AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I got with OPD when I arrived, and told them that we’d be taking the lead on this one, but Mason had already notified them it would be our jurisdiction, so they cordoned off Fleet’s room and are keeping gawkers at bay.”
“Good.” Talia felt better that everyone was on this, and that no untrained hands were mucking about in Fleet’s room. She fastened on her collar mic, noting that the squad members who had already arrived were hooked in.
Welker appeared at her elbow with what she assumed was his forensics kit slung over his shoulder. “What have we got?” he asked.
“That’s what we’re hoping you’ll find out,” Talia stated. She, Mike, and Welker hurried into the hospital. She had no doubt Mason was only minutes behind, as well as her entire squad and however many others the boss had called in to help.
She only prayed that Harvé and his dog would make a fast arrival. He lived in some pretty heavy-duty, dirt track wilderness off Goss road to the east, so chances were he’d be last on scene.
When they reached Fleet’s room, the place was lit up like daytime, and several officers stood with their backs to the wall, making sure no unauthorized personnel went in.
Just as she and Welker were pulling their credentials from their pockets—something Mike didn’t need to do because he was part of OPD, and well known—Mason jogged up behind them.
“They’re all clear,” he barked to the officer she vaguely knew as Schmitty.
“Got it, Cap.” Schmitty unhooked the crime-scene tape that had been slapped across the open doorway, indicating they should go in.
“Who’s been in here? Do we know?” Mason asked, rigging his mic.
Schmitty followed them inside, hanging back as they took a look around. “We questioned the staff. The only ones to come in and have a look were the night nurse and the administrator. We’ve ascertained they touched nothing except the closet and bathroom doors. Everything else is exactly as it was.”
Mason spoke into his collar-mic. “Squads A thru D, set up a room-by-room search of the entire hospital. Squads E thru I, fan out over the hospitals perimeter and start looking for anything out of the ordinary. Squad J, you’re headed to Fleet Eggers’ studio and apartment to see if he shows up there.” He gave the address. “Opal? Nolan? Are you on premise yet?” he clipped.
“Just getting out of my car, now,” Opal replied. “Where do you want me?”
The pair were tech support for the SWAT team, and clearly they’d be examining all available security footage. Thank God Mason had called in the experts.
“In the security office,” Nolan answered before Mason could reply. “I’m just going to… Hold on. The administrator is trying to tell me something.”
Talia and everyone else waited impatiently.
Nolan came back with a huff. “She says we’re not allowed to view the camera feeds. That it’s privacy and HIPPA protected. She’s sorry, but without a warrant we’re not going to be given access.”
“That’s bullshit,” Talia growled. “They’re the ones who lost their patient. They should be giving us everything we want.” She was incensed. “If anything happens to Fleet, and they make our job difficult, I’ll make sure heads roll,” she promised.
“I, uh, relayed that to the administrator, and she understands, but she’s sorry. She says she can lose her job if she lets us in.”
“Never mind,” Mason snapped. “I know who to call.”
Talia wondered if Mase knew a judge who wouldn’t chew him up and spit him out for waking him at this time of the morning.
“He might be pissed I’ve gotten his ass out of bed at 1 AM his time, but he’ll get it.”
One? His time?He wasn’t calling a judge, that was for sure.
Mason grabbed his phone from his belt and hit a couple buttons. “Yeah. Quint. Hi. I’m sorry to call you, but I have a problem.”
Right. Quint. Talia had met him at Mason’s wedding, but the man was in Texas. What could he possibly do to help?
It was clear by Mason’s pause that Quint was asking for details.
“It’s pretty fucked up. We have a missing patient at the local hospital, and nobody saw a thing.” He named the facility, and the room from which Fleet had gone absent. “The person we’re trying to locate is Fleet Eggers, and he’s a friend. Fleet was operated on four days ago for a brain aneurysm. We got the call less than a half hour ago that he was no longer in his room. The staff did a quick search of the entire facility, and found nothing—”
A moment passed while Quint clearly spoke.
“Yeah,” Mason piped up again. “I’ve got my squads doing an in-depth search, both insideandoutside on hospital grounds The problem is, the hospital won’t give us access to their security footage because of their HIPPA shit, so—”
Mason stopped abruptly, a small, satisfied smile coming to his lips. “I knew you could help. Call me when you find something. And thanks, Quint. I owe you.”
