now, but that's what we think might have happened.

"I understand she's now conscious and when the doctors give us an okay, we'll try to confirm what happened when we interview her."

"So," I said, "if the airbags had already deflated, then there wouldn't be anything but her seatbelt to protect her when it rolled again."

"She wasn't wearing a seat belt when we found her. She might have taken it off or maybe she wasn't wearing one when it happened."

"No!" I said. "Absolutely not! She never goes anywhere without a seat belt fastened. She's had performance driving lessons. She's an extremely skilled driver. She knows the risks of not wearing proper safety equipment."

"That's right, Sergeant," Thomas echoed. "She's a fanatic about keeping herself and her car in tip-top condition. She wouldn't think of driving fifty feet without a belt on."

"Okay then, that would indicate our supposition about the two stage descent is more likely," Kranowski said nodding. "That would also account for the more serious injuries. We had to cut the roof and the door off to get her out of there. There's no way she could have gotten out on her own with her injuries."

"Thank God you found her when you did," I said.

"You can thank the rental car company for that. That GPS tracking unit took us right to her. Good thing you thought of that, Mr. Fulton."

"It wasn't me," Thomas said. "It was John who saw the story on TV. He was the one who thought it was possible we could find her that way."

"Hah!" Nan exploded. "I knew it. Johnny comes to the rescue once again."

Kranowski looked at Nan, wondering no doubt what she was referring to.

"That brings me to the second thing," the sergeant continued. "When we got the vehicle back to our lot, one of our officers noticed a large grey paint scrape along the right rear quarter-panel. It appears that your daughter had an encounter with another vehicle. Do any of you know anything about that?"

Chapter 17 Putting the Pieces Together

The sergeant's question caught all of us off guard.

"A collision with another car?" I asked. "She hasn't said anything about that. Wouldn't someone report that?"

"Maybe ... maybe not. Depends," the sergeant said. "We have a number of people who insist on driving without insurance. Could have happened in a parking lot and she didn't notice the damage. Maybe she was hit by a drunk who didn't want to get caught by us. There could be a number of reasons."

"I get the impression there's more to this, Sergeant," Thomas said evenly.

Kranowski nodded. "Your daughter's SUV had consistent mud splatter along the sides. It had rained Sunday night and early Monday morning. The dirt roads were muddy. When we got the unit back to our lot and discovered the paint scrape and damage, we looked a little closer. There was some mud on the paint scrape, but not consistent with the splatter on the sides.

"We think the mud and dirt on the paint scrape happened as a result of the roll down the ravine and not from the road. That would indicate that the scrape happened about the time of the accident, if not actually the cause of the accident. Again, the possibility of a hit and run driver."

I sat back and looked at the shock on the faces of the Fultons and Nan. Like me, it was hard to believe that someone had deliberately left the scene of a serious accident, perhaps leaving Georgette to die alone in that ravine. But Sergeant Kranowski was clearly saying the current evidence pointed in that direction.

"Do you know when the accident happened?" Thomas asked, the first to recover from the shock of the revelation.

"Yes. Thanks to the rental car's GPS and their tracking system, we believe the accident happened at 4:25 pm on Monday afternoon. We've tracked back on her route and we know where she was the entire day. I have officers out checking with anyone she might have encountered. It's a huge assist to us when there is a suspicious situation. As it stands now, we believe someone else caused your daughter's accident and neither stopped nor reported it."

"Can you tell us where she was that day?" I asked.

"No. I don't want you interfering with our investigation. I'm giving you all the information you should have and then some. I would appreciate it if you left it to our department to track down what happened to Ms. Fulton. We won't be very forgiving if we find you conducting your own investigation. You're going to have to trust us to do our job and bring the person or persons to justice."

"I understand," Thomas said. "I'm pleased you have as much information as you do about her whereabouts that day. We have John to thank for that."

I was humbled by my future father-in-law's praise.

"We've learned something important too," Kranowski said. "We'll know that these devices are more common than we thought and can aid us in all sorts of investigations. I think we should have one on every public safety vehicle and I'll be passing that up the chain of command at our next meeting."

The meeting ended with our filing out of the little interview room after thanking Sergeant David Kranowski for sharing his information with us. But it left us with another question. Why would someone deliberately try and run Georgette off the road, if that's what happened? Maybe it was a drunk or someone who just didn't want to be involved. I wondered if we'd ever know.

We decided to go back to the hospital to see if there was any change in Georgette's status. We were cautioned not to question her about the accident. Kranowski told us to leave the investigation to him and that included talking to Georgette. We wanted to respect his wishes. We owed him that much.

