by Andrea Kane
Conrad spread his palms wide. “No, but I’m at a distinct disadvantage. I haven’t seen my ex-wife in months, and my exposure to her life, most especially to her work, is nil.” He paused. “My former place of employment is not a topic that’s introduced to me unless I bring it up in a session.”
“Your former place of employment?” Marc responded to that one. “I was under the impression that you planned to return to your previous position—or your new one, when the hospital merger goes through.”
“You don’t have to discuss this if you’d rather not, Conrad,” Dr. Oberlin was quick to point out.
Conrad stared down at the carpet for a moment, then lifted his gaze—that sad, hollow gaze. “That’s all right. I’m just not sure how to answer your question. Whether or not the position is still open to me isn’t the primary issue. The truth is, I don’t know if I’ll ever be capable of performing surgery again. I’m not even sure how I’d react to walking into an operating room.”
Casey couldn’t help but feel pity. The man was visibly suffering. A huge portion of his life and his identity were gone.
“I’m very sorry about Ronald Lexington,” she said quietly but directly. “I can’t imagine how painful his loss has been for you. But from what I understand, you’re a brilliant surgeon. Hundreds of people could benefit from your skills. Life happens. That doesn’t make it your fault.”
“We’re not here to analyze Dr. Westfield or to discuss his ghosts,” Dr. Oberlin interrupted. “Do you have any other questions for him—ones that relate to his former wife’s predicament?”
Casey took the hint, and fast. She backed off from any reference to Ronald Lexington or to Conrad’s state of mind. “We won’t keep you.” She rose and handed Conrad a business card. “If you could make arrangements for us to do the necessary background check that you so kindly offered, that would be great. Also if you think of anything—however small—that might give us a lead, please call Forensic Instincts anytime, day or night.”
“Of course.” Conrad took her card and came to his feet, as well. His forehead was still creased. “Is Madeline being protected?”
“She has 24/7 security detail,” Marc stated flatly. He was letting Conrad know that if he was concerned about Madeline, he had nothing to worry about. And if he wasn’t—if it was access to his ex-wife he was looking for—that wouldn’t be happening. “No one is going to reach Madeline again, much less harm her. We’ve made sure of that.”
“Thank God.” Again, relief—genuine or otherwise—swept Conrad’s face. “I realize we’re divorced, but I still care deeply for her. Madeline is a wonderful and special woman who places everyone’s needs above her own. I want her kept safe, regardless of the cost.”
“She will be.” Marc’s tone was still firm, his expression still impersonal. Whatever he was feeling, he was keeping it under control.
“I’d appreciate if you’d keep me posted,” Conrad added. “I’ll arrange with Dr. Oberlin for your phone calls to be put through to me immediately.”
* * *
Marc stared out the window as Casey steered the van up the winding driveway leading to the iron gates.
She edged him a sidelong glance. He looked tense and introspective. “Brooding?” she asked.
“Aren’t you subtle,” Marc returned drily. “No, I’m not brooding. I’m thinking. Westfield is either a decent guy and the best ex-husband any woman could hope for, or a consummate actor and con artist...and an attempted murderer.” A pregnant pause. “And yes, I’m being objective.”
“Actually, I think you are.” Casey’s eyes were back on the road as she slowed down at the gates and signaled the guard that they were leaving. “I also think you’re purposely avoiding stating the obvious, because you think I’ll call you on it. Well, I won’t. Because I see the same thing. Conrad Westfield still has feelings for his ex-wife.” She paused. “Feelings that Madeline is totally unaware of and that she doesn’t return.”
Marc grunted. “I wonder how that factors into this little equation.”
The iron gates swung open, and Casey steered the van onto the main road.
“It could exacerbate it. And it could mean nothing. But you’re right,” Casey continued. “The depression is real, and it’s deep. So is the self-blame. But Conrad is very intelligent and very aware. Could he have orchestrated the attacks on Madeline—out of pain, spite, whatever? Cognitively, yes.”
“So now we check out his phone records, which are going to be squeaky-clean or he wouldn’t have offered them up. Then what?”
“Then we have Ryan dig deeper. Figure out if Conrad has a burner phone or some other means of communication. Find out if he has any seedy connections inside the facility who might be willing to do his dirty work for him. Conrad’s rich and well-connected. This meeting we just had is only step one where it comes to Madeline’s ex.” Casey frowned. “My concern is the long list of hospital employees Madeline gave me, every one of whom is a potential suspect until we figure out the assailant’s motive.”
“Some of them will talk to us willingly,” Marc said.
“And some won’t. Plus, who knows who’ll be lying and why? Between the skills you learned from your days at the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and my psychological training, we’ll be able to do a pretty good job of figuring out who’s lying. But their motives? That’s another story entirely. We’ve got to find a nonconfrontational way into that hospital to get a thorough take on the names on Madeline’s list. We have to plan our approach carefully. We’ll only get one chance at this before we lose the chance to keep our role in Madeline’s life a secret.”
“The dedication ceremony to Ronald Lexington is our best shot at doing that,” Marc replied. Casey had told him about the hospital courtyard ceremony on the drive to Connecticut.
