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“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”
“Officer down.” What was the address? He squeezed his eyes shut, searching his memory, but failed. “Cremation and Aquamation funeral home. Outside Escondido. Officer outside in cruiser. Back lot. Rear entrance to building open. Victim inside. One or two suspects.” Hard to know at this point if Kervin had turned on Reese, or if both of them were at the woman’s mercy.
His brain backed up. Woman suspect. Dr. Sedgewick? The dispatcher was speaking. He interrupted to add, “The policeman is Nolan Starr.”
“What’s your name, sir?”
“Hayes Moreland.”
“What is the officer’s condition?”
Condition. His mind blanked for a moment. Hayes shook his head to clear it. “Overdose likely. He was injected…GHB? Unconscious but has a pulse. Can’t find Narcan.”
“Sir, are you inside or outside?”
“Inside.”
“Are there any other police involved?”
“No. But at least one victim. Critical danger.” His thoughts were doing cartwheels in his head. He pressed the receiver to his chest, trying to collect them, to organize a cohesive message.
“Are the suspects armed?”
“One for sure.” Both Starr and Hayes had their weapons stolen. “Trace last call from here. One suspect summoned another to help.”
“Sir, what’s your location in the building? Do you know where the victim or victims are being held?”
Was that a sound outside the room? Hayes froze, barely daring to breathe. When he heard nothing else, he whispered, “Contact San Bernadino Deputy Enrico Mendes. Tell him Stephen Thorne is headed here. Hurry.” He hung up. If someone looked at a phone again, he didn’t want the lit-up line to give him away. And he’d already wasted too much time. Reese. He had to get to her.
He strode toward the door, running into a chair, and grabbing it before it could topple over and give away his presence. There was an adjoining exit. It took longer than it should have to find it in the shadows. Easing it open a wedge, Hayes peeked into the hallway. It’d been illuminated earlier, but was now dark. When he drew his weapon, his hand had a tremor. He cursed silently. The drug was doing a number on his nervous system.
The hallway was long, he recalled with some difficulty. Lined with doors on either side. Reese had been in the front of the building when he’d left her. But where was she now? He stepped into the shadowy space and sidled against the wall to the next door, which he opened to listen. Heard nothing. He repeated the action, sweeping the room beside it. On his way to the next one,snatches of sound drifted to him. He practically lunged inside to get out of sight.
“I’m sure as hell not dragging you all the way. Up on your knees. Crawl.” A woman’s voice. Although Hayes strained his ears, he couldn’t hear a reply. “You think you have a choice? Crawl or get shot. Easy decision.”
The wait was interminable. Hayes leaned against the doorjamb, peering through the tiny crack afforded by the door. He didn’t dare open it farther. After a minute, he could hear a slight sound heading his way. Holding his breath, he waited until it grew nearer. Then closer still.
Reese came into view. It was everything Hayes could do to restrain himself from springing out of his hiding place to go to her side. Something was in her mouth. Her hands were bound behind her. Probably ankles, too. A woman followed, weapon in hand. Lisa Sedgewick.
He let them go by before pushing the door wide enough to scan the hall. Empty. Where was Kervin? Was Sedgewick acting alone? There was no time to find out. Reese and the doctor continued straight, past the office he’d placed the call from. He ordered his fragmented mind to focus. They were headed for the garage.
“Stop,” the doctor commanded Reese. She moved in front of her to unlock the door. Pushed it open. Reese lurched against the woman, knocking her off-balance. “What a pain in the ass you are. But not for much longer. Your death will be hideous. Thorne will make sure of that.”
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Sedgewick pushed Reese over the threshold into the garage. With no way to catch herself, she fell down the two steps to sprawl on the concrete. Stunned, she felt herself being pulled up to her knees before the hand on her arm disappeared. The doctor went to the wall behind them. One of the garage doors opened, the overhead light illuminating the space before being doused again.
Thorne.Terror streaked through her. How was Sedgewick connected to that monster? Greenley. Chen. Puzzle pieces fell into place far too late. Did the doctor control Rivers, too?
“I can almost hear your mind whirring.” The doctor returned to her side, her voice amused. “Your brother was boring. Most of my patients are. But psychopaths…now, they’re fascinating. I just need to breathe on that psychosis. Fan the embers of violence. And having a hand in molding them—aiming them—that makes me a fucking god.”
Icebergs bumped in Reese’s veins. None of the patients Sedgewick treated could be sicker than the doctor herself. She manipulated their illnesses and then unleashed them on anunsuspecting public. Like she’d done with Thorne. And she’d just admitted he hadn’t been the only one.
Her thoughts splintered when a voice ordered, “Reese! Get down!”
Her body obeyed before her mind processed the thought. She threw herself away from the doctor. Gunfire echoed in the space. She heard the sound of someone running. But then hands were on her arms, helping her up. Drawing the bloodstained paper towels from her mouth. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
Hayes. Her body went weak in relief. She swung her head side to side, incapable of speech for a moment. “Chen,” she finally managed. “He killed Greenley. He’s killing Kervin! Inside.”