I could tell things had changed for the better with our group of four. We went out to dinner together and, for the first time, we all seemed to have an appetite. There was even a bit of laughter around the table when we discussed the various merits of the local cuisine. In truth, we had found a very nice restaurant that served a number of items that were not beef and we took advantage of the variety.

When we arrived at the hospital the next morning, we discovered that Georgette had been moved to a private room on the wards. I took that as a good sign, as did everyone else. We were still restricted to the two-persons-only rule and Thomas and Sarah were the first to visit in her new room.

"You play cribbage, Johnny?" Nan asked as we waited in our usual room.

"I have a time or two," I said.

Nan reached into her purse and pulled out a deck of cards and a folded cribbage board.

"Care for a game? Ten cents a point?"

"Deal," I smiled.

By the time Thomas and Sarah returned, I owed Nan a dollar-ninety. She was a shark and someone should have warned me.

"How is she?" I asked as her parents joined us.

"Much better," Sarah said. "She's much more aware and awake. We were allowed to spend a half-hour with her. I can see she's gaining strength. I'm so relieved I don't know how to express it."

"I think someone from the authorities is coming in later to talk to her," Thomas said. "We'd better avoid the subject of her accident for now."

"No need," I said, looking over his shoulder. "This looks like them now."

Two men, one in uniform and one in a suit walked into the waiting room surveyed it and came toward us.

"Mr. Fulton?" he asked Thomas.

"Yes. Thomas Fulton. This is my wife, Sarah, her mother Nanette desBiens and our daughter's fiancé, John Smith."

"I'm Detective Colby Shilton and this is Officer Meldrum of the Great Falls Police Department. We've been given permission by your daughter's doctor to interview her with some restrictions of course. Have any of you talked to her today?"

"My wife and I have," Thomas said.

"How is she?" Shilton asked.

"Much better, but on pain medication as you can guess. A little groggy, but aware of what's happened."

"We'll be careful not to upset her, but we have some questions about the accident that need clearing up. I understand Sergeant Kranowski has told you of his suspicions."

"Yes. We've been careful not to discuss it with our daughter, Detective."

"Very good. We hope she can help us find out what happened. We'll see you afterwards," he said with a quick smile before leaving the room.

It seemed like we had spent a month in that waiting room when it was really only a little more than four days. But it was four days of doubt and concern for Georgette's future. That was still uncertain, but the signs were good that she was on the road to recovery.

The detective and the officer weren't gone that long when they returned to the waiting room.

"Your daughter was very helpful, folks. I won't give you a blow-by-blow, but our supposition that she was knocked off the road by another vehicle was borne out by her comments. We also know that her vehicle rolled partway down the ravine before stopping. When she tried to exit the door on the passenger side, it began to tip and roll again. She tried to brace herself, but it was rolling too fast and she lost consciousness before it got to the bottom.

"She remembers waking up in great pain and trying to get out, but was trapped in the wreckage. She was in and out of consciousness for some time. I think we found her just in time according to the doctor. Anyway, we now have a description of the vehicle that collided with her. It had been following her for some miles before it made its move on her. We have an idea who might be responsible. That's all I can tell you for now."

"Did she suggest a motive for this act?" Thomas asked.

"Yes, but I can't discuss that with you right now. We need to get a sworn statement from her and talk to the prime suspect. I would continue to ask you not to talk about this with her for now. I want her to have a clear mind when she makes her statement. It's important that her statement can't be challenged."

"We'll do our best not to interfere," Thomas said.

"Thank you, and we'll continue to keep you informed."

"It was intentional ... deliberate ... attempted murder," I said, my heart pounding as the realization hit me.

Sarah's hand was across her mouth and she was staring at Thomas wide-eyed in shock.

"Why would someone try to kill her," she asked to no one in particular.

"I can't guess," Thomas said. "There has to be a reason. I wonder if it has anything to do with water contamination. Willis Overland suggested that some of the ranchers would be worried about any discovery of that on their land."

Before anyone could say anything else, Doctor Hettinger appeared once more.

"Your daughter is doing quite well, considering. We'll want to keep her here for a few days yet to make sure there's no infection in her arm and that the bone is setting properly. We also want to be certain there are no after effects from her mild concussion. I've talked to the police and asked them not to take a sworn statement from her until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. I want her to be fully settled before they do that."

"Are there any other injuries we should know about?" Sarah asked.

"No, although her bruising is quite significant and widespread. She must have been really thrown around in the cab of that vehicle when it rolled. She's going to be pretty sore for a while yet."

"Do you have any idea how long it will be before she can resume normal activities?" I asked.

