Finding the Edge

by Debra Webb

  “She’s nineteen,” the paramedic said as he backed toward the door. “She was walking to class. Witnesses said the vehicle carrying the shooter never slowed down.”

  “Alyssa Chavez,” his partner added before they left to take another call.

  Eva exchanged a look with Kim a split second before Reagan parted the already-torn blouse and had a look at the patient’s chest. The bullet had entered center chest. Reagan swore. Their patient was in serious respiratory distress and profound hemorrhagic shock. If the internal bleeding wasn’t stopped quickly, she would exsanguinate.

  In the next two minutes the patient was readied and rushed to the OR. A surgeon was already standing by. Every second counted. Her life was literally slipping away in a far too rapid stream.

  Eva stripped off her gloves, her adrenaline receding swiftly, leaving her weak.

  The cell phone strapped to her ankle vibrated. She started to ignore it but decided it might be her sister. At this point she didn’t dare ignore a call from anyone she cared about. Why hadn’t she checked on her neighbor when she first noticed something was off? Maybe if she’d... Stop, Eva. It was too late for what-ifs. Finding justice for Mrs. Cackowski and all the others that bastard Robles had hurt was the one thing Eva could do.

  A frown furrowed across her brow at the number on the caller ID. Not one she recognized. She answered with a tentative, “Hello.”

  “Alyssa Chavez is on you, Ms. Bowman. How many more do you want to die for you?”

  The call ended.

  Eva stared at the phone, her heart pounding harder and harder against her sternum. The caller had been male with a slight Hispanic accent. She stared at the blood-stained instruments on the tray...the pile of bloody gloves and sheets on the floor...the disarray in the trauma room that told the story of desperation.

  A young woman was fighting for her life and that was her fault.

  Eva wheeled and stormed out of the trauma room. This was enough. If that woman died...

  “Eva.”

  She stalled and turned to the man who had spoken. Dr. Pierce. Her chest had grown so tight she could hardly catch a breath. “Sir?”

  “When you’ve finished here, I’d like to see you in my office.”

  For a moment she wasn’t sure how to respond. Flashbacks from those moments under his desk staring at the sleek leather shoes and the creased trousers joined the images of the man she had killed, her dead neighbor stuffed into her trunk and a beautiful young woman bleeding out on a gurney in front of her.

  Please, God, don’t let her die.

  “Of course. Give me five minutes.”

  Dr. Pierce nodded and walked away. Eva stared after him, her head still spinning. When she’d managed to slow her thrashing heart, she washed up and headed to the station.

  “You okay?” Kim glanced at her from the computer monitor she was bent over. “She might make it, you know.”

  Eva managed a stilted nod. “Hope so. Okay isn’t something I’ll be anytime soon.” She heaved a big breath. “Dr. Pierce wants to see me in his office.”

  Kim considered her for several seconds. When Eva offered no further explanation, her friend and colleague said, “We’re okay for now. See what Pierce wants and then take a break.” She jerked her head toward the department exit. “Go.”

  “I’ll be back in five.”

  She should let Todd know about the call. He would need to inform the detectives on the case. Eva wasn’t sure exactly where he was. He’d said he would be close, watching. There hadn’t been time for her to wonder where or how he’d intended to do so. She hurried toward the corridor that led to the administrator’s office. Her thoughts were rushing about in her head, a mishmash of worry and fear and desperation. The words the caller had said to her kept ringing in her ears. What she’d said to Todd last night had been right. Robles wouldn’t stop unless he was behind bars—and maybe not even then.

  How could she go on with her life and pretend Robles wasn’t watching and waiting for the opportunity to snatch her or someone close to her off the street? If she persisted in her efforts to hide from him or to keep a stumbling block, i.e. her bodyguard, in Robles’s path, he would only continue hurting innocent people like poor Mrs. Cackowski and Alyssa Chavez. Tears crowded into her throat.

  Pull it together, Eva. She couldn’t do what needed to be done if she fell apart.

  Eva reached the lobby outside Pierce’s office but his secretary was not at her desk. His door stood open so Eva walked to the opening and knocked once on the doorframe. Pierce looked up and motioned for her to come inside.

  “Close the door.”

  Her hands shaking now despite every effort she attempted to keep them steady, she closed the door and crossed to his desk, then she waited for further instructions.

  He glanced up, gestured to the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat.”

  Had Pierce changed his mind about having her back at work? Had he already heard about the phone call? Impossible. She hadn’t told anyone...but maybe the man who’d called her—presumably Robles—had called the administrator as well.

  “Dr. Pierce, if you’ve changed your mind about my being here, I completely understand. Especially after what just happened.” Eva squeezed her eyes shut a moment. “I am so sorry for what I’ve caused.” More of that humiliating emotion gathered in her eyes. Where was her professional decorum?

  He studied her for a moment, confusion lining his brow. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Eva.”

  She met his questioning gaze. “A man called me right before you asked me to your office. He said...” She moistened her lips and wished she could swallow the lump of agony lodged in her throat. “He said Alyssa Chavez was on me.” Deep breath. “It’s my fault she was shot.”

