by Mary Stone
Both were qualities heavily lacking in Chris Parker’s character.
“Aiden is doing the right thing, the smart thing, by holding off.” Autumn shared her opinion over her shoulder, her attention still on the files.
“Oh, as if you’d ever say anything different about your special agent friend. Give me a break.” Chris robotically rotated the ankle of his left leg.
Autumn was instantly triggered, and she forced herself to take a deep breath before responding.
“Parker, you might wanna shut your mouth,” Noah warned, shooting Chris a wide smile. “Dr. Trent here is a trained Krav Maga expert.”
“What in the hell is Krav Maga?” Chris muttered. He’d progressed to smacking his foot.
“Ninja stuff, but cooler.” Noah’s response sent Autumn into a short fit of laughter.
Leave it to Noah Dalton, class clown, to diffuse the damn situation with humor.
His method worked nearly every time, evidenced by his nine out of ten success rate.
Mia was keeping the doctor under supervision in the hallway. Philip Baldwin had yelled consistently about patient privacy, HIPAA, Joint Commission… “and I’m going to sue you all! I will sue you as individuals. I will sue the police department. I will sue the entire damn FBI!”
Aiden is one-hundred-percent correct about waiting for that lawyer. Dr. Baldwin will be out for blood after this. He will use anything he possibly can…
Agent Parrish stepped into the office with urgent determination. “The attorney has arrived. Tape time.”
Autumn, Chris, Noah, and Adrienne all stopped their search to gather around the desk. Adrenaline rushed through Autumn’s veins.
This could be exactly what we need…or not.
Chris stamped his left foot wildly against the floor, and she assumed he’d lost feeling in the limb altogether.
They all ignored him. They had more important business to attend to at the moment.
Mia appeared at the doorway first, followed by a fuming Philip Baldwin and an aging man in a sharp six-thousand-dollar suit. Give or take a couple thousand. The hospital’s lawyer, Stanley Bradshaw, was perspiring profusely. His forehead was glistening with sweat.
Aiden closed the door with a firm slam behind him. “Chief Lewton, please read Dr. Baldwin his Miranda rights. Precautionary, of course.” He smiled at Philip.
The doctor’s cheeks blazed red as he flushed with anger up to the very tips of his ears. His counsel whispered heatedly to him, and Autumn imagined that Dr. Baldwin was being instructed to keep his temper in check and his mouth shut.
His lawyer possibly doesn’t understand exactly how hard of a time Philip will have following that advice.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney…” Adrienne performed her dutiful recitation while Noah prepared the tape player.
The police chief finished her official notification, even going so far as to have the doctor sign the Miranda statement. When it was official, Aiden gave Noah the nod to press play.
The first clip was a patient interview from the morning hours.
“And then I think about how pretty she was before I took her face off…”
Noah fast-forwarded the tape only to land on a monotone Dr. Baldwin reviewing a different patient visit.
“Patient presents with hostility…no remorse…”
More advancement brought yet another doctor and patient discussion.
“I just want you to understand what I done saw, Doc. If I hadn’t seen that damn hooker…”
But finally, Evelyn Walker’s voice filled the office.
Autumn stopped herself from shuddering. She could still recall the vivid image of Evelyn’s top half hanging a foot in front of her face…still smell the feces…
The memory was even more disturbing now that she understood just how well-loved Evelyn Walker had been. The woman deserved to live out her years in peace. She should have reached retirement and found repose in a rocker on her front porch, drinking tea, and reading Thoreau.
Instead, she’d had the life squeezed out of her by a probable psychopath and messed herself in an elevator shaft. If ghosts were real, Evelyn’s had every reason to be pissed off.
And now they were purposely giving life to the woman’s ghost.
Autumn had experienced physical contact with exactly one…mostly…dead person. Hearing Evelyn speak wasn’t quite the same experience, but Autumn’s blood ran cold regardless.
