Pain

by Adam Southward

  Before it happened.

  ‘What did you do?’ asked Mia, aware that her voice was a whisper.

  The doctor’s breathing was laboured. On his knees, with Mia’s knife at his throat, he tried to look at her, wincing as the blade nicked his skin. Mia crouched, allowing him to see her. She’d succeeded. He wasn’t in pain, not yet.

  Mia suppressed her urge. It crept into her mind, wrapping itself around her, hugging her body. It was on her tongue, in her throat and in her nostrils as she breathed in the fear emanating from the doctor. Pressure throbbed at the base of her skull and along with it the distant panic that she would be overcome. Mia forced her breathing slowly in, slowly out.

  ‘Please,’ she said. ‘Tell me.’

  The doctor trembled. Mia heard a car pass by the house. A bird sung outside the front door. A whistling sound came from the back of the house.

  ‘We tried,’ said the doctor. His eyes watered, with fear or regret, Mia wasn’t sure. ‘When you came in, you . . . An ideal candidate, that’s what they said.’

  ‘Candidate for what?’ Mia moved in even closer. Her hand juddered and the knife slipped against his throat, causing him to gasp in shallow breaths.

  ‘Where did I come in? To a hospital?’

  The doctor nodded.

  ‘Where?’

  The doctor gulped. ‘London City Hospital.’

  Mia’s mind swirled. The mass of questions she’d prepared spun and disappeared, knocking into each other, confusing her. City Hospital. It was unravelling faster than she could grab it.

  ‘Why was I there in the hospital? What was wrong with me?’

  ‘A crash,’ said the doctor.

  Another faint noise from the back of the house. Not a whistling, but a scraping. Faint but audible.

  ‘You were in a crash. Terrible . . . We tried – we saved you.’

  Mia shook her head. Crash. The car. The dream. Where were the others?

  ‘My . . . the woman in the car,’ said Mia. ‘Where is she?’

  The doctor closed his eyes and shook his head. A bang from the back of the house, a door closing in its frame. Mia’s head darted up.

  ‘Catherine!’ screamed the doctor. ‘Call the police!’ The man wrenched his head away before Mia could stop him. She still had hold of him as he did it. One hand on the side of his head, the other holding the knife to his neck.

  She couldn’t have stopped what happened.

  The warm gush of blood hit Mia’s fingers before the doctor even realised what had happened. Her hand snapped away, pulling the knife with it, but she was too slow. The doctor scrambled backwards, registering the wound as he did so. His right hand went to the gash in his throat, groping around. Blood dripped through his fingers and on to his white shirt. His expression was desperate as he gasped with the trauma.

  Mia didn’t pause. She heard footsteps at the back of the house and knew the sirens would be next. She left the immaculate hardwood floor of the hallway and barged through the large front door surrounded by the grand porch. She didn’t glance at the sash windows or the silver Mercedes as she raced across the gravel driveway.

  The one odd conclusion Mia did come to as she sprinted away from the scene was that bleeding out through an artery obviously didn’t hurt. There had been very little pain from the doctor, she thought, as she tucked her penknife away and picked up the pace, hitting the side streets and alleyways, zigzagging to shake off any pursuit.

  Mia ran for thirty minutes before stopping, realising she was shaking from head to toe. Not from withdrawal, nor desire or addiction. She was shaking from adrenaline born of excitement. The doctor had told her. He was part of it. Which meant her journey had finally turned a corner. That doctor would be dead before the police arrived, but there were others. There was one more name.

  And Mia would find him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Alex held the phone to his ear. Laurie had relayed the information at breakneck speed, pausing only to make two sarcastic comments, both about Alex. She paused at the end of the conversation.

  ‘So?’

  ‘Can we speak to him? Can he talk?’ said Alex.

  ‘Yes,’ said Laurie. ‘His carotid artery was sliced open but not severed. He managed to apply enough pressure until his wife arrived. She called the police, sat with him – she’s a midwife, by the way – and stopped him bleeding out. He’s been sutured and is in AMU. They think he might need further surgery. It’s serious.’

  ‘So . . .’

  ‘So I’ll see you there, Dr Madison,’ Laurie said. ‘Don’t keep me waiting or stand me up. A girl hates that.’

