by Mary Stone
Aiden stopped pacing abruptly, turning his full attention onto her. “I believe the resulting data will be informative and interesting.”
Autumn frowned, wondering if Aiden had misread her intentions. “I’ll do everything possible to help Justin too. He’s not a lab rat. I’d like to offer him therapy, anger management, and several other counseling services…if the Bureau will let me.”
“Autumn,” Aiden began, his expression concerned, “you really shouldn’t get your hopes up when dealing with Justin Black. He very well may be past any ‘help’ you could offer outside this establishment.”
She was instantly angry, and she doubted Aiden would need to glance at her mood ring to figure that much out.
He held her gaze, steady as ever. “I know that’s not what you want to hear, but you’re not a fairy godmother who can wave her wand and make the world better. This is real life, not a Disney movie. Bad guys, especially the type we deal with, don’t often have a magical change of heart.”
The anger grew with each word of the lecture, and she shoved the desire to scream back down in her gut. “Yes, Aiden. I’m a professional, and according to you, I’m ‘extremely intelligent.’ Never once have I thought I can fix Justin Black. But I can, and will, help him.”
Aiden appeared to have been turned into stone. “He’s your best friend’s little brother. That has an effect on you whether you’d like to admit it or not.”
Unbelievable.
“None of that changes the fact that I’m an educated, trained doctor.” Her molars ground together. “Winter’s connection to Justin and me doesn’t mean I’m going in with blinders on.”
Aiden didn’t appear at all fazed by her indignation. Before either of them could get another word out, a dark-haired man strode into the waiting room, his murky green eyes set on Autumn’s face.
“You.” He pointed at Autumn, his upper lip curling into what appeared to be disgust. “Are you the one who started this debacle?”
Autumn envisioned snapping his pointer finger straight off. Whoever this man was, he was attacking her at the wrong time. This treatment coming right on the heels of her upsetting conversation with Aiden triggered a deep anger he didn’t want to mess with.
“I can assure you,” she stepped toward the pompous asshole, “that the person who ‘started this debacle’ is the one who strangled that poor nurse to death and dumped her body in a damn elevator shaft.”
The man’s eyebrows shot up, softening the glower as confusion took over. He blinked several times, his gaze flicking back and forth between her and Aiden. “Strangled? This isn’t just a terrible accident?”
Autumn gave a sharp shake of her head.
He immediately lost a bit of his gusto at the startling piece of information. “I’m Dr. Philip Baldwin, the medical director of this hospital.” As if the simple act of remembering who he was made Baldwin bristle again, his gaze rotated from Autumn to Aiden with renewed resentment.
Autumn was familiar with the name. Dr. Baldwin had a wide-reaching reputation for being an arrogant control freak. He certainly wouldn’t be happy that the FBI was invading his turf.
“Dr. Autumn Trent.” Autumn didn’t offer a hand or a smile.
“And I’m Special Supervisory Agent Aiden Parrish. Good to meet you, Doctor.” Aiden stood still beside Autumn. No handshakes for anyone today.
“Perhaps you could tell me, Agent Parrish, why my hospital is being flooded with officers and agents?”
Autumn wanted to throw up her hands. Seriously?
Though the question had been aimed at Aiden, she refused to be dismissed so easily.
“This hospital is flooded with officers and agents,” she used the same tone she would have used had she been instructing a child, “because one of your nurses has been murdered.”
“I’ve gathered that much, Dr. Trent,” Baldwin countered, narrowing his eyes. “Have you considered the possibility that you could have used a bit more stealth or perhaps a touch of common sense before calling in the entire cavalry?”
Aiden stepped toward the seething man. “I would appreciate—”
“What exactly should I have done differently, Doctor?” Autumn fired back. “What would you do if a dead body dropped out of the ceiling right in front of your face? Sing Kumbaya?” She wasn’t yelling yet, but that was coming soon if this prick didn’t back off.
Dr. Baldwin’s entire body grew still. “I simply believe that the matter could have been handled with a bit more dignity and decorum for the good of my patients. My job does not entail teaching you how to react to alarming circumstances. Usually, Doctor, you pick that up before they grant you the fancy Ph.D.”
Autumn used every ounce of self-control she had left to not Krav Maga the crap out of this jerkwad doctor’s face. She took a deep breath to settle her raging fury.
“The authorities are acting with wisdom. They’re following protocol, as did I. I’m guessing you don’t know that much about law enforcement procedure. If there’s a killer in ‘your’ hospital, you might want to take into account that your patients’ safety is at risk.”
Dr. Baldwin hesitated, almost as if he hadn’t considered that little piece of information before. He exhaled through his nose, making a whistling sound that grated on her nerves. “Fine. I’ll allow you all to stay.”
Aiden chuckled, but his expression held no humor. If a laugh could be identified as sarcastic, this one could have been.
“But…” the doctor held up a haughty finger, “I demand to be kept in the loop about everything that happens here. And any disturbances to the daily routine of my hospital shall be kept to a minimum.” He turned on his heel and walked away.
Autumn and Aiden regarded his retreat in stunned silence.
