Tyler noticed Nick’s expression and continued, “It gets worse. The State pays per patient and supplies medications. The Department of Corrections also pays per patient and provides some funds for security and facility maintenance. That’s it. Once someone is sent here, everyone washes their hands of them. Our company takes anyone the state wants to send. The worse the patient is, the more they are paid.”
Nick was stunned. “Do you mean there’s no one accountable for day to day operations other than staff?”
Tyler shrugged, “Pretty much.”
“Doesn’t the state come in and inspect living conditions or patient progress?”
Tyler shook his head. “I’m telling you they don’t care or they don’t know what to do. Just review the recent legislation and budget cuts if you need proof. I think the general population would be appalled if they knew the real condition of the mental health system.” Tyler shrugged, “Of course, maybe they don’t care either.”
Nick said, “I want to hear what you think is going on, Tyler.”
Tyler sighed and glanced over to where Renee and Ryan were dispensing medications to borrowed staff from Buildings A, B and C.
Tyler lowered his voice so Renee wouldn’t hear him. “I thought Renee was having a breakdown when she came to my office. Building D has done that to employees before. I told her I would do some snooping. Once I started looking into things, I couldn’t stop. That’s why I’m still here tonight. I think things started going wrong about a month ago from the looks of the reports.”
Nick said, “Get more specific.”
Tyler shrugged, “The reports stopped. The only requisitions I can find are for food and drugs. Lots of drugs, six times more than what should have been needed. To tell you the truth, the drug orders have been heavier than they should have been for years now.”
Jen asked, “Wouldn’t the state have noticed a sudden increase in orders?”
Tyler shrugged again. “Maybe eventually. I’m talking years, not weeks. Like I said, nobody wants to get involved with this type of facility. If duplicate drug orders were found, they might not even be reported. If it was reported, it would be reported to us.”
Jen was shocked. “The company that owns this place is who the report would go to?”
“Yes. If a violation is deemed systemic by the state, meaning the activity continues, the state could ask for an investigation by the Justice Department. Trust me, that is a very large pile, and we would be on the bottom.”
Nick said, “Let’s go through your files. Let’s look first at who is missing. How many patients are supposed to be here?”
Tyler answered, “There are 1247 patients in Buildings A, B and C, and 64 staff. Building D is supposed to have 15 staff and 237 patients.”
Nick wondered where the other fourteen staff persons of Building D were. The only one he had met so far was Renee.
Tyler opened a file. His index finger pointed to a picture of a woman in her mid-thirties, nice smile. “I’ve tried to sort out the Building D staff and patients first for you. Nancy Logan, R.N. No one has seen her for three weeks at least. However, I have multiple drug orders done on her ID code to the state over this period. One was done this morning.”
Tyler opened another file. “Dr. John Bates. Renee and Ryan seem to think they have been talking to an imposter. I checked with the state and Dr. Bates requested a new ID badge last week that was delivered today. What I could find on him hinted that this place was his whole life. No wife, kids, siblings. He has been the number two administrator for this building for two years.” Tyler raised his eyebrows. “Seems kind of fishy he would just stop coming in to work and then order a new ID badge.”
Tyler opened a third file, “Dr. Edmund Elmhurst. I understand Renee took him to the police department tonight, so I guess he isn’t really missing.”
Jen grabbed the file from in front of Tyler and turned it around to face Nick.
Nick glanced back up at Jen, “This isn’t the man Renee brought to the police station.”
Renee was standing at Wayne’s table talking to one of the patrol policemen. Jen yelled for Renee to come to their table.
Nick pointed to the picture of the real Dr. Elmhurst in the file. “Do you know who this is?”
Renee shook her head. “I’ve never seen that man before.”
Tyler said, “That is Dr. Edmund Elmhurst.”
Renee’s knees went weak and she sat down. “Then who did Ryan and I take out of here?”
