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Janelle got up and walked to the doorway for what had to be the twentieth time since she saw the doctor, or whoever he was. And still saw no sign of anybody. She hadn’t found any photos, and that bothered her more than anything. So now all she could think about was, if she caught sight of him in the hallway, maybe she could take his picture. She knew that Guilliam would have a heyday with her if she did, but, in the absence of another photo, it made the most sense to her. Maybe not to Guilliam, but she was used to doing things that he didn’t like. At this moment she was much more concerned about finding out what the hell was going on. Plus, this gave her something else to think about besides her mother.

Her mother’s hoarse breathing steadied in the background, yet Janelle knew that at any moment the hoarseness could stop, and it could stop forever. She just couldn’t bear to even think about it. There had to be something else to life. Yet here she was, struggling with the exact same questions she always had. Why was there always the threat of death on such a permanent basis? Why hadn’t we found a way to make that stop yet? It sounded foolish to her, but when you were faced with the loss of a loved one, she was pretty sure that anybody would struggle to keep every moment they could.

Surely people were hungry for the opportunity to spend more time with those people they cared so much about. In their absence, it was important for the hospital staff to care for these people while they were here, to make their passing as easy as it could have been. Everybody died. No getting away from that. And Janelle wasn’t afraid of death, but she sure wasn’t a fan of all the multiple methods of getting there.

She considered whether she wanted to go for her umpteenth cup of tea and decided maybe not. Just enough was going on in her world right now that she was starting to feel a little bit like a teapot herself. She was pretty sure that Tesla didn’t need any more drinks either. It was an activity, something to do, something different to think about. And yet, as Janelle sat there, with so many things still on her mind, so many thoughts running wild, she wasn’t sure that the thoughts were even things she should be thinking about.

It just seemed as if so much in life didn’t change for the good, how it was a constant litany of bad. She didn’t want to think about it like that, but it was hard not to. The litany of bad was one thing, the constant issues something else altogether. It just felt like Janelle’s last few years had been focused solely on her mom’s health. Janelle had put everything else on hold so she could help her mom, and, now that the end was near, Janelle knew she would likely be conflicted, with a part of her feeling a sense of freedom, yet feeling a great loss.

Hearing footsteps, she looked down the hallway to see the same doctor again. He caught sight of her and glared. She had no idea why she’d set him off, and she was sorry because, if he’d done nothing or was completely innocent of whatever the hell was going on here, she would feel terrible. Yet it felt very much as if he was up to something.

If he was a doctor, great, fine. But if he wasn’t, he shouldn’t be impersonating one. And considering that Mason had been shot and nearly killed by some asshole, the last thing she wanted was anybody, good intentions or not, getting close to him. She watched as the suspicious man approached, thinking that he would change direction at the last minute, but he didn’t. He just kept coming toward her. She stepped back into the hospital room, letting him pass.

She had her phone out, waiting to see if she would get the opportunity to get a picture of him. And yet how was she supposed to do that without letting him know? She didn’t want to get in trouble, and she didn’t want to piss him off either. If he had a right to be here, she would be the one in the wrong. Not that she particularly cared at the moment, since that seemed like the least of her worries. Yet maybe it was all wrong. When he walked past, deliberately ignoring her, she took a photo from the back, though it wouldn’t be much help.

He turned around and asked, “Did you just take my picture?”

She frowned, noting that the shutter function did seem loud, even to her. “No. What are you talking about?”

He glared at her. “I don’t take lightly to people taking my photo.”

“Good to know,” she said. “I’m standing here. You were walking past me. It’s hardly a picture I would take. If you want me to take a picture of your front, your good side,” she quipped in a mocking tone, “no problem.”

He continued to glare at her. “I’ll have you removed from this hospital if you do things like that.”

She stared at him. “And yet I wonder if you even have any privileges in this hospital.” He froze and she nodded. “I don’t think you’re a doctor at all—or even allowed to be here. So, the question is, why are you? What are you up to?”

He took a step toward her in a threatening manner, and she nodded. “See? That’s what I mean. No way you’re a doctor, certainly not when you go around uttering threats like that.” He stiffened and glared at her. She shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but I bet it’s no good.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I will call security.” And, with that, he turned and sauntered past.

She snorted and walked beside the stranger, deliberately took photos of him, almost in a mocking manner. She knew that Guilliam would be quite pissed at her, and so would Tesla for that matter, but it was something Janelle couldn’t seem to stop herself from doing. This rude man had suddenly became a target for all the wrong things in her world right now. “You mean a picture like this? Or how about a picture like this?”

He tried to grab her phone, but she pulled it away. “Hell no. You get out of your stupid doctor’s costume and get out of this hospital before you raise any more hell,” she muttered. “Otherwise I will report you.”

“You don’t know anything.”

“No, I sure don’t, and I don’t want to know anything, I just want you to stop harassing people.”

“I’m not harassing people. You are.”

She snorted. “Nice try. That won’t work.”

“Sure, it will because you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Maybe not, but I don’t think you do either. And this place probably frowns on people like you, dressing up like doctors when they’re not doctors at all.”

