Page 26 of Fatal Witness

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Alex’s CSI team had arrived, and she walked outside under the trees with Nathan to call the hospital and check on Mae. The operator put her through to the ER.

“Are you family?” the nurse asked.

“No, but if you check her records, you’ll see that I’m authorized on her HIPAA form to get information.”Thank you, Gram, for insisting that Mae put me on the form the last time you took herto the hospital for blood work.

“We have to be so careful to follow HIPAA rules,” the nurse said.

“I understand. Can you tell me her condition?”

“Hold on a sec.” Alex heard her keyboard click, then she came back on the line. “Stable and she’s been sent for a CT scan.”

“Thanks.” After hanging up, she turned to Nathan and updated him.

“Why don’t you go on to the hospital,” Nathan said. “I’ll help with the investigation.”

She was tempted, then shook her head. “All I could do there is pace the floor. At least if I stay here, maybe I can find out who broke into her house.”

“I figured you’d feel that way,” he said, squeezing her shoulder. “You know she’s in good hands.”

She did. Time and again, the paramedics who came today had saved lives. “I hope they got her to the hospital in time to use that clot-busting drug.”

“They should have. Mark said he overheard the chief paramedic discussing it with the doctor.”

Pearl Springs Regional was a good hospital, but it was small. “Do you think they’ll send her on to Chattanooga?”

Nathan shook his head. “Peter Wexler was the doctor the paramedic was talking to.”

Wexler was Mae’s cardiologist, and knowing he’d been pulled in already made Alex feel better. “Let’s see if Taylor and Dylan have discovered anything.”

As they walked toward the small frame house, Nathan wiped his brow and pulled off his jacket. “Getting warm.”

“Summer’s coming.” She inhaled the clean scent from the rising sap in the pines scattered among the hardwood. “It’s too pretty a day for something bad like this to happen.”

“I agree.” On the porch, Nathan slipped on a new pair of nitrile gloves, and she followed suit. Inside the living room, her CSI team dusted for fingerprints. Taylor Owens, the female half of the team, looked up.

“Find anything?” Alex asked.

“If anyone was here, they wore gloves,” she replied. “And they knew how to avoid leaving any trace evidence behind.”

“Is there anything obviously missing?” Nathan asked.

“No,” replied Dylan, the other half of the team. “But her computer shows someone booted it up at 9:15. What time did the 911 call come in?”

“9:28. Hayes arrived in fifteen minutes.”

Dylan nodded. “He probably scared off whoever it was.”

“Could you tell if any files were opened on the computer at 9:15?” Alex asked.

“There weren’t any opened, but I just did a quick scan. Herinternet history showed several searches for a Dani Collins, both last night and this morning.”

No surprise there—Mae would have researched the name.

Taylor motioned toward the hall. “I saw a journal on Mae’s desk, but I didn’t open it.”

Alex wouldn’t read it either, not without Mae’s permission. “I guess that wraps it up here. Appreciate you two dropping everything to come up here.”

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