“That guy will definitely be a problem during this investigation.” Aiden kept his eyes trained on the doctor.
“That guy is a problem, period.” Autumn was uncertain as to how such asshole individuals ever made their way into positions as sensitive as medical director of any hospital. Dr. Baldwin should never have set a pinky toe, let alone a foot, in a maximum-security treatment facility such as this.
Aiden nodded his agreement. He appeared to be equal parts amused and pissed off by the doctor’s blatant disrespect.
Or maybe Baldwin’s that upset because he has something to hide.
They left the privacy of the waiting room, and immediately the nurse with graying blonde hair walked straight toward them. Her eyes were puffy from crying, and she had a fistful of used tissues clenched in one hand.
“Brenda, hi. This is my supervisor, Agent Aiden Parrish. We’re so sorry for your loss. Is there anything we can do for you?” Autumn almost placed a hand on Brenda’s arm to comfort her but stopped herself.
If I intake any more sad or bad or mad juju today I might actually go insane.
“I’m fine. It’s just…Evelyn was a good person. She didn’t deserve this.” Brenda’s distress was obvious. She was not “fine.”
“Of course she didn’t,” Autumn agreed in a soothing voice.
“But I truly believe that you, the FBI, should know that Dr. Baldwin and Evelyn had words yesterday. Angry words.” Brenda’s frightened eyes told them more than her voice.
Angry words. A bad argument. She’s scared.
Did Brenda think Philip Baldwin was capable of murder?
Autumn glanced around them to confirm that the medical director had left the lobby. “Did you happen to hear what exactly they were arguing about?”
Brenda teared up again and pressed the tissues to her cheeks to catch the tears. “Evelyn loved her patients. She tried to befriend all of them. She believed kindness was a huge part of her job.”
Autumn understood immediately.
Apparently, Aiden did too because his jaw flexed in agitation. “Let me guess. Dr. Baldwin wanted her to conform to his idea of what a nurse should be.”
Brenda blew her nose as she nodded. “But Evelyn isn’t…wasn’t easy to push ar
ound. She wasn’t afraid of Dr. Baldwin. She had no intention of following his rules.”
“Do you have any idea how the conversation ended?” Autumn didn’t want to push too hard. Brenda was already in a fragile state.
“Just that he warned her there’d be consequences if she didn’t comply.”
Autumn and Aiden exchanged a glance.
“Did he state what those consequences would be?” Autumn asked.
The distraught nurse only shook her head.
“Thank you, Brenda, for this piece of information.” SSA Parrish offered her a polite smile and handed her his card. “Your assistance could prove very useful as we investigate. If you think of anything else that might help, big or small, don’t hesitate to contact me directly.”
Brenda stuffed the card in her pocket before scurrying away.
“Brenda’s input doesn’t tell us much for certain. Baldwin is obviously a dictator asshole,” Aiden pulled his phone from his suit pocket, “but that doesn’t mean Baldwin did this. Still, the lead is worth checking into.”
Autumn had gathered as much.
They rejoined Mia and Chris on the other side of the lobby, and Aiden wasted no time assigning their tasks.
“We’re going to divide the list of patients between us. Assessing some of the patients’ states of mind would be a wise idea and could possibly provide information that only the residents of this hospital would know. Yes, they’re dangerous, mentally unsound criminals, but they have eyes and ears. They may inadvertently help solve this case.”
Autumn and Mia nodded, but Chris had obvious qualms with this method of investigation because he threw up his hands.
“We’re going to need a patient list. Backgrounds, criminal records, medications. We need to know who we’re talking to before they start blabbing out ridiculous, false information.”
As he ranted, Autumn wondered if his disapproval stemmed from not having thought of the interviews first. Although the chances were good that he was simply being his usual disagreeable self.
Chris Parker would have a qualm with Mother Teresa.
“Right you are, Agent Parker. I’ve already taken it upon myself to obtain such a list, starting with the patients our victim had direct contact with the day she was killed. The information was emailed to me, and I’ve divided the patients I want interviewed into three groups. Three patients for each of you.” Aiden gave his phone a few swipes, and all their devices began beeping instantaneously.
Autumn scrolled through her assignments.
Not a soul on her list was a simple “disturbed murderer” or “serial rapist.” The highlights of her patients’ backgrounds made her nauseous, horrified, and fascinated in turn.
She’d been assigned to the sickest of the sick.
She attempted to catch Aiden’s eye, but the SSA had already moved on to his next order of business and walked away.
The most dangerous of the criminally insane had been gifted to her by Aiden Parrish. Had he done this intentionally?
And if so, was her “special” assignment a display of his trust…or a test?
6
I couldn’t take my eyes away from the window. Various authorities—mostly local police and FBI agents—buzzed around like obnoxious flies. Back and forth from the scene of the crime, all of them making seemingly endless calls, exploring the hospital’s perimeter.
And removing Evelyn’s body from the site.
Evelyn probably hadn’t deserved to have her light snuffed out in such a brutal way, but the woman just didn’t know when to shut up. She’d made herself a target by running her damn mouth nonstop.