“The troubled minds we deal with here, Evelyn, require a much more formal code of conduct than you persist to display. Your ‘Susie Sunshine’ act is going to stop. I will tolerate it no longer.” Baldwin’s recorded words displayed his obvious hateful demeanor, but that didn’t exactly differ from how he interacted with humans on a normal day.
“I don’t find anything wrong with bringing a cheerful attitude into the hospital’s environment. This place is depressing enough as it is. The people in those rooms are thinking, feeling individuals. Not just specimens for us to observe and study.”
Autumn silently applauded Evelyn’s moral stance as well as her willingness to stand up to the likes of Philip Baldwin. The nurse’s bravery matched his disdain, and the good doctor couldn’t possibly have experienced that level of bold defiance often in his career.
Philip quite visibly had different opinions about the dead nurse’s regurgitated words. He appeared to be angry with her all over again.
If he didn’t kill her, he sure as hell doesn’t miss her either.
The discussion ended, and Aiden instructed Noah to rewind so the team could focus in a second time.
He doesn’t want to miss anything…but there’s not much to miss. No proof, anyway.
The second playthrough ended and all eyes turned to Dr. Baldwin. He was smug as hell. Autumn wondered if any of her co-workers felt the same abhorrence for him that she did.
“You understand now, I was just offering training advice to an insubordinate employee.” Philip sneered at each of them in turn.
The doctor obviously considered himself venerated by the audio. He didn’t seem to understand that probable cause was a very real and impending issue for him, based solely on that tape.
Autumn pointed at the tape player. “But Nurse Walker clearly sounds upset with your orders. How did you feel when she argued with you? She was rather insistent. I mean, based on that conversation I’d say that she didn’t intend to obey your orders at all.”
Philip’s eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to respond, but Stanley held up a hand to silence him. “Dr. Baldwin’s feelings aren’t at play here.”
“If those feelings led to the action of murder, then they are definitely at play here,” Autumn fired back at the wrinkle-faced lawyer.
She hoped to ignite Baldwin’s temper, and the doctor didn’t disappoint. He turned on her, fury aflame in his wild green eyes. “I did not kill anyone! That tape was on my desk last night! How the cursed thing traveled to Mrs. Wingfield’s locker, I do not know.”
Autumn silently cheered, ready to enjoy every moment of what was coming after she shared her next comment. “Too bad there isn’t any video surveillance to prove that, huh?”
But Philip didn’t explode this time. Instead, he sank down into a chair, completely losing his bluster. “Fine, Agents. If I was the killer, if that were the case, why in god’s name would I not demand the tape before Paula’s death?”
Autumn met eyes with Aiden. The point was valid.
“Why leave evidence in her locker that points a finger in my own direction?” Philip continued in weak obstinance. “Or better yet, why wouldn’t I delete the audio in the first place?”
The questions were reasonable. Rational. In fact, Autumn had already been mulling over those exact issues. What idiot would leave a bread crumb trail that evident?
Not even crumbs. The killer left a freaking loaf trail…and the path
led straight to Baldwin.
There was, however, the other possibility. No one in their right mind would have set themselves up so exactly. Unless that setup was the exact compelling argument they planned to use as corroboration for their “obvious” innocence.
Chief Lewton held her chin while she concentrated. “Maybe Paula came across the tape when she cleaned the office, and once Baldwin spotted that the audio was gone, he searched her body. But he came up empty-handed because Paula had already stashed the steal in her locker for safekeeping.”
Chris looked pleased. He was apparently happy to support a valid series of events that pointed to the doctor as the murderer. “That’s completely plausible. Baldwin could have pulled that off.”
“I’m right here, you idiots.” Philip shot malicious glares toward Chris and Adrienne. “Surmise all you’d like, but that is not what happened. I. Didn’t. Kill. Anyone.”
Chief Lewton bent slightly until she was eye to eye with Baldwin. “Well, of course you’re not going to tell us if that’s exactly what you did. But if my theory is correct, that audio evidence does not bode well for you, buddy.”
