by Mary Stone
As she straightened at her desk and prepared to do just that, she caught sight of Noah from the corner of her eye. She was happy to see him. Happy to see anyone right now that—
Something was wrong. Noah’s expression was grim. No. Worse than grim. He was upset. Distressed.
Without greeting her at all, he set his phone down on her desk. “Repeat what you just told me for Winter,” he ordered the person on the call.
He can’t even look me in the eyes right now…
Aiden’s voice boomed across the speakerphone. “Autumn went to the hospital to meet with Justin this morning, but she didn’t show. She detoured to Dr. Baldwin’s office and was left alone with him by one of Chief Lewton’s officers.”
Sheer panic froze Winter to her chair.
“Now they’re both missing. Baldwin’s car is still at the hospital, but Autumn’s is gone. Her GPS is off…phone and car. They’re not at their residences…his nor hers. No one can reach either of them.” Aiden recited the details with flat flawlessness, but Winter knew he must be a total train wreck on the inside.
Autumn was one of their own. Autumn was more than that. She was their friend. And for Aiden…she was something not quite articulated as of yet.
“Do you believe this to be some type of plot to exact his revenge? Autumn said she clashed heads with Baldwin pretty severely.” Winter poured over the memories of her last conversation with Autumn.
Was that the last conversation?
I was an asshole. I was such an asshole. Now, she’s gone. Now, she might never come back.
Winter couldn’t stand the thought. No more losing people. Screw that.
She stood and gathered a few belongings as Aiden continued to speak. “Traffic cameras caught a few glimpses of her Camry. They went northwest. I believe they may have left the city entirely.”
This information made the situation even more dire. The countryside didn’t have cameras, or even always have people who might have seen something. Anything.
“Head west on 1-95. We’ll be meeting somewhere along that route. I’ll inform you as soon as I know more.” Aiden ended the call.
Winter and Noah ran through the halls of the Richmond Field Office, heading straight for the exit. They were buckled in and speeding down the highway in less than five minutes.
“God, I hope he hasn’t hurt her.” Noah’s knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel.
Winter refused to follow that path of thought. She couldn’t break down right now. She had to save her friend.
“I just want to be positive she’s safe,” Noah sputtered in frustration. “Dammit all to hell. That’s all I want for you too.”
Winter and Noah exchanged a swift glance.
She knew what he was hinting at, and she refused to go there, either. She patted his arm, attempting to share the reassurance she was in need of herself. “Keep driving, Dalton.”
The truth was that none of them were ever one-hundred-percent safe. Working for the FBI came with the obvious side effect of being placed in near constant danger. The majority of times, the team barreled through cases unscathed.
But not every time.
29
The smooth hardwood floor of Dr. Baldwin’s rural Virginia farmhouse foyer provided no cushion from the blows Albert seemed so eager to inflict. Autumn had gathered that the orderly, pacing before them and seething with contempt, desired some type of penance from the doctor.
But she wasn’t convinced her co-captive had the wherewithal in his current condition to comply.
Philip moved his lips but struggled to speak. Autumn feared the punishment he would incur if he didn’t manage to articulate something. Anything.
Albert gave a sudden, vicious kick to Dr. Baldwin’s shins. “You know what you did to her! Say it! Say what you did, you bastard!”
Autumn had to take some control of this situation before Philip was kicked to death. He’d curled into a shrimp-like position on the foyer floor, his breathing deteriorating into frantic, hiccuping gulps. With less than ten feet between them, she was a clear witness of Dr. Baldwin’s worrisome condition.
“Tell me why you’re so angry, Albert.” She couldn’t keep the begging from her tone. “What did he do to her?”
Albert flashed her a hateful glare. “You are here to listen. You are not here to analyze, Doctor. Do you understand?”
“I do understand, Albert. But I just have so many questions. I want to know what he did to you. What he took from you.”
The sneering orderly considered her for a moment. “Okay. Why not?” He paced the floor, the gun ever ready in his tightened fist. “Once upon a time, there was a doctor named Philip. Philip was a giant piece of shit.”
