The Deceptive Detective

Chapter 44

When Miranda awoke, she was very disoriented. Her head and her shoulder really hurt. Where was she? How long had she been out? She glanced around the room she was in. It seemed to be a hospital room, but she wasn't sure, it looked more like a bedroom, but then there was hospital equipment everywhere. She was so confused. Was she back at Tyrone's? She could have sworn she had shot him, had she been taken hostage again?

Cole was devastated, he could not give up hope on finding Miranda. It had been almost a week, and no one had seen her. The two police chiefs had worn themselves out trying to find any trace of her but came up emptyhanded.

A doctor walked into Miranda's room, minutes after she had awoken. He grinned at her. "Well, Jane Doe, nice to see you back among the living, you had us worried there for a long time, we weren't sure you would make it."

"Where am I?" she asked softly.

"You are in Riverside, in a private hospital."

"Oh, how did I get here?"

"Someone found you, you had wrecked, and you were brought here with a bullet wound in your shoulder and a bad concussion that put you in a coma for a week."

"A week?"

"Yes, do you know your name?" he asked kindly.

"I'm not sure that I do."

"I figured you would have amnesia. I will keep you here for a few more days to see if we can figure out who you are."

"Thank you," she told him, he nodded, put an antibiotic in her I.V. and left the room.

She sighed, wondering if she was being looked for. Riverside? How had she ended up there?

She flicked the television on. The news was just coming on. "In the news today, the nation is mourning the death of the country's most famous detective, Miranda Dylan. A memorial service was held for her earlier today in Colorado. The President himself attended her memorial. It seems the world has lost a very great person," the woman said.

Miranda gasped. They thought she was dead. Tears came to her eyes. "No," she whispered, "I am not dead."

Joe's face came onto the screen then. "Miranda was my partner, I will greatly miss her. All of us fellow officers loved her greatly." He turned away with tears in his eyes.

Tears fell down Miranda's cheeks even more.

"The police say that Miranda was murdered over a week ago by the drug Lord Tyrone Wells, who was killed also. The police have not found Miss Dylan's body yet, but the drug lord admitted to killing her before he died."

Miranda shut off the television and sobbed. Had they given up on her so easily? No, she couldn't believe that. Someone was still looking for her. Tyler, Joe, and Cole would not give up finding her so easily, she knew they wouldn't.

She looked for a phone by her bed, but there was none. She sighed and closed her eyes. Her head hurt so much. She had to contact them, she had too. But that was her last thought as she drifted to sleep.

When she awoke again, she had food on her bedside table. Obviously, someone thought she would be awake soon to eat. She reached over and grabbed some toast. It was really good, but considering she hadn't eaten for who knows how long, anything was going to taste good.

Minutes later, the doctor walked in. "So Jane Doe, do you remember your name?"

"Not yet," she lied, "but I think I am from Colorado, does that help?"

"It probably will, but why would you be out here in California?"

"Not sure," she sighed.

"Do you have clothes I could borrow?" she asked him then.