Philip closed his eyes. He appeared ready to combust. “I didn’t kill Paula. I didn’t kill Evelyn. And you have no actual proof that I did because there isn’t any.”
From the corner of her eye, Autumn glimpsed Aiden staring intently at his phone, his eyes somewhat widened. He placed his phone down, sat on the edge of Philip’s desktop, and cocked his head, locking eyes with the doctor. “Okay, Philip. Let’s say you’re right. You didn’t kill Paula or Evelyn. What about Colleen Hester?”
Autumn studied Philip Baldwin’s expression, mesmerized as every hint of color drained from his face.
18
Noah stood at the hospital entrance. He’d just walked the medical examiner out of Virginia State Hospital and was aware that Dr. Baldwin would soon be following, accompanied by his lawyer and the rest of the team.
Parrish had decided to take the “interview” to the station.
Noon was still two hours away, and Noah’s energy reserves were draining in rapid plunges.
Relationships and the FBI don’t seem to go together very well.
He desperately wanted his bed…and Winter.
The disgraced Dr. Baldwin passed through the doors, an officer on each side. He wasn’t handcuffed. Those weren’t deemed necessary. Yet.
Aiden and the chief followed closely behind while Mia and Chris trailed the pair in silence. Autumn stepped outside and leaned against the ancient brick of the building.
“I don’t know about you, but I need a few thousand hours of sleep.” She closed her eyes and fake snored for emphasis.
Noah grunted his commiseration. “This has been a rough run. And I don’t think we’re anywhere near the finish line yet.”
Autumn groaned. “We so aren’t. Not even close.”
He watched the hospital guards close the doors and get back to the duties of securing the building. “Just another day in the life, right?”
She ran a hand through the rope of hair hanging over her shoulder and asked the question Noah knew was coming. “How’s Winter? I felt like such an ass, leaving her there right after she’d had…a headache.”
“She’s better. We talked about the…headache…for quite a while last night. She was having a hard time sleeping, and me getting called out so early definitely didn’t help.”
Autumn studied his face, seeming to read all the way through to his mind. “Is she actually better?”
Noah threw his hands in the air. “Yes? No? I don’t know. She’s being pulled in so many different directions right now. I think she’s having trouble finding a center, you know?”
Autumn nodded with fervent sympathy. “I do.”
His phone beeped. One glance at the screen was enough to set his heart racing.
Speak of the devil.
The text from Winter made him groan. I’m sorry. I just needed to see him again.
He certainly didn’t have rocket science credentials, but he didn’t need them to know who the “him” she was referring to was.
“Shit.” Noah smacked a hand to his forehead.
“What?” Autumn walked toward him with instantaneous concern, and he held up his phone for her to read. “Oh no.”
They stared at each other for a brief moment.
“She just can’t stop. She loves him.” How could you love someone so much and want to throttle them at the same time?
Autumn chewed her bottom lip as she gazed back and forth from the hospital to the parking lot. “I’m supposed to leave with Adrienne. She’s already in her car. But Winter…”
Noah felt the frustration and indecision flowing from his friend. He gave her the brightest smile he could muster. “Winter is your best friend, and she’s currently upstairs with her mentally unstable brother. I understand the dilemma, but you should go.” Noah gestured toward Adrienne’s vehicle. “I’ll check in on them.”
“You’re sure?” Autumn was obviously not sure at all.
He leaned down so she could fully see the seriousness on his face. “Go take that asshole down or make absolutely damn sure that he’s innocent…fully innocent of these murders. I want this case to be over so the woman I love can find some semblance of peace again.”
She seemed frozen with indecision before her shoulders slumped. “Yes. Okay. You go too. Don’t leave her alone with Justin. That’s not safe anymore. In my honest opinion, that was probably never safe.” Autumn met Noah’s gaze one more time before the two dispersed in opposite directions.
