by Jo Davis
He, Tonio, and the captain spent hours poring over the case files, making sure they had all the details down that they knew so far. Sometime shortly after four in the morning, Dr. Alan Chin arrived early, much to their surprise.
There was a knock on the door, and another officer showed the doctor in before closing it behind him. The doctor was a small Asian man with a kind, open, and honest-looking face. He was also very anxious to share what he knew.
“I was able to get another doctor to come in and cover the last part of my shift for me,” he said, glancing around anxiously. In his hand was a sheaf of papers. “I was most distressed by the detective’s call, and I want to help however I can.”
Chris had learned long ago not to put too much stock in appearances, but his instincts shouted this man was sincere. “We appreciate that very much. Do you have something to share with us, Dr. Chin?”
“Yes. I compiled the names of the staff members who were on duty with me on the dates that Detective Salvatore mentioned.” He slid the papers across the table without commenting further. From the intense way he watched them, it was obvious he was waiting for them to reach their own conclusions.
The cop in Chris did a victory dance as he scanned the documents. “Some of these staff members were there when you treated more than one of the victims. But only one nurse was on shift when every single one of them was treated.”
“Yes.” Chin nodded.
“Do you recall Lee Miller assisting during these cases?”
“Some of them, though it’s hard to remember all. We see so many people.”
“What is your opinion of Mr. Miller’s performance as a nurse?”
Dr. Chin shook his head. “That young man has been on the verge of termination for some time. He’s sloppy, as though his head is always somewhere else.”
“Why hasn’t he been fired?” Chris studied the doctor’s expression, which turned disgusted.
“His father was an important man, Detective. Dr. Jonathan Miller was chief of staff many years ago, when Lee was a young boy. Not at Sterling, at the old hospital before Sterling was built. But many of Miller’s old cronies opened Sterling and memories are long, if you know what I mean.”
“So he was hired and keeps his job because of who his daddy is,” Chris summarized.
“Who his daddy was.” Chin’s tone clearly communicated that the man’s demise was no great loss. “I worked under him back then, and the man was an asshole. The kind to find fault with everything and satisfaction in nothing. When he died, I opened a bottle of sake and drank it all in celebration.”
Tonio coughed to cover a laugh. “You gave us your professional observation of Lee, but what of your personal opinion?”
Chin thought about that for a long moment. He spoke with a slight shrug. “The boy is a complete enigma. The nurses I work with are close. They talk and gossip constantly. They chatter like magpies, gossip until my ears bleed. They socialize. They smile. Lee Miller does none of those things. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you the same.”
Chris exchanged a look with Tonio and the captain. Miller was antisocial, which meant working in an atmosphere such as an emergency room had to be sheer torture. He had to have a deeper motive for doing a job he hated.
A futile attempt to please a dead father who could never be satisfied? To show the old man he could succeed?
And to make those who had failed him—such as his authoritative father—pay.
“Dr. Chin,” Chris said, “is there anything else you feel is pertinent that you’d like to tell us?”
The doctor hesitated, then gestured to the list. “I realize this may be irrelevant, but something stands out in my mind from when I saw that first man, Charles Adams, in my ER. Mr. Adams came in because he had fractured his wrist in a fall. Lee told me he was glad Mr. Adams would be okay, because the man was his elementary school principal here in Sugarland.”
Chris’s eyes widened. “You’re positive about that?”
“Yes. Because of my exchange with Lee, that particular patient stands out.” The doctor shrugged.
“One more question, Doctor,” Chris said. “Would someone like Lee typically have access to cyanide?”
Dr. Chin’s brows shot up. “No, not typically. It would be very difficult for him to obtain, outside of stealing it. I just don’t believe the young man has the kind of clout to get such a substance legitimately.”
“What about his father?”
“Jonathan Miller could have obtained anything he wanted,” Dr. Chin stated with absolute confidence. “No matter what it might have been. He had connections.”
“Anything else?”
“Nothing that comes to mind.”
Chris stood and held out his hand. “Thank you for coming and being so open with us, Dr. Chin.”
The doctor shook his hand and gave a small smile. “My pleasure to be of assistance. Someone is doing terrible things, and I want him caught, whoever it is. If I can help again, please don’t hesitate to call me.”
“We’ll keep that in mind.”
Chris waited until the door had closed firmly behind Dr. Chin before he pounced, practically begging his captain. “We’ve got Lee tied to every one of the victims. So far, he’s the sole common denominator. We’ve even got his elementary school principal as the first victim, and there could be more who were part of his past we don’t know about yet.”
“The last part is unverified.”
“Not for long,” Chris said desperately. “We’ll make the connections.”
“Yes, but for now it’s all circumstantial.”
Chris wasn’t ready to give up the fight. He was so tired, ready to drop from being awake almost twenty-four hours. And he had much longer to go—they all did. “We’ve got bodies! We’ve got Lee in the room with every victim before they died!”
“We need something solid and you know it,” Rainey growled. “Dammit, Chris, I’m doing what I can.”
