Compulsion (Max Revere Novels Book 2)

by Brennan, Allison

  He softened, just a bit. “Look, kid, I feel sorry for you. I knew Martha, but I can promise you I’m not your father. She was already pregnant when we were together. But I’m married, and I was married then, and my wife is fragile. I’m not going to let you create a scandal when I just got out of one.”

  “I don’t want to—” she began, but he cut her off.

  “You should know one thing about your mother. You can’t believe a word that comes out of her mouth. Now go. And honestly, if you come here again, I’ll have you arrested.”

  * * *

  That had been one of the worst days of her life. She’d flown back home that night, two cross-country trips in one day, feeling small and worthless. It had been later, when she was more angry than humiliated, that she’d pushed for the paternity test. He’d reluctantly agreed.

  It had been negative.

  He wasn’t the one who had lied to her; it was her mother who had lied.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  David and Nick listened to the doctor explain that Riley had nearly died from her overdose, and to stabilize her they had to induce a coma. She’d listed on her Greenhaven forms to contact Maxine Revere in case of an emergency, but no one had been able to reach Ms. Revere.

  “I can’t tell you anything else, unless you’re family,” the doctor said.

  “I’ll call her father,” David said. “Are you positive she OD’d?”

  “Blood test came back positive. It’s a designer drug, but we’ve seen it before. Extremely dangerous, especially when injected like Ms. Butler did. Greenhaven called the paramedics immediately upon finding her this morning. Probably saved her life. We’ll know more in a day or two. Excuse me.” He walked away.

  David turned to Nick. “This isn’t what it seems. There’s something else going on. We need her things.”

  “Let me talk to the nurse,” Nick said. “I may be out of my jurisdiction, but they’re usually helpful with cops.”

  Nick walked away, and David stood outside Riley’s room. He considered what he knew. Why would Riley admit herself into a rehab facility—obviously as some sort of farce to gain information—and then inject herself with drugs?

  David dialed Riley’s father, even though he dreaded the call. He spoke officially, hiding his anger. It was more than anger at Riley—he was upset. Max was missing and now Riley was in a coma. Had Max condoned this? Had she hinted to Riley that it was a good idea to go undercover?

  Max went missing Thursday night. She didn’t know what Riley had planned.

  Riley was in the meeting Friday morning. She knew Max had been kidnapped, and she went off without telling anyone. Did she remember something important about Greenhaven? Why hadn’t she told David?

  She told someone. A friend—Ben knows who it is.

  “My wife and I will be down there in a few hours,” Lieutenant Butler said after David told him the facts as he knew them. “Mr. Kane, what the hell happened?”

  “I don’t know, sir, but I will find out.”

  “Riley had trouble with drugs when she was fifteen, but she hasn’t used since. And I’m not blind to it just because she’s my daughter. I can promise you she’s not using again. And she popped pills. She’s never used needles.”

  “I believe you, sir,” David said, though he didn’t know what to believe at this point. But he couldn’t discount the information about Riley’s preferred drug choice. Kids who popped pills or smoked pot didn’t suddenly start shooting themselves up with heroin or whatever Riley had in her system. “I don’t know what happened, but I suspect she was following through on a lead and got in over her head.”

  Silence. “That,” Lieutenant Butler said quietly, “is something I do believe. My daughter has always been unusually curious. Anything you need, Mr. Kane, let me know.”

  “You should know that Maxine Revere has been kidnapped. We haven’t released the information to the press, but the FBI is working with us on recovering her.”

  “Is that what my daughter was doing? Looking for her?”

  “I don’t know what she was doing at Greenhaven. Not specifically, but I will move heaven and earth to find out who did this to her.”

  “You believe this wasn’t a drug overdose.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “It was, but I don’t believe that it was a voluntary overdose. She has a friend who she confided in, and I’m heading back to New York to interrogate him now. But until we know what’s going on, I’m going to put a guard on her room.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Kane. I’ll be down there as soon as possible.”