He cried out, “I am a doctor.”

And this time just enough frustration filled his tone to make her pause. “But are you? Are you really?”

“Yes. What the devil would make you think I not?”

She frowned. “Your mannerisms.” He just stared at her, and she nodded. “It’s as if you’re acting .”

“And that is BS.” He brushed her aside and snapped, “Get lost, and get out of my life. I have patients to look after.”

“Yeah, patients ,” she repeated in a loud tone. “But are you a medical doctor trained to look after these patients, or are you just a piece of shit out there causing chaos?”

He stopped. “You’re crazy, right? I don’t know what your problem is, but obviously whatever is going on in that room has affected you. And obviously you’re not handling life very well.” She glared at him, and he continued. “You’re seeing boogeymen when there aren’t any. So maybe we should get you some help. I can arrange that,” he declared, with a brilliant smile in her direction.

She felt a creepy coldness on the inside at his words. “Oh, I don’t think so,” she replied softly, “but thanks so much for the offer.”

And with that, he turned and walked away, and she slowly returned to her mother’s room. She probably should not have antagonized him that way, and, for the life of her, she didn’t even realize why she’d done it. It just seemed like something she needed to do. She had to find out if something was wrong. It was as if she’d been inactive with such a singular focus for so long that this was the first thing she could jump at and could make a difference, make some sense of things. Yet what she’d done had been the antithesis of common sense.

She groaned as she sat back down, sending the photos to Jasper in a text, knowing there would likely be repercussions for her actions. She just wasn’t sure who she would hear from yet, but she knew it would be coming and just sat down to wait.

*

Guilliam stopped, stared down at the text in his hand, frowned, then called Jasper. “What was that about?” he asked.

Jasper gave a bark of laughter. “Don’t ever tell me that she doesn’t matter.”

“I won’t say that she doesn’t matter,” he clarified. “Now, what do you mean she challenged the impostor?”

“Yeah. He came by, and she decided she wanted a photo of him because she didn’t have one, so she approached him and got one.”

“Good God, that could be dangerous.”

“She said it was an impulse that she couldn’t resist, doesn’t have a clue why, and put it down to a life of sheer boredom at the moment and needing something meaningful to do.”

“Christ,” he muttered, pushing his hair back. He’d meant to get a haircut before coming in. His hair was a little longer than he liked and longer than most people would be accustomed to seeing him with. Plus, it had the habit of getting in his way all the time now. “I’m going to the hospital. We’re just about done here.”

“Good enough,” Jasper noted. “I’m giving you access to the online mug shots. So when you stop in, talk to her yourself as she goes through the photos.”

“Have you talked to her?” he asked in alarm. “Is she in any danger there?”

“I don’t think so, but I don’t know for sure. I did talk to her, and I’ve got the photo that she sent me. It’s not great, but it is something. I’m hoping, if we give her access to the mug shots, she’ll pinpoint a better one.”

“Good enough. I’m heading to the hospital. Send me the link, and I’ll bring it up on my laptop.”

“Okay. She’s got a laptop there too.”

“Good. I’ll be at the hospital pretty quick.” And, with that, he hung up and looked over at Gideon. “Can you drop me off at the hospital?”

“I can,” Gideon agreed with a nod, as they headed back to the car. “What’s the matter?”

“Remember the lovely lady who everybody is so sure is in my life?”

“Yeah. What about her?” Guilliam explained what she’d done. Gideon frowned. “This is the guy who was lingering on the same floor as Mason?”

“Yes.”

“Anybody ask the guard there about him?”

“I don’t know, but I will when I get there. I was hoping to get a photo of this guy so we can see if he’s hanging around on a regular basis or if it was just the one time. Because, for all we know, he is a doctor on staff who just lost a patient and needed a moment or something.”

“Right. Is she paranoid?”

“Not normally, but I haven’t had much to do with her in the last few years,” he pointed out.

“Right. Of course. It’s always hard to figure out who a person is after you’ve missed a significant time period with them, isn’t it?”

“It is. I wasn’t expecting to deal with her on this trip.”

“The minute you’re not expecting to deal with somebody,” Gideon noted, “that’s when they show up, and it’s something you definitely must deal with.”

“Maybe. It’s not what I thought I would be doing today.”

He chuckled. “I don’t think anybody thought you would be doing this today.”

“Good point,” he muttered. As they headed to the hospital, Guilliam shook his head. “I can’t believe she got into an altercation with him. Now he’s bound to remember her for sure.”

“Do you think it’s serious?”

“Knowing her? Yeah.”

“Didn’t I ask you if she was the kind to get into trouble?”

“You did. And I would have said no, but a few other things are popping up in my brain.”

“And what did she say about going to the cops?”

“Something about her vehicle being broken into,” he shared.

“Do you think it’s connected?”

“I don’t know why it would be, especially when it was maybe six months ago,” he noted, as he looked over at Gideon. “But thanks for that thought.”

Gideon shrugged. “Right now, it seems that everything is potentially connected—anything and everything. We have to unravel it all before we find out how to disconnect it.”

