by Robin Mahle
“I don’t know, Chief. I guess…Well, I guess he was kind of weird.”
“Did you, at any time, suspect something was off with him? Not necessarily his personality, but I don’t know, his handling of patients.” He noted the long pause. “Hopkins? You still there?”
“I’m here. You want the truth, Chief?”
“Please.”
“There were a few times when I didn’t know if it was me, or the circumstance, or what, but I didn’t think certain situations turned out the way they should have.”
“I see. And you never came to me with your concerns?”
“No. I guess not. Like I said, I didn’t want to think. I could never be sure, and I didn’t want to accuse someone of something they didn’t do.” She paused again. “Why are you asking about him now, Chief? What’s going on?”
“Honestly? I don’t know if anything’s going on. Just that I had my own concerns and I wanted to see what your thoughts were.”
“I think if you’re concerned, then there’s probably a reason to be.”
“You might be right. I won’t keep you. It sure was nice to talk to you, Hopkins and I wish you continued success in your new life.”
“Hey, Chief, if you need to talk again, I’m here.”
“I appreciate that. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Chief.”
Zimmerman set down his phone and pulled onto his driveway. “Well, hell.”
5
The high-strung Agent Brighton knocked on the door of Kate’s hotel room. A briefing took place after her arrival last night, and this morning Brighton was slated to take her to the crime scenes. She’d been up until the early hours studying the case file to cover the bases and was ready to get started.
Kate opened the door and wore a pleasant smile. “Morning, Brighton.”
“Morning, Reid.” He stood at attention and looked as though he could hardly contain his excitement to show her around. “Should we get going?”
Kate stepped through the door and before she could say a word, Brighton continued. “You want to grab a coffee on the way? I’ve had two cups this morning already, but it’s cold and I wouldn’t mind another. You know, I’m an early riser and tend to start my days just before dawn. The wife hates it except when I get the kids ready for her to take to school in the morning. Then I’m not such a pain in the butt. But you know, I love being a dad. It’s the best thing in the world. You have any kids, Reid?”
Kate could do nothing to stop this train and simply nodded and smiled when appropriate, answering with the occasional “yes” or “no.” There was no room for anything else. It was going to be a very long day.
“Brighton,” she finally interrupted. “Where’s our first stop?”
“Oh, right. It’s in the Highland Hills neighborhood in the suburbs of Denver. Did you get a chance to review the files? I have no doubt you’ll take the ball and run with it. I’ve heard a lot about you, Reid, and after our briefing last night with SSA Surrey, you showed the team it was the right call to bring you in.”
“Thanks.” Kate stepped into Brighton’s car. “I’ll take that coffee if you don’t mind.”
The Maryland Board of Physician’s office had just opened. Ray Zimmerman had waited in his car for 30 minutes and now was the time to get some answers. He stepped out and pulled on a heavy coat as the day was off to a cold start. Zimmerman took in a deep breath and peered at the building, second-guessing his decision to pick at this scab. Nevertheless, in the event there was something rancid beneath it, the burden rested on his shoulders to bring it to light and let it heal.
He continued toward the building and walked inside. “Good morning. I wanted to get information on a formerly licensed physician. Who would I speak to about that?”
The woman behind the front desk cast up her gaze. “Is this doctor licensed in Maryland?”
“No, actually. He is a certified EMT here, though. Does that make a difference?”
“Not really. We only have access to records of doctors licensed to practice in this state. I suggest you make a call or visit where the physician was originally licensed.”
Another woman who sat kiddy-corner behind the same front counter cleared her throat. “That’s not entirely true, Carla.” She looked at Zimmerman. “We do have access to databases from other states. It’s how we verify previous employment details. But I’m afraid the only people who can request such a search would be prospective employers. A hospital here in the state. Do you work for one of the hospitals?”
Zimmerman shook his head. “No, I don’t. But thank you so much.” He started to leave when the woman called Carla spoke again.
“If you’re in contact with one of the state hospitals, or have worked with anyone there, I suggest you have them give us a call. They could authorize a records search.”
He smiled. “Thank you. I’ll do that. I appreciate your help. Have a good day.” Zimmerman reached his car and knew exactly what to do next. With his phone in his hand, he made the call. Having been a paramedic in Baltimore for going on 20 years, he knew a lot of doctors. This one, in particular, happened to be the Chief of Surgery at St. Michael’s. If he couldn’t pull records on Bishop, no one could.
“Dr. Caldwell, it’s Ray Zimmerman. I didn’t interrupt a game of golf, I hope?”
“Not this morning. How are you, Ray? Haven’t heard from you in a while.”
“Doing well, Doc. Thanks. Listen, I wanted to ask a bit of a favor.”
“Shoot.”
Zimmerman started his car. “I was wondering if you could put in a records request on a doctor who works for me.”
“You have a doctor working as an EMT?” he asked.
“Odd as that sounds, yes, I do. His name is Theodore Bishop. From what I understand, he was licensed in Rhode Island.”
“Are you looking to dig up something on this guy, Ray? Is there a reason you’re asking for this?”
