Edge of Mercy (A Kate Reid Novel Book 11)

by Robin Mahle

  “Dr. Simmons, I’m Agent Reid, this is my partner, Agent Walsh with the FBI.”

  The man stood and appeared nervous. “Yes, hello.” He offered his hand. “I understand you’re here about Dr. Theo Bishop.”

  “That’s right. Do you have a moment to answer a few questions about him?” Walsh asked.

  “Of course. Anything I can do. Please, sit down.” Simmons returned to his chair. “Dr. Bishop was an excellent student.”

  “That’s what we understand.” Kate removed her coat and placed it in her lap as she took a seat. “However, we noticed in his records that you filed disciplinary actions several times. Can I ask why that was?”

  Dr. Simmons appeared reluctant. “Agent Reid, I have many students and while I do recall Dr. Bishop as being one of my brightest students, I’m afraid whatever I wrote in his file, I can’t seem to recall exactly.”

  “Let me refresh your memory, Doctor.” Walsh retrieved the files. “On the third of October 2012, you wrote that Theodore Bishop had been thought to have played a very serious prank on another student. One that states here you couldn’t prove.”

  “Oh, yes. I recall now.” The doctor pushed up the glasses on his nose. “It was some time ago, but I recall a student coming to me insisting the reason he missed his exam was due to an illness. That illness, he indicated, was a direct result of Theodore Bishop placing some sort of laxative in his food. Of course, it’s a harmless college prank until it results in someone’s grades suffering.”

  “Sure.” Kate nodded. “And then less than six months later, near the end of the first year, Bishop was written up for suspected cheating on an exam.” She peered at him. “Given Bishop’s grades, why would he have needed to cheat on a test?”

  “I don’t suppose I’m the person who could answer that, frankly. But the test results were considerably better than all of the other students. And it appeared, while there was no concrete proof, that Bishop, in fact, obtained the answers in some form or another.”

  “And nothing was done in either of these incidents?” Walsh asked.

  “These were unproven infractions. Notating them in the file was the only course of action,” Simmons replied.

  “And then this last one was written near the end of his medical school training and involved a cadaver,” Kate added.

  Dr. Simmons cast down his gaze and fidgeted with his fingers. “Yes, well, that was an unfortunate situation wherein Theo took it upon himself to use the cadaver in a fashion deemed unacceptable by the school.”

  “Unacceptable? Can you elaborate on that?” Walsh asked. “The report doesn’t go into much detail.”

  “I’m not sure I can recall the precise situation, other than the fact that he conducted unauthorized tests on the subject. It rendered the cadaver useless. Cadavers are quite expensive for medical schools.”

  “I can accept your responses, however, that doesn’t explain how Bishop still managed to graduate near the top of his class and then get accepted into a residency program at Our Lady of Mercy, which I understand is a top teaching hospital,” Kate said.

  “Again, I don’t think I’m the person to answer that question. Perhaps that should be directed at the administration.”

  Kate glanced at Walsh. “The administration?”

  “Well, yes. They’re the ones who transmit the student’s records and transcripts. Every hospital he would’ve applied to would have received Theo’s transcripts.” Dr. Simmons peered at them. “Is there anything else I can help you with? I’m afraid I have a class starting soon, if not.”

  They stood from their chairs before Walsh added, “I think we’ll stop back in at the front office. Thank you, Dr. Simmons. This has been very enlightening.” He offered his hand.

  “Yes, it has.” Kate also shook the doctor’s hand before following Walsh to the door.

  “Can I ask you something, Agent Reid?” Simmons said.

  Kate turned back. “Yes?”

  “The obvious question would be for me to ask if Theo Bishop was in trouble with the law. After all, the FBI doesn’t request private records for nothing. Has he done something wrong?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out.” Kate nodded. “Thank you for your time, Dr. Simmons.”

  As they walked along the grounds back to the administration office, Kate began, “I wonder if the hospital was given the reports on Bishop?”

  “You think the school withheld them so he could get into a good residency program? What would be the point in that?”