Autumn swallowed, knowing she had given them a temporary reprieve by hooking Albert in. The orderly wanted his story told, and his desperate need to share Dr. Baldwin’s wrongdoings would buy them some time. Not much, but every second counted.
The team would be coming. She only had to keep them alive until then.
“I took the task upon myself to punish the doctor for his evils. Of course, one would hope that justice would prevail through the mighty arm of the law. But, Dr. Trent, I can assure you, the legal system failed in an atrocious manner.” He stood still for a moment, pointing the gun straight at her.
I’m a part of the system he believes to have inadequately handled Colleen’s suicide. He resents me for being “one of them.”
“Dr. Baldwin’s former assistant, Mildred Harbison, was my first attempt to start a very obvious breadcrumb trail toward this murderous bastard over here.” Albert turned the pistol toward Philip.
Autumn thought their abductor might go through with shooting him just to increase the doctor’s suffering as they awaited the final steps of Albert’s plan. But he didn’t. She speculated that he either wanted or needed Philip alive. The chance of a gunshot wound causing Baldwin to bleed out was apparently not a gamble Albert was willing to take.
“Now, I should admit that killing a sixty-two-year-old woman was not the most pleasant undertaking of my life. But if anyone knew what happened in that damn office, Mildred was the lady. Switching her medications around was child’s play, and her sudden passing should have made the authorities check into the good doctor a bit deeper. Should have.”
Albert knelt in front of Philip, who still lay on the hardwood floor emitting a terrible, consistent wheezing.
“How do you feel about that, Dr. Baldwin? How do you feel about being responsible for an old woman’s death? Mildred was a sweet lady with a lot to live for. Retirement. Grandkids…I think she had eleven, but my research on the old bat is a bit fuzzy at this point.” He tapped his temple with the gun.
Autumn needed to regain his attention.
“I suppose you have a lot to keep track of.” She shared her observation with a cautious, judgment-free air. “You’ve been a very busy man.”
She was aware that her words could cause him to snap and kill both of his captives in a hot second. But an ongoing dialogue was also capable of sending Albert into a state of confusion. In her professional experience, confused criminals lost the ability for deft operation.
“I wouldn’t have to be so ‘busy’ if people like you were competent enough to do your damn jobs,” Albert growled. “I’ve been ‘busy’ doing what everyone else refused to do. I’m making justice happen. Forcing you people to honor integrity.”
“How was Evelyn Walker a part of that, Albert?” Autumn cocked her head as though she reveled in the details of this killer’s “integrity honoring” actions. “What made you choose that particular nurse at the hospital?”
Albert looked pleased, almost agreeable and happy to elaborate upon his deeds. “Evelyn and Baldwin clashed. Damn near seemed to hate each other. Right, Phil?” He prodded Philip’s leg with his boot. “Enemies aren’t so bad until they drop dead and everyone points your way.”
Philip moaned, and Albert let out a small chortle.
“And
Paula Wingfield…?” Autumn led the orderly back to his story, hoping to spare Philip from another kick to the gut.
“Good ole Paula came across the audio of Baldwin’s last ‘chat’ with Evelyn, and she stole that tape to use to her own advantage. That’s a rather horribly selfish thing to do when an innocent woman’s murder is under investigation. The authorities needed that tape, dammit. Very unladylike of her.” Albert’s face contorted with disgust.
Despite her current situation, Autumn was fascinated by how this man’s mind worked. It would serve her well when she dealt with murderous revenge killers in the future.
If she had a future.
She shook away that thought and gazed up at the bald man with every ounce of sympathy she could muster. “So, Paula wasn’t an original part of your plan, but she got in the way. She was really just a greedy woman, anyway. Am I following along well enough, Albert?”
“Getting in my way is a big mistake,” he replied, pointing the gun toward Autumn with a menacing frown.
Oh shit.
