“Do yourself a favor, Fitzpatrick. Don’t let your boyfriend’s paranoia interfere with your police work,” Roy affably suggested.
Bree felt her hackles rise. “Nothing interferes with my work,” she replied in a level voice. “But I have this problem. When something doesn’t seem right, the back of my neck tingles. Funny thing, boss. For the past few hours, my neck has been tingling nonstop. No matter what her problems, I can’t see Renee leaving Joshua of her own volition.”
That he didn’t like what she said was evident in the slight tightening of his facial muscles. Roy remained silent as he rocked back and forth in his chair.
“I’ve known the Pattersons a hell of a lot longer than you have, Fitzpatrick,” he finally said. “If you had the health problems she had, you’d probably do whatever was necessary to spare your family any future pain.” He kept his eyes leveled on her. “There are some people who deserve to rest in peace, Fitzpatrick. Renee Patterson’s never wanted people to know just how bad she felt most days. I think her pain finally caught up with her. It’s unfortunate she chose a nasty way to die. I only hope no one else will decide to take their life in such a horrible way.”
Bree’s gaze didn’t waver from his. “I agree.”
He waved at her in dismissal. She stood up and headed for the door.
“Fitzpatrick.”
She stopped and turned around.
“You didn’t talk to Cole Becker about any of this, did you?”
“No, sir, this is strictly department business,” she lied, without batting an eye.
“Mommy, I don’t feel good,” Cody muttered, injecting just enough whine into his voice to make sure he’d be heard. He walked up to his mother and leaned against her.
“Are you sure you don’t have a reason for not going to school today? Because it’s Monday. Do you have a test today?” she asked, brushing his hair away from his face. Her fingertips lingered when she encountered skin much too warm to the touch. “Where don’t you feel good?”
“My ear feels bad.” He wrapped his arms around her hips. “It feels like it did before.”
Bree grimaced. She knew Cody was speaking of the time when he’d had a nasty ear infection.
“I’ll call the doctor’s office and see if I can get you an appointment today.” She picked up the phone and called the department.
“I’ll let the sheriff know, Detective Fitzpatrick,” Irene told her. “Don’t worry about anything except getting your little boy well. We’re a lot more relaxed here than in L.A.”
“I have someone lined up for days like this,” she replied. “It’s just a matter of getting Cody to the doctor.”
“If you don’t already have a doctor, call Dr. Warren’s office,” she suggested. “Mike treats just about everyone here. And he always has some same-day appointments set aside for last-minute emergencies like this.”
“Thanks, I will.” She jotted down the phone number Irene recited.
Bree uttered a silent prayer of thanks when the receptionist at Dr. Warren’s office informed her they could squeeze Cody in later that morning.
She tried to keep him occupied with a coloring book and crayons as she made a few phone calls. She hoped her contacts had news about the autopsy reports she was trying to get. She was assured the papers would be faxed to her home that day.
“Does this doctor have an aquarium like Dr. Brian did?” Cody asked on their way into town.
“I don’t know, sweetie,” she replied, searching for a parking space and finding one in front of a two-story building.
Cody looked disappointed when he discovered there was no aquarium in the reception area, but he brightened up when he saw a room off to one side set up with toys. Lured by the sight of toy cars, he abandoned his mother. Bree signed Cody in and sat down, picking up a magazine.
“Detective?”
She looked up and saw Leo standing over her. The elderly janitor smiled at her.
“Hello, Leo.” She returned his smile. “Are you feeling all right?” She chuckled. “I guess most people would assume the worst when you’re in a doctor’s office.”
“No, just came in for my checkup,” he explained, taking the chair next to her. His gaze seemed pleading. “You know something, don’t you?” he said in a low voice so he wouldn’t be overheard.
“Know what?” She kept her voice equally low.
“That things aren’t what they appear to be,” he replied. “Some may think there’s a good reason why people die, but it’s not always so.”
Bree put her magazine to one side. “What do you know, Leo?” she demanded.
Sorrow seemed to wrap itself around him. “I shouldn’a done it, ma’am. It was wrong.”
“What was wrong?”
“Leo, the doctor will see you now.”
He hesitated as if he feared he’d said too much. Or was it that he felt he hadn’t said enough?
“Just be careful,” he whispered, as he slowly rose to his feet and made his way to the waiting nurse.
Bree hoped to catch him when he left, but Cody was called next. Instead, she sat impatiently with her son while the nurse took his vitals and asked a few questions, then told them the doctor would be in directly.
Bree felt the vibration of her pager against her waistband. She glanced down and read the phone number. Cole.
“Do you have to go to work?” Cody asked, watching her with anxious eyes.
“Not yet,” she assured him. She looked up when she heard a crisp rap on the door and it opened.
A man she guessed to be in his early forties walked briskly into the room. He had blond hair that looked styled, without a strand out of place, a blue polo shirt probably chosen because it matched his eyes, and a lean body thanks to the gym.
Bree didn’t feel the slightest tingle.
He flashed a brilliant smile at both mother and son. “Mrs. Fitzpatrick, I’m Mike Warren.” He held out his hand.