  “I don’t know.” She peered at him. “Maybe they were covering their asses.”

  “Covering for what?” Walsh added.

  “I say we talk to Dr. Reese again and find out.”

  “Then maybe head over to the hospital and see if we get any similar stories about Bishop,” Walsh said. “If we get the goods on Bishop, combined with what the witnesses have said? I think that’ll be enough cause for us to bring him in for questioning.”

  14

  Senior Unit Agent Cameron Fisher made the trek to Unit Chief Cole’s office. Cole had been at BAU Quantico almost since its inception. He’d helped spearhead the department structure that ultimately became the three units inside of the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Cole had seen it all and seemed to know exactly how to move forward when others didn’t. When he brought in Nick Scarborough, a Washington Field Office transplant, Fisher didn’t question him. That wasn’t entirely true, but he didn’t overstep the bounds of authority. That wasn’t who Cameron Fisher was. Not when he was a first-rate detective back in New York and not now.

  “You wanted to see me, Chief?” Fisher stood in the open doorway.

  “I did. Come on in. Take a load off,” Cole replied.

  “What can I do for you, sir?” Fisher asked.

  “I wanted to check in and see how things were progressing on the case out of Houston.” Cole leaned back in his chair and rested his hands over his slightly oversized paunch. He was pushing 60 and seemed to have put on a fair amount of weight over the past couple of years. Still, Cole was a distinguished man with nearly white hair and deep “eleven” lines between his eyes.

  “The team is spread out right now. Scarborough and Duncan are on their way back from Los Angeles. Walsh and Reid are in Providence filling out the suspect’s history.”

  “You’ve settled on a prime suspect?” Cole asked.

  “Yes. We have enough corroborating evidence to suggest the man we’re interested in is a Dr. Theodore Bishop. At the very least, we want to track him down and ask questions.”

  “That’s good to hear.”

  Fisher studied him. “I’ve worked for you for a long time, sir. This case wasn’t the only reason you wanted to see me, was it?”

  “Not entirely,” Cole began. “I wanted to know how the team was—getting along—with you at the helm.”

  “So far so good from my perspective. Scarborough’s been nothing but professional. I didn’t expect and haven’t seen anything to the contrary. We have a good team in place.”

  “What about Quinn’s replacement? Have you put together your wish list?”

  “I have a couple of names in mind, although I haven’t spoken to the entire team about them, mostly just Reid. Not even the prospective candidates themselves.”

  “And she’s handling the transition well?” Cole added. “She’s been under Scarborough’s wing for some time. I’m not sure how she’ll do now that she’s out of his shadow.”

  Fisher smiled. “I’m not sure she’s out, not completely, anyway. But I have no doubt Reid will pick up the ball and run with it. I think this is the opportunity she needed, frankly. Quinn wasn’t the right mentor for her and the relationship with Scarborough only complicated matters. No. Reid will be just fine and she’s open to whoever the candidate is.”

  Cole sat up in his chair. “Keep me informed on the progress of your investigation.”

  “I will.” Fisher stood and headed toward the door but stopped. “There is one other thin
g.” He turned back. “What I just said about Scarborough and Reid. About it having complicated matters.”

  “Yes?” Cole pressed on.

  “I think that could happen between Duncan and me. I don’t want it to.”

  Cole nodded. “I am aware of your relationship and you might be right, Cam. Look, I understand the demands of this job better than you might know. The toll it takes on any relationship is great. Let alone on a relationship with a member of the team.” He sighed. “The closeness that can grow out of this way of life is almost inevitable. But if there was to be another situation like the one between Scarborough and Reid, I’m not sure the team could repair itself. Do you understand?”

  “You aren’t sure I can be an effective leader as a result of my relationship with Duncan.”

  “After the hoops I just had to jump through to keep Scarborough here and Reid off the chopping block? I don’t want to go through that again. I won’t sit back and watch my agents implode. What I’m saying is, this is all still fresh, and you’ll forgive me if I’m gun-shy on the matter. All I ask is that you take my words under advisement.”