“We’ve known each other for a long time, Doc. I think you know I wouldn’t ask something like this without good reason. Will you help me?”
“I’ll see what I can find and shoot it over to you just as soon as I can.”
“Thank you. It’s important, Doc.”
For the first time in a long while, Nick felt as though he could breathe. That he had been freed from the elephant on his chest. He knew the reason was that Kate was in Denver consulting on an investigation. The odd sensation that he felt better without her around meant their relationship was in worse shape than he thought. Maybe this break was necessary for the both of them.
As he sat in his office, coming to terms with his new role on the team, he wanted to dive back into his work. That was how he chose to handle things. He pushed down the problem and refused to let it consume him. The phone on his desk rang. “Scarborough here.”
“Nick Scarborough. How the hell are you, man?”
Nick creased his brow. “Good, man. What’s going on?”
“You don’t know who I am, do you?”
“It’s been a long week. I apologize, but no.”
“It’s Mitch Palmero, man.”
Nick pushed back in his chair and wore a smile. “Palmero? Wow. It’s good to hear from you, brother. Where the hell you been?”
“Still riding it out in Houston. But you. You’re in with the big boys now. Quantico. That’s crazy. Senior unit agent. Never thought I’d see the day.”
Nick closed his eyes for a moment. “I’m not in the role anymore. But I am still here with the BAU team. Cameron Fisher is the senior unit agent now.”
“Oh.”
The pause was long enough that Nick thought he’d lost the call. “You still there?”
“I’m here, man. Look, it doesn’t matter anyway. You’re the one I need to talk to.”
“You have something cooking?” Nick asked in an effort to push past the awkward admission.
“As a matter of fact, I just might. I got a call from our satellite office in Corpus Christi. You remember that hurri
cane a few weeks back over in Oakview, near Galveston?”
“Yeah, of course. It was all over the news.”
“It was, yeah. The media split just as soon as the worst of it was over, forgetting all about the cleanup efforts. But anyway, that’s not why I’m calling you. There’s this detective in Oakview who got involved with a couple of suspected murder cases that took place during the rescue efforts.”
“Holy shit,” Nick replied.
“Holy shit is right. People out there needing help and hell, I don’t know. It’s messed up. Anyway, it’s too late to make this long story short, but I’ll do my best to sum it up. I think we could be dealing with a serial-type killer. What makes this shit scarier is this person appears to have had medical training of some sort. I don’t know for sure if that’s the case, but I can say with almost certainty that the individual last seen with these two victims was an out-of-state EMT volunteering his services.”
“Don’t suppose you were lucky enough to get a name?” Nick asked.
“Well now, wouldn’t that make things nice and tidy? We’re in the process of hunting down registries for the volunteers as well as trying to find any other volunteers who might’ve come across this person.”
“Have you considered looking at ViCAP to see if you get a hit? Out of state means this guy could live anywhere and be doing the same thing,” Nick added.
“We did, in fact, check out the database. And that’s the reason why I’m reaching out to you now. I don’t have final confirmation just yet, but it’s looking like there’s a coroner in Riverside, California who had a similar situation with three victims. He took it to the cops and the detective entered the cases. I’m still working on making a more solid connection to see if this is real. Can you and your team lend us a hand?”
“I’ll have to run it by Fisher. Let me do that and I’ll get back with you.”
“Thanks, man. It’ll be good to do some work together. Been way too long. I’ll wait for your call.”
Nick hung up the phone and pushed up from his desk. He made his way to Fisher’s office and stood just outside. “Hey. Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Yeah, sure. What’s going on?”
Nick walked inside and sat down. “I got a call from an old acquaintance at the field office in Houston. I’m waiting on additional details, but he thinks there’s an unsub out there killing off people he’s supposed to be rescuing.”
“What?” Fisher creased his brow.
“That’s what I said. Look, I can’t say this is in line with our typical case, but it does seem interesting. And might be worth a look.”
Fisher laced his fingers behind his head. “Tell me more.”
Zimmerman clocked in for the second shift. He still awaited word from his friend and chief of surgery on the records for Theodore Bishop. He didn’t know what he was going to do with them, but maybe they would shed some light.
“Evening, Boss.” Bishop strolled into his office. “I’m back. Just like I said I would be.”
Zimmerman’s jaw dropped for a split second before he recovered. “I forgot that was today. Welcome back. How was it out there? Sounded like they lost a lot of homes and animals.”
“Oh, yeah. It was pretty devastating, that’s for sure. I was just glad to be able to lend a helping hand. They were in desperate need of medical assistance. They still are, but I couldn’t stay there forever. I need to keep this job.” He smiled.
“Well, I’m sure everyone will be glad to see you’ve returned safely.”
“I didn’t miss anything, did I, Chief?”
“Nope. Not a thing.” Zimmerman returned a smile until Bishop left, then his face fell sullen once again. He wanted to tell him to just go home and take a day or two to recover. Pete was going to have a conniption, but what else could he do? He had no proof Bishop had done anything wrong. Pete, though, he would struggle to sit in a truck with him tonight, given what he suspected.
Zimmerman picked up his cell phone. “Hey, Pete. It’s the Chief. Listen, um, maybe you should take the night off?”