Just then, there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Rainey called out, and Jay Stover, one of the techs who worked the scene around Robyn’s car, came in holding a cell phone sealed in a clear plastic bag.
“Got something for you guys,” Jay began, holding up the bag. “Dr. Lassiter’s phone was just under the edge of her car, with the screen smashed. From the casing, we were able to lift a print. Three guesses who the print belongs to.”
Chris bolted upright. “Lee Miller?”
“Yep.” The man looked pleased with himself. “Seems Miller was an army medic for four years before he came back to town to be a nurse. Fingerprints were on file.”
“Yes! Got that bastard,” Chris yelled, slamming his hand on the table. “Now can we get the fucking warrant?”
Rainey stood. “Yeah. Now we can get the fucking warrant. I’ll call the judge.”
The exhaustion vanished and a rush of adrenaline fired through him. There was no way he’d sleep.
Not until the woman he loved was home safe and sound.
* * *
Robyn sat huddled on a chair in the far corner of the bedroom. As far away as she could get from the woman’s skeleton—which wasn’t nearly far enough.
Lee’s mother. How totally, unbelievably sick.
How long had she been there? Years, if the condition of the skeleton could be believed. What little skin there was clinging to the bones was mummified, and the clothes were moth-eaten. Her death hadn’t happened weeks or even months earlier.
Had Lee lived here with her since her death? Had he killed her?
Questions chased themselves around in her brain, each more terrifying than the last. She couldn’t understand what would drive a person to do those things. To live this way. She had heard it said that the inside of your home was a reflection of your soul. If that was true, Lee Miller’s soul was a very dark, desolate, twisted place.
&nb
sp; It was a place she was desperate to escape. She’d tried the windows, only to find them sealed tight. She’d screamed, pounded on the door, done everything she could think of. Even tried to pick the lock, but it was no use.
She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, nerves jumping with fright every time the house creaked or she thought she heard footsteps, her captor moving around. Her eyes were bloodshot and her head hurt from lack of sleep. But there was no way she could’ve closed her eyes even if she wanted to.
Her agonized thoughts turned to Chris and Maddy. Her lover could take care of himself, and she had no doubt that, as scared as he might be, he was also pissed as hell and would move heaven and earth to find her.
Maddy, however, was probably still asleep and hopefully hadn’t yet realized that anything was wrong. But she would, and what would happen then? How would Chris or anyone explain that someone sick had taken her mother? Her little girl would be scared, and she’d need comfort. Robyn knew her friends and Chris’s would step up to help, but that wouldn’t necessarily reassure Maddy that everything would be all right.
She ached to hold her baby and reassure Maddy. And herself.
Footsteps coming down the hallway made goose bumps break out on her arms. In the back of her mind, she’d been holding out hope that Lee would make himself scarce, staying away until Chris and the other cops found her. A futile hope, she realized, as the keys rattled in the lock and the door opened slowly, with a squeak.
Lee stepped inside, smiling as though they’d just run into each other casually, in a restaurant or somewhere. “Hey, you’re awake! Did you have a nice nap?”
“I didn’t take a nap,” she muttered. No, I screamed until I’m sure I ripped my vocal cords. Thanks for that.
“Oh? Well, maybe later. Have you and Mom been having a nice visit?”
She stared at her captor. If he was acting, it was an Oscar-worthy performance. “No. She’s being a bit antisocial today.”
That clearly threw him, and he frowned. “Oh. That’s not like her at all.” He looked to the remains of his mother. “I expect you to treat our guests better than that, Mother. What will the ladies think if it gets around that your hospitality is less than perfect? What will Daddy think?”
“It’s quite all right. I’m sure she’s . . . tired.” He wasn’t acting, she was sure. This man’s elevator didn’t go all the way to the top floor.
“Yeah, probably so.” Lee gave a sigh. “We’re always tired, Mom and I, putting up with my dad’s bullshit night and day.”
The doctor in her rose to the fore, her interest piqued. Suddenly she saw Lee as a troubled, psychotic man who’d obviously suffered some sort of breakdown. She was willing to bet he wasn’t evil—but had suffered through something evil.
“Tell me about your dad,” she encouraged. “What kind of bullshit?”
His expression became grim, dark eyes haunted. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
“He yells at us. Like, all the time. He likes to make Mom cry.” The man’s lip quivered.
“How?”
“He hits her, calls her names. Like ‘worthless bitch,’ ‘fat cow.’ He’ll even treat her mean at dinner parties and nobody ever says a word. None of those sons of bitches on the board ever do anything.”
And there’s his first problem with authority figures. Not just his father, but those who wouldn’t stop what was happening to a boy and his mother.
“What else does he do?”
“He hits me with his fists,” Lee said in a small voice. “He told me not to tell, but one day she found out.”
God, how horrible. “I’m sorry he hurt you, Lee. Can you tell me what happened next, after your mom found out?”
“I wasn’t supposed to hear, but I did anyway. Dad screamed at Mom and said if she wasn’t so fucking useless he wouldn’t have done what he did. She said she was going to tell someone and get him in trouble.”