  David hung up and then called his former employer, a private security company, and hired a bodyguard for Riley. He informed the hospital that no one except hospital personnel was allowed in Riley Butler’s room until her father arrived. David waited until the bodyguard showed up, instructed him, and called Nick to tell him he was leaving for New York. They met up at the car.

  Nick said, “I have the name of Riley’s friend, the one who covered for her with Ben Lawson. Kyle Callahan.”

  “Don’t know him.”

  “He’s a Columbia grad student and when he found out that Riley was in the hospital, he spilled everything to Ben and Marco. Marco has him in the NET offices.”

  “Let’s go.” David drove fast out of the parking lot.

  “And one more thing. Bachman’s lawyer was murdered in his apartment. Early forensics believe it happened late Thursday night or early Friday morning.”

  Around the same time that Max disappeared.

  * * *

  It was after five that afternoon by the time David and Nick arrived back at the NET offices and walked into the middle of what sounded like an interrogation. Marco was angry and Kyle, the young grad student, looked terrified.

  “I want to help,” Kyle said, “I really do. But I don’t know what I can tell you. I told you everything I know.”

  Marco slapped his hand on the table. “You have to know what Riley was looking for! You gave her a computer, knew she was going to commit herself into rehab.”

  “I only knew that she wanted to look at records.”

  “So you aided and abetted in a felony?”

  “No!” Wide-eyed, he looked from Marco to David, then back to the fed. “Do I need a lawyer?”

  “I haven’t read you your rights,” Marco snapped. “But if you want to play it that way, I’m more than happy to.”

  David crossed the room and sat next to Marco. “I’m David Kane,” he told Kyle.

  “I know.”

  David raised an eyebrow.

  Kyle shifted uneasily in his seat. “Riley mentioned you a few times. Is she okay?”

  “She’s in a medically induced coma because of a drug overdose.”

  “Drugs? No. No way. She doesn’t use. I swear to God, she doesn’t. She got in deep years ago, but she doesn’t use anymore. Her best friend got wasted and nearly died. It woke her up, and, well, she just wouldn’t.”

  “I believe you,” David said. “Was Riley at Greenhaven because Max sent her to go in undercover? I promise you, nothing you say is going to get Riley in trouble, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Kyle glanced at Marco.

  “Marco,” David said sharply, getting his attention. “Give him what he needs.”

  Reluctantly, Marco said, “You have five minutes of immunity if you spill everything now. But if you lie to us, all bets are off.”

  Kyle spoke rapidly, as if he believed Marco would hold him to the five-minute time limit. “Riley came to me Monday and I helped her find Greenhaven. She told her boss, Ms. Revere, about it and Riley wanted to follow up, you know, prove she was good. And Ms. Revere wanted to go with her. So they did. I don’t know what they found, Riley wouldn’t tell me anything, but she was upset that Ms. Revere didn’t let her go undercover. There was another case, she said, down in Florida where someone went undercover at an old folks’ place, and Riley had read that book a dozen times. I don’t know the details, bu
t Riley wanted to do the same thing. But Ms. Revere said no, they didn’t have time to set it up. But when she disappeared Thursday night, Riley wanted to go in for the weekend and dig up all the information she could that might help find her. She kept saying that Max knew there was a connection to Greenhaven and couldn’t prove it, but Riley would. She wanted so badly to prove herself. Please don’t fire her—”

  “Stop. We’re beyond that. What did she plan to do?”

  “I don’t know! I swear! I gave her a decoder—”

  “Decoder?” Marco interrupted.

  “A small laptop that you plug into a USB port and it decodes any passwords. I, um, am still in my five minutes, right?”

  “Yes,” David said. He turned to Marco. “I checked with the hospital. Nothing was found in her personal effects. She had a cell phone, but it was a burner phone, not her work phone. No computer or decoder or anything.”

  Kyle piped up. “She did. I swear.”

  Marco asked, “Do you have a way to track it?”

