Page 72 of Her Last Whisper

Thursday 1245 hours

That afternoon Katie and McGaven arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes before Dr. Jamison was scheduled to leave his twelve-hour shift. They found a parking spot with a good view of the area where the employees exited to walk out to their cars. It had been easy for McGaven to find out schedules of doctors and nurses from his new contact in security, Randy, who had come through with the shift information they needed.

“Do we know what he looks like?” asked McGaven.

Katie showed a current photo from the doctor’s social media page on her cell phone. “This was taken last week.” He was a tall man, medium build, with dark hair, wearing a navy polo shirt and white shorts, standing on the deck of a sleek sailboat. He had an import beer in his right hand.

“Nice tan. When does he have the time to hang out outside?” he asked.

“Must be a tanning salon,” she said sarcastically. “He’s a cardiothoracic surgeon, and loves to travel and meet new people. That’s according to the bio he wrote.”

“Isn’t he married?”

“Separated—according to his public page. He made some postings about trying to work things out, but if you look at all of his ‘friends’ they are mostly women—gorgeous too.”

“Makes you wonder,” said McGaven, watching for the doctor.

“Denise said it was easy to get added as a friend, just as long as you have a pretty face.”

“And Denise certainly does. Did she use her own photo?” he said.

“No. I wanted her to use a free stock photo to keep her identity safe. But I agree, Denise is cute, but the more I get to know her she’s such a beautiful person. A bit corny, I know.”

McGaven lifted a pair of mini binoculars to his eyes and said, “She’s very cool. Most of the deputies like her too.”

“Where did you get those?” Katie referred to his binoculars.

“From my stash for possible stakeouts.”

Katie laughed, not meaning to be rude.

“What?” he lowered the binoculars and looked directly at her.

“What else do you have in yourstash?”

“Stuff.”

“Like what?”

“SLR camera, flashlights of all sizes, change of clothes, thermos, plain clothes, baseball caps, windbreaker, the usual stuff.”

“Do you have a Swiss army knife?”

“You’re a riot, Detective.”

“Wait,” she said, straining to see. “I think that’s him. Over there.” She pointed.

“Yep, that’s him.” He studied the doctor through the binoculars. “His hair doesn’t look as combed as it did in the photo. There’s some gray speckled through his hairline as well. He’s getting into a black Mercedes sedan, four doors; it needs a wash. The plate begins with DM5… and then 4…”

“I see him,” she said and started the engine.

Katie eased their car closer to the doctor and watched him slowly pull out into traffic. She followed him with two cars in between. Maneuvering on the road, she managed to pass one car, leaving the other blocking in between, but she decided to stay in her current position.

“Where’s he going?” McGaven asked.

“I’m not sure but I believe his residence is the other direction and he’s heading downtown.”

They continued to follow the doctor; he drove conservatively and made it easy to keep the Mercedes in view.