  The tears burst onto her lashes and streamed down her cheeks before she could stop them. And she’d thought she was strong. Pierce grabbed a box of tissue and came around to sit beside her. He offered the box to her. “Have you notified Detective Marsh or spoken with Mr. Christian?”

  Feeling more foolish than she had in years, she shook her head. “It just happened. I was going to after our meeting. I understand if you’d rather I didn’t come back to work until this is...over.”

  Over? Would it ever be over as long as she was breathing?

  “We need you here,” he said, his voice uncharacteristically gentle.

  Eva dabbed at her eyes. “My being here puts everyone in danger.” She should have thought of that—she should also have realized that she was operating on emotion. Never a good thing.

  “Your work here is what ultimately put you in this position, Eva. As a member of my staff I have an obligation to you. We’ve beefed up security. I can assure you that none of those thugs are getting in again. I’m fairly confident this Miguel Robles will keep hurting people in an attempt to get to you no matter where you are. If you’d been at home today that poor young woman may have ended up on your doorstep.”

  She couldn’t argue with him there. Mrs. Cackowski was proof of his conclusion. The mere thought of how she’d looked stuffed into that trunk as if she were a worthless object rather than a lovely human being made her want to break down completely.

  Eva took a steadying breath and gathered her scattered composure. “I appreciate your understanding. So, why did you want to speak with me?”

  “I have a question about that night.” The gentle tone was gone now. He sounded more like the commanding hospital administrator she had come to know.

  “What would you like to know?” Her heart started that runaway galloping again. Did he somehow know she had lied to him about being in his office that night? Damn it, why hadn’t she simply told him the truth in the first place?

  You weren’t thinking straight, Eva.

  “You’re certain you didn’t see anyone come into or out of my office while you were
in hiding?”

  Damn. There it was. To reaffirm the lie was her first instinct. She hesitated. Lying to the man who was basically the only reason she had anyone watching over her in all this was simply wrong. She owed it to him to tell the truth. For what it was worth, at any rate.

  “I wasn’t completely forthcoming with you that night, Dr. Pierce.” She shook her head and stared at her hands. “I was so shaken by what happened, I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  “I need you to start at the beginning and tell me exactly what happened after you left the ladies’ room.”

  The sternness in his tone warned that he was not happy to hear her confession. Of course he wasn’t happy. She had lied to the man who had given everything to designing and creating the most cutting-edge emergency department in the country. He had chosen his staff carefully and she’d just let him down. It would be a miracle if she still had a job when this meeting was over.

  “I went into your office like you told me to do, but I heard someone coming so I hid in the first available space I spotted—under your desk.” She braced for spilling the rest. “I hoped it was you coming to tell me everything was okay, but it wasn’t.”

  He waited, silent, staring at her with an intensity that sent her composure fleeing once more.

  “All I saw were his shoes and his trouser legs. Based on what I heard, he at first seemed to move around your office rifling through things, then he came to your desk. He opened each drawer and then I heard him scrawl something on your desk blotter.” Her mouth had gone as dry as a box of fresh cotton balls.

  “Did he take anything from the drawers?”

  She shook her head. “Not that I saw. He pulled each one open, rummaged through the contents and then pushed it close.”

  “Did it seem as though he might be photographing anything?”

  Eva had to think about that one. “I don’t think so. When he walked in he moved around the room without really stopping. He seemed in a hurry, maybe. At the desk... I suppose he might have photographed something during the few seconds before he started to open the drawers.”

  “He didn’t say anything. Make a phone call?”

  She shook her head again. “He just left that message.”

  I know what you did.

  Pierce’s silence added another layer of tension to the band already twisting tighter around her chest.

  “Do you have any questions about that message?”

  For the second time since she entered his office the urge to lie rushed to the tip of her tongue, but she resisted. “I’m certain you would tell me if there was a reason I needed to know.”

  “Eva.” He exhaled a heavy breath. “When you create something everyone wants before anyone else can do so, you put yourself in a position to suffer extreme backlash and jealousy. Creating this unprecedented facility and launching a successful operation came at great professional and personal cost. Manufacturers of any medical product that is not used in this facility despise me. Most of the colleagues I once considered friends resent me. My efforts to do good have produced many enemies.”

  She’d had no idea how difficult his journey had been, though she did understand. Her sister’s rising stardom as an investigative journalist had come at a high price. She’d lost lifelong friends and was as lonely as Eva. Just another confirmation that it was impossible to have it all. How sad that a man like Pierce had been forced to give up so much to create something so valuable to mankind.

  “Don’t waste your sympathy on me,” he said, reading her face. “I executed more than my share of cutthroat maneuvers to make my success happen.”

  Eva felt so foolish now about the hasty decision she’d made to withhold the truth that terrifying night. “I apologize for not telling you everything. What I heard and saw didn’t feel important considering the other events playing out so I dismissed the entire episode.” A pretty pathetic excuse but it was the truth.

  “Tell me about his shoes, Eva.”