* * *
Kamber was starving. She looked at her watch and saw it was only midnight. She felt as if she had been freezing for eight days. Joseph was right. It was one thing to think you understood the plight of the homeless and quite another to experience it. Chad was fast asleep and snoring. Experiment or not, she was going to use a real toilet and find something to eat. Kamber silently raised herself up and tiptoed to the door. She slowly twisted the handle, stepped into the hall and quietly closed the door behind her. She didn’t want Chad to catch her cheating.
Kamber scurried into the bathroom and sighed with relief at how warm it felt. She did feel a little guilty for cheating, but decided she’d get over it. She checked her reflection in the mirror and nearly screamed. She looked as if she had aged 20 years in one day. Mascara was smudged all over her face and her hair looked like it had gone through a blender. She did a little repair work with a wash cloth and her fingers. She didn’t want to look too good.
On the kitchen counter next to the toaster was a paper plate with garlic toast wrapped in plastic wrap. Kamber unwrapped the plastic wrap slowly as to not make a sound. She picked up a piece of the garlic toast and ran it past her nose. The aroma was irresistible. She stuffed half the slice in her mouth just as Chad turned on the kitchen light and yelled, “Aha! Caught ya!”
Kamber held out the paper plate to Chad as a peace offering. He grabbed two pieces. They leaned against the kitchen island moaning as they ate. Kamber motioned toward the refrigerator and whispered, “Get us something to drink.”
Chad turned and then stopped. “What the heck is this?”
Kamber walked around the corner and froze. A large pool of what looked like blood was on the white marble floor with impact splatters on the cabinet door. Kamber ran to Lacey’s door and softly knocked, “Lacey? Lacey, are you okay? There’s blood in the kitchen.”
There was no answer. Chad walked up behind her and whispered, “Go in.”
Kamber turned the knob and opened the door. Lacey wasn’t there. The bed hadn’t been slept in. Chad turned on the light and said, “Maybe she went to Nick’s house. Call her.”
Kamber ran to her room and got her phone. She didn’t care that it was midnight, Lacey would understand. She dialed as she ran back to Chad. Kamber heard Lacey’s phone ringing in stereo. Chad held up his hand; he had Lacey’s phone. “Her purse is here, too. Now what?”
Kamber dug in her pocket and found the phone number Nick had given her and dialed. After several rings a woman answered, “Control Center answering Nick Stryker’s line.”
Kamber wasn’t sure what to say. “I need to speak to Nick Stryker please.”
The woman answered, “Detective Stryker is at a level two crime scene. He can only receive calls from the Control Center. You’ll have to leave a message.”
Kamber stomped her foot in frustration. “Ask him to call Kamber, tell him it’s urgent.”
“What is the number ma’am?” Kamber gave her number and dropped her phone onto the counter.
Chad was staring at the pool of blood and then pointed. “There are drops leading toward the door. Do you think she went to a hospital?”
Kamber ran to the front window and saw that Lacey’s car was in the driveway. She yelled to Chad, “Wherever she went, she didn’t drive. Her car is still here.”
Kamber looked like she had an idea.
Chad asked, “What?”
Kamber said, “That third GPS chip is gone. Nick left it on the counter, remember? I don’t see
it now.” Kamber started searching every place she thought Lacey might have put it. She remembered Nick telling Lacey to put it in her jewelry box. It wasn’t there. “I don’t see it anywhere. What if she has it on her?”
Chad shook his head, “That would be quite a coincidence, don’t you think? Why would she have it on her?”
Kamber raised her voice, “I don’t know! I’m just desperate.” She grabbed her phone and went to the GPS device app that Nick had downloaded. Nick had engaged all three chips and all three chips were displayed on the top tool bar. Kamber touched device A and device B and device C and then ‘map’, like Nick had shown her. A map appeared and displayed chips A and B on top of each other and chip C way off to the south.
Kamber turned her phone to Chad and said, “Ha! Let’s go find her!”
Chad said, “We don’t know that’s her. I think we should call the police.”
Kamber answered, “I’m going to chase down this chip with or without you. We’ve already got a message into Nick. We can call the police when we get there.”