"A couple of months at least for the arm to fully heal. Compound fractures are very serious and there was some muscular damage. She'll need physical therapy on it for sure. Otherwise, most of the healing will be done in six to eight weeks."

I sighed audibly. The summer will be gone by then, but what I was hearing is that she would be back to normal in a few months. That was a huge relief.

Sarah and Thomas chatted with the doctor while Nan listened attentively. I had tuned out. It was too much. Someone tried to harm or even kill her. It was like we were being revisited by Brad Little all over again. Our stop-and-start life was on stop again. I was almost afraid to wonder what else could go wrong. I sat down in a nearby chair, put my head in my hands and wept in relief.

***

The police took Georgette's statement on Sunday afternoon. We were not told what it contained, and we were warned not to discuss it with her. At that point, no one had been charged with any crime in conjunction with her mishap. We were in the dark, but I had a feeling that we wouldn't have to wait long to find out what was going on.

We had a family meeting on Sunday evening at the dinner table in a very nice restaurant that we had found. We needed to make some decisions about a number of things.

"I guess we can all agree that the wedding will be postponed until Georgette is fully recovered," I offered.

"Have you talked to her about that, Johnny?" Nan asked immediately.

"Uhhm, no. I just assumed."

"She might have her own ideas when she's feeling a bit more like herself," she said emphatically.

I could see the smile on Sarah and Thomas's face and I knew I had stepped in it.

"Okay ... I guess we can leave that decision up in the air for now." It was time for me to shut up.

"You've got your exams to consider," Thomas reminded me. "You'll need to reschedule them."

I nodded. I hadn't even begun to think about that, but he was right.

"Has anyone phoned Kevin to let him know what's going on?" Nan asked.

"Oh, Jeeze, no, I haven't. I'll do that right after we get back to the motel. Damn, I should have thought of that. He must have thought I'd abandoned him."

"I told him what was going on as far as I knew it," Nan said. "He won't be too surprised that you've had other things on your mind. Unless I miss my guess, he's still working away on your machines."

"Thank you, Nan. I guess I just forgot everything when I found Georgette was missing."

"I can understand that," she said with a grin. "So now that we know she's going to be all right, you can start getting yourself back to normal."

"I'll start notifying everyone that that wedding has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances," Sarah volunteered.

"I'm sure my parents can help with that too," I said. "I have to let them know what's going on anyway, so I'll take care of that."

We talked about a dozen things that needed doing between now and when we got Georgette back to San Francisco. Thomas would arrange the aircraft as soon as the doctor gave him a date. When I thought about it, I was sure Georgette would have to come back to Great Falls if there was a trial and that would be a further interruption in our lives. She would undoubtedly be called to testify.

Once again, I found myself reflecting on the past twenty months. From the time I had first met Georgette at the sorority mixer until today, nothing had been ordinary. I'd been stabbed and threatened at gunpoint, while she had been run off the road. Both of us ended up in the hospital due to criminal acts. What were the odds of that happening in a normal relationship? That only proved that our relationship was anything but normal.

On the other hand, I had met some special people besides my future wife. Nan, of course, was first and foremost among those people. Thomas and Sarah had welcomed me openly after the incident with Brad. Devon and Mary desBiens had been equally welcoming. Kevin Riordan was a rare find, courtesy of Rex Lyman and Bob Mears of Dow Chemical. As bad as things were from time to time, I had made a new circle of friends and my ambition to create something worthwhile was being given a mighty shove by these new friends. I could hardly call myself unlucky, despite what had happened.

***

"Detective Shilton called," Thomas said when I answered the knock on my motel room door. "He said he could tell us what happened to Georgette and that the case was pretty much wrapped up."

"It is? Have they arrested someone?" I asked.

"Yes, apparently. He suggested we meet with him at the police station and he would give us the details."

"Great! When can we go?"

Thomas smiled. "He won't be available for a couple of hours, so I suggested we meet him at three this afternoon. Sarah and Nan will want to be included of course."

"Of course! What a relief," I sighed. "We're finally going to find out what happened."

We were at the police station well before three that afternoon. We were anxious to find out just what had caused a skilled driver like Georgette to lose control and go off the road with catastrophic results. We trooped into the office and asked for Detective Shilton.

"I might have known I was going to be seeing the whole family," he said with a smile as he came out to greet us. "Follow me please."

He led us to what I assumed was a conference room. It wasn't fancy and was again painted in the ubiquitous green color that government offices seemed to feature. The seats were marginally more comfortable than the ones in the MHP interview room. It didn't matter. We were here to find out the facts.