  Alex smiled, tucking his phone in his pocket, grabbing his jacket off the chair and his keys from the holder.

  Another victim. Another doctor. But this time, still alive.

  Alex raced through town, swerving across lanes, trying not to look at the screen of his phone. Dr Willis was the name of the victim. Alex had texted Associate of Dr Tau? and was checking if Laurie had replied. The phone buzzed as he screeched up to a red light.

  Yes. But Dr Tau out of town. Are you nearly here? Your coffee is cold.

  What a coincidence. He wouldn’t say ‘I told you so’ in those exact words, but Alex’s desire to investigate Dr Tau in greater depth could at least go on record. Tracking him down would use precious time they might not have.

  The lights changed and Alex roared off, his mind processing and preparing. The wounded doctor was stable, but their time with him would be limited. He might resist their questions. Despite being the victim of attempted murder, he wasn’t an innocent bystander. He was involved, connected somehow. The attack on him had been targeted, and Alex needed to know why.

  The acute medical unit at London City Hospital appeared calmer than the other floors. Visitors were restricted and the doors kept closed. Uniformed officers stood guard at the entrance, challenging Alex for his ID before they let him through.

  Laurie greeted him on the other side. Alex made a point of not looking her up and down, staring instead at the two coffee cups she was holding in a carrier.

  ‘One for me?’ he said.

  Laurie narrowed her eyes. ‘But I’m wearing a new suit,’ she said.

  Alex glanced at her clothes.

  ‘Made you look,’ said Laurie, handing him one of the coffees. ‘It’s an old suit. Follow me.’

  Alex sipped his lukewarm drink and followed Laurie past the nurses’ station into the ward.

  ‘Dr Willis is in a private room at the end. Doctors say we have fifteen minutes. His condition is deteriorating. They didn’t stop the bleed. He’s scheduled for surgery this morning – they’ve got a specialist vascular surgeon travelling in.’

  Alex nodded. The single rooms in AMU were for infectious disease control or patients with compromised immune systems. Alex supposed attempted murder was also a good reason to put somebody in one. He just hoped they found out something of use.

  The room was brightly lit, small and very hot. Alex found himself tugging at his collar as they closed the door behind them. Laurie took in the room. Alex watched the way her eyes darted around before she picked up one of the spare visitor chairs and lined it up with the end of the bed. She sat, indicating Alex should stand to the side.

  Dr Willis lay flat, hooked up to an array of monitors. ECG, oxygen and a drip. A woman sat next to him, holding his hand. He was awake, staring at the ceiling, breathing slowly into the mask.

  ‘Mrs Willis?’ said Laurie. ‘I’m Detective Laurie from the Met. This is Dr Madison.’

  Mrs Willis’s eyes were bloodshot and weeping. She glanced at them both before returning her gaze to her husband. ‘They told me you were coming. He’s going into surgery again,’ she said. ‘He’s still bleeding.’

  Laurie nodded. ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Willis.’ She paused. ‘We won’t be long. Dr Willis, can we ask you some questions?’

  The doctor swallowed, the bandage on his throat jumping. The respirator hissed and he pulled the mask away.
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br />   ‘Why don’t you give us a minute, dear?’ he said, his voice a whisper. His wife gave his hand a squeeze and stood, nodding to Laurie and Alex on her way out.

  They waited a moment. Alex watched the ECG monitor tracking the doctor’s heartbeat, waiting for Laurie to lead.

  ‘I know what you’re going to ask,’ said the doctor after his wife had closed the door, ‘and you’d be right to.’ He swallowed again. ‘Truth is, I was never one of them. I was intrigued, but never convinced.’

  Laurie frowned, glancing at Alex. The shiver again. Prickles on his neck. He’d been right. This was about experimentation.

  ‘Tell us about the trials,’ said Alex. ‘What were they for?’

  Laurie’s frown deepened, but she remained silent. Alex wanted to cut to the heart of it, and this was the best place to start.

  The doctor looked as though he was shaking his head.

  ‘Dr Tau said this was the one. I didn’t argue . . . The father was dead. The mother was in a terrible state – unlikely to make it. The girl, though . . . She had . . .’

