Page 85 of Her Last Whisper

He dialed the number and waited, unsure if he was still on shift.

“You got Randy,” was the greeting.

“Hi, Randy, this is Deputy McGaven from the sheriff’s office.”

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Glad I caught you. Just have a couple of questions.”

“Shoot,” he said.

“Do you recall anytime that there’s been a problem with employees or patients?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know, being difficult, loud, harassing employees, anything that might attract some attention.”

“Let me think,” Randy said and paused. “I can’t think of anything right off. There’s so much that goes on around here every day, people coming and going.”

“I’ve noticed. It must make your job more difficult.”

“It can. We’ve had some problems, but it usually has to do with employees or a difficult patient. We’ve had more than our fair share of those. The stories I could tell…”

“Well, I thought I would ask anyway,” McGaven said.

“I’ll ask the other guys and if I hear anything, I’ll give you a buzz.”

“Great. Appreciate it.” McGaven thought more and decided to ask. “Oh, speaking along the same lines, do you recall any issue with the doctors and nurses? Like an exacerbated argument, someone accusing someone else of something…”

“There was a doctor who flipped out one time. It turned out that he was addicted to some pharmaceutical drugs he was helping himself to here—some kind of painkiller, I think.”

“Do you remember the doctor’s name?”

“I had just started here and I think his name was Darren something… Darren Patterson… that’s it, Dr. Patterson. He no longer works here—not even sure if he still has his medical license.”

“Anything else?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t think so.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“I’ll call you if I remember something,” Randy said before he hung up.

* * *

After Katie had readthe full missing person report for Tess Regan, fear squeezed her chest and soured her stomach.

“I think we have another problem,” she said as she saw McGaven hang up the phone.

McGaven looked away from his computer. “What’s up?”

“I’ve just read the missing person’s report for Tess Regan. It appeared that Tess had been taken from her home by force—apparently the perp had entered through a broken lock to the garage. Her purse, jacket, and cell phone were found on the garage floor. Tess had called in to work earlier in the morning letting them know she would be late due to a dental appointment—according to the dental office she never made an appointment. The information reported from friends and family described her personality as conservative and kind. She lived alone, no current boyfriend, and worked for an insurance company as a medical billing associate.”

“Amedicalbilling associate?” he said.

“Wait, there’s more,” Katie said, trying to keep her voice steady. “According to her friends and family, they were worried about her because she had been distraught after the death of her sister who had committed suicide. Tess blamed herself, but she mostly blamed the hospital that they didn’t do enough to save her. Apparently, she made quite a scene there.”

“The hospital was First Memorial?”