  “If it’s on.”

  “Anything else? Anything at all?” David said.

  “That’s it. That’s all I know.”

  “Mr. Callahan,” Marco said, “you’re very lucky this time. Next time—you won’t be.”

  “I’m so sorry. Can I—can I go and see Riley? Please?”

  “First, give us everything we need to track that laptop. And I want all your contact numbers. If Mr. Kane or I call, you pick up, got it?”

  “Yes, sir. Absolutely, sir.”

  David sent Kyle off with Pete, the head of the IT department. Once he was alone in the room with Ben, Marco, and Nick, he said, “Who at Greenhaven knew what Riley was up to?”

  Nick said, “Nanette Jackson seemed sincerely concerned about Riley. Could she have drugged her, called 911, and then faked her reaction?”

  “Possible,” David said. “She knew who Riley was and that Max had shown an interest in Greenhaven. Maybe she picked up on the game Max was playing.”

  “That would mean she thought Riley knew something or could learn something that would damage Greenhaven or Jackson personally,” Marco said. “It seems a stretch.”

  “That’s the thing,” Nick said, “she’s concerned about the reputation of Greenhaven and the privacy of its patients. She didn’t confirm that Bachman or Baker had been patients there. But would she attempt to murder someone in order to keep that secret? Because it’s not a big secret—staff knows, other residents, and we should have a warrant any minute for their records.”

  “It does seem far-fetched,” Marco agreed.

  Ben paced behind David. “I should have seen this coming,” he said. “Riley has been going above and beyond since she got here. Trying to prove herself.”

  “Ben, it’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault,” Marco said.

  David didn’t agree. It was Riley’s decision to go off on her own. It didn’t mean she deserved to be attacked, but it meant she wasn’t ready for this kind of work. But he didn’t say anything, because he also blamed himself. He’d seen it coming. He’d had Riley pegged from the beginning. She would do anything to prove her worth to Max. She was practically obsessed with her boss. David should have pushed harder with Max, harder with Riley, limited the girl and what she was allowed to do. Especially after the meeting yesterday, but David had been so focused on figuring out what happened to Max that he hadn’t considered what Riley might do on her own.

  Nick slid over to Marco the employment records on Baker that they’d received from Jackson. “Nothing in here jumps out at me, but his parents and previous home address are there. We need to talk to this Doctor Duvall. According to Ms. Hudson, Duvall was both Baker and Bachman’s shrink. He should remember this guy, considering the patient turned into an employee.”

  “The New York office is working on getting a warrant for all Greenhaven records related to Cole Baker. Arthur has been helpful there.”

  David’s cell rang: Sally O’Hara. He put her call on speaker.

  “I have an address for Baker. Looks to be a good one. Plus I got a warrant to search his residence.”

  “That was fast,” Marco said, impressed.

  “Max saved my sister’s life. I’ll move heaven and earth to find her. Baker lives in Queens. Three blocks from where we found the Palazzolos. I’m sending you the address, but my boss is sending in a tactical unit, so be prepared.”

  “Thanks, Sally. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

  Marco excused himself and left the room, putting his phone to his ear.

  David said to Ben, “Stop pacing or I’ll make you stop.”

  Ben stood in front of the windows and looked out. “Is she dead? Just tell me.”

  “No,” David said. But he didn’t know if he believed it anymore.

  Marco came right back into the room. “We have the warrant for Greenhaven’s records on Baker and Bachman. And the New York office contacted Duvall through Greenhaven’s attorney. Duvall has agreed to talk with us.”

  “I’d like to join you,” Nick said.

  Surprisingly, Marco agreed.

  Marco said to David, “Let me know what you find in Queens.”

  “Ditto with Duvall.”

  * * *

  After the tactical team cleared Baker’s apartment and determined he wasn’t there, Sally and David methodically searched the small space.

  The place was a clean dump. The building sagged with age, but the apartment was tidy. He wasn’t as immaculate as Adam Bachman, but clean.