  Surprised but determined to provide the best answer possible, she turned over the image in her mind. “Dark, black I think. Leather for sure. Not the off-the-shelf kind you find in a big chain department store. These were expensive shoes. The trousers, too. They were like a charcoal or dark gray color and creased as if he’d just, you know, gotten them from the cleaners.”

  “Tell me about his hand. You said you watched him open the drawers. Was he wearing a ring of any sort or a watch? Did you see his shirtsleeve? If so, what color shirt was he wearing? Cuff links?”

  His rapid-fire questions reminded her of the interview with Detective Marsh and his partner. Had something else happened that may have been headed off if she’d told him the truth in the first place?

  One more thing to feel guilty about.

  Eva closed her eyes and replayed the moments in her head. Light gray shirtsleeve to go with the darker gray trousers. She told Pierce as much. “There was a watch. No ring that I saw. No cuff links.”

  “What did the watch look like? Gold? Silver? An expensive brand?”

  “Silver. Average size. Black face, I think. I couldn’t see the brand but it looked heavy, expensive.”

  “Thank you, Eva. If you recall anything else, please let me know.” He checked his cell. “By the way, the girl—Alyssa Chavez—is holding her own in surgery. I’ll assign a security detail to her room when she comes out of surgery.”

  Relief swam through Eva’s veins. “Thank God.” She stood. “I’m not scheduled for the next two days. If you change your mind about me coming in on Sunday—”

  “I won’t.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  As she exited the lobby area, Eva met his secretary, Patricia Ezell. The older woman smiled as if she understood the relief no doubt painting Eva’s face. Once she reached the corridor she spotted the other possibility for the secretary’s smile.

  Todd Christian leaned against the wall, the nondescript tan scrubs taking not one ounce of masculinity away from him. How was it possible for any man to look that good in scrubs?

  As she reached him, he pushed away from the wall. “I was hoping you’d give me a tour of the cafeteria. I hear it’s the best hospital food in the city.”

  The tension that had held her in its ruthless grip as she entered Pierce’s office eased, only to be replaced by a new kind of tension.

  “It’s good, yes. I just have to check in with the desk and then maybe I can take a lunch break.”

  He walked with her toward the ER. She tuned out the subtle scent of his soap. She should not have noticed the earthy, muted smell over the more potent odors of the hospital, and yet somehow she did.

  “I received an unsettling phone call after the shooting victim, Alyssa Chavez, was taken to the OR,” she told him, ready to get the painful business over. For the first time she wondered how Robles had her cell number? Who was she kidding? A scumbag like that probably had all sorts of unsavory resources.

  “Robles?” He glanced at her, no surprise in his eyes. “I take it she was another message.”

  Eva nodded. “He said she was on me and asked how many more I wanted to die for me.”

  He stalled then, turned to her, one hand automatically going to her arm and squeezing reassuringly. “He wants you to feel as if this is your fault, but it’s not. I’ll call Marsh and let him know. Would you like me to take you back to the safe house? I’m sure Pierce will understand.”

  “No.” She squared her shoulders and gave her head a quick shake. “I’m not going to be bullied by him. I’m here. I’m staying. Maybe before I come back on Sunday this will be behind me.”

  Those long fingers of his tightened on her arm once more. “We’ll get him.”

  “Hope so.”

  They started walking once more and he said, “You were pretty awesome when the girl came in.” He glanced at her, a big, wide smile on his face. “I liked watchi
ng you work.”

  “I didn’t see you.”

  “I stayed out of the way. You were focused.”

  As they entered the emergency department, Eva couldn’t deny a sense of pride at his words. “This is a good team. I’m lucky to be a part of it.”

  “I’m reasonably sure they know how lucky they are to have you as well.”

  She doubted Alyssa Chavez was feeling lucky. That massive cloud of doom that had disappeared for a few minutes was back. “Maybe.”

  Kicking aside the worry, she let Kim know she was taking an early lunch break. She and Todd could call Marsh together. Eva wanted to know what progress they had made on the case. The sooner they could tie all this to Robles, the sooner this would be over.

  Except she wasn’t holding her breath on that last part.

  Robles wanted her and she had a bad, bad feeling nothing the police could do would change his mind.

  This war was intensely private.

  Eva had spent four years in college learning how and the past six working hard to save lives. For the first time in her life she contemplated the concept of taking one.

  Chapter Eight

  Colby Safe House, 9:30 p.m.

  Todd did a perimeter check and then another walk-through of the house. Though it was doubtful anyone or thing could get past the security system without him knowing about it, another look never hurt.

  Mainly because he needed to distract himself.

  He’d spent twelve hours today watching Eva. Every move, every word...she didn’t breathe without him knowing how deep. He’d kept as much distance as he dared, which was necessary on more than one level, but he’d stayed close enough to intervene if there was trouble. Other than the Chavez woman who’d served as a message from Robles, the day had been reasonably uneventful.

  But watching her, listening to her voice, catching the occasional smile, had slowly but surely escalated the tension building inside him to the point of snapping. He had vivid memories of how her skin felt beneath his touch...how it smelled, tasted...but none of those memories held a candle to the real thing. Watching her was driving him out of his mind.