  Dr Willis tailed off. He swallowed twice, appearing to struggle. His heart rate jumped momentarily before settling.

  ‘Are you OK?’ said Laurie.

  Dr Willis closed his eyes and took a few breaths.

  ‘They were illegals. It’s what we were told. The paperwork was fake. It made it . . . easier.’

  ‘Easier to do what?’ said Alex, aware they didn’t have long with this man. ‘You mention Dr Tau. What does he have to do with this?’

  ‘What’s her name?’ said Laurie.

  ‘I was a member of Dr Tau’s trauma team,’ said Dr Willis. ‘Hand-picked, only on shift once a week, seeking candidates. Very few passed muster or arrived at the right time when we had complete control of the trauma pathway – we needed everything from emergency triage to surgery and recovery.’

  Alex leaned in, resting his hands on the safety bars at the end of the bed.

  ‘Candidates for what?’ Alex checked his voice. It was raised, demanding. His temper was simmering. He needed to know more but worried he’d snap at hearing it. What the hell were these doctors involved in?

  ‘I didn’t know about the result,’ said Willis. ‘They told me they’d discharged her when the treatment showed serious side effects. That’s all I knew. I didn’t know she’d come back. Why did she want to hurt me? To kill me? I don’t understand.’

  Alex paused. He glanced at Laurie, who shrugged. Did the doctor not know the extent of their suspect’s rampage? Alex guessed not. Nobody would have told him.

  ‘What was her name,’ Laurie repeated. ‘The girl?’

  ‘You don’t know what’s wrong with her?’ said Alex, cutting in.

  Again the doctor shook his head. He tried to clear his throat and stopped, clearly struggling. Laurie glanced at the door.

  ‘She was in pain,’ said Willis. ‘Terrible pain. So was her mother. That was what we were doing.’

  ‘Explain,’ said Alex. He caught a sharp look from Laurie but ignored it.

  ‘It was legitimate. At first, anyway. Stage two clinical trials. We were being sponsored directly by the pharma, but who isn’t these days?’

  Alex took a deep breath. In the pockets of a pharmaceutical company. Plenty of doctors weren’t, thank you very much.

  ‘What—’

  ‘Her name,’ said Laurie, standing, leaning over the bed. ‘Dr Willis, we suspect this young woman of several murders over the last few months. Tell me her damn name.’

  Dr Willis blinked rapidly. ‘Murders?’ he said.

  ‘Dr King was one of them.’

  Willis shook his head. Alex could see his hands trembling. ‘But why?’

  ‘Her name!’ Laurie shouted, slamming her hand on the bed. Alex jumped back. It was the first time he’d seen Laurie angry. He supposed she had a right to be. Their goal was the same but their priorities subtly different.

  Laurie needed to find her killer.

  Alex needed to know why she was a killer.

  ‘Mia,’ whispered the doctor. ‘I was told her name was Mia. Anastas. Anastos. Something like that. But it was probably fake. Ethnically, I think she was Greek, possibly Albanian.’

  Laurie typed the name into her phone and sent it off in a text. Alex had no doubt the wheels of her investigative team would go into overdrive. He also suspected they wouldn’t find anything.

  ‘I need to know what happened to Mia,’ said Alex, glancing at Laurie, checking she was OK for him to continue. She nodded, her anger gone.

  Dr Willis paused. His breathing was laboured. He shifted on the bed, wincing a couple of times as he did so. His heart rate rose and stayed elevated.

  ‘I don’t think I can,’ he said finally. ‘As I said, I wasn’t one of them. I wasn’t party to the strategy discussions – the talks with the drug company. I didn’t know the plan. All I did was be part of the trauma team.’

  Alex considered this. ‘How much did they pay you?’ he said.

  Dr Willis huffed. Out of arrogance or reticence, Alex wasn’t sure.

  ‘Enough,’ he said. ‘More than enough. They paid very well. But they stood to make a fortune if it worked.’

  The ECG monitor alarm went off. The doctor’s brow was visibly wet with sweat. He closed his eyes as a nurse rushed into the room. She watched the ECG for a moment before switching off the alarm, checking Willis’s vitals. She turned to Laurie and Alex.