Chad rubbed his hands over his face. He already knew better than to argue with Kamber. “Let me go to the bathroom first. Why don’t you shut that window in your room since we’ve flunked the experiment anyway?”
Kamber went to her room to close the window. As she was locking it, she saw a dirty shoe print on the comforter. A very large shoeprint. Someone had crawled in the window and that someone had Lacey. Kamber screamed for Chad.
* * *
Renee called for Ryan to come over to Nick and Jen’s table. Renee held up the picture of Dr. Elmhurst. “Ryan, this is the real Dr. Elmhurst.”
Ryan studied the picture and said, “Yeah, I’ve seen him around for years. Not lately though. His name is Dr. Elmhurst? Then who…”
Nick slid a stack of files Tyler had prepared across the table and said, “Let’s start going through these until we find a picture that matches our guest at the station.”
Jen returned to the table from making a call. “Correction, we no longer have a guest at the station. He left. They said he just walked out. I was reminded that we left the door open for him.”
Tyler kept pushing files from the banker boxes toward Renee, Ryan, Jen and Nick.
Nick opened a file; a picture of Jake Billow stared back at him. “Well, here’s one guy I’m interested in.”
Renee glanced over, “That’s Dr. Bates.”
Ryan glanced over and nodded, “Yeah, a real creep.”
Jen exhaled, “He’s no doctor. He’s a killer; read the bio.”
Ryan read the bio and then elbowed Renee, “I told you he wasn’t right.”
Nick looked at Jen, “Billow is pretending to be Dr. John Bates? Would you call Control with that alias for the APB?”
Jen nodded and placed the call. It was going to be very helpful having Billow’s alias. She was beginning to have hope.
Renee frowned at Ryan. “You told me I was smuggling a doctor out of here. Keep looking in the files for our guy’s picture. He must be a patient.”
Jen yelped. “Oh, God! Here he is! Read the bio.”
Nick read a minute. He looked at Tyler. “Am I reading this right? This guy is a delusional psychopath that thinks he’s a doctor. He was convicted of mutilating dozens of people while performing his ‘surgeries’. It says he actually passed himself off as a surgeon in a hospital which is how he got caught. He’s labeled here as highly dangerous, cunning and not likely to improve.”
Tyler was speed reading the computer printout next to the picture. “Yes, that’s what it says, Marcus Newberry. Let’s hope he doesn’t reopen his practice before you find him. What’s scary is that they know they have nothing to lose. He’ll end up right back here.”
Nick said, “There’s nothing to protect the staff or other patients from people like him. I suppose you just keep them drugged out of their minds. I can’t imagine living in this environment.” Nick wondered how they ever found medical professionals willing to work there.
Tyler shook his head, “These patients have the right to refuse medications and we can’t force them. Only about half of the patients in Building D are taking the recommended meds from what I can tell.”
Nick looked at Ryan, “Whatever made you think Marcus Newberry was really a doctor?”
Ryan answered, “He gave medications and stuff, just like me. Everyone called him ‘Doc’ for years. He was real smart. He took out a patient’s tonsils once.” Ryan got a serious look on his face. “She died from complications though. I think they were mad at him for that.” He started twitching and looked at Renee. “I need some drugs.”
Nick’s phone rang with a SWAT ID. “Stryker.” Nick listened for a while and said, “We’re putting together ID files now. Let me know when the coroner arrives. I’ll be there shortly.”
“SWAT has found a dozen or so remains in the vacated crematorium building. Some of the bodies are fresh. Only a few in the oven.” Nick looked at Tyler, “Did anyone have a partial artificial leg that you know?”
Tyler winced, “Dr. Elmhurst had an artificial left leg from the knee down.”
Nick sighed, “We found the real Dr. Elmhurst.”
Nick stared at the file for Billow and got an idea. “Wayne, where is the day guard for the entry gate? Is he here?”
Wayne flipped through some notes, “Yeah, he’s bitching about it but he’s here. I think he’s just outside in the hall.” Wayne got up and came back a few minutes later with the day guard.
Nick showed him the picture of Billow and asked, “Do you know who this is? What he drives?”
