Her Last Wish (A Rachel Gift FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 1)

by Blake Pierce

  It sounded like such a stupid thing to overlook, but then again they had been so focused on the doctors and patients that the consultants working out of Greenfield had never even crossed their radar. Regency did not work with consultants, only with other high-end doctors from larger hospitals, so they’d not had lists to compare.

  “Is it really that simple?” she said. “How did we miss it?”

  “Well, the Greenfield consult list isn’t very long and there are none for Regency,” Jack said. “No one has come out and said it, but I get the feeling Greenfield is considered almost second-rate to Regency. It seems that a lot of Greenfield’s doctors—and even some of their nurses—sort of freelance in and out to local doctor’s offices and hospitals.”

  “I’ll run a Google search if you’ll check the database,” Rachel said.

  Jack answered in the way of instantly turning back to the laptop and typing the name into the database. Having just the one computer, Rachel took her phone from her pocket and typed the name Pauline Vick into the search bar. She was honestly not expecting much more than a Facebook profile, or maybe an employee bio on the Regency website. But what popped up provided much more.

  The first four hits for Pauline Vick were news articles from three years ago. The fifth was an article from a little over a year ago. The headlines told her everything she needed to know and she was almost afraid to click on the links. There might be answers there, but there was going to be a dark story as well.

  “Jack, I got something,” she said, still only looking at the headlines and links. “Something big, maybe.”

  “Yeah?”

  “News articles from three years ago,” she said. She finally opened the top result and read the article slowly, out loud, starting with the headline. “Miracle Baby Delivered to 50 Year-Old Baltimore Woman. For any woman, it becomes more and more difficult to conceive a child after the age of thirty-five,” Rachel read. “After forty-five it is considered very difficult, and once you’re north of fifty, it’s practically unheard of. But that did not stop Pauline Vick, a local woman that currently works as a doctor at Regency Fertility Clinic. Pauline had been told since she and her late husband started trying to conceive in their early twenties that having a baby simply wasn’t in the cards for them. ‘I prayed and prayed about it,’ Pauline said. But test after test kept telling me that it just wasn’t going to happen. And then when my husband died five years ago, I nearly gave up. But I knew he’d want me to keep trying, so that’s exactly what I did. I attempted in vitro, artificial insemination, the whole range of treatments. And then, last November, it happened. At the age of 49, I was pregnant!’”

  Rachel scanned the rest of the article quickly. “You get the gist,” she said.

  “Sounds like an uplifting story,” Jack said. “Why should that make me concerned.”

  “Because of another article from about a year and a half ago.” She clicked on the article and this time, did not read it out loud. She scanned it and as she took the words in, she grew anxious and heartbroken at the same time.

  “Read it for yourself,” Rachel said, still processing it.

  After a few moments, Jack set her phone down and said, “Jesus. The so-called miracle baby…died?”

  “Three weeks shy of its first birthday,” Rachel said. “Sudden infant death syndrome.”

  They said nothing for a moment, letting the heaviness of the news settle in. Rachel did her best to make absolutely sure this was something worth investigating She’d feel pretty fucking awful to bring such a painful point up to an innocent woman. But she could not see this as a coincidence. A woman that had been through that…who just happened to be a doctor at both clinics where it seemed women undergoing fertility treatments were being killed. It just couldn’t be ignored.

  “This is going to be rough,” Jack said, getting up from the desk.

  Rachel nodded her agreement, but she was already pulling up the number to Regency Fertility Clinic. The line was answered in her ear as they came to the doors of the station.

  “Regency Fertility Clinic. How can I help you?”

  Rachel said: “Yes, I’m looking for Doctor Pauline Vick.”

  “Dr. Vick?” the woman asked.

  “Yes. Is that an issue?”

  “Sort of. Dr. Pauline Vick hasn’t worked here for about six weeks. She took a job with Baltimore Regional Hospital.”

  “Oh, I see. Do you happen to know if she’s still running consults for Greenfield Women’s Clinic?”

  “Sorry, but no I don’t.”

  Rachel ended the call and instantly pulled up the number for Baltimore Regional Hospital. As she put the call through, she looked to Jack and said, “Run a search for any criminal record. She’s no longer with Regency and they couldn’t tell me if she’s stull doing consults.” Just as Jack nodded, the line was answered, and Rachel did her best to be as polite and cheerful as possible. “Hello. This is Special Agent Rachel Gift. I’m currently in town on a case and I was hoping I could speak to a Dr. Pauline Vick. I understand that she’s employed there currently.”

  “One moment,” the receptionist said.

  While on hold, Rachel looked over to Jack and saw that he was scrolling through the database for any information he could find on Pauline Vick. After several seconds, he shook his head and said: “Nothing here.”

  It took another minute or so for the receptionist to come back. When she did, she sounded very apologetic. “So sorry about the wait. She is on rotation today, but I’m told she’s currently meeting with a patient. Can I take a message?”

