How could the hospital have screwed this up? Why hadn’t Sarah objected, or called me? I put the phone on speaker and tossed it onto the passenger seat then reached in the glovebox for a burner phone I’d used for our last investigation. I called the hospital switchboard. “Yes, hello. Sarah Woods, room 307, please.” The phone pulsed over and over. No answer. I ended the call just as the nurse from the first call came back on the line. “What? How can my signature be on the release form?” I floored the accelerator. “Give me your name. I’ll be there in five.”
I began running possible scenarios in my head of what might have taken place, but the only ones that made sense were those I didn’t want to think about. Sarah and I had worked together for the past 2-1/2 years doing private investigation work, living together as a couple for the last six months. I rarely felt fear --- fifteen years as a Boston beat cop will take it out of a man --- but when it came to Sarah, I often worried about her safety. Especially now that she was carrying a weapon and had taken a slug to the shoulder while on our most recent case. Her life had been threatened and she rose to the occasion, shooting and killing the man who’d tried to end her life. What made it so tough is that in all my years as a cop I had never shot another human being. Not once.
I reached into the back seat while slowing for a red light and grabbed some files containing photos of individuals involved in our most recent cases. “C’mon, c’mon, let’s go.”
I began weaving in and out of traffic as the light changed, horns and rude gestures the result of my haste. The hospital parking entrance was just ahead now. As luck would have it a delivery van pulled in right ahead of me, the driver appearing to be in no hurry. I careened into the first available parking spot, opting to sprint across the lot to the lobby instead of waiting for a better parking space. Case files in hand I covered ground at a pace my fifty-four year old legs hadn’t attempted in quite some time, doing my best to avoid the dozens of people coming and going.
I burst through the double doors and shot a glance over toward the elevator bank. Too many folks waiting. Stairwell it is. Fortunately, the climb didn’t seem to be anyone else’s first choice at the moment. I bounded up all three flights taking the steps two at a time and reached the nurse’s station more quickly than I probably should have. “Hi.” I paused to catch my breath, looking at the young woman’s nameplate. “Are you the Jen I just spoke with on the phone?”
“Mr. Peterson?”
“Yes.”
“Oh dear,” she replied. “Could I see some ID please?”
I fumbled for my license. “I need to speak to the person who signed off on Sarah Woods’ release. And the individual who left with Sarah. I need to know what that person looks like.”
Jen looked at my ID and nodded. “Thank you, sir. Yes, of course. Kendra Pratt took care of that paperwork. She’s on break at the moment, Mr. Peterson. However, I did take the liberty of having our head of security print several still photos from our video feed.” She handed me the images. “This is the man who signed Ms. Woods’ release. Um … he’s obviously not you.”
I tried to maintain my composure as she handed my ID back. “I’ve been in this hospital almost constantly for the past four days. I don’t understand how a screw-up like this could happen.” The nurse remained silent while I studied the images. Sarah was seated in a wheel chair with her head tilted to the side, eyes closed. The man pushing her wheel chair was clad in the same style leather jacket and boots I always wore. His face was vaguely familiar. I opened the files and spread every single photo out atop the counter, my eyes darting from one to the next to the next. Much to my irritation none of the faces matched that of the individual in the surveillance stills.
I let go a sigh, closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose when a woman’s voice got my ear. “Didn’t you hear me calling you?”
I turned and encountered a short, stout woman in her sixties standing before me.
“I had a tough time figuring out where you got off to,” she said. “You nearly ran us down at the entrance. Here. You dropped these.”
She handed me a group of photos that must have slipped out of the files as I was dodging the crowd. “Thank you, ma’am, I ….” Before I could finish my thought the image on the top photo made my head swim. It was him. It was the guy.
A Case Too Close (Carter Peterson Mystery Book 1)
Here is a list of all the books in the Sarah Woods Mystery Series in order:
An Appointment with Murder (Sarah Woods Mystery Book 1)
An Act of Deceit (Sarah Woods Mystery 2)
An Island of Illusions (Sarah Woods Mystery 3)
A Taste of SIn (Sarah Woods Mystery 4)
The Masque of Innocence (Sarah Woods Mystery 5)
The Art of Duplicity (Sarah Woods Mystery 6)
An Appetite for Revenge (Sarah Woods Mystery 7)
A Date with Death (Sarah Woods Mystery 8)
A Weapon of Choice (Sarah Woods Mystery 9)
A Witness in Disguise (Sarah Woods Mystery 10)
The Ties that Bind (Sarah Woods Mystery 11)
A Flight of Fantasy (Sarah Woods Book 12)
A Death in Tuscany (Sarah Woods Mystery 13)
The Stares of Strangers (Sarah Woods Mystery 14)
The Devil you Know (Sarah Woods Mystery 15)
A Recipe for Disaster (Sarah Woods Mystery 16)
The Secrets We Keep (Sarah Woods Mystery 17)
The Killer in Me (Sarah Woods Mystery 18)
Sarah Woods Mystery Series (Volume 6) Page 31