by Andrew Hess
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Claire rushed through the corridors of the hospital trying to make it to her office before her secretary/best friend got on her case for being for not being on time. Sheila loved doing stuff like that to Claire. Their personalities were polar opposites. Claire was an uptight perfectionist. Sheila was the laid back, easy going, looking for a good time kind of girl.
When Claire walked through the door five minutes late, she could hear the tsk tsking from Sheila as she walked by. “You’re late Claire. That’s not like you.”
“Oh shut up,” Claire said with a bit of hostility in her voice.
“If you’re late, than you’re not perfect,” Sheila mocked in a motherly voice. “And what would you parents say if you weren’t perfect?”
“Cut the crap,” Claire snapped. She was obviously not in the mood for Sheila’s teasing. For the first time in their thirteen year friendship, Claire stood up for herself.
“Look who grew a backbone,” Sheila laughed.
Claire stared at her with a fire burning in her eyes. “My office now. Claire stormed inside and waited for her friend to enter. Claire slammed the door shut. She paced in front of Sheila before throwing her an intense look of disapproval. “I know you think I’m uptight or that I try to be perfect. Just know that your comments are unnecessary and should not be said in the workplace. Outside of here, we are friends. But once you step foot in this hospital, I am your boss and you will treat me as such.”
“Okay,” Sheila said in whiney voice that was equivalent to a teenage girl trying to appease her nagging parents. “Geez Claire, I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“And another thing. While we’re here in the hospital, you will refer to me as Dr. Cain.”
“Are you serious?”
“Very serious, that’ll be all.” Claire shooed Sheila out of the office and closed the door behind her. She collapsed against the door with a loud sigh that was thirteen years in the making. She grabbed her lab coat and strutted from her office with a newfound confidence that she never knew existed.
Claire began visiting her patients which helped put a bigger smile on her face. She didn’t think anything could ruin her day, at least that was what she thought.
“Hey Claire,” Dr. DeMarco said in a manner that was to appear like a cool guy persona, but it came off as someone trying too hard.
Claire’s intestines twisted in a knot at the sound of his voice. Her heels clicked against the tiled floor faster as she tried to ignore him calling her name. Footsteps echoed behind her, slapping against the tiles effortlessly catching up to hers. DeMarco appeared in front of her with his arm stretched out to lean on the wall.
“Oh hi,” Claire said casually as if she just saw an old friend.
“Hey, didn’t you hear me calling your name?”
“Sorry, I must have been lost in thought. Is everything okay?” Claire was hoping Dr. DeMarco would be brief and not waste her time coming onto her again.
“I just wanted to make sure we were on for later today.”
“Uh, sure. I’m free this afternoon.” The idea of spending any more time than she had to with this man made her skin crawl.
“I’ll stop by your office in a couple of hours.” He touched his index finger to her chin and winked. “See you then.”
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It was just after lunch when the phone in Claire’s office started buzzing. Sheila was still annoyed over her treatment from earlier and settled on payback in the form of pressing the intercom button repeatedly any time a call came in or to remind Claire of an appointment. When Dr. DeMarco appeared, Sheila decided it would be great payback to push the button three times in rapid succession before leaving her finger on the button.
“What the hell is wrong with you,” Claire snapped.
“Um, so sorry to disturb you Dr. Cain.” Sheila spoke as if she was an innocent child forced to apologize to an adult. “Dr. DeMarco is here to see you.”
Claire checked her watch and saw it was one on the dot. At least he was prompt. She grabbed her lab coat and exited the office. The fakeness in her smile went unnoticed as she joined the party at Sheila’s desk.
“You’re right on time,” Claire said while tapping her wrist.
“I was looking forward to this. I mean, I was looking forward to meeting the rest of the staff.” His wicked smile sent a chill down Claire, but had Sheila squirming in her seat. He walked towards the door. His arm stretched out motioning for Claire to lead on. “After you Ma Lady.”
Sheila pushed the tips of her hands in a quick motion. “Go, go,” she whispered. Claire could tell what her friend was thinking. Do whatever he wants you to and get yourself some of that.
Claire and Dr. Ron DeMarco roamed the corridors together. They were silent until the pair reached the first nurses station. Claire politely introduced him to the ladies at the desk. She watched DeMarco in action as he smooth talked the women. They melted at his every word. Damn, am I the only one that finds him repulsive? She shrugged it off and continued to walk him around the hospital, introducing him to some of the doctors that had been around for a while.
Feeling the tension between them, Ron DeMarco reached for Claire’s hand. She pulled back and kept away from him. “What’s wrong?”
“I…just…don’t want to be touched; that’s all.”
“Sorry,” Ron replied. “So Claire, what do you like to do for fun?”
She turned and faced him. “Let’s get this straight. You are my boss. This is purely a professional relationship.”
“You’ve got the wrong idea about me.”
“Really? So you’re not trying to get in my pants?” It was a harsh accusation to throw at her new boss, but Claire needed to set up some boundaries with Dr. DeMarco.
“I’m a harmless flirt. I really don’t mean anything by it.” Claire eyed him suspiciously. “Honest, you’ve got the wrong idea about me.”