Guilliam didn’t say anything to that, but he knew Gideon was correct. Guilliam tried hard not to deal with these shittier things in life. He honestly didn’t want to deal with her. Particularly not right now, not when his emotions were still raw and when he hadn’t had any time to sort out how he felt about her. “It sucks. I wasn’t thinking this would be on my plate when I came back to help.”

“And yet maybe it’s a good thing,” Gideon suggested, looking over at him.

“How do you figure that?”

“She’s clearly on your mind. She’s here, and she’s dealing with trauma of her own, and whatever it was that you guys had between you before, it might be time to find some closure, one way or another. If it’s a no-go, then obviously you write her off. And, if it isn’t a no-go, then maybe it’s time to decide just what you guys may have.”

“Did I say it was a go?”

“No, you sure didn’t,” Gideon confirmed, “but the fact that she’s causing you trouble means you haven’t dealt with it.” He stared at him and then smiled. “You’re welcome.”

Guilliam groaned. “I don’t like it when my personal life becomes my public life.”

“Nobody does,” he pointed out. “Absolutely nobody does. But that doesn’t change the reality of what’s in front of you right now.” And, with that, he pulled into the hospital parking lot and stopped at the main entrance. “Good luck.”

“Great,” Guilliam muttered, as he hopped out. He took one look around and added, “I should have just driven on my own.”

“No need. If you need wheels, let me know. I’ll come get you, or I can arrange for your car to be brought over.”

“Just arrange for my car to be brought over, will you?” he asked handing over his keys. “That would help a lot.”

“Good enough. Good luck.”

With his laptop and his duffle bag in hand, he quickly headed into the hospital. As he got closer to Janelle, he stopped, preferring to detour to say hi to Tesla for a moment. While he was there, he spoke to the guard. As soon as he mentioned the suspicious doctor to the guard, the guard nodded.

“Yeah, he was here earlier today,” he muttered. “Looked as if he’d had one of those days. We all get those days. He was just leaning back with his eyes closed, half muttering to himself. I didn’t know if he was talking himself into doing something or talking himself out of it,” he shared, with a laugh. “He seemed harmless enough.”

“Good enough. However, if he comes back, I want you to keep note and to let me know immediately.”

“Sure enough. Do you think he’s a problem?”

“I don’t know who’s a problem and who’s not at this point,” Guilliam admitted. “Let’s just make sure that we don’t make any assumptions.” And, with that, he popped in to see Tesla, surprised to find Jasper sitting beside her. They were looking at an envelope.

Jasper looked up, frowned, and explained, “Yeah, Tesla had an envelope delivered today.”

“What’s in it?”

A note was in a plastic evidence bag, and Jasper passed it over to Guilliam.

He read it out loud. “ I’m sorry. If I could have had it go another way, I would have .” Guilliam stared at it. “Ah, hell. Do we think this is from the shooter? Arranged before his death?”

“I think it’s definitely from somebody connected to the shooter,” Jasper noted. “I’m also thinking that it might be from our female who didn’t make it—Suzan, supposedly a girlfriend to Drew, the sniper.”

Guilliam pondered that as he looked at the note.

“And yet it doesn’t give any other information.”

“No. And that’s a bit of a trigger for me too. If you turn it over, you’ll see a series of numbers and the word passports.” Then he pointed to where they were written on the back of the envelope itself in tiny letters.

“Oh, now that’s suspicious in itself.”

“But is it suspicious, or is it enlightening?” Tesla asked, staring at him.

Guilliam grinned. “In this case, it’s probably a hell of a good thing. I’m not sure what those numbers mean, but it looks to be”—he glanced at Jasper—“a safe deposit box or a personal wall safe or something along that line.”

“I agree with you,” Jasper replied. “I’ve taken a photo of the numbers, and forensics is on it. It just means that this lady of secrets, or whoever wrote this note, had a few more that we have yet to expose… or just an exit planned, which would make more sense,” Jasper warned.

“In which case I like Drew for that. He’d had to have had an exit plan when he didn’t want to kill Mason. So that’s going to be where he stashed his, and possibly Suzan’s passports. Not sure we’ll ever find it though.”

The two sat in silence considering actions of people no longer around.

“I’m heading over to Janelle’s mother’s room,” Guilliam announced. “I’ll get her to go over the mug shots to find our suspicious doctor. According to the guard, somebody fitting Janelle’s description of the strange man was outside Mason’s room today. The guard didn’t see him as a threat, but I told him that we will treat it as a threat until further notice.”

“Of course,” Jasper agreed. “I asked him if anything seemed to be suspicious, but he said no.”

“That’s because he didn’t think this guy was anything to worry about. I’m just telling you that I don’t think we can mark him off as not being suspicious. At least not until we figure out who he is.”

“No, of course not,” Jasper muttered. “I’ll talk to the guard myself, when I leave. We’ll need to keep on top of that at each shift change as well.”

With a quick nod to Jasper and a hug for Tesla, Guilliam turned and headed out to meet with Janelle.