“I was at her house this afternoon.Went over the notebook data, the scheduling patterns.She’s sharp, Caleb.She’d already spotted the third-Tuesday cycle before I pointed it out.She’d mapped the physician names to a rotation that nobody at the hospital put together because they weren’t looking for it.”
“That’s useful.Is she safe?”
“Her house is on Golden Acres Road.Small place, single story, no alarm system.Back door opens onto an unfenced yard that borders a vacant lot.I could name six ways to access the property without being seen from the street.”
“So no.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You described her security profile like you were writing a threat assessment.That’s a no.”
Graham leaned against the counter.The cottage was spare—two chairs, a coffeemaker, cabinets painted white a decade ago.He lived out of a duffel bag on the bedroom floor.Fifteen years of that, and until this week, it had never bothered him.
“I’ll talk to Ronan about surveillance options,” he said.“We might be able to put eyes on the house without her knowing.”
“Without her knowing.”
“She’s already been told that we’re monitoring hospital communications.If I tell her we’re watching her house, she’ll see it as protection.She’ll also see it as control.And she’ll push back harder than the threat warrants.”
“You’ve known her five days.”
“Four.”
“Graham.”
“Yeah.”He rubbed the back of his neck.The scar on his left forearm caught the overhead light.“I hear you.”
“I’m not going to say anything.Harper would, but she’s not on this call.”
“Thank God for small favors.”
“What I will say is this.Victor Pruitt is not a coincidence.If Montgomery is putting eyes inside the hospital, it means the pressure is working.The notebook, your volunteer access, Thompson asking questions.Something’s rattled the cage.That’s good for the operation.It’s bad for anyone who’s visible.”
“Maren’s visible.”
“Maren’s the most visible person in the building.She confronted the night supervisor in the medication room.She asked about Rose Embry by name.Her charting access was revoked within hours.If Pruitt’s job is to identify threats, she’s already at the top of his list.”
“What are you recommending?”he asked.
“I’m recommending that you talk to her.Not as a handler, not as a team lead.As the person who sat across from her this afternoon and went over her data like she was a colleague instead of an asset.Because that’s what she is now, whether you planned it or not.And colleagues get honest assessments.”
“You sound like Harper.”
“Harper rubs off on people.It’s her worst quality.”A pause.“Talk to her, Graham.Tell her about Pruitt.Let her decide how she wants to handle it.You want her trust.You don’t earn that by managing her.You earn it by giving her the same information you’d want.”
“And if she decides to confront him?”
“Then you deal with that.But you deal with it together, not from a surveillance van on her street.That’s not who you want to be in this, and it’s not what she deserves.”
Graham stared at the ceiling.A water stain in the corner was shaped like a hand, fingers spread.He’d noticed it the first night in the cottage and had been looking at it every evening since, the way you look at something familiar when everything else is shifting.
“When did you get good at this?”he asked.
“I’m not good at it.I just made every mistake first.”The smile was audible.“Go.Call her.And eat something.You sound like you haven’t eaten since this morning.”
“I ate leftover soup.”
The silence on the other end was pointed.
