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“You really should dial back on the charm,” Reid said. “You had poor Janice so flustered, she could barely manage the keyboard.”
Kiana’s lips pressed together to keep her from agreeing aloud with Reid. She shouldn’t care about who Dev flirted with. Theirs was a purely business arrangement.
But man, if he’d turned that smile on Kiana, she’d have chucked the business part of their relationship out the window in a heartbeat.
She stood beside him close enough to feel the heat of his body and only wanted to get closer.
Her body was urging her in that direction while her mind was screaming DANGER.
Hadn’t she learned her lesson already?
The door opened on the ICU floor. Kiana hurriedly stepped out and away from Dev, heading for the nurses’ station.
As she waited for a nurse to finish keying something into her computer, Kiana glanced around at the rooms within sight of the station. A young, thin janitor, wearing a coverall jumpsuit and baseball cap with the hospital logo on it, stepped out of one of the rooms, pushing a plastic trashcan on wheels. He passed by Kiana with his head tipped low, his ball cap shading most of his face except for the lower half. He had a dark mustache and goatee and wore blue rubber gloves on his hands.
Kiana frowned as he passed her, pushing the trash container.
“Thank you for your patience,” the nurse at the station said. “How can I help you?”
“We’re looking for Tish Jenkins,” Dev said to the nurse.
The nurse tipped her head toward the door the janitor had just exited.
Kiana’s heart skipped several beats. When she turned to see where the janitor had gone, he was on the elevator, the doors closing in front of him.
The garbage can on wheels was parked to one side of the elevator.
Odd.
Kiana wasn’t sure why she had a bad feeling. “Do the janitors typically leave trash bins next to the elevators?
The nurse glanced toward the elevator and frowned. “Not usually. I’ll have someone move it.”
Kiana met Dev’s gaze. At the same moment, they turned and darted for the room the janitor had just left. The one Tish had been moved to.
Inside, the lighting was muted.
Kiana ran to the bed and stared down at Tish, then up at the heart monitor, measuring every beat of her friend’s heart.
Kiana’s pulse was racing faster than the beeps and didn’t subside until she was certain nothing was amiss.
“What was that all about?” Reid asked from behind them.
“Maybe nothing,” Kiana said, feeling foolish for where her thoughts had jumped. “It’s just that the janitor had come out of Tish’s room. Call me paranoid, but I thought he might not have been a janitor and might have come to harm Tish.” She grimaced. “I’m a little punchy.”
Dev toed a small trash can with his boot. “If he was a janitor, he didn’t bother to collect any trash while he was in this room.”
Kiana looked down at the items a nurse might have discarded while getting Tish settled. “Maybe he decided, because she was in a coman, she wasn’t going to talk, anyway.”
“Is she all right?” Reid asked, coming to stand beside Kiana.
“As far as I can tell, but then I’m not a doctor. Her heartbeat is steady. That’s reassuring.”
“What would a janitor be doing in the room with Tish if he wasn’t collecting trash?” Dev asked.
“Good question,” Kiana said, her brow furrowing. “I’m worried about leaving her, but I need to be looking for Meredith. After what happened to Tish, I can only imagine the worst could have happened to Meredith.”
“I’ll stay with Tish,” Reid said.
