Page 36 of Every Last One

“Yes, and the police… they called the main admin desk. I…Ianswered.”

“What did you tell them?”

The lab tech started crying.

She shook her. “What did you tell the police?”

“Just that…thata woman took Pamela into the board meeting.”

“Yeah, well, you’re going to join the party. Get inside the room.” She gestured with her gun, and the lab tech wisely did as she was told.

Son of a bitch!The gunwoman wanted to scream that at the top of her lungs, but she couldn’t let anyone see her crumbling apart. The last thing today’s mission could withstand was them viewing her as weak. But the timeline had been irrevocably narrowed. How this would turn out depended on the people in this room.

She entered behind the tech and locked the door after them. As she did so, it wasn’t missed that a few in the room passed this one woman with long brown hair a glance. And the CEO was acting shiftier than before. The gunwoman turned to their new honorary board member. “Hand me your cell phone,” she said to the tech.

“I don’t have it on me. It’s in my locker.”

She quickly patted her down. “Fine. Now, get over there and sit on the floor.”

Again, the lab tech did as she was told.

“If only the rest of you were so obedient like Janie here.”

The tech’s mouth fell open.

“Yes, I know who you are.” She wasn’t surprised the tech didn’t know her. She continued her way to the brunette, towered over her, and held the gun in her face. “What are you doing there?” The furtive glances told her that the woman was up to something. And with the phones back online, she had a good feeling what that might be.

“I’m not doing anything.”

“Do you want ‘Stubborn Bitch’ on your headstone? Hand me the phone.”

The brunette glanced at Beal.

“Don’t look at her. Look at me.” She grabbed the brunette’s chin, and the woman shook her hand off. She stopped struggling when the gun was against her forehead. “Phone!”

The woman put the device in her hand.

There was a voice coming through from the other end.

“Dr. Cowan, are you still there?”

She ended the call and saw that it had originated from another hospital. Its name was frozen on the screen. She was having a hard time knowing what to make of this. “You weren’t calling nine-one-one?”

“No,” the woman pushed out, refusing to look her in the eye. “And why would I? The police are already here. It’s only a matter of time before you’ll be dragged out of here.”

“I’m the one who says when it’s time, and I have as long as it takes to get this resolved. The question is, do the rest of you?” She slid her gaze over all those in the room.

“I was on the phone about a heart,” the brunette blurted out, when no one else said a word. “There’s a little girl who is going to die.”

Her heart pinched, but she said, “We all have to die.”

“She’s only four years old. You really can’t be that much of a monster. To let a little girl die. Without that heart, she will.”

An innocent child caught up in all of this. It was a scenario she should have prepared for. A hospital was full of the sick and dying. Butshewas the monster? If she was, the people in this room had turned her into one. “Her fate is up to you, now, isn’t it?” She tossed the cell phone onto the pile with the rest and smashed the devices under her boots.

NINETEEN

1:15 PM