  Rachel considered it for a moment, but decided it would be best to take action rather than play phone tag. “That won’t be necessary,” she said. “But thank you.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  When Rachel and Jack arrived at Baltimore Regional, Rachel could not help but feel that they were stuck in some sort of cyclone that kept them perpetually moving.

  Rachel showed her badge as they approached. “I called about Dr. Vick about twenty minutes ago,” she said. “It’s very important that we speak to her as soon as possible.”

  “One moment,” the receptionist said without any real spirit. She placed a call on her landline phone, waited, and then started speaking to someone on the other end, trying to locate Dr. Vick. When she was done, she looked back to Rachel and Jack with a rehearsed smile and said, “She’s in one of the doctor’s lounges right now, but she only has ten minutes before her next appointment.”

  “Any idea which lounge?” Jack asked.

  “Dr. Vick is in prenatal, so it would most likely be the one all the way at the end of the third floor.”

  “Thanks so much,” Rachel said, already moving away from the visitor’s desk and toward the elevators.

  As they were carried up to the third floor, Jack started thinking out loud—something he tended to do when they were actively on the hunt. “So Vick has access to both clinics and then conveniently gets a job somewhere new not too long before the murders start,” he said. “It’s not a smoking gun by any means, but it does seem a little suspicious, right?”

  “A bit, yes.” Rachel mulled it over, trying to look past the logic that told her a woman that was currently working in a prenatal program would probably be disgusted by the idea of someone killing women that were seeking out fertility treatments. Of course, Rachel had worked her fair share of cases where such reasoning had ended up serving as the killer’s motive in the end. So she knew better than to rest her laurels on logic alone.

  The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, revealing the third floor. As they walked down the hallway, it felt very much like the atmosphere of Regency clinic, only there were more men—husbands and boyfriends for the most part. Rachel saw several women sitting in a large waiting area in the center of the hallway, most of whom looked to be at least six or seven months pregnant.

  “You know,” Jack said, “as old-fashioned and caveman-like as it might sound, I don’t know that men will ever feel
comfortable in these places.”

  “Or any places that caters specifically to women,” Rachel pointed out. “When I was pregnant with Paige, Peter loathed coming to my appointments. He did it because he was an awesome husband—came to every single appointment. But you could tell from the moment he stepped in the front door, he was very uncomfortable.”

  She tried to imagine Jack coming into a place like this, sitting in a room with a wife and many other uncomfortable women. But Jack had never married and really didn’t even date all that much. She’d heard him mention a woman with any sort of real romantic interest one time and that had ended up coming to nothing.

  “Something about this feels…right, I think,” Jack said as the doctor’s lounge drew closer. “You ever get that feeling that what you’re about to step into might very well be what you’re looking for?”

  “On the job, yes,” Rachel said. “In other aspects of life…rarely. And I’m getting something like that from Pauline Vick. But I think it might mostly be the awkwardness of the situation.”

  “I guess being the resident asshole comes with the job when you’re an agent working on a case like this one, though,” Jack said with a shrug.

  When they were about twenty feet away from the lounge, a woman came walking out. She was dressed in a typical white doctor’s vest and navy-blue pants. Rachel noted that the nametag on her chest read VICK. Pauline Vick was a short woman that looked quite athletic even under the long, white doctor’s coat. Her black hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and she looked as if someone had just called her every bad name they could think of.

  “I assume you’re the agents?” Pauline asked.

  “Yes, ma’am, we are,” Rachel said.

  “I was paged and told I had two FBI agents here looking to speak with me,” she said, confused. “Can I ask what this is in reference to?”

  “We need some information from you regarding a case we’re looking into,” Rachel said. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

  “Well, I don’t really have an office these days, so I think here in the hall will have to do. But as I’m sure the receptionist told you, I have an appointment with a patient in ten minutes so the hall might be for the best. Now…how can I help you?”

  “Dr. Vick, have you heard about the three murders that have occurred in the city in the past few nights?” Rachel asked.

  Slight confusion touched her features as she slowly said, “I’d heard that there were two women that had been killed. I was not aware there had been a third. One of the two was a woman I had consulted with just about two months ago.”

  “I assume that was before you got the job here at the hospital?” Rachel asked.

  “Yes. I consulted with her at Greenfield. I take it you two are looking for the killer?”

  “That’s right. And so far, all we can gather is that somehow, the killer seems to know a list of women getting treatments, as well as when the treatments are scheduled and where they live.”

  Something like muted realization came over Dr. Vick’s face. “Are you here to ask me about employees at the clinics? Do you really think someone that works at Regency or Greenfield would be a killer?”

  The tone of Vick’s voice changed drastically. She’d gone from meek and seemingly helpful to irate and angry in the space of about three seconds.

  “Based on the facts as we know them,” Jack said, “Yes, we have to assume that for right now. Currently, it’s the only approach that seems fruitful.”

  “With all due respect, that’s absurd. Please tell me you have not been harassing those poor doctors and nurses.”

  Rachel almost respected the way Pauline had communicated her grievance but there was an edge to it that honestly infuriated Rachel deep down. It wasn’t necessarily a feeling of entitlement, but closer to a doctor knowing that these FBI agents were on her turf and finding a sense of skewed pride in that.