“Exactly.” Casey nodded. “But we can’t just walk in there. We’ll need to go as Madeline’s guests. Just a few of us, not the whole team.”
“That few will include me.”
The emphatic tone of Marc’s response wasn’t lost on Casey.
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” she asked.
Marc pivoted to face her. “Look, Casey. You and I agreed that I was going to assume my usual role in this investigation. I haven’t given you any reason to doubt that I can. So keeping me away from Madeline is ridiculous. I’m the most qualified person on the team to protect her, while simultaneously scrutinizing and assessing the attendees. I think it should be you, me and Claire who go.”
“And Emma,” Casey surprised him by saying.
“Emma?”
“Uh-huh. Let’s go back to the office. I have a plan that I think will work.”
7
THE HOSPITAL COURTYARD was lovely, and not just from the natural beauty of the red, orange and gold trees around it. The area was lined with miniature boxwoods and colorful, manicured plants, and surrounded by an iron fence that gave the entire area a close, intimate feel, despite being surrounded by tall hospital buildings. There were several benches situated around the courtyard’s periphery, so that employees could sit and enjoy the view. And, most impressive of all, there was a brass plate planted in the grassy entranceway that was engraved In Honor of Ronald Lexington.
Casey glanced around as the small group of FI team members and Madeline approached the site, noting that there were already so many attendees they were barely able to be contained within the courtyard itself and were spilling over onto the hospital grounds.
“Clearly Ronald Lexington was a well-respected man,” Casey murmured.
“Or everyone is just kissing the necessary asses,” Emma responded under her breath.
Claire bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Such a cynic.”
“She’s probably right,” Marc said. “For the most part, this is a political event, not a lovefest.”
&
nbsp; “Shhh.” Madeline put her finger to her lips as a few people spotted her and started to walk over. “We’re on.”
“Wait.” Casey touched Madeline’s arm, then pointed at an attractive, middle-aged woman with frosted blond hair who was flanked on either side by a young woman and a young man. Given the resemblance, it wasn’t a long shot to guess that those were her kids. All three of them were surrounded by attendees. There was an air of importance about her as if she was central to the occasion, and Casey could guess why.
“Is that Ronald Lexington’s widow?” she asked Madeline.
“Nancy Lexington, yes,” Madeline confirmed. “Those are her two children, Ron and Felicia. Not really children anymore. I think Ron is twenty-five and Felicia twenty-four.”
Casey took all that in. “I’ll need to meet the three of them later when the masses have left their sides.”
“No problem. I’ll make it happen.”
The next half hour was spent with Madeline introducing her “friends” and discussing her accident with what seemed to be an endless flow of people. Casey had suggested that Madeline get as many introductions as possible out of the way before the ceremony, so that the FI team could mingle comfortably and do their own behavioral analysis as the event unfolded, while Madeline paid the appropriate respect to Ronald Lexington’s memory. There was no point in arousing any suspicions of her motives for being here.
On the other hand, Casey had also instructed Madeline to be up front about who her FI “plus-ones” were. Much to their chagrin, Forensic Instincts team members had been interviewed too many times by TV media sources to assume that no one would recognize them. Candor was their best defense.
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything,” Casey said, quoting Mark Twain. “In this case, you’ll just tweak the truth to make it work for us. Explain that while you were a nurse in Bethesda, you treated Marc for an injury he sustained, and that, ironically, you ran into each other again in New York. And tell them that Claire and I were both recently patients in this hospital. We received excellent care and wanted to support the facility with a donation.” Casey stopped right there. The reasons for hers and Claire’s hospital admission were not things she wanted to discuss, nor did she need to. The details were no secret. The media had made sure of that.
“As for Emma,” Casey had concluded, “she’s fascinated by the medical field, and she loves helping people. She was hoping that by meeting someone in hospital administration, she could land a candy-striper job.”
Emma hadn’t blinked. She knew her dual roles in today’s visit.
Madeline didn’t, but she’d accepted Casey’s strategy at face value. “So, when you heard Marc was coming, you all opted to join him, each for your own reasons.”
“Exactly. We gave you a call, you offered to bring us as your guests, and that’s that.”
“Okay. That works.”
And it had. No matter how fascinating Forensic Instincts was, the crowd of hospital employees was far more interested in hearing about Madeline’s misfortunes and the severity of her injuries.
That gave the FI team the access they needed.
Their agendas had been laid out by Casey.
Emma headed off to begin her search for the right target.
Claire, keeping a low profile, moved about and stopped here and there to hover near clusters of people. Sipping her sparkling water, she listened, seeing if she picked up any negative energy. There was plenty to be had.
Casey noted the same thing as she chatted with the various employees. She listened to their feelings about Ronald Lexington, watching their body language as they spoke and assessing who was disingenuous and who was for real. The gist of what she heard was positive, and it was obvious that Lexington had been an affable guy whose only flaw was that he liked women just a tad too much for a happily married man. But if you played into his charm, all would be cool.
