Sage worked her jaw, frustration evident. “You’re just taking her side because you’re engaged. You’re mad at her. I know it.”
“I was irritated with her,” Nick clarified. “As for taking her side, I know she did the best she could. We’ve talked it out and we’re fine.”
“Have you now?” Dwight looked smug. “I wonder what gave you the idea to do that.”
“It wasn’t you. I just can’t stay mad at her. She says she’s a big marshmallow and that’s why she went with Sage, no questions asked, but I think I’m the marshmallow.”
“You’re both marshmallows,” Dwight said. “The thing we have to do now is run the doctors in this place. It’s not going to be easy, but it has to be done. Once we have some photos, we can start showing them to Paloma.”
“She said she didn’t get a good look at his face, though,” Sage reminded him. “She might not be able to identify him.”
“We have to start somewhere and I think this is the best spot. I don’t know what else to do.”
“So let’s do it,” Nick said. “It’s something we can do in here while keeping watch. No matter what, I think the one thing we can agree on is that Paloma can’t be left alone.”
“We definitely agree there,” Dwight agreed. “I have an advocate from immigration heading this way in a few hours. We’ll tackle one problem at a time.”
“And what about the others?” Nick asked. “Do you have an advocate for them?”
“Oh, well, it’s the funniest thing.” Dwight rubbed his chin and adopted an innocent expression. “It seems that while I was talking on the phone to my unit, the women staying in that building snuck out and I didn’t even see it happen. Apparently they took their medication and ran. I’m stumped about what to do about it.”
Nick barely managed to contain his smirk. “Huh. Imagine that.”
“I know. I’m going to get grief about it at the precinct, but there were simply too many women to watch and I got distracted.”
“I wouldn’t worry about being the big marshmallow, Nick,” Sage said dryly. “I think Dad has that titled locked up.”
“You’re still grounded,” Dwight warned. “I wouldn’t push things too far.”
Sage didn’t look remotely frightened. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“THAT’S QUITE THE story,” Andrea said, her face ashen when Maddie wrapped up her tale. “I don’t even know what to make of it.”
“It’s terrible,” Maddie agreed. “We don’t know what to do. Paloma is convinced it’s one of the doctors here who attacked her.”
“Do you believe her?”
“What reason does she have to lie?”
“I can think of several reasons,” Andrea supplied. “The first would be that she’s illegal and wants to gain some sympathy from the higher-ups when it comes to pleading her case for asylum. Have you considered that?”
“Not really. I can’t imagine what good that would’ve done her when she told a young woman that story days ago. To my knowledge, she had no idea Sage was affiliated with a police detective. What benefit could Sage be to her?”
“I guess that’s fair.” Andrea’s expression was thoughtful. “I honestly don’t know what to make of this story. I lean toward dismissing it, though. I can tell you’re going the other way.”
“I am,” Maddie confirmed. “I believe something very bad is happening on the streets. I also think that Paloma had something terrible happen to her, and in the neighborhood in question. I can’t disregard those two things even though you don’t think they’re connected.”
“I didn’t say that I didn’t believe they were connected,” Andrea clarified. “I just have trouble believing the entire thing. Perhaps that’s because it’s hard for me to imagine that someone I work with could be a murderer.”
“I understand the feeling. Believe me, I get it. I’ve been surprised at the evil residing inside seemingly normal people for a while now. That doesn’t mean it’s not happening. I don’t think we can afford to turn our backs on a potential serial killer.”
“Serial killer?” Andrea’s eyebrows flew up her forehead. “You can’t be serious.”
“We have twenty dead women and more missing. What would you call it?”
“I don’t know, but a serial killer is … well … it’s guys like Dahmer and Bundy. It’s adults who dress up like clowns and creep people out. It’s not a doctor who’s responsible for saving lives. If we really had a serial killer here, don’t you think we would know it? Wouldn’t we have a rash of dead bodies to contend with ourselves?”
“That’s a good point, but I don’t think all serial killers work the same way,” Maddie explained. “Some serial killers are angels of death, like you would see at a hospital. Others, though, they’re brutal hunters. That seems to be what we’re dealing with here.
“If we have a hunter, which I definitely believe we do, killing someone when they’re unconscious on an operating table or knocked out in a bed wouldn’t hold the same thrill,” she continued. “I think the person we’re dealing with needs to hunt. It’s probably primordial for him.”
“Okay, let’s say I believe you,” Andrea hedged. “How do you plan on hunting this person down. You said that Paloma can’t identify him by sight. How is she going to be able to help?”
“She would recognize his voice, which would give us a start.”
“But what if she doesn’t hear him?”
“Then I don’t know.” Maddie felt mildly helpless. “I just know we have to narrow down our options. To do that, we need to come up with a suspect pool and work from there.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?”
“Well, for starters, I thought you might be able to help me.”
Andrea balked at Maddie’s impish grin. “I can already tell I’m going to hate this.”
“Probably,” Maddie agreed. “I won’t badger you to help. If you say no, I’ll respect your answer.”
“I have to know your plan before I answer either way.”