  ‘Time’s up,’ she said. ‘He’s in no state for this.’ The nurse looked concerned, responsible for having let them question him.

  ‘Dr Willis,’ said Alex. ‘Information. Where can I find information on the trials?’

  ‘I said, enough.’ The nurse raised her voice, ushering Alex away from the bed, but Willis responded.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘Truly I am.’

  ‘The information.’ Alex dodged the nurse as she moved to wrestle him out of the room.

  ‘Alex,’ said Laurie. ‘We’ll come back. Stop it.’

  ‘It’s OK,’ said Willis. He seemed more composed, still in pain but under control. ‘My office,’ he said, ‘at home. Catherine will show you. But please,’ he said, ‘before you judge . . . we were trying to help them. Trying to achieve something great.’

  Alex let himself be pushed through the door into the corridor. He hadn’t got what he wanted, but at least they hadn’t left with nothing.

  He walked on ahead, deep in thought, his heart hammering in his chest. Shrugging off Laurie, he found a men’s room and locked himself inside, drawing a few breaths, searching for his pills.

  Dr Willis’s words. Achieve something great. A flood of memories hit him as he crunched the Xanax between his teeth. Those words, spoken by people in power, used to justify all manner of horrors. He’d been here before and had hoped never to see it again.

  What did they do to this poor girl, Mia, and what had they created as a result?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  The phone call came later that day. It was a surprise to Alex, but Laurie confirmed it.

  ‘They couldn’t stop the bleeding. He died in surgery,’ she said.

  A brief panic took hold of Alex. His actions in the hospital room flashed in front of him, his questions and manner. Dr Willis had been agitated, stressed by their visit.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ said Laurie. ‘The vascular surgeon confirmed that his bleed was far worse than they’d thought. The knife had torn the artery and several other structures. He went into arrest and they couldn’t revive him. It was a wonder he lasted so long.’

  Alex breathed out, feeling relieved, and guilty for it.

  ‘Matches on the name?’ said Alex.

  ‘No, nothing. We’re going through Interpol, but we’re not hopeful. Fake names, passports or whatever, it’s very hard to trace – could take months.’

  ‘Mia Anastos,’ said Alex.

  ‘Possibly. Or her name might be Betty. Who knows?’

  ‘We got a fraction of what we needed,�
�� said Alex, feeling the ruthless processes in his brain spinning up. ‘Her family, her mother. Where is Dr Tau?’

  He heard Laurie clear her throat. ‘Still out of town,’ she said.

  ‘Willis’s office?’

  ‘His office at the hospital was cleared by my team an hour ago. Everything is at the station being catalogued.’

  ‘Home?’

  ‘Tricky,’ said Laurie. ‘His wife and family are all there, grieving and understandably hostile towards us at the moment. I decided not to barge in today and strip it for evidence.’

  Alex nodded. ‘But you can search Dr Tau’s office?’

  ‘We did. I had to go up a level and get permission. All the records were legitimate surgical patient records and notes. The team are searching through with assistance from the hospital, but nothing relating to this so far.’

  ‘Then search his home.’

  ‘Is that an order?’

  Alex paused.

  ‘I’m kidding, Alex.’ He heard her sigh on the phone. ‘He’s not a suspect. I can search the hospital because it’s not his property – the files all belong to the National Health Service, but I can’t barge in and search his house.’

  ‘Not even with Dr Willis’s admission?’

  ‘What admission, Alex? He gave us a few fragments we haven’t even corroborated yet. It’s not enough to put out a national search on Dr Tau. Our suspect is female and has killed several people – priority number one is catching her. These shady doctors, if that’s what they are, can wait.’

  Alex held his tongue. She was right, of course. He’d started to notice that about her. Police protocol was strict, and she wasn’t about to start bypassing it all. But she hadn’t drawn the same conclusion from their conversation with Willis as Alex had. She hadn’t heard a doctor admit to conducting hidden trials on humans ‘to achieve something great’.

  ‘When can we go to Dr Willis’s house?’ he said.

  ‘Maybe tomorrow,’ said Laurie. ‘I’ve got some PR to do with the family.’ She huffed. He heard her tapping away in the background.