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As they both finished removing as much blood from their hands as possible given their limited resources, Brook breathed a bit easier now that Graham had fallen silent. She ignored the slight tremor in her fingers. The waning flow of adrenaline would continue to make her hands tremble throughout the night. A lot had happened in the space of one day, but there were still many more open-ended issues that needed to be solved before daybreak.
Theo had been taken to the hospital.
Nick Dorn's abduction.
Another thing that weighed heavily on her mind were the reasons that Mason had chosen Derek Tonkel and Leslie Snyder to torture.
As much as she'd like to take a moment to compartmentalize everything that had taken place this evening, there was still too much work to be done. She'd already prioritized as much as she could in order to clean up and make herself presentable, but now it was time to hit the ground running.
"Graham, I need a favor..."
Chapter Thirty-One
Brooklyn Sloane
January 2022
Friday — 6:37pm
Brookhadnoideahow the nurses, doctors, and staff got used to the antiseptic smell that lingered in the hallways and rooms of the hospital. The harsh odor made it really hard for her to breathe, and it somehow even gave her a sour aftertaste.
Bit didn't seem to notice as he continued to talk to Theo, who was more alert than he had been at four o'clock this morning, which was when Brook had finally been able to leave the offices of S&E Investigations to make her first visit.
Graham had remained behind with Adrian.
She was running on maybe two hours of rest, but considering that she usually only got three or four, she wasn't dragging the way Sylvie and Bit had been this morning. They'd met back at the offices around ten this morning to finish up with paperwork, phone calls, and to allow the special cleaning service into the offices. She'd specifically requested Graham call in a group of professional crime scene cleaners.
Nick Dorn had been found chained to a boiler in the basement of the hotel.
His account of what had taken place matched with what they had suspected—Mason Cooper had feigned having information regarding Steve Laurey. Once Mason had Nick alone, he was hit on the back of the head before waking up fastened to a thick metal pipe.
Derek had been released, and Leslie Snyder had walked away on his own recognizance pending an inquest. His had been more complicated due to Mason having been his lawyer, but eventually, his older brother had retained Vivian Lourdes. Apparently, the woman was as good as Graham had said.
The headlines regarding Brook's relationship with Jacob had taken a backseat to the fact that seven previously closed murder cases were in the process of being overturned. It would most likely take weeks to release the seven men behind bars, but at least they had a future to look forward to after their ordeal.
As for the families of the victims, they now had their closure.
Nothing would bring back their daughters, but Graham's outlook of how he would be able to sleep knowing that Mason Cooper was burning in hell had her hoping the others could do the same.
"...should be able to work by next week. Do we have another case lined up?"
Brook had been studying the nurse who had been recording Theo's vital signs into the laptop that was set up on a small counter across the room. The young woman could have left the room two or three minutes ago, but she was taking her sweet time vacating the area. The hospital badge attached to the pocket of her scrubs verified her identity per the small picture, but something about the woman wasn't sitting right with Brook.
"You'll take the next two weeks off, per the doctor's orders," Brook replied in a tone that broke no argument. Theo was propped up in his hospital bed, minus the black eye patch. In its place was gauze and tape. "Are we clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," Theo replied, more good-naturedly than he'd been coming across the past few days. His lips thinned as he turned the conversation to a more serious topic. "I'm truly sorry that I wasn't more upfront. I didn't want anything getting in the way of the investigation, and I thought that I had more time to deal with the infection."
Originally, the damage done to Theo's cornea hadn't required the loss of his eye. Only his vision and the appearance of his eye had been impaired, which was why he'd chosen to wear a patch. Unfortunately, the infection had taken what was left and surgery had to be completed to remove the damaged and diseased tissue. The appointment he'd had the other day had resulted in a round of antibiotics that hadn't been able to stem the infection.
"Here we go," Sylvie said as she came through the door. The nurse didn't even glance up from the monitor. "One coffee for Brook, two teas for me and Bit, and a...water for the patient."
Sylvie hadn't gotten Theo water. He'd been wanting any type of soda that he could get his hands on, but the nursing staff insisted that he stick with water or juice for the time being. The nurse pretended that she hadn't heard a thing.
"When did you start drinking tea?" Theo asked Bit, taking the proffered cup that already had a straw in the opening.
"Um, yesterday." Bit held up his own cup after taking it from Sylvie in somewhat of a salutation. "Did you know that tea has special antioxidants? It's good for the heart. There have been a lot of scientific studies conducted over the years."
Brook shared a knowing glance with Theo.