“Dr. Warren.” She returned his smile.
The man turned to Cody. “So, young man, you’re not feeling so hot.”
“Uh-uh,” he mumbled, not looking up at the doctor.
“Can I take a peek in your ear?” he asked.
Cody gazed imploringly at Bree. She gave a barely imperceptible nod.
She watched the doctor talk to Cody in a low voice meant to soothe as he examined the ear.
“Definitely a flare-up there,” he said. “I’ll prescribe some drops for the ear and antibiotics he’ll need to take for the next ten days.” He pulled out his prescription pad and began scribbling. “Don’t worry, he’ll bounce back in no time. Kids generally do.”
“He’s allergic to penicillin,” Bree said.
“Yes, I see that.” He tapped the chart. He finished writing and held out the prescriptions to Bree. “If he’s not showing any improvement in five days, bring him back in.”
“I’ll do that.” She reached for them. “Thank you.”
He held on a beat too long before he released them. “Maybe sometime we could get together for dinner,” he suggested. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that there’s not too many single adults under the age of seventy in this town.”
Bree couldn’t believe she could feel immune to what was probably a smile that made most women’s knees turn to jelly. What exactly had Cole done to her?
Maybe the good doctor didn’t have that devil-may-care attitude Cole Becker sported.
“I have too much going on in my life right now, Dr. Warren, to think about a social life,” she replied. “I’m still taking things one step at a time.”
He lifted his brows in question. “Does that mean I can ask again?”
She smiled. “We’ll see.”
Bree left the office with Cody trotting alongside her. She stopped at the reception desk to inquire if Leo was still there, and was told he’d left fifteen minutes ago.
“You’re not going to go out with him, are you?” Cody asked, as he hopped into their vehicle.
“I hadn’
t planned on it,” she replied. “Why? Do you want me to date him?”
He screwed up his face. “No way! I don’t have to go back to see him, do I?” He fiddled with the vent levers until Bree stopped him. “I don’t like doctors, Mom.”
“And this is a new thing?” she teased, well aware of his dislike of the medical profession. She never told him she was positive he would grow up to be a doctor because of his empathy with the human race.
As her cell phone rang and she switched it on, she noticed Cody rubbing his ear. “Don’t rub your ear, hon,” she chided. “Hello?”
“Your phone tells you what I’m doing?” Cole’s voice rumbled in her ear.
“Cody and I just left the doctor’s office. He has an ear infection.” She settled the phone more snugly. “I made a call about those reports. We’ll have them by the end of today.”
“Which doctor did you see?”
“Dr. Warren. Cody’s pediatrician was out of the office on an emergency.”
“He hit on you?” Cole asked, sounding suspicious.
“Oh yeah.” She reached out and gently brushed Cody’s hand away from his ear. “Big time.”
“Does this mean I need to beat him up on your behalf? I’ve never defended a woman’s honor before, but for you, I’ll give it a whirl. Of course, that will probably mean he won’t play basketball with me anymore. But for you, I’d do it.”
“Thanks a lot, Becker. I’m so glad I have you on my side,” she said in a sarcastic voice. “But you were safe. If there had been a problem I could have easily taken him down. Is there anything else?”
“Will you call me when you get the reports?” he asked. “Or better yet, wanna come over tonight and we’ll study them together?”
She could feel the warmth flood through her body as she heard the hidden meaning in his voice. They would definitely do more than read through autopsy reports.
“I’ll call you later,” she said crisply, while she could still function.
“Mom, you didn’t answer my question.” Cody demanded her attention. “I don’t have to see that doctor again, do I?”
“Not if you don’t want to go back to him. We’ll see what other doctors we might like in the area. However, that means you have to take all your medicine and not complain when I put the drops in your ear,” she told him. “But why don’t you want to go back to Dr. Warren? He seemed nice,” she lied.
Cody gave that little-boy shrug that could mean so many things. “I just don’t like him.”
Bree hid her grin as she thought of Cole’s typical male comments at the thought of competition. “I don’t think you’re alone.”
Chapter 14
Bree had barely crossed Cole’s threshold before she snatched the glass of wine from him and jammed a sheaf of papers into his now-empty hand.
“That bad?” he asked.
“When men are sick, they turn into little boys,” she informed him, dropping down onto the couch. “When little boys are sick, they’re worse. The baby-sitter who’d always told me she could look after Cody if he had to stay home from school couldn’t do it today. It seems it was her spa day and she was heading for San Diego. Cody didn’t want to color. He didn’t want to watch cartoons. He didn’t want to play any of his video games. He wanted to follow me around the house. He hasn’t been this clingy since he was two. I got a twenty-minute break when his medication kicked in and he fell asleep.” She downed her wine like water.
“Another?” Cole held up the bottle.
She shook her head. “No, that did it for me.”
“Have you looked these over?” He sat down beside her.
“I only had time to skim them.” She set the empty glass down.
He began reading the top page. “Anything reach out and grab you?”
“A few things, but I wanted to wait until I brought them over here. I want to see if you notice the same things. But there’s something I want to tell you first.” She relayed her conversation with Leo in the doctor’s office.