  Fisher nodded. “I will. Thanks, Chief.”

  Our Lady of Mercy Hospital was just ahead. Walsh pulled into the visitor parking lot and cut the engine. “The school insists all records were transmitted here. All we can do now is talk to these guys and get their take on Bishop.”

  “We don’t have a warrant to request Bishop’s records here,” Kate added. “I wasn’t sure we’d get this far. But now that we have, how do we go about this?”

  “We can ask questions about Bishop. They can choose to answer them or not. But yeah, we won’t get his personnel records.” Walsh unlatched his seatbelt. “Then again, we may not need them.”

  Kate opened the door and they walked to the hospital entrance. She was ready to haul in Theodore Bishop for the murder of at least five people. The profile on this guy was almost textbook. Angel of Death. God complex. Whatever anyone wanted to call it. Theodore Bishop killed those people because he wielded the power. Kate didn’t like to come to such a certain conclusion without so much as having spoken to the suspect. In this instance, she was positive about who Bishop was. She just needed the proof to back it up.

  Almost from the moment Walsh said the name, Theodore Bishop, the nurses and doctors who worked with him wore fear on their faces. But fear of what? Bishop himself or had they feared they were complicit in his actions similar to what Kate believed had happened at the medical school?

  “And you were partners with Bishop during your second year of residency?” Walsh asked the man.

  “I was. We weren’t friends, not by a long shot. Bishop tried to undermine me every chance he got. He wanted the fellowship, which wasn’t even an option until third year. I don’t know. He had a hero complex or something. Like he had to be the guy who got it right every time. That’s not the way this works, you know?” The doctor dropped his cigarette into the ashtray around the back of the hospital.

  “He was ultra-competitive. Is that what you’re saying?” Kate pressed on.

  “Oh, it was more than that. Look, I heard some shit about him. Didn’t pay much attention until this one time when we were working on a case together. Easy. Some college kid came in with appendicitis. Simple stuff, right? Well, I’ll tell you, the kid ended up with almost complete organ failure within two days of his surgery. Bishop insisted it was an infection from the op.” He swatted away the notion. “That was bullshit right there. No, man. It wasn’t an infection. It was Bishop.”

  “Are you saying you believed Dr. Bishop did something to the patient?” Kate asked.

  “Hell, yeah. Not that anyone believed me. Oh, I took it to the top. They were all like, ‘we’ll look into it.’ And ‘that’s a serious allegation.’ Well, no shit it’s serious. I mean, really?”

  “No one did anything with it?” Walsh added.

  “Nope. Not a damn thing.”

  “Why do you think that was?” Walsh continued.

  “Lawsuits. Plain and simple. The hospital pays a shit ton of money for medical malpractice. No one wanted to face that.”

  “So what did the patient do?” Kate asked. “Did he sue the hospital?”

  “I have no idea. I was told it wasn’t mine to deal with and I should keep my nose out of it, so I did.”

  “Interesting.” Kate looked to Walsh and back to the doctor. “Thank you for your time.” She handed him a card. “If you think of anything else, or maybe if you’d be good enough to make a statement when the time comes…”

  “Look, Agent Reid, I’m an attending now. I, uh, I’m not sure…”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Walsh placed his hand on Kate’s shoulder. “We got it from here. Thank you again for your help.” He nodded for Kate to move on.

  She was reluctant but played along until they were out of earshot of the doctor. “What was that about?”

  “We don’t need him right now. The patient he was talking about obviously survived the incident. But what this does is establish that pattern we were talking about. I think we have enough, don’t you?”

  “I suppose so. Are we going back then?”

  “Unless I’m missing something. We need to get moving on tracking down Bishop and having a chat with him.”

  The wrongful death lawsuit was a problem; however, Bishop would need to see how it would play out. He’d covered his tracks just as he had with his previous victims but there was a chance that he missed something. Something stupid.