Had she “interfered” with Albert’s objective by being the unfortunate occupant of that elevator car when Evelyn fell through? Was she another human who had “wronged” him in an unforgiveable manner?
“I made Paula’s little faux pas work for me. Planting that tape in her locker had to add some heat to Baldwin’s ‘guilty as shit’ fire. I was sure of that. And I was right. Your people swarmed him like killer bees.” Albert smiled, but the duration was brief. His eyes were rageful as he shouted at Autumn, “But that still wasn’t good enough for you assholes!”
Autumn trembled but managed to maintain a cool demeanor.
Albert slapped a hand to his forehead. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice. I don’t like yelling.”
The sincerity of his apology struck Autumn’s empathetic heart. Maybe Albert was an angry, revenge-seeking killing machine now, but at some point, Autumn guessed he’d been a young boy who was frequently the recipient of such brutally vocal attacks.
“No worries, Albert. We all get a little upset sometimes, and you have more than enough reason to be unhappy right now,” Autumn assured him with light, soothing tones. “Were you not pleased that Philip lost his job? Or how about that walk of shame from the hospital to the cop car the news keeps replaying?”
Albert tapped the barrel of the gun against his temple. “That was great, but not enough. They let him go. Free as a damn bird. He deserves a far more brutal punishment for what he did.”
Philip hadn’t said so much as a word during Albert’s soliloquy thus far. The doctor’s intermittent groans and gasps were the sole reassurance that he was still alive at all.
“I roll with the punches, though. That’s just the type of man I am, Dr. Trent. I finally understood the fact that no one would ever make Baldwin pay for his crimes.” Albert stared at Philip with distant, disassociated fervor. “So, I decided to kill him…after making him suffer.”
He stayed silent long enough for Autumn to speculate that he’d lost his train of thought and perhaps his grip on his surroundings.
Where did you go, Albert? What are you seeing right now?
“I was going to engineer the grand spectacle of Philip Baldwin’s suicide. How perfect would that be? I mean, that ending is practically the textbook definition of poetic justice. But you,” he focused in on Autumn again, “keep stepping into places you shouldn’t. Have you always been such a pain in the ass, Dr. Trent?”
The comment would have been humorous under different circumstances, but in this moment, with Albert’s straight-faced stare trained on her, not to mention the gun he held, Autumn failed to appreciate the satire.
“I suppose that depends on who you ask. I want you to know that I never meant to interfere with your plans. I’m sure you’ve invested a lot of time and energy into your quest for justice.” She gathered from the orderly’s stone-cold façade that he neither wanted nor cared about her contrition.
He began pacing again, though his gaze and gun remained trained on her. “I have a new plan now, and you’re a big part of it, Dr. Trent. There wouldn’t be any fairness in punishing Paula’s meddling yet letting you off scot-free. I’d be just as useless as every last one of your colleagues if I let your crimes slide.” He took a few steps her way. “I don’t forget when someone crosses me…not ever.”
Icy trepidation trickled through Autumn’s veins as she determined that Albert had no intention of letting her leave this house alive.
“Of course you don’t, Albert,” Autumn declared, earnest conviction alive in each word. “And you shouldn’t. I know why you want Philip to suffer. I know what he did to start this entire mess.”
Albert’s jaw clenched. His anger was escalating, which meant her time, as well as Philip’s, was dwindling.
“I’ve been searching into Dr. Baldwin’s past,” she continued. “I know he worked with a young woman who was trying to come to terms with the ending of her relationship with her professor. The professor died in a car crash, and she was ruined. Heartbroken and destroyed. Philip was supposed to help her, but he failed.”
Autumn held her breath, unsure of Albert’s response to such a triggering conversation. The orderly’s entire body tensed as his attention returned to the psychiatrist.
“Yes,” he agreed, “he failed my sister. He failed Colleen. But what’s worse, Dr. Trent, is that he took advantage of her while she was grief-stricken and weak.”
This was news to Autumn. She knew Philip hadn’t killed anyone. She also was all too familiar with the fact that treating suicidal patients was a tricky and sometimes devastating task. When an individual was to the point of being ready to take their own life, they’d usually gone over “the list of reasons not to” already.
