Page 88 of Rookie Days

Now Janet stared, her food forgotten.

“Where’s Hayes’s mother now?”

Ellie pushed her plate away as well.

“She’s dead too. She fell down the stairs of her Los Angeles home six months ago. Smashed her skull on the marble floor at the bottom.”

“Shefell?”

“Apparently so. The autopsy revealed that she had quite a bit of alcohol in her system at the time. Her death was ruled an accident.”

“Jesus.” Janet paled. “So we can assume he’d killed twice already before starting his rotation here. Dammit, Ellie! I couldsense that something was off with the man but I was far from imagining this!”

Ellie reached for her hand across the table.

“No reason why you should, uh?”

“No, but it’s chilling to contemplate.”

“We’ve got cops looking for him all over the place, Jan. We are going to find him. And when we do, we’ll throw his ass in jail for the rest of his natural life. Now let’s talk about something else.”

“Okay… What would you like to discuss?”

“Tell me: what’s your favorite thing about Italy?”

“Oh, there are so many!” Janet said with glinting eyes. It was pure joy. “Let’s see. The light, warm and golden. Long hot summers. The song of cicadas in the background when you’re at the beach.”

“Oh yeah.” Ellie chuckled; eyes closed. “I’m there, totally.”

“Wild olive trees and the scent of thyme in the air.”

“Mmmm. Yes.”

“Tuscany. Coffee.” Janet laughed. “Women.”

“Women?” Ellie opened her eyes with a smirk. “Please, tell me more.”

“It used to be.” Still smiling, Janet laced her fingers through hers. “You’ve kind of upset things a bit in that department.”

“Just a bit?”

“Like a category 5 tropical cyclone.”

“Good to know. What time to you get off?”

“Six o’clock tomorrow morning. But if tonight happens to be quiet—Ah.” Janet’s eyebrows shot up when she checked her pager, and Ellie had to smile at the way she immediately stuffed a few extra fries into her mouth. For the road, she assumed. “The ER is calling.”

“I’ll wait then,” Ellie said firmly.

“Yes. Take this.” Janet passed her a slim keycard. “Go back upstairs, find Room 2A. It’s my on-call. I’ll come join you as soon as I can.”

Ellie watched her go with an admiring smile as she raced to the door, on her way to saving a life. Janet reminded her quite a bit of a general marching into battle. A few other people, medical staff and members of the public alike, looked up from their food to stare at the dynamic neurosurgeon. Janet effortlessly attracted attention.My woman,Ellie reflected. Still smiling, she made her way upstairs and unlocked the door of 2A. The room was small but inviting. Fatigue caught up with her, making the single bed in the corner especially appealing. She set her weapons on the bedside table, took off her boots, and lay down with a deep exhale. The plan was to relax as she waited, but she also set her mind to work in the background, considering things from Robert Hayes’s perspective. Trying to figure out where he might be hiding. She fell into sleep without realizing it.

‘Ellie. Ellie!’Laura called to her in a harsh whisper.‘Please, help me!’

Ellie found herself running hard inside the dream, but her legs were heavy and she was not making any progress. Middle of a storm… Icy rain lashing at her face like a thousand cuts, and water in her eyes she did not recognize as tears. She tossed and turned on the bed.

“Where? I can’t see you!”