Page 160 of Bad Blood

I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”

There’s one other file next to her laptop, and it catches my eye as she leans over to grab it. She offers it to me.

I read the name.

Grady Fields.

“Your brother?”

“I need more information. But yes, I think he was the first. If things are what they seem, he may have died for no reason.”

“You think he’s doing this on purpose.” The pieces fall into place, and everything makes sense.

“I’m not going to let him hurt anyone else.” She hangs her head. “Talking to Jenks set something into motion and there’s no going back. It’s only a suspicion, but too much has happened to be a coincidence.”

“It looks like you have enough evidence . . .”

She cuts me off. “Not on the malpractice. I think he may have something to do with the murders.”

I roll her words over in my mind for a second, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth as I try to untangle what I think she’s saying. There’s no way she means what I think she does.

Her fingers wrap around my forearm, and she squeezes. “Kline could be involved.”

“You need to talk to your boss.” She’s in danger. Detective Dickhead’s comment makes a lot more sense now.

“He is my boss.”

I grab the bill of my hat, pulling it lower over my face. “Then talk to your boss’s boss. Anyone. Someone.”

“I have a plan.” She pulls her thumb to her mouth, nibbling on the nail. “Kind of. I just need to make sure. I couldn’t find any more patients, any proof—until I came in this morning and snooped around in his office.” She perches on the edge of the table and gets lost in thought. “I found this.” She tosses a handwritten list of names onto the table next to her laptop.

This is a lot to take in. A lot that doesn’t make sense. There are two sets of handwriting. Notes scribbled beside each patient’s name. And Carrie. Jessie. Tara. Along with another name and a question mark. This explains even more.

“The three of them worked on all of those patient’s cases at some point. I found a couple of files right after the allegation, but they went missing. I didn’t think Kline would be this careless, but that list was in his top drawer, right next to a couple of these.”

She pulls out a handful of metal pins with two snakes entwined beneath a set of wings.

“It’s a caduceus. We all wear them. But they keep finding them on the bodies. Derrick said Tara had one in her palm.”

The seat groans in protest as I pull it over and plop onto it. I settle my elbows on my knees and drop my head into my hands.

“I’m looking for answers.” She stands from the corner of the table, grabbing her laptop.

“What if there aren’t any? If it’s taken this long for him to get caught—” I close my eyes and drop my head.

“There are always answers. We just need to know how to ask the right questions. There has to be a logical explanation. But I don’t know what it is.”

“I should go. Liam’s by himself. What are you going to do about this?” I take her brother’s file from the table and offer it to her.

“I’m not sure yet.” She fiddles with the ring on her pinkie finger, taking the chart and setting it on top of her laptop beside Liam’s. “I need more proof.”

“That isn’t enough?”

“I just found these.” She adjusts the badge around her neck, averting her gaze as she sets her hand on top of the files and laptop.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

She drops her eyes to the floor. “It’s nothing.”

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