  “No, we have not been harassing them,” Rachel said. “But we have been questioning them to try to find some answers.”

  “So how do you think I can help you with your investigation?” Vick asked. “I can pretty much assure you that all of the women I have worked with at both of those clinics are one hundred percent absolutely not killers.”

  Rachel still tried to remind herself of the emotional trauma this woman had been through during her career—having to tell Lord only knew how many women that they would never be able to conceive a child; it certainly could not be an easy task. And then the poor woman’s own horror story of having the so-called miracle baby after so much struggle and effort, only to lose it.

  But she also had a case to close and she could not get past the suspicion that this doctor—who was visibly getting angrier and angrier—might very well be their killer.

  “Well, let me repeat the facts as we know them,” Rachel said. “Somehow, someone is not only targeting women because they are getting fertility treatments at these two clinics, but they also seem to know the dates the treatments are scheduled for. So, in addition to looking at patients that have familiarity with both clinics, we’ve also had to look at employees. And, as you might know, you’re the only doctor in the past year or so that was floating back and forth between both clinics. You worked for Regency but also as something of a freelance consultant for Greenfield, right?”

  “Yes, that’s true. So if I can…”

  “And then, just before the murders began, you picked up another job here.”

  Vick’s brow furrowed and her jaw unhinged as she started to understand the purpose of their visit. She levelled her eyes at them in what was both pain and hatred. Rachel was able to keep her composure but had no clear idea of how to push forward. Thankfully, Jack stepped in. When he spoke, he sounded sincere and apologetic, but Rachel could tell that it was going to do no good.

  “We know about your history,” he said softly. “And while neither of us can imagine what it must have been like, we have to do our jobs. As FBI agents, we can’t look past the coincidence of it all.”

  “Coincidence?” Pauline asked. It looked like she might scream or start weeping at any moment. “You mean my struggle to have a baby and then to lose it a year later? You think that makes me a killer?”

  Her voice was getting louder and she took two steps closer toward them. One more step and she would literally be screaming right into Jack’s face.

  “Of course not,” Jack said. He kept his own voice low and calm, trying his best to keep the situation from getting out of hand. “But it gives us more than enough reason to at least approach you to ask a series of questions. You can understand that, right?”

  Pauline Vick’s jaw was clenching and her eyes were starting to fill with tears. She did not blink as she stared them both down. She nodded slowly and with each nod of her head, Rachel saw more and more of the pain slipping away. All that was left was hatred. Rachel could almost feel it coming off of the woman in waves. She stood a little straighter in response, not sure what to expect.

  “The personal hell I went through for more than fifteen years has nothing to do with your case or the workings of whatever madman you’re after. The fact that you would even assume that I would have anything to do with it just because of personal pain is not only insulting, but so far beyond the realm of professionalism that it disgusts me.”

  “If you think we’re enjoying this, you’re sorely mistaken,” Rachel said. “Based on countless case studies and research, people with severe trauma are far more likely to—”

  It was then that Pauline Vick snapped. When it happened, it did so in a way that made Rachel think it had been a long time coming—that she and Jack just happened to be the one final push she’d needed. More than that, it made it just a bit easier to imagine this very same woman killing someone in a blind rage.

  Pauline kicked at Jack and said: “Don’t you dare talk to me about trauma!” Her foot glanced off of his shin and her volume got louder with each word. By the time she said “trauma,” she was screaming. “I’ve l
ived under this shadow for far too long and now to have it thrown in my face while I’m at work? Are you fucking crazy?”

  Pauline swiped her hand out and forward in a fit of fury. She slapped at Jack’s chest, though not in any real threatening way. Jack stepped back, raising his hands to show Pauline that he was not going to retaliate, that he meant her no harm.

  “Dr. Vick, please—” was all Rachel was able to get out. When she realized that the next blow was going to be a side-swing fist directly to Jack’s face, she moved instinctively. She was not able to block the blow completely, but she did catch Dr. Vick’s right forearm as it struck Jack’s chest.

  Rachel applied just a bit of pressure and stepped forward She looked behind them and saw that at least five employees had stopped to see what was happening. Behind Vick, two people had come to peek their heads out of the doctor’s lounge.

  “Dr. Vick, you’re attracting attention,” Rachel hissed, still not letting go of her right arm. “You’ve struck an agent that did not physically provoke you, so you will be coming with us. It’s up to you if we make it look really bad or as innocent as possible. This is not a threat, and I’ll give you five seconds, right now, to decide.”

  She was clearly still furious but she nodded. “What about my appointments for the rest of the day?”

  “You can use my phone to call and find someone to fill in,” Rachel said. “But for now, you’re coming with us.”

  Slowly, Rachel felt the fight go out of the woman’s forearm. It felt like holding a stone that melted into jelly.

  “You can’t imagine…” Pauline said through clenched teeth and hitching breaths. “You can’t do this…”

  No refusing that she did it, Rachel thought. No attempt to talk her way out of it. Maybe Jack was right…maybe this is the finish line.