Page 56 of Every Last One

“David Galvin, and I’m her boyfriend. What is this about?”

“Let’s just say I’m not sure I buy that Celeste is on job interviews. When did you last see her?”

“Before I went to work last night, though I felt her get out of bed around eight AM.”

That would have given her plenty of time to get to the hospital. “So you live here with Celeste?”

“That’s right.” Some people walked down the sidewalk, and it had David looking over Eric’s shoulder at them.

“We might be best to continue our conversation inside,” Eric suggested. “Less distractions.”

David crossed his arms. “Not until you tell me what this is about.”

“There’s a situation underway at Founders Hospital as we speak. Megan Beal is shut up in a room with others by an armed woman, who we suspect is Celeste.” Eric let that sit out there.

“What? There’s no way.”

“Celeste sent a written threat to Ms. Beal, including a clipping of her hair.”

David gestured for Eric to come into the house and shut the door behind them.

“We could sit somewhere perhaps?” Eric asked when David didn’t offer.

David gestured toward the front sitting room, but Eric insisted David lead the way. There were two ratty couches. David sat on one, and Eric the other.

“Did you know about the threat I mentioned?”

David shook his head.

“You ever hear Celeste mention Ms. Beal?”

“Celeste talks about her a lot. There are times she’s going on so much about her I’ve told her to shut up. Still, though, it’s hard to imagine her going to this extreme. And I haven’t the foggiest clue where she would have gotten a gun.”

“There are others with guns too.” Eric took out his phone and brought up pictures of the three hostage takers. He showedeach of them to David in turn. “Do you recognize any of these people?”

“I’ve never seen them.”

Keys jangled in the front door, and then it opened. “You left the door unlocked. Again!” a woman yelled out.

“That’s Celeste.” David jumped up from the couch and hurried to the entry. “I’m so happy to see you.”

“Okay,” the woman dragged out.

“There’s a detective here saying you threatened Megan Beal and that you had her and others at gunpoint inside Founders Hospital.Celeste?” The last bit was pushed out in clear confusion, and that had Eric springing to his feet. Call it cop’s intuition, but seconds later it was confirmed spot-on. Celeste was blazing down the sidewalk.

Eric set out after her, bolting past David. He hit the sidewalk and yelled ahead of him, “Stop! MPD!” His heart pounded in his ears as he ran flat-out.

Celeste passed a woman and yanked on her arm. She fell to the ground, and Eric jumped over her. He glanced over his shoulder, his conscience weighing on him, and saw her getting to her feet. She should be fine.

Celeste turned right down a side street, and Eric made up some time. She looked back at him and barely missed smacking into a bicyclist. But the course correction had her arms pinwheeling to stay upright. She lost the fight and crumpled to the ground. She struggled to get her feet under her again, but it was too late.

Eric stood over her. “All right, we’re going to have a little talk.” She clearly wasn’t in that boardroom, but he was going to get to the root of why she ran. Was it because of the written threat or something else?

THIRTY-ONE

2:50 PM

Time had slowed down for Sandra since watching the shooting. She kept superimposing her brother’s face on Maddox. But now wasn’t the time to get lost in memories or guilt. The phone at Gibson’s station rang. It didn’t stop Kreiger from making a case for breaching.