“Why would I do that?” Pete asked.
“I need some time, Pete. I’m working on stuff we talked about and Bishop’s back and…”
“He’s back?”
“Yes. Which is why I need to figure this out.”
“Chief, that’s all the more reason why I should come in tonight. It’s not a good idea to let Bishop out there alone. I mean, are you kidding me? No. I’m coming in and that’s all there is to it. See you in an hour.”
Zimmerman dropped his head into his hands when the line went dead. Maybe Pete was right. If what he believed turned out to be true, it was the best way to protect the patients. “Good God. What the hell am I supposed to do?”
He didn’t have long to contemplate an answer because his cell phone buzzed on his desk and it was the one person who might hold the answer.
“Dr. Caldwell. You have no idea how good it is to hear from you,” Zimmerman said.
“Well, I’m not sure you’ll feel the same after what I managed to get my hands on regarding this Theodore Bishop. I’m going to send this to you via email, but to sum it up, this Bishop character has been in and out of trouble with various medical boards since the beginning. Even going as far back as medical school where he graduated but received no recommendations.”
“Is that unusual?” Zimmerman asked.
“Very. It means they wanted him out.” Caldwell sighed. “There’s nothing illegal, per se, but Bishop is trouble and maybe you ought to find a way to get rid of him.”
“I can’t just fire him for no reason.”
“Then I suggest you find one. Keep an eye on your email. Ray, watch yourself.”
“Thanks, Doc. I’ll take a look at what you got and figure it out. I’m glad you could help.”
“You and me, both, my friend. Keep in contact with me, you got that?”
“I will. Talk to you later, Doc.” Zimmerman ended the call and stared at his computer, waiting for the critical information to arrive. When it did, he opened the file and his eyes raked over the details. “Oh my God.” His sights were lasered in on the screen and he hadn’t noticed Pete enter.
“Chief?”
Zimmerman pulled his eyes away from the screen. “Pete. You’re early.”
“I know. I needed to get down here.” He closed the door and continued inside. “You know something, don’t you? What did you find out?”
“I don’t want to jump to conclusions, Pete. There’s a lot to take in here.”
“I’m going out with Theo in the next 30 minutes. You owe me this. Am I in any kind of danger?”
“No. No, of course not. If I thought that was the case, I wouldn’t hesitate to get the cops involved. Theo’s had a troubled past. Just how troubled, I’m trying to ascertain now. I think it’s best you go out there with him tonight and just keep it professional. You get a call, document everything. Even if you don’t think it’s worth noting, note it. Call me if you think anything smells funny.” Zimmerman leaned over his desk and dropped his tone. “Don’t let him think you know anything.”
“I don’t know anything because you won’t tell me.”
The chief raised his hands. “Don’t act any differently around him. I mean it. I have a feeling if he thinks for one second we know what’s what, he’ll jump ship. And until I know more, I want to keep Theo as close as I can.”
“Okay. I won’t change anything. I’ll do what I always do.” Pete pulled open his jacket to reveal a gun tucked in his waist. “But until we know more about what the hell is going on here, I’m not taking any chances.”
Zimmerman looked at the gun. “No. Absolutely not. You can’t take that, Pete.”
“I don’t think you’d be saying that if you were me. I’ll be all right so long as I stay alert and have some sort of defense.”
“For Christ’s sake, don’t let anyone see it.”
Kate inserted the key into the lock and opened the door of the co
ndo she shared with Nick. It was 1am and all she wanted was to sleep. As she walked in, she spotted Nick on the couch with the television on. “You’re still up?”
He spun back and stood. “I’m just going over some files we got today. I’m glad you’re home.”
“There was no point in me staying any longer because I have enough to create the profile. I started it on the plane, and I’ll work on it tomorrow.” She set down her purse and overnight bag. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to leave a field office. You should’ve seen the agent I was assigned to. Man, that guy could talk. His boss, Surrey, he was all right. But wow.”
Nick smiled and approached her for an embrace. “Sounds like you had fun, then.”
“Sure. Fun.” She held his gaze and his smile warmed her. It would have been the perfect moment for a passionate kiss. And she wanted to kiss him, but there was just too much space between them. His eyes expressed the same longing and the same hesitation. “You look like you could use some sleep. What’s say we call it a night?”
“You’re right. I’ve been at it for hours. I’ll be able to look at this with fresh eyes tomorrow.” He started into the kitchen and opened the fridge. “You want some water?”
“Please. I’ll take it with me to bed.” She met him half-way to the hall that led to their bedroom. “So, what are you working on?”
“Something a little unusual. I gave Fisher the download and he said to dig into it to see if it was something the team should offer assistance with.”
“Who’s the requesting office?” She asked before taking a large gulp of water.
“Houston.”
6
Ray Zimmerman, the man in charge of the second shift EMTs, had learned enough about Theodore Bishop to know that the man needed to be terminated and the sooner the better. According to the records from Dr. Caldwell, Bishop’s medical school marks were subpar at best, yet he was allowed to graduate. Never mind the complaints from his fellow students who suspected he cheated on the exams.