The decision had been made in their mind, and their healthcare provider was left with the daunting task of breaking down brick walls with a butter knife. A crack had to be made in the foundation of their logic.
But one wrong move and the intended crack became a hungry ravine that swallowed the lost soul whole.
Had Philip been that ravine? Had he pushed Colleen toward her fate by somehow taking advantage of her fragile state?
“How do you know this, Albert? Did Colleen tell you she was involved with Dr. Baldwin?” Autumn wasn’t just stalling now. She wanted to know the truth. Philip wasn’t a murderer, but that didn’t rule out the possibility that his deplorable nature had led him down a very improper path where a young impressionable woman was concerned.
“I’ve viewed the video footage. Phil used to have the cameras rolling all day long with his patients. But times have changed, huh, buddy?” Albert smiled down at Philip, his creepy calm demeanor disturbing. In his own way, he was suicidal.
He’d made up his mind to take actions that would destroy, if not end, his life. Autumn had no doubt that he’d meticulously browsed his “why I shouldn’t do this” list long ago.
“What’s so strange and convenient to a simple guy like me, is how that video of you and Colleen had no audio. None.” Albert spat the words at Philip.
Autumn tried to sort through the slivers of information she’d been granted in the last two minutes. There was a video of Dr. Baldwin and Colleen that showed inappropriate interaction? Even without audio, the footage would have been enough for Baldwin to lose his license to practice had actual inappropriate actions been recorded.
Which meant Albert was misreading the situation somehow. Or, the possibility existed, that Colleen had misinterpreted some aspect of her time spent in Philip’s office.
“The microphone was accidentally muted,” Philip interjected for the first time, his voice like gravel coming from his throat. “And yes, it was an accident. I would give anything, do anything, to go back in time and unmute that mic. I never was inappropriate with Colleen. Not once!”
Albert seemed to grow taller and wider, his anger building him up in every direction. “Why would I believe you? There isn’t one good reason! Do you know that
my mother drank herself to death after Colleen died? She’d drink until she blacked out every single night and start drinking the second she woke up the next morning.” Fury like she’d never witnessed seeped from Albert’s every pore. “Except for the last morning when she didn’t wake up at all!”
Autumn watched helplessly as Philip tried to prop himself up and speak in his defense. “Albert, I am sorry for your loss. Both of th—”
Their captor kicked Dr. Baldwin with such force that the already weakened man rolled over twice, crying out in pain as he flailed.
“I don’t want your pity! I want you to pay! You’re going to pay!” Albert stepped forward and gave yet another vicious kick to Philip’s body. He raised a foot to strike again—
“Stop!” Autumn screamed. “Is this what your sister would want for you? Would Colleen want you to just throw your life away?”
The orderly’s foot lowered, and he turned toward Autumn with a vacant sneer. “That’s the funny thing, Doc.” His face softened and his lip trembled for a split-second before returning to its glacier-like mask of hate. “I don’t have a life without my sister and mother. They were everything. Everything that mattered.”
Autumn pictured Albert smiling, walking down the street with his sister and mom. She thought of how scared he must have been when Colleen dove deep into her depression.
If one thing had gone differently…just one. Albert wouldn’t be this monster so hellbent on revenge. He’d just be a normal guy who loved his family. Just. One. Thing.
Sarah’s sweet little face resurfaced from the depths of her mind, as she often did. She had to help her sister. She had to find her. Really find her. Save her.
But the way things were going, she’d never get that chance. She was going to die here on the floor instead. Punished by a madman whose fury was fueled by the devoted love he held for his little sister.
Albert lost Colleen. But I’m not going to lose Sarah.
“You matter, Albert,” she told him, swallowing hard. Genuine emotion burned through her sinuses and into her eyes.
Someone needed to tell this man that his life was important too. Maybe he would hear it. And maybe it would cause him to pause before he continued with the execution of his plan.