“I thought maybe you could get me into the file room,” Maddie said. “I need to look at a few things and I obviously can’t do it out in the open.”
“No, I agree. The thing is, all of our files are electronic. You need a login code to do it, and as fond as I am of you, I don’t feel comfortable handing over my login information.”
“And I totally get that. It’s almost lunchtime, though.”
Andrea furrowed her brow. “So?”
“So I thought we could get some soup, head into the records room, and I might accidentally see something while looking over your shoulder,” she suggested. “That way we wouldn’t technically be breaking any rules.”
“We would be breaking the rule about civilians being in the file room.”
“Okay, one little rule.”
Andrea heaved out a sigh as she rubbed her forehead, her mind clearly busy. “I don’t know.”
“I don’t want to put you on the spot.” Maddie meant it. “If you’re not comfortable then I’ll back away. I’ll find a different way to track down information. I merely thought this would save us time.”
“If we get caught, I could lose my job,” Andrea pointed out.
“I know. It’s not fair to ask. If we don’t figure out who is doing this, though, a lot of other women could lose their lives. We’re talking young women who could simply disappear from the street without anyone knowing.”
“Oh, man.” Andrea leaned back so she could stare at the ceiling. “You know exactly how to manipulate me, don’t you?”
“I had it happen to me earlier. I understand that you don’t like it. If you’re uncomfortable, say no. That will be the end of it.”
“Oh, right.” Andrea’s voice was almost a growl. “If I do nothing and another body dump site is located, I won’t be able to live with myself. We both know it.”
Actually, Maddie was banking on it. “It’s not your responsibility. If you want to help, though, I’ll gladly take it.”<
br />
“Fine.” Andrea threw up her hands in defeat. “I don’t see what other option I have.”
Maddie beamed. “You won’t regret this.”
“Yeah, somehow I don’t think that’s true. Let’s do it, though. If I am working with a killer, I definitely want to know who it is.”
17
Seventeen
Maddie tipped off Nick to her plans before scurrying off with Andrea. He wasn’t exactly thrilled that she was about to break the law, but he soothed himself with the knowledge that he was technically on vacation and outside of his jurisdiction, which meant he wasn’t neglecting his duties. He had no doubt that upon further examination he would probably be angry with himself, though, but for now he let it go.
“Anything?” Dwight asked as he ran physician names on his laptop.
“Not really,” Nick replied. He was forced to use his phone for the searches, which massively slowed him down. “I can’t run deep searches on this thing.”
“I could try to get you another laptop, but we’d have to go back to the precinct for that. I don’t think it’s a good idea until I’ve got bodies on the door to watch Paloma.”
“I would rather stay close to the hospital,” Nick admitted. “I don’t want to be separated from Maddie again.”
“I thought that was part of your normal thought process,” Dwight teased. “Maddie is here so you have to be here, too. Separation is bad.” He made a taunting face, but Nick wasn’t bothered by the insinuation in the least.
“If you had a chance to hang out with an angel, would you pass it up?”
“Oh, gag me.” Dwight found he enjoyed messing with Nick. The man was easygoing. He wasn’t sure that would be the case the first time they shared a discussion – one in which Dwight was naturally suspicious about why Nick was trying to dig up information about Maddie – but he’d grown rather fond of the boy and couldn’t imagine a better match for Maddie. Since he’d come to think of the woman as something of a surrogate daughter, it made him feel better to know that Nick would always be at her side.
That didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy teasing Nick.
“You’re kind of a whipped puppy where Maddie is concerned, aren’t you?”
Nick nodded without hesitation. “I am and I’m proud of it.”
“You’re a weird man.”
“I can live with that.” Nick scratched at the back of his neck as he stretched out his legs. “Maybe we’re looking at this the wrong way. Have you considered that?”
“I always consider that. What do you mean, though?”
“I mean that they’re doctors. The odds of them having criminal records are slim. If they did, it would’ve been found before they were hired. Whoever did this has managed to fly under the radar, and probably for a very long time.”
“Okay, I get what you’re saying.” Dwight bobbed his head. “We still have to start looking somewhere. Where do you suggest looking?”
“The doctors themselves,” Nick replied. “We need to dig into their personal lives.”
“Can you give me an example?”
“Sure. Who works the late shift on a regular basis? I’m guessing that’s not a popular shift. Our guy probably prefers it, though, because it allows him to hunt and dispose of bodies when the rest of the world is asleep.”
“Huh.” Dwight was impressed with his younger cohort’s reasoning skills. “That makes a lot of sense. We need the hospital’s schedule. I’m not sure that’s something they’re going to willingly hand over, though.”
“Probably not. It’s a good thing we have someone on the inside to do that for us, huh?”
“You mean Maddie.”
“If she’s going to break the law, she might as well go all out.”
“See, I’m pretending you didn’t say that. I don’t want to know that she’s breaking the law. To me she’s a sweet and innocent girl who went off for some coffee.”
“She’s not all that innocent. She only looks it.”
“Ugh. You’ve corrupted her. You and your filthy mind are ruining my illusions.”
Nick chuckled. “You sound like her father.”