Cole’s brow furrowed with thought. “He knows something.”
“I agree. The question is what. He looked scared, Cole. Whatever he knows has him pretty frightened,” she pointed out. “I think it took a lot of courage on his part to tell me what little he did. I think he wants to tell me more, but he’s afraid to.”
“Afraid you have something to do with it, too?”
She shook her head. “No, I think he’s afraid I might say something to the wrong person. I need to talk to him more. Assure him that he has nothing to be afraid of. Whatever he knows has been bottled up inside him and he needs to get it out. He must feel he can trust me. The problem now is getting him to talk freely.”
“Anna’s death,” Cole mused. “It could be tied up with that.”
“For now, let’s see what we can do with these.” She gestured to the reports.
Cole picked up one of the reports and began reading. He murmured a few curses under his breath. “All so impersonal. As if they were never human beings.”
“Keeping it impersonal makes it easier to handle. You can’t lose your objectivity or it gets too difficult to remain on track.” She took a deep breath. “There’s something really funny about the doctors’ signatures.”
He turned his head. “Funny how?”
Bree sorted through the papers and pulled three sheets out. She placed them side by side on the coffee table. She picked up a pen and used it as a pointer.
“I’m no handwriting expert, but while the names on these reports are different, I’d swear the handwriting is the same. It just goes to show that no one ever really read the names or checked them out.”
“How can you tell?” he asked. “I haven’t met one doctor yet who can sign his name so it’s even slightly legible.”
“One thing I’ve been told is you search for constants. They’re here if you look closely enough,” she said. “Not to mention this.” She unfolded a pink sheet of paper and laid it next to the others. “Dr. Warren’s signature from Cody’s bill,” she said smugly. “Perfect for comparison, and you can see the similarity in handwriting.”
“One more piece to the puzzle,” he said.
“And more questions,” she said. “But I think one important one is answered as to why some of the deaths weren’t questioned. When I took Cody to the medical office, I could see that the doctor is kept busy. A lot of senior citizens were in there. It’s the perfect place to determine who will be next.”
Cole shook his head. “A vulture preying on the weak. No one else would have the resources Michael has.” His face darkened with anger. “I play basketball with that bastard a couple times a month. I’ve seen him in pain because he’s lost a patient.”
“Who better than your typical nice guy to plan murder,” she said flatly. “The kind of man who shows the world how much he cares about his patients. Who would dispute it? The deaths weren’t the kind that would raise enough questions to prompt further investigation.”
“I have a friend who’s a handwriting expert,” Cole offered. “He can confirm all those signatures are from the same man.”
“I have one, too. Want to pit my expert against yours?”
“Mine’s good enough to be used when historical documents are in question.” He chose several pages and placed them to one side. “I’ll send him several examples, along with the sheet you got today.”
Bree nodded. “All right.”
Cole slumped back against the couch. “All for money.”
“Anything like this is always for the money.” She slid off her loafers and tucked her bare feet up under her body.
“Joshua,” Cole said suddenly. “We need to talk to him. He has to know something about this.” He turned around and snagged his phone, but Bree stopped him.
“You can’t talk to him tonight. Renee’s funeral is tomorrow,” she reminded him.
“But if we catch him off guard we could find out something,” he insisted.
“That’s the hard-core re
porter talking. Listen to the hard-nosed detective. No.” She exaggerated the word.
“He might be able to fill in the missing pieces,” Cole argued.
“I’m sure he can, and if this was part of a sheriff’s investigation, I would call him and do this the right way,” she said. “But it’s not. In many ways my hands are tied.”
Cole nodded. “I had no idea it would grow into this. You came here for a quieter way of life and I’m dragging you into something that’s threatening you and your family. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” she argued. “You saw a wrong you wanted to make right. Which we will do.”
Bree swiveled around when she heard the doorbell ring.
“That’s our pizza,” he explained, getting up.
“There better not be any mushrooms on it,” she called after him. “And there better be extra cheese.”
“There aren’t and there is.”
Cole sat on the floor in front of the coffee table watching Bree easily demolish half a large pizza.
“Hungry, were you?” he said mildly.
“With three kids, I’m usually lucky to get one slice,” she explained. “Not having to grab for food or referee battles is nice.”
“Bree, how long are you going to hide behind your widow-hood and your kids?” he asked suddenly.
She stopped, her slice of pizza halfway to her mouth.
“I’m not hiding behind anything,” she muttered, refusing to look at him.
“Then why can’t you look me in the face and say that? Look at me. Come on, Bree, what are you so scared of?”
She did as he requested and looked him square in the eye. “Don’t you know you can’t scare a person when they have teenagers?”
“See? You’re doing it right now. Invoking the mother word as if it’s some kind of shield to keep you safe.” He pushed their paper plates and pizza carton to one side.
Bree again refused to look at him. “I have responsibilities,” she said flatly.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t open yourself up.” He grabbed hold of her chin and brought her around to face him.
“Look who’s talking,” she sniped. “The man who makes sure any woman he’s with knows there are no strings attached.”
Small-Town Secrets Page 22