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The law didn’t make that sort of distinction, but Reese was well aware that law enforcement didn’t factor into this moment, either. “What are you hiding? Why did Greenley need to die? Because of the scam you’re running at the hospital?” At least, that’s what she thought Kervin had whispered. “The lies you’ve been telling?”
Sedgewick cocked her head. “Tyler was handy when alive, but after you started asking questions, his death made him useful in a different way. One must be flexible. Loose thread snipped, and police attention diverted to you, making you a very bad pick for your brother’s conservator. Triple win.”
Her stomach lurched. A man’s life was a loose thread and no more, just like Kervin’s would be. And then hers. And Hayes? Starr? Nausea rolled in her stomach. Rose to her throat.
“Why do you care so much who Ben’s conservator is? Because you’re the reason Greenley was manipulating the trust funds? Everyone was enriching themselves at my brother’s expense, is that it?”
“Oh, that’s ironic. First your fucking aunt and then you, vaulting on your high horses when neither of you gave a damn about your brother all your lives. One has to have a deep understanding of human nature to know who you can manipulate. Find a person’s flaws, appeal to their worst nature, and you own them. Padding expenses is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. And I was running out of time.”
A dark river of dread twisted through her, one that carried a recognition her mind scrambled from fully embracing. “And what’s Ben supposed to do once you drain his trust fund?”
Sedgewick gave an ugly laugh. “He’s made no complaints so far. But then, your brother’s been dead for over six years.”
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Logic receded as if drawn by an inexorable tide. For a moment, Reese’s mind was wiped blank, refusing to grapple with an unimaginable ugliness. Then reason returned in a rush that threatened to drown her.
“You killed Ben!”
“Q and A’s over.” Gingerly, Sedgewick put the weapon in her pocket. Bent to grab Reese’s ankles with both hands.
She evaded the woman’s efforts, drew her feet back, and kicked out with all the force she could muster, striking her in the thighs. The doctor stumbled against the counter, wincing as her hip struck it hard.
“Son of a bitch!” Rubbing it with her free hand, she glared at Reese. “Your death will be slow and agonizing. But that doesn’t mean we can’t start now. I could put a bullet in your knee and you probably won’t bleed out.”
She dropped the weapon in her pocket, grabbed Reese’s feet, and hauled her backward, pushing the door open with her momentum. “Watch your head,” she said sarcastically as Reese bumped over the doorjamb and down the hall. “Wouldn’t want to chance a concussion.”
Ben is dead. Ben is dead.The thought richoceted in her mind, disbelief warring with rage. Or was Sedgewick lying about that? No. The certainty was a venomous pool in her chest. Was that what Kervin wanted to tell her? The pictures he’d sent. The big news.Scam. Lies.She’d assumed he was talking about fraud but not homicide. “Why? What possible reason would you have to murder him?”
“For heaven’s sake, why would I kill off a major cash flow? Although he wasn’t much fun to toy with. So deep into his delusions. So paranoid. But after years of therapy, he did hate you even more than when he arrived. I made sure of that.” She smiled. Deliberately took the corner to the hall short, so Reese rammed her shoulder into the wall trying to twist around it. “But it was the NMS that got him. Maybe we waited a bit too long to get him to the hospital, but they’re pricey. Do you have any idea what his stay there cost? And then they wanted him to go to a rehab center. There was no reason to waste more funds when I could hire a couple extra staff to care for him.” She quickened her pace now, the bumping and jolting driving a knife of pain to Reese’s ribs.
Stopping before the opened door to the aquamation room, Sedgewick paused a moment, as if to catch her breath, and then tugged Reese through the doorway, unceremoniously dumping her on the concrete floor. “Good God, you haven’t started yet?”
Blake turned away from the shiny metal vessel. “Just about ready.”
Kervin lay crumpled on the floor only feet away from her. Reese looked from him to the machine with growing horror. When Hayes and she had checked inside earlier, the room was dark. The machine still. But now a red light glowed brightly. Clock-faced dials were illuminated. “You can’t possibly be thinking… He’s still alive! Feel his pulse!”
“Not for long. Blake is a quick study. He can learn just about anything when he puts his mind to it. The dark web. Identity theft. Purchasing poison. Aquamation.”
The man threw Sedgewick a look filled with dislike. “Why are you telling her all that?”
“She’s throwing you under the bus.” Maybe if Reese could turn them against each other, she could save Kervin and herself from hideous deaths. “She’s planning to leave you holding the bag for all of this. Ask yourself why she’s wearing gloves and you aren’t. Her prints won’t show up anywhere. Have you considered your blood is all over in here? Even if you clean it up, the police can find evidence of?—”
The doctor scooped up the thick bloodied paper towel pad from the floor that Chen had discarded. Wadded it in her hand and bent to shove it in Reese’s mouth. “She’s just babbling. There’ll be no reason for them to suspect a crime ever occurred here, so why would the police look for prints? I’ll give you a hand lifting him onto the gurney so you can get him into the vessel. Then I have a phone call to make.”
It took longerthan it should to reach the rear entrance to the building. There was a disconnect between Hayes’s brain and his nervous system. His foot refused to rise when he came to the curb. He tripped and went sprawling.Reese.Her name rapped at his skull in a dull drumbeat.Get to Reese.He crawled the rest of the way to the structure. Pulled himself up by grabbing the knob. Cracking the door open, he peered inside. The room was dark. He recalled the desk they’d run by earlier. Tried to remember what side of the room it was on.
Hayes stepped inside. Swayed and slapped a hand on the doorjamb to steady himself. Lurching to the right, he found the desk he’d recalled. He searched the surface with his hand and discovered a phone system. A single button began to glow. He stabbed it with his index finger and lifted the receiver. Heard it ring multiple times.
“Yeah.”
“It’s time, Stephen.Yourtime. Come now. To the place I showed you.” The call ended, but Hayes remained frozen. Even with the fog in his brain he knew who Stephen was.
The woman who’d attacked him was summoning Stephen Thorne.
He ran his fingers over the system. Found multiple buttons, which meant multiple lines.
There’d be cordless headsets scattered through the building. Pressing a different key, he tapped in three numbers.