Claire didn’t trust Ron DeMarco, but continued giving him the grand tour. They kept quiet in between stops until they reached the end of the tour.
“That’s it,” Claire said with a sigh of relief.
They stopped outside the conference room. It was the first place she met him and was given a horrible first impression. “Can we talk for a minute?” Little goose bumps formed on Claire’s arms as Ron held the door open for her. She was hesitant. Nobody could blame her for that. “Please, I won’t bite. I promise.” He held the door open for her.
Claire walked into the dark room and clicked on the lights. Ron was right behind her. She could feel him looking over her shoulder. She could smell his arrogant cologne growing closer. She ran towards the table trying her best to escape him.
“Okay, I’m here. You wanted to talk, so talk.”
“I really don’t know why you hate me. What have I done to…” Claire’s head swiveled to the spot where Ron had cornered her when they first met. “Oh,” he replied. He shook his head. “I’m really sorry about that. I was a complete jackass. I was on an adrenaline high from getting the promotion and you looked.”
“Like a reward?”
“No, beautiful. I thought flaunting my success was the way to get you to notice me, but I can see that was a completely ridiculous idea.”
“You think?”
“Look, I know I handled things the wrong way. And I apologize for my appalling behavior.” He paused and glanced up at Claire. “Please let me make it up to you. Let me take you to dinner. No strings, no expectations; just a boss taking out his employee for an apologetic meal.”
Claire knew this wouldn’t be a casual business dinner. Dr. DeMarco had a hidden agenda. She knew he wouldn’t stop until he got whatever he wanted, but what was it? Was it sex? Was it dominance over her? Or was she really the prize he was after?”
Claire crossed her arms across her chest and drummed her fingers on the fabric of her white lab coat. “Fine,
one dinner, that’s it.”
“Wonderful, I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at seven.” Ron DeMarco strutted out of the room like a peacock with its chest puffed out and plumage in full display.
A sick sense of nausea gurgled the pit of Claire’s stomach. She knew Dr. DeMarco had something planned. But Claire was resolved to put her own plan into action.
Chapter 24-Ali
The next morning was one of the hardest to deal with. The last twenty-four hours had been a rollercoaster of immense proportions. My boss ordered me to work multiple homicide cases with one of them being high profile, a partner that believed I was honing in and taking over his cases, another partner that was trying to get in my pants, and my relationship of one year imploded, leaving me a sobbing mess.
“Ali,” a woman’s voice shouted from my doorway. “Ali, your alarm’s going off.” I refused to move from the cocoon of sheets. The voice came closer as the woman began to shake me. “Ali, get your ass up.” I knew it was Amanda’s from the moment she entered my room, but could care less that my alarm was inconveniencing her. “Fine, you wanna do this the hard way?” Her voice trailed off.
Great, maybe she’ll leave me alone. That’s what everyone else decided to do. They get mad at me for being me and walk away.
Amanda grunted as she re-entered my room. “I warned you Ali.” Her icy cold fingers peeled back the covers from my head. A droplet of water hit my face.
What the hell? Was there a leak in my ceiling? I looked up just in time to see a glass pitcher tipping towards me. Cold water hit my face, splashing around my hair and soaking my sheets and pillows.
“I’m gonna kill you,” I screamed as I scrambled to get out of my bed.
Amanda ran back to her room shouting; “Next time get up when you’re supposed to and shut off your damn alarm.” Her door slammed shut before I could get to her and heard the deadbolt slide across it.
I guess this was her version of payback for the mornings I woke her up after she spent all night out at the bars getting drunk. Damn, a drink sounded good after the night I had. I’d rather have woken up with a hangover than waking with a broken heart. The only things I had left in my life were my job and my sister. But if she woke me like that again, I’d have one less sister.
Considering there was no chance of going back to bed, I decided to strip the sheets and get ready for work. I wasn’t looking forward to going to the station, but I had to check in before going back to the tech department to view more tapes.
When I got to work, the Lieutenant stood outside of his office waiting for me. The look on his face told me we were about to have a conversation I didn’t want to have. He pointed one of his long crooked fingers at me and curled it towards him. “My office, now.”
I shook my head in disbelief. I haven’t been around for most of yesterday and had been working the Ambrose case. How the hell could I be in trouble? Reluctantly, I entered his office and flung myself into a chair across from the Lieutenant.
“What did I do now?”
“Don’t take that attitude with me Ryan.” I nodded my understanding and kept my mouth shut. “I ordered you to check out Highland Fitness yesterday. I come in to find out you never showed up or checked in with the team.”
“Rodney was all over the case. Besides, I was working with the tech team to go over the Ambrose tapes.”
“Regardless, I ordered you to check out the crime scene. I needed your opinion to see if it was a homicide or accidental death.”
“Why? Don’t you trust Rodney enough to figure that out on his own? I mean, that’s why you made him detective, wasn’t it?”
Detective Johnson is a fine officer, but he does not have the experience in handling cases on his own yet.”
I got up from my chair and leaned over the desk. “Rodney has been my partner for years. He’s been with me on every one of my cases in this department and is the next best thing to having me work the case.”
