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Getting into the sleeping man’s room to slip a knock-out cocktail into his IV had been child’s play, and no one had looked twice as a wheelchair was procured for transport. Of course, Eggers had been secretly rolled toward the stairwell when all eyes were busy elsewhere.
From the top landing, it had been a little more difficult, hefting the man’s limp body in a fireman’s carry to transport him down two floors, but it had eventually been accomplished. Then with a little extra help from some pre-hidden refrigerator straps, Eggers had been wrapped in a tarp and folded into a secured burden which was then hoisted to be taken deeply into the woods.
It had all been so smartly accomplished. And because of that, there’d be one less abomination walking the earth.
Covering the hapless, knocked-out Eggers with a thin layer of dirt and leaves felt incredible. It was the final step in a well-orchestrated plan. Glancing down at the pile of detritus that now obscured the man’s body, satisfaction was a warm embrace.
“That’s the last time a fucker like you will touch someone like her. You shouldn’t have done it, you know. I was very displeased. You should have known she was off limits for a person like you.”
Sending one final kick of dirt over what would become the man’s shallow grave, the long walk back began.
* * *
“I’m sorry. What?”Talia had only been asleep maybe four hours when she’d had to fumble for her ringing phone, taking a call from…the hospital?
Oh shit!
Her mind immediately went to complications regarding Fleet, and her breath seized in her lungs. But the statement on the other end of the phone by the hospital administrator wasn’t anything she expected.
“I said, Mr. Eggers is missing,” the woman repeated. “When his nurse went in to take his vitals ten minutes ago, he wasn’t in his bed. And he wasn’t in the bathroom, either. We’ve been searching the entire hospital, but we can’t find him. The clothes he came in with are still in his closet, and the IV that had been put in early has been ripped out. We…seriously don’t have any idea what could have happened to him or where he could be.”
Talia was already up and throwing on clothes. “I’ll be there in ten minutes,” she barked. “Did you call the police?”
“I did. Right before I called you, as Mr. Eggers’ emergency contact.”
“Good. Don’t touch anything else in his room. I’m calling my team.”
“Your team?” the voice asked.
“SWAT.” Talia hung up before the administrator could question her again.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Had Fleet suffered some kind of mind-altering side-effect from one of his medications? It was the only reasonable answer. There was no way he’d just…walk out, still in a hospital johnny, even if he was scared shitless about his procedure tomorrow…uh, today.
Dammit. It was fucking two o’clock in the morning, and she was about to wake Mason up to mobilize the rest of the team.
With shaking fingers, she hit Mase’s number.
“Mmhhhlllo?” His groggy voice answered.
“Mason. It’s Talia. Fleet is missing.”
As expected, Mason went from zero to sixty in a fast second. “Missing? How?”
Talia picked up her go-bag with all her gear, her feet pounding toward the door as she answered. “The hospital just called. When his nurse went to check on him about ten minutes ago, his room was empty.”
“Did he walk out? Is that what they think happened?”
“I don’t know. But he didn’t put on his street clothes which means he’s still in a hospital gown. So if hedidleave, he wasn’t in his right mind.”
“Got it. I’m mobilizing the team, and I’ll call our tracker Harvé with his dog Muddy.” He threw out the name of his H Squad leader. “Welker has a forensics background, so we’ll have him go over Fleet’s room for any evidence, stat.”
“I told the hospital not to touch anything,” Talia supplied while turning the key in her ignition. Unfortunately, her private vehicle didn’t have blue lights, but seriously? Just let someone try to stop her for speeding. They’d get an earful.
“I’ll meet you there,” Mason continued. She could hear him moving about and attempted to swallow down the worst of her trepidation. There had to be a reasonable explanation for Fleet’s disappearance, and Mason and the squads she’d worked with were the best. They’d find him. They had to.
The blue lights she’d thought of before were flashing everywhere by the time she arrived at the hospital. As for her team, she’d been beaten there by a number of SWAT officers; the ones who lived in Orono. Talia had to travel a slightly longer distance from Old Town. Mike, Squad A’s leader, was on scene, and approached her as she stepped from her car.