  Becoming Eli Parnell had been useful in order to leave the country. No one could possibly find out his real identity there which would give him the cover he needed. Now that he was back, it became clear there was no scenario in which he could continue his way of life without being Dr. Theodore Bishop. The National Registry for EMTs was a nationwide database that required fingerprints. Those prints were kept in the FBI’s database. Eli Parnell would be his go-to in the event he was forced to leave the country again.

  For now, he would return to Charlotte and ask for forgiveness in missing the five days from work. It had been for a good cause, he would insist. And the suit? Well, that was all just a misunderstanding.

  The sun fell below the horizon meaning Bishop’s shift was due to start. He walked into the station and straight to his supervisor.

  “Well, you’re back,” the man said. “I wasn’t sure if we would see you again. Did you even look at your phone for my messages?”

  “I am so sorry for the trouble. I was called away on a family emergency, but I’ve taken care of everything now and would like to ask for a second chance.”

  “You worked here for what, a day? And you want a second chance?” He eyed Bishop. “Your hair is different. Did you dye it or something?” He brushed off the remark. “Never mind. You really put me in a bind, Bishop. You get that, right?”

  “I do, sir. I’ll take on any extra shifts you need me to. I’ll cover for whoever needs it. Please. I can’t afford to lose this job. It was truly a family emergency. I swear it.”

  “Fine.” He sat up. “But this will be the only time this will happen. Look, Bishop, I know about the wrongful death suit. I’m sure you’re on edge about that, but it happens, okay? I don’t know the whole story and I haven’t been contacted by anyone, but sometimes the things we do out there go south. It can’t be helped. You just need to push through it and do your damn job.”

  “I understand.” Bishop started to leave. “Thank you, sir, for giving me a second chance.”

  “You won’t get a third, Bishop. Don’t screw this up.”

  He nodded and made his way to the locker room and dropped his bag onto the bench. A few of the other EMTs prepared for their shifts. It became clear he’d been singled out and those around him maintained silence. That was, until Bishop opened his locker door. A hand-drawn image depicting a stick-figure leaning over another stick-figure on a gurney. It was supposed to be him, and he held what looked like a defibrillator in his hands. A bubble c
aption read, “This won’t hurt at all, but it will kill you.”

  Bishop slammed the metal door and shot a look around. The other techs chuckled under their breaths and looked away. They’d found out about the lawsuit.

  “Bishop, glad to see you’re back. They all thought you took off because of the lawsuit. Ran scared.” Desmond Brown glared at the others. “If it was them, they would’ve done the same thing. They’re just screwing around with you, man. Don’t take it personally. Come on, you ready to roll out of here, or what?”

  “Yeah. I wouldn’t mind getting the hell out of here.” Bishop followed him as they headed to the truck.

  As Kate and Walsh returned to the office, the elevator doors opened and inside was almost deserted. It was 9pm and the place had cleared out.

  “You want to meet with Fisher before heading home?” Walsh asked.

  “Let me make a pit stop at my office and then I’ll meet you at his in ten minutes?”

  “Sure thing.” Walsh headed to his office.

  Kate started into the corridor when she spotted Nick emerge from the kitchen. “You’re back, too?”

  “Just got in about 30 minutes ago, actually. Fisher said you and Walsh were on the plane, so I didn’t bother making a call to you. How’d it go?” Nick asked.

  “Better than I expected. You?” Kate asked.

  “We got what we needed. You were right about this guy, Kate. He’s the one,” Nick replied.

  “I hope so. Listen, Levi and I are going to brief Fisher. Have you and Eva sat down with him yet?”

  “No, not yet. We figured we would wait for all of us to get here. So, now that we have, we should meet up. I’ll let Fisher know we’re all here.” Nick smiled and ran his hand down her arm. “I’m glad you’re back.”

  “Same here.” Kate continued on.

  Nick had always been a sounding board for her and offered his take on things. It was one thing she loved about their relationship, the back and forth. Bouncing ideas off one another. They thrived on it and it often brought great results. It couldn’t be dismissed. Nick had been a reliable resource, a confidant, and a lover. But Fisher’s words resonated. Could she separate the two and find that resource from another?