“Be that as it may Detective, he still has a lot to learn about controlling a crime scene and taking every minor detail into consideration.” The Lieutenant grabbed his phone and dialed a number into it.
“Who are you calling,” I asked.
“Dr. Woo said he had something important to share with us.”
I racked my brain wondering why Dr. Woo required a meeting with both me and my Lieutenant. I was hoping it was good news, something we could use in our investigation to solve the Ambrose murder.
“Hello,” Dr. Woo said as his voice boomed over the speaker phone.
“Good morning Dr. Woo,” the Lieutenant replied. “I am returning your call from this morning and am presently joined by Detective Ryan.”
“Ah it’s good to hear from you sir.” He paused as if turning his head towards me. “Good morning to you too Ali.”
“Morning Fred,” I replied. What’s going on? The Lieutenant said you had some big news to share with us. I’m kind of hoping this is good news about the Ambrose case.”
“Yes and no,” he replied. “Yesterday afternoon, one of the officers working the Highland Fitness case brought in a bottle they found at the crime scene. He didn’t think it was anything big, but submitted it for evidence anyway. Thinking of the strange circumstance over the victim’s death, I tested the bottle for any toxins and DNA.”
“And what did you find,” Lieutenant Esposito asked.
“The sample obtained matched the victim’s DNA, but that wasn’t all we found. Apparently there was something mixed into the water, something specific.”
“Don’t keep us in suspense Doc. What was it?”
“I can’t be sure of the exact chemical compound used to create it, but it seemed like a version of Rohypnol.”
This was the second case where a man was drugged in less than a month. “So you’re saying the victim was drugged before he went into that steam room?”
“Yes, but that’s not all I found.” I was glued to the phone, eying it up intently. I was hanging on Dr. Woo’s every word. “We ran tests on the vials you found at Blake Ambrose’s house. It turns out they have the same chemical compound as the bottle that was found at the gym.”
“So you’re saying both men ingested the same drug?”
“I can’t confirm that. If Mr. Ambrose had ingested the drug, it had worked its way out of his system before we were able to run the tests. We’re still waiting for the tox screen to come back on Mr. Lee, but I assume the drug had passed through his system thanks to the intense heat of the steam room.”
The news was an absolute shock. Two victims, both men were in their mid to late thirties. They were drugged and left for dead. “Do you think the cases are tied together?” It was a stupid question to ask. Of course I believed they were. There were too many coincidences for it not to be tied together. But I needed more opinions, one from a M.E. point of view and the other as confirmation.
“In my professional opinion,” Dr. Woo replied. “The evidence shows both victims perished in similar situations. I highly suspect their killer is one in the same.”
The Lieutenant looked up from the desk and met my gaze. “As of this moment, you are the lead investigator for both cases. Whatever you need, it’s yours.”
“For starters, I need Rodney working the Highland Fitness case. He needs to get the necessary warrants to search the records and video feeds from the night Mr. Lee died. I want to know who was there that night, and who Mr. Lee was with before he went into that steam room.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I have to update Detective Thornton and finish going over the Ambrose tapes. Maybe they can turn up a possible suspect.”
“Dr. Woo, thank you for updating us. Please keep us posted when the test results and autopsy results come in.”
“Sure thing Lieutenant. I am putting a rush on them as we speak.”
Lieutenant Esposito hung up the phone and stared at me. Fear consumed his muddy eyes. “What are you thinking Ali?”
“I’m thinking we need
to work fast before the killer strikes again.”
I hung out at the station for another twenty minutes before heading over to the tech department. Detective Thornton was supposed to meet me there by nine and it was already ten after. He was late which was spiking my annoyance levels. The one time I actually couldn’t wait to see him and the jerk was running late. I sent him a text; It’s 9:10. I’m at the tech dept. Where are you?
I waited another five minutes outside in the humid morning air before walking inside. I walked up to one of the techs and left a message with him for my supposed partner. “When Detective Thornton gets here, let him know I started without him.”
“Detective Thornton’s already here.”
“What do you mean?”
The tech brought me to the room I spent most of yesterday in. We peered inside to see the screens still on, the laptop frozen on an image of a woman from one of the videos, and Detective James Thornton sprawled out on three chairs. He looked uncomfortable yet peaceful. So of course I couldn’t resist trying to scare the hell out of him.
I took control of the computer and searched in the music and sounds folder on the hard drive. Just as I thought, the tech had some crazy police noises and sound bites on it. I queued one up and clicked play. A police siren blared loudly in the room causing Thornton to fall out of his chair bed.
“What the hell,” he shouted as he pulled his gun.
“Whoa, calm down partner. It was only a joke.” I laughed as he was slow to holster his weapon. I skimmed the makeshift bed and nodded. “Did you sleep here last night?”
Thornton rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands. “Yeah, I’ve been going through all the video trying to find something we could use.” I didn’t like that he was watching the videos without me. Thoughts of him finding something and keeping it to himself flashed through my mind. “Don’t worry; I was going to share everything with you today.” It was almost as if he could read my mind.
For a brief moment, I considered holding onto the information Dr. Woo shared with me. But as much as I hated to admit it, I needed his help with these cases.