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“Who are you?” Cael asked, trying not to snap at the nurse.
The Therian blinked up at him. “Can I help you, Agent?”
“Where’s the nurse who was here a moment ago?”
“She had to go. Emergency.”
“Right.” He thrust a finger in the direction of Dr. Ward’s office. “Maybe you can tell me who the hell went into that office and moved Dr. Ward’s body?”
“I’m sorry, who?”
Jesus. Cael pinched the bridge of his nose. This was getting absurd, and he was starting to lose his patience. “Dr. Ward. He was found dead earlier, and we’re here to investigate. Someone has moved his body.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but there’s no doctor by that name here.”
Cael gaped at the guy. “Yes, there is. We were just in there with him. Look up a patient. Ash Keeler. Tell me the name of the attending doctor.”
The nurse tapped away at his screen. “Here it is. Ash Keeler. THIRDS agent. It says here his attending doctor was Dr. Fredrickson.”
“What? No, that’s not right. Look up a patient named Sloane Brodie. He was admitted in August.”
More tapping. The nurse looked up at him and turned the screen so Cael could see. He pointed to the name in blue letters. Dr. Fredrickson.
“This is bullshit,” Cael declared. He was about to chew out the nurse when his earpiece beeped. “Cael Maddock,” he growled.
“Agent Maddock, this is Lieutenant Sparks. I want you and Agent Santiago in my office immediately.”
“Can it wait? We have a situation.” It took a hell of a lot of patience not to spit the words out.
“Your job isn’t to question my orders, Agent Maddock. Your job is to follow them.”
“Yes, Lieutenant.” He tapped his earpiece and motioned for Rosa to follow him. “Come on. Sparks wants us in her office.” He pulled off his gloves and disposed of them in one of the nurses’ biohazard bins.
“Cael, what’s going on?” Rosa asked as they hurried out to the parking lot and their Suburban. He climbed into the passenger side as his partner slid in behind the wheel. They fastened their seat belts and soon were on their way back to HQ.
“I don’t know. But I intend to ask Sparks. This is all just… wrong. From the moment we stepped foot in there, it was wrong. Something was up with those nurses. And that guy who disappeared with the prescription? Someone went in there after us and swept the place.”
They’d had newbies contaminate crime scenes, had to face uncooperative witnesses and all kinds of messed-up things, but this was the first time they’d had a body disappear on them. Not long after, they arrived back at HQ and the subbasement garage. They took the elevator up to Unit Alpha, and Cael couldn’t shake the feeling in his gut. If he were in his Therian form, his fur would have been bristling. He went to tap his earpiece to get a hold of Hudson, but instead he headed for his and Rosa’s office.
“Where are you going? I thought Sparks wanted us in her office.”
“She does. I need to make a quick call.” He put his hand to his desk’s interface and tapped Hudson’s extension into the digital keypad. Hudson answered cheerfully.
“Cael. What can I do for you?”
“Where were you guys?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You and Nina weren’t at the hospital.”
“Were we supposed to be?” Hudson asked, sounding puzzled. “We’ve not had any callouts today.”
“You’re weren’t requested at NY Presbyterian?”
“No.”
“Okay. Sorry. Must have gotten my intel wrong. Thanks, Hudson.”