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Noah muttered. He entered the godforsaken stairwell yet again and ascended even faster than he had a few hours ago, despite his mounting fatigue.
When Noah reached the patient wing, he slowed his pace to avoid garnering attention. Walking in silence down the hall, he glimpsed that Justin’s door was open, an officer standing at the entrance to the room.
Noah halted once he had a clear line of vision to Winter and Justin’s interactions. He tuned in, striving to pick up the conversation.
Justin was using his little boy voice again. “…and one day, maybe I’ll be free again. I know that’s far away, but I would be so happy if I could make up the past to you.”
Winter stared into Justin’s bright blue eyes in what Noah could only describe as a trance. “We’ve lost so much time as brother and sister. I would love…someday…for you to be free and live a real life outside these walls with me.”
What in the hell is she talking about?
Justin would never be free. Justin should never be free. She was completely forgetting the truth of who her brother had become.
“I know my bad decisions hurt you, Sissy. I was so confused by all the things he taught me. I didn’t know how to be good…but I do now.” Justin had managed to work up a few tears, and Winter leaned in, pulling him into a tight hug.
Noah’s heart broke for her—for the amalgamation of emotions that she must be experiencing. Winter wanted her little brother back and hadn’t, as of yet, been able to accept that he didn’t exist anymore. She was being sucked deeper and deeper into Justin’s manipulations every damn time her brother opened his lying mouth.
Noah was convinced that every word Justin said was a complete lie, and he was done witnessing this bullshit.
Before he could fully think through his actions, he charged into the room, straight past the guard, focused only on Justin. Winter seemed stunned by his interruption, her piercing blues focused solely on him.
Noah ignored her for the moment and gave Justin a single, straight-faced nod of acknowledgement.
In less than two full seconds, Justin’s features mutated from a sensitive lost soul into a demented, depraved demon raised straight from the bowels of Hell. He stepped forward, his stance aggressive and wild, closing the gap between them.
Noah wasn’t the only one to monitor the instant alteration. The guard immediately stepped farther into t
he room but stopped when Noah held up a hand. He would handle this himself.
“So, you’re my big sissy’s fuck toy, aren’t you? Mr. Big Ass FBI.” Justin pounded his chest and let out a wail that would rival Tarzan.
“That’s me.” Noah’s voice was low…deadly. He tightened his hands into fists so he wouldn’t punch the evil shit-stain.
“Mr. Noah Dalton. Special Agent for the Efff Beee Eyyye.” Justin smiled until nearly all his teeth showed and began skipping in circles around the room. “Thirty-two-years of age, born July twenty-third. Originally from Texas and proud of it.”
“Good job. You know who you’re dealing with.” Noah’s entire body tensed, ready to act in a heartbeat. Justin’s skipping was one of the most disturbing atrocities he’d had the honor of viewing.
“Yesss, I dooo! An outgoing, fun-loving jock type. Doesn’t like to be alone. Has social media accounts but doesn’t use them.” Justin giggled with glee as his words struck their target.
Noah’s eyes narrowed in anger and confusion. “What in the fu—”
“Former Marine who served two duties in the Middle East. Get this man a cookie! Worked on the Dallas PD like a true cowboy. Yee-haw!” Justin smacked his own rear and the skips turned to gallops.
Noah glanced at Winter. Her jaw had dropped, and she appeared frozen in a mixture of horror and sadness.
“Likes cats cause he’s a pussy licker. Likes poker but sucks shit at it. Family oriented but hasn’t managed to have his own yet. Has a truck named Beulah! Fucking Beulah!” Justin laughed again, his gallops slowing down as he ran out of air.
“How in the hell do you know all that? I know Winter hasn’t told you shit about me or her real life. You know, the one you will never be in because you’re a twisted psychopath!” Noah instantly knew he’d gone too far, but that couldn’t be helped now.
Justin came to a standstill, smiling through his heavy breaths. “You going to be my big bro-in-law? You gonna let me come to your wedding? Be your best man?”