  “Why is he living here when he works at Greenhaven?” Sally thought out loud.

  “He left Greenhaven nearly two years ago,” David told her. “At least that’s what the records indicated.”

  Sally pulled out her notepad. “He moved in here September fifteenth of that year. It’s three blocks from where we found the Palazzolos,” she added.

  “He could easily have known you found the sodium hydroxide,” David said. “From the roof of this building there’s a clear line of sight to the rail yard.”

  “Why pull Max into this now? It’s like they were just waiting for us to find something, and then Bachman calls her?”

  David had been thinking the same thing. He kept going back to Arthur Ullman’s conclusion that something about this case was personal to Baker, something about Max herself. And though they still had a lot to learn about Baker, there didn’t appear to be any connection between him and Max.

  “Are they smart enough to pull this off?” David asked as he opened Baker’s kitchen cabinets. The contents were sparse and orderly. “To manipulate an investigation to such a degree?” Though based on Arthur’s analysis last night, neither Bachman nor Baker were the brains. There was a third person with the vision, for lack of a better word. “Dr. Ullman thinks there’s another person involved. Possibly the leader.”

  David opened the cabinet under the kitchen sink. Two twenty-five-pound sodium hydroxide containers had been pushed to the back. “Sally.”

  She squatted and swore under her breath. “Same size and brand as what we found in the tunnel. I’ll alert the crime scene techs when we’re done here.”

  They moved their search to the living room. Sally asked, “Why did Max start snooping around again three weeks ago?”

  “I don’t understand what you mean.” A small television sat on a cabinet. Inside were DVDs of all kinds, but David knew they’d have to look at each disk in case he’d hidden something on them, using the cases as a disguise.

  “It’s because she pushed me then, started snooping around like she does, that I took another look at the files, found the chemicals, then found the victims. Why three weeks ago? Why not two months ago? Six months ago?”

  “Time,” David said. Suddenly, several things Max had been telling him over the last few months began to make sense. She’d been angry about being spread too thin. “Two months ago she was in Florida investigating an underage prostitution ring that ended up being tied to a drug cartel. Then she was in
California for a funeral and ended up staying because of a cold case. Once she got back, she started prepping for the Bachman trial—and that put the Palazzolos front and center again.”

  “Someone who was that brutal to strangers isn’t going to stop killing for a year,” Sally said.

  “That’s a psych question, above my pay grade.”

  She shot him a glance. “Hardly. But it—oh, shit.”

  David crossed the small room to where Sally was standing in front of a small desk.

  Inside the bottom drawer were all four of Max’s books, in hardcover, lined up by publication date. Sally pulled out the most recent book, Killer Nurse, which had numerous sticky notes marking specific pages and passages.

  Also in the desk was a day planner. David grabbed it and opened it up.

  Baker had been tracking Max. He had blocks of time marked out when she’d been out of town. He had photos of her going in and out of a variety of places, including the NET building and her apartment. This planner was for this year; another planner was under the books. It was for last year. He’d started following her last March, fifteen months ago. Six months after he moved to New York City.

  “He’s been stalking her,” David said. “And I didn’t know.” What good was he to Max—to anyone—if he couldn’t identify a stalker?

  “David, you couldn’t have known. He didn’t send her threats. He kept his distance. These pictures are zoomed in. He didn’t need to get close.”

  That didn’t appease David.

  He grabbed the other three books. They, too, had been marked up. “We need to get this to Arthur Ullman. He might be able to make sense of why Baker marked these specific passages.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Carter Duvall lived in a stately home in Stamford, Connecticut, less than an hour from the city and a little over on hour from Hartford in the opposite direction. Marco had been on the phone the entire time they were driving up, but Nick picked up on the important points. A team of federal agents had been dispatched to Greenhaven to pull the records covered by the warrant. David had also contacted Marco and said Baker wasn’t at his apartment, but they’d found evidence that Baker had been stalking Max for more than a year.