There was an entirely different vibe that came through when people talked about Jacob Casper. No matter how diplomatically people spoke, it was clear that there was no love lost between the staff and their interim hospital administrator. Listening to what wasn’t said as well as to what was, it was obvious that the hospital employees felt that Casper’s interests were totally self-centered, and that he didn’t give a damn about anything but money and power.
Casey wanted to form her own opinion. The employees were hardly unbiased at this particularly vulnerable time. There were anxious whispered conversations about the hospital merger—fears of job loss, reduced benefits, staff cuts and the resulting overwork for those who remained. The lack of job security and fear for financial survival was crushing—and naturally, those feelings were directly aimed at Jacob Casper. So Casey would have to meet him and decipher what he was for herself.
Multitasking as always, Casey glanced around, her expert gaze seeking and finding the specific individuals Madeline had named and provided physical descriptions of as being those who’d been closest—either in a professional or a personal capacity—to Ronald Lexington. She’d find a way to talk to all of them after the formalities were complete. She wanted to get a feel for who might have it in for Madeline.
Marc, for his part, was keeping a close watch on Madeline.
Periodically Casey would make sure to look around and check on the progress her team members were making. Everyone seemed to be gleaning something from their efforts. When her gaze found Emma, it took enormous restraint not to smile. Emma was busy chatting up the most stereotypical IT guy she could find in the group. He was tall, skinny and definitely dorky looking, with eyeglasses he kept shoving up on his nose and a tendency to blink furiously. Clearly he was awkward around people and, Casey suspected, far more at home hiding behind a computer monitor and a keyboard. On the other hand, he was over the moon about Emma’s interest in him, visibly entranced by her vivacious personality and her California-girl looks. As for Emma, she was standing close to him, head cocked as she hung on to his every word, asking question after question about his fascinating job. The more questions she asked, the more enthusiastic he got—and the more distracted.
Good girl, Casey thought. She’d been dead-on right to bring Emma here. If Emma ultimately accomplished her two goals, Forensic Instincts would have a clear shot at getting what they needed here.
The next step would be for Madeline to introduce Casey to Jacob Casper so that Casey could get an actual read on him. He represented the new regime, and talking to him was crucial, especially in light of how edgy the staff was around him, and how overall their dislike for him was. That could simply be the fear of losing their jobs, given that Casper was so pro-merger and would work hard to see the due diligence process succeed, or it could be more. As a necessary bonus, Casey would have Madeline introduce Emma to him—and put in a good word for her as a potential candy striper. That was going to have to happen fast to make Casey’s plan work.
Jacob Casper was a cut-to-the-chase kind of guy, solidly built and all about the bottom line. He was pleasant enough, but Casey could tell that affability didn’t come easily to him. He was trying to make people like him to ease his way, but doing that took a great effort on his part. His mind was on money, not relationship-building.
Casey let him chat with Madeline for a few minutes while she observed. Bottom line or not, he seemed genuinely saddened by Ronald Lexington’s passing and equally saddened by the effect it had had on Conrad.
“My greatest pleasure will be to see Conrad walk back through those doors and resume doing what he does best,” Casper told Madeline. “That man is a surgical genius.”
“I agree on both counts,” Madeline said.
So Casper was aware that Madeline and her ex-husband had an amicable relationship. Nice point of interest.
“Would chief of surgery still be in the cards for Conrad if he returned after the hospital merger goes
through?” Casey asked.
Casper looked a little surprised that Casey was so plugged into the goings-on at the hospital. His eyes flickered from Casey to Madeline and back.
“I see that Madeline had filled you in on the offer that was on the table during the original negotiations,” he replied. “I don’t know how things will play out this time. But if I have any say, Conrad will be my first choice for the position.”
“If he’s up for it,” Madeline said softly.
“Yes, of course. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise,” Casper amended. His jaw tightened just a fraction. “I’d never put pressure on him. But I remain optimistic.”
“We all do.”
Casey noted the subtle change in Casper’s body language, and his quick response to Madeline’s qualification. It might mean nothing more than that the interim hospital administrator was stressed out by the time pressure involved in getting Conrad back before the high-level position was filled by someone else. Then again, it might mean more.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Casper,” Casey said, extending her hand.
“Please, call me Jacob.” He met Casey’s grasp, the tension easing from his body. “It was great meeting you, as well. I’ve heard and read so much about the Forensic Instincts team.” A smile. “You’re like the avengers of evil.”
Casey laughed. “I like that image. I’ll pass it on to the rest of the team.” She paused, just long enough for impact. “But today I’m here as a grateful former patient. Forensic Instincts would like to make a donation to the hospital. Can we wire it directly to the administrative office?”
Genuine gratitude flickered across Jacob Casper’s face. “That would be wonderful. We appreciate your generosity.”
“And we appreciate the health care services you provide.” Casey was ready to mingle with more of the crowd. She had no worries about leaving Madeline alone with Jacob. Casey could feel Marc’s presence nearby, and his trained gaze fixed on their client. Plus, she wanted to give Madeline time alone with Jacob so she could put in a good word for Emma as a potential—and immediate—candy striper. What better time than when FI had just pledged a nice donation to the hospital?