Always so argumentative and obsessed with befriending mentally unstable criminals.
Who did that? Why would anyone even want to?
She may have still been alive right now if she’d just kept her nose down, done her job, and minded her own business.
The deed was done, regardless. Evelyn Walker had walked right on over to the other side. No use fretting about the situation now.
Her death would serve a greater purpose in the long run, and that was my comfort. Of course, she would never know how she’d been of service, but again…
The deed was done.
Although things hadn’t exactly gone as planned.
Taking the nurse off guard had been easy. Evelyn stuck to the same exact routine every single day, and once she clocked out, so did her awareness of her surroundings.
Such a mistake.
I always knew what was taking place around me. Always. That was the only way to live if you wanted to ensure that you kept on living.
Maybe her shifts with the crazies wore her down too much to care. But those interactions should have drove home the point to her in a very real way that there were psychopaths out there.
Lots of psychopaths.
Carry some mace in your hand instead of your purse. Check your locks.
Don’t enter a dark as night stairwell with the awareness level of an ADHD-ridden toddler.
The more I pondered the situation, the better I felt. Evelyn wouldn’t have lived out a long, productive life even if I hadn’t strangled the breath out of her. She was simply too careless.
At least her life mattered now. In death.
Strangling her had been as unexpectedly cathartic as it had been easy. No muscle strength at all, that one. Went out like an old lamp.
Still. They weren’t supposed to find her body so quickly.
I’d been so sure…so sure…so sure…that I had at least a couple days to carry out the next steps in my plan.
How was I supposed to know she’d shit herself enough to leak through the damn elevator ceiling? Defecation was a normal after-effect of dying, but seriously? The woman must have had twenty pounds of fecal matter stored in her intestines.
Should I have known that? Put a damn diaper on her or stuffed her ass in a bag?
Gritting my teeth, I shook those thoughts away and went back to berating myself, thinking through all I’d done wrong so that I wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.
I should have taken into account the age of the elevator itself and better learned why all the pulls and cables worked. Old Ev probably got herself stuck in a gear somehow. Pushed that shit right out.
But I still held that taking such a giant dump at a time when I desperately needed her to be discreet was rude and uncalled for. Not very ladylike behavior.
Downright discourteous.
Popping in on an actual FBI agent had also been unbelievably inconvenient. A normal person would have screwed that crime scene up so fast authorities wouldn’t have been able to make heads or tails out of the mess.
The average Joe or Joanna would have screamed, made ridiculous attempts at escape, disturbed the body—purposely or otherwise—and generally acted the way people did when they had the shit scared out of them.
No pun intended.
But a trained professional, especially such a whippy one as that redhead doctor, had known how to preserve the whole damn box. Hadn’t contaminated an inch of that elevator.
She hadn’t even screamed.
What kind of insanity had that woman stumbled across in her lifetime to make her so impervious? Had to be some heavy shit.
Again, no pun intended.
The woman’s grit was irritating.
All the orderlies and maintenance guys—hell, even some of the officers—had chattered about how hot the redhead was. The jibber-jabber reminded me of an old ladies’ sewing circle.
The sexy doctor needed to watch her step. A lot of men were cramped into this building full of nuts, and I knew for a fact that most of them, given the chance, would jump her in a heartbeat.
Not me. I wasn’t like that. I respected ladies.
And besides that, I was busy. Goal oriented.
But everyone else had the gumption in them, in my opinion. You couldn’t work in a place like this surrounded by evil loons and not have a little of the madness rub off on you.
T
hat wasn’t my problem, though. Let the hot doctor handle her admirers—or be handled by them. Made no difference to me.
I simply needed to reassess the situation and keep going.
My schedule was thrown completely off-kilter by Evelyn and her happy bowels, and I did not appreciate when events didn’t go as planned. But I couldn’t exactly bring her back to life and kill her again as punishment.
I’d have to do some reconfiguring. The goals remained the same.
The damn authorities were still rushing around out there, although now they reminded me of the ant farm I had as a kid. So busy, these nimrods. Every last one of them had intense, miserable expressions on their faces.
I wondered how many of them actually hated their jobs. Why waste your life being so upset all the time?
Happiness. Why did it allude so many? And how…how…could you make someone happy when they were far past listening to reason?
I knew that answer. You couldn’t.
Whatever. None of them mattered. They didn’t even know what they were searching for. Hide and seek with blindfolds on, that’s what those people were playing at.
Wouldn’t recognize the answer if it was two damn inches from their face.
But…they were doing what they were supposed to do. I didn’t fault them for that. And as long as all these official’s eyes and ears were going to be on the hospital, I might as well somehow work the matter to my advantage.
I could take on a challenge. I was more than up for the task. Nothing would ever deter me.
I just needed to give myself a moment to think.
My plans would most definitely need some altering, but I could already envision the next few days playing out as I morphed with the circumstances.
Ride the waves. You had to ride the waves in life. Go with the flow. Fighting them was futile and only ever resulted in drowning.
I wasn’t going to drown. I had an end goal that I refused to lose sight of.