The guard nodded his head, “He’s that new doctor for Building D. He just registered a van to the facility for patient transfers.”
Nick felt his adrenaline pump, “Do you have that registration form?”
The guard flipped through his clipboard and pulled off a sheet of paper that he handed Nick. “Right there. Got his address, vehicle ID, copy of driver’s license; everything I’m required to get.”
The guard was getting defensive. He was probably intimidated by the massive police presence at the facility. Nick smiled at him, “Good job. You might have saved the day.”
The guard smiled back and offered his services for as long as they needed him. Wayne smiled and ushered him from the room.
Nick called Control with the address for Billow and VIN number of the blue panel van. He was sure the address was phony, but the VIN had to have been checked by DMV for the registration tag. They were making progress. Billow was running out of time.
* * *
Lacey felt like she was in a bad dream. She opened her eyes and realized she was in a small closet with men’s clothing. Her head was killing her. Suddenly she remembered the man striking her. Her adrenaline rushed at the thought that maybe the man had harmed Kamber and Chad. She forced herself not to panic, and pretended Nick was giving her step by step instructions. Lacey shifted her body to determine what her situation really was. She had been drugged. Her limbs were weak and her mind was sluggish. She focused on what Nick had taught her. He had told her that there was always an opportunity, you just had to find it.
Study your opponent. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she could see that her abductor had made a big mistake. He had taped her hands in front of her. Nick had taught her how to escape being taped but she had to be able to stand.
She bent her elbows so her fingers were near her mouth and pulled down on the tape that wrapped around her head. Once the tape was below her chin she could open her mouth. She did a few deep breathing exercises and began to feel her head clearing. She used her fingernails to begin sawing through the tape that was binding her ankles. She thought about her kidnapper. He hadn’t wrapped her ankles nearly tight enough. Kidnapping wasn’t his thing. A narrow light ran the length of the closet door. Lacey bent down and pressed her cheek to the floor. She could tell that some piece of furniture was in front of the door, she could see its thick feet. Beyond that, she could see
the bottom of a shabby looking couch or chair. It was quiet in the room.
Lacey willed all of her strength to stand. She examined the clothing in the closet looking for sizes and any hints of her kidnapper’s identity. Her attention returned to her wrists. She had to get free. Nick had taught her to raise her taped wrists high above her head and then with one quick motion, use all of her strength to snap them free from the tape when she lowered her arms to her sides. Her first attempt didn’t work. Her elbow had hit the wall causing pain to shoot up her arm. She listened to make sure her abductor had not heard the thunk.
She centered herself in the closet and tried again. It worked! Her wrists were free. A loud slam confirmed her abductor had arrived home. He was just outside of the closet door. Lacey braced herself for the inevitable fight.
Billow stared at the closet door frame behind the chest of drawers. He wondered how Lacey was doing. Was she still drugged? Was she awake? He walked toward the chest and then stopped himself. There were other things to worry about tonight and he was tired. He turned and walked into his bedroom.
Minutes turned into an hour. Lacey finally heard the sound of him snoring. She leaned her head back against the wall and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. She had to stay strong. Nick had taught her well. There was nothing she could do but wait.
CHAPTER 19
Thursday 1:00 a. m.
Milo Spulane wasn’t accustomed to someone waking him at one in the morning. As boss for the Northside crew, he expected his men to take care of issues for him. He glared at the waiting guard when he opened his bedroom door. The guard sheepishly handed Milo a phone.
“This better be an emergency.” Milo growled into the phone, “What?”
The Chicago Outfit boss was calling him. Milo blinked his eyes awake and listened. The boss was calling a meeting for three a.m. Milo was expected to be there. There had been a massacre at Dominick’s estate.
Milo sat on the edge of the bed and collected his thoughts. It would be easier now to get the Westside crew merged with his. It made perfect sense. Milo couldn’t believe his good luck. A massacre at Dominick’s estate. The words echoed in his head like music. Milo looked in his closet and selected his best suit.
Twisted: Nick Stryker Series, Book Two The Shallow End Gals Page 16