“But she never did?”
Tears filled his eyes and he looked away. “She would’ve. But he made her sick and she died, real fast.”
Horrendous. No child should suffer such atrocities.
“How did he make her sick?” she asked gently. But she had a good idea.
“There was some stuff in his garage. He got some into an eyedropper and put it into her food. He laughed and said, as a doctor, he found it fascinating to watch her meet her end writhing like a hooked fish. How could something so small make her stop breathing?”
He sounded so sad and confused.
“I don’t know. But that’s why I became a doctor, so I can help people like your mom.”
She knew instantly that was the wrong thing to say.
“You can’t help me or my mom!” he shouted, jabbing his finger at her. The scared boy was gone, and an angry, delusional adult was in his place.
“I’m sure somebody—”
Crossing the short distance between them quickly, he backhanded her across the face, snapping her head to the side. Tasting blood, she brought her shaking hand to her face and licked her lip. She remained very still, not wanting to set him off further.
“You don’t know anything about it,” he told her coldly. “Don’t pretend you do.”
“I’m sorry.” Taking another risk, she gestured to the bed. “How is it that she’s here, in the house?”
“This is where my dad put her, after he killed her. Then he told all his friends she ran off and left him. He was such a bastard nobody had any reason to doubt that.”
“Where’s your dad now? Is he retired, or did he move away?”
Lee snorted. “Of course not. He’s right where he deserves to be—dead and buried in the local cemetery. I put him there right after I gave him a taste of his own medicine.” He shrugged. “Now Mom is at peace, and I have my own apartment. But I visit Mom sometimes.”
Robyn thought she was going to be sick.
This whole messed-up family should’ve been carted away to an asylum years ago. Starting with the father.
If she got out of this alive, it would be a miracle.
Please, Chris. Find me before it’s too late.
* * *
Chris checked his weapon, secured his bulletproof vest. All around him, the others were doing the same.
In his line of work, there was no such thing as too much precaution. One seemingly average nurse was very possibly a serial killer, and really, there was no such thing as average when it came to people.
Armed and ready, he faced Rainey, Tonio, and two uniformed cops Rainey had chosen to go along as backup. Rainey wouldn’t accompany them, but they would give him an update when they had Robyn secure and Miller under arrest.
He refused to consider any other outcome.
Outside, they took Tonio’s car, and the two uniforms followed. At a time like this, Chris couldn’t help but be grateful for his partner’s innocuous vehicle. It would sure attract less attention from their suspect than his own flashy Camaro, and for the first time Chris wondered whether there was a method to Tonio’s madness.
“Say, is this the only car you own?” he asked, curious.
His partner snorted. “No, man. This is my work vehicle. You think I take this piece of shit out cruisin’ when I want to get laid?”
Chris chuckled in spite of the situation. “Why didn’t you tell me? All those times I ragged on the grampsmobile, and you never said a word.”
“You never asked. You assumed I had no cool anywhere in my body.”
Huh. Simple as that. He’d never asked. “Sorry. What’s your real car?”
“1978 Corvette Stingray,” Tonio said, unable to hide the pride in his voice.
Chris whistled. “Whoa, that’s some serious mojo. How’d you afford that?”
“Bought her cheap, been fixing her up for years as my project car. And s
he’s cheaper than a girlfriend.”
Chris laughed at that. “No doubt. Attract the babes with the hot car, then love ’em and leave ’em, eh?”
“You got it.”
His humor drained the closer they got to Miller’s apartment. The complex was situated in a nice area of town, but not affluent. It featured the pleasant if cookie-cutter buildings and landscaping found everywhere from malls to office complexes.
Chris much preferred his older house with its sucky plumbing. At least it had character.
Dawn was just breaking when they parked one building over from Miller’s. The tiredness was still being held at bay by the sheer anxiety pulsing through him. She had to be all right. He couldn’t wait to pull her into his arms and watch Miller be led away in cuffs. Or a straitjacket.
“These buildings have only one entry and exit,” he pointed out to Tonio as they got out of the car. “The front door.”
“Makes it a little easier that he can’t flee out a back way.”
Shane and Taylor, who’d been staking out the apartment, got out of their vehicle and fell into step with them. The two uniformed cops brought up the rear. One carried the battering ram; kicking in doors with one’s foot, even with shoes on, was a great way to break an ankle.
“Yeah.” They walked toward the building in question, and Chris frowned. “Something’s bothering me about this whole setup. Like how did he get an unwilling victim into his apartment without half the neighbors seeing them?”
“Good point. But it was nighttime. They could’ve thought she was drunk.”
“Maybe. I don’t like it, though.”
“Let’s see what we can find. She could be here.”
The whole thing felt off. The hair was prickling on the back of his neck, like this was too easy. Way too simple, even if the crazy bastard wanted to be caught.
At the door, Chris banged on the surface with his fist. “Lee Miller,” he shouted. “Sugarland Police. We have a warrant to search your property. Open up.”
No response.
“Let’s bust it in,” Tonio said, then turned to the two uniforms and reached for the battering ram.