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A woman’s kind voice traveled from the second hallway.
“Yes,” Brook replied as she made her way back to the counter. “I was hoping to speak with Mr. Risner.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No,” Brook replied before reaching into the side pocket of her purse. She pulled out her credentials and opened the bifold. “My name is Brooklyn Sloane, and I have some questions regarding an ongoing investigation.”
Brook had purposefully not announced what type of investigation that she was conducting, but she hadn’t thought through her vague declaration.
“Mr. Risner has authorized me to tell you that you’ll have to reach out to the lawyers involved,” the woman proclaimed before pursing her lips in disappointment. She pulled out the chair that was closest to the computer monitor, signaling that she was done with the conversation. “The garbage can is near the front door.”
It took Brook a moment to realize that the woman was all but instructing her to leave and throw her coffee cup in the trash before doing so, thus ending her visit. It was nice to witness employee loyalty, but Brook wasn’t so easily deterred from her mission. It meant that the woman was a treasure trove of secrets.
“I think we might have gotten our wires crossed, Ms…”
“Jennings,” the woman replied warily. “Amelia Jennings.”
“Ms. Jennings, I’m not here about any type of lawsuit that may be ongoing with your nursing home. My firm is working in conjunction with the FBI on a string of murders, and one of the victims happened to have a relative who had been a patient here a few years ago.”
Recognition dawned on the woman, and she remained standing on the other side of the counter.
“You were on the news yesterday morning. This is about that missing woman, but she didn’t have a relative here. You must be talking about Debbie Horton, though,” Amelia replied with a hand over her heart. “That poor thing. We were heartbroken over her death. It wasn’t long after she went missing that Lilith passed away.”
“I take it that Lilith was her grandmother?” Brook asked as if she hadn’t known the woman’s name. “Were the two of them close?”
“I would like to think so, although Debbie was only able to visit every few months. Debbie’s father spent time with Lilith every other day like clockwork, though.” Amelia pushed the chair back in until the arms slid underneath the counter. She then made her way around the station and motioned to one of the benches. She didn’t appear to be a nurse, so Brook made the assumption that the woman was an administrative assistant to the manager of the facility. “I’m sorry if I was short before.”
“It’s quite alright,” Brook replied as she set her purse down near the leg of the bench. She then unfastened her dress coat and took a seat, Amelia following suit. “I take it that you’ve worked here awhile then?”
“Oh, I’ve been on the staff here since 2007.” Amelia patted her own hand as if she was giving herself solace. “I think of Debbie often. Her father was absolutely devastated over her death.”
“How soon after did Lilith pass away?” Brook asked, not in the least put out by having to wait to speak with Mr. Risner.
“Lilith took her last breath about two months after.” Amelia once again tapped her own hand in sorrow. “I like to think that she’s with her granddaughter now.”
“Do you recall the name Felicia Rhimes?”
“Rhimes,” Amelia repeated to herself before slowly shaking her head. “I’m sorry. It doesn’t ring a bell. We currently have forty-six patients, with four rooms open. I might be in my sixties, but I have the memory of an elephant. I believe it’s one of the reasons that Jim keeps me on the payroll.”
“Jim?”
“Jim Risner, our facility administrator. He’s been here for about four years.” Amelia seemed to ponder on Brook’s previous question. “I don’t believe I know anyone with the surname of Rhimes.”
“I think Ms. Rhimes’ great uncle might have been a patient here a few years ago.” Brook attempted to jog the woman’s memory with a timeline. “Felicia was his niece, though I’m not so sure that she was close to him.”
“Oh, you must be talking about Gregory Fleming,” Amelia said as recognition dawned. Brook had known the man’s name, but she sometimes found that people were more willing to talk when they felt accomplished in recalling vague details. “Feliciawashis niece, though I didn’t know she had a different surname. She only came a handful of times. As a matter of fact, Mr. Fleming didn’t have a lot of visitors during his stay here.”
“What was Mr. Fleming’s cause of death again?” Brook asked after she’d taken a sip of her coffee. It was now lukewarm, because it hadn’t been too hot to begin with. The carafe was a portable one, and not one that cost a lot of money. “Cancer?”
“Mr. Fleming was moved to a hospice facility, and I do believe it was cancer that facilitated such a transfer. Lung cancer, if I recall correctly,” Amelia shared, accurate in her recollection. “Are you saying…”
“Yes, Felicia Rhimes was also abducted three years ago,” Brook confirmed.
“Is there some connection between Debbie and Felicia? Is that why you’re here?”
“ I wouldn’t be doing my due diligence if I didn’t follow up on every single lead, no matter how small.” Brook kept her answer vague before spotting a man escorting a family down one of the hallways. Assuming that it was Jim Risner, Brook quickly asked another question before her time with Amelia came to an end. “Do the names Grace Willow or Jenny Capshaw mean anything to you?”
Amelia paused to mull over the two names, but she slowly shook her head in response. It was obvious that she was still grappling with the fact that Felicia Rhimes had also been abducted three years ago.