“Yeah, you haven’t mentioned much about him,” Dwight noted. “I know that we haven’t had a lot of time, but how did that come about?”
Nick told him the story, truncating it but not leaving anything out. When he was finished, Dwight was thoughtful.
“And you’re okay with him?”
Nick shrugged. “I don’t know that ‘okay’ is the word I would use,” he hedged. “I think that Olivia was bitter about the split and did her best to keep George from Maddie. Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved Olivia a great deal, but I don’t think she did right by Maddie on that front. Maddie deserved to know her father.”
“And you’re sure the story he told you was true?”
Nick nodded. “We checked. Maude admitted George tried to rectify the situation when Maddie was a child. He came back every few years begging for time with her. Olivia wouldn’t hear of it.”
“And now?” Dwight prodded. “Last time I checked, Olivia’s ghost was still hanging around. What does she have to say about all this?”
“She’s surprisingly morose and petulant, which is very unlike her. She’s making things difficult for Maddie.”
“And how is Maddie handling that?”
“She refuses to cut George out of her life. He’s been easy to get along with and goes out of his way to spend time with Maddie whenever she can spare an hour here or there. He doesn’t try to dictate.
“Come to find out, he put money away for Maddie for years,” he continued. “He wanted to give it to her so she could pay for the wedding, or even a honeymoon, but she turned him down. She wants to get to know her father, not be paid for the privilege.”
“Most women would’ve assumed they were owed something in her situation.”
“Maddie isn’t most women.”
“She’s certainly not, you freak.” Dwight rolled his eyes. “I hate it when you get that moony look on your face. It makes me want to smack you.”
“You’ll learn to live with it. I plan to whip it out for special occasions for the rest of my life.”
“Yup, you’re totally whipped.” Dwight gestured toward Nick’s phone. “Text Maddie and see if she has access to shift records. I happen to know a nurse or two who might help us so I’m going to tag them, too. If we work together, we might have a few ideas before dinner.”
“That sounds like a plan to me.”
ANDREA SAT AT A cubicle desk and searched personnel records, an annoyed look on her face as Maddie leaned over her shoulder.
“You’re invading my personal space.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Maddie took one step back and then returned to scanning the documents over Andrea’s shoulder on the computer screen. “I have a hard time seeing from back here.”
“I’m sorry for that, but you’re making me nervous,” Andrea said. “I need to concentrate. Take a seat and watch the door.”
Maddie did as instructed, although her patience was wearing thin. “Have you found anything of interest yet?”
“I don’t even know where to start looking,” Andrea admitted. “It’s not as if I have access to private personnel records. If anyone was worried about what one of our doctors was doing, or even if complaints were filed, I wouldn’t be privy to the information. They don’t just leave that stuff out where anyone can see it.”
“That’s true.” Maddie glanced down at her phone when it dinged. “Nick is texting.”
“He probably can’t take another moment of not being in your presence,” Andrea drawled.
“I don’t think that’s it.”
“That’s because you don’t always see the way he looks at you. When he thinks you’re not looking, he gets this goofy look on his face while watching you. It’s ridiculously pathetic and it makes me really jealous.”
“Jealous?” Maddie arched an eyebrow. “Why would you be jealous?”
&nb
sp; “Because you have the one thing everyone wants,” Andrea replied. “You have a gorgeous man who is in love with you. Heck, he threw himself on top of you to protect you from a stray bullet. If that’s not forever love, I don’t know what is.”
“Don’t remind me about the bullet.” Maddie wrinkled her nose as she considered the text. “Nick has a good idea.”
“He does?” Andrea turned. “What’s the idea?”
“I think you’re right about us wasting time by searching the personnel files. Anything juicy is going to be hidden from us. That means we need to think outside the box.”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“I need to see the schedules,” Maddie replied. “Like … is there any one doctor who works a lot of late shifts?”
“I guess there would have to be,” Andrea said after a beat. “Most of the doctors here don’t work late hours, though. That’s reserved for emergency room doctors.”
“So let’s look at emergency room doctors first.”
“Okay. You’re the boss.”
“I STARTED WITH emergency room doctors,” Dwight volunteered, turning his computer so Paloma and Nick could stare at the photos. “I know that you didn’t get a really good look at the guy, but I still need you to see if you can identify anyone who looks familiar, Paloma.”
The weary woman propped herself up on her elbows and stared at the photos in turn. She wrinkled her forehead in concentration, but her eyes didn’t spark with a hint of recognition. After looking over the three rows of photos twice, Paloma shook her head.
“Are you saying that it isn’t any of them or you simply don’t know?” Nick queried.
“I don’t know.” Paloma’s voice was thick with sleep. “I know what you want from me, but I’m not sure I can give it to you. It was dark and I only saw the edges of his face.”
“Let’s try something new,” Nick said, pushing away the laptop and offering up a calm smile. “Why don’t we start with the biggies and move to the smaller details after. What color was his hair?”
“Oh.” Paloma tapped her finger on her lip. “It was dark. That’s all I can say. I don’t know if it was black or brown.”
Grave Danger (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 12) Page 16
