Page 65 of One More Chance

Doctor Buzard certainly thought he’d done her a favor. But ask him for help? It wasn’t like she was going to call him up and tell him she needed medical attention. Unless she absolutely had to—after she found his number.

Kenna bit her lip. No way would she ask that madman for help. What about the retirement home guys? They might have a good resource for unreported medical services. A private doctor.

But the last time she’d done that, the doctor and Earnest showed up. Before that, a woman and two children had been kidnapped. Another woman had been killed. The guys from the retirement home had admitted, though not in exact terms, that they were responsible for the mother’s death. All to keep what Kenna had done from becoming public knowledge. If she told them her current issue—even if she was the one with the injury—would they kill her too?

Her injury didn’t matter at the moment. Finding those two children definitely took precedence.

“This is interesting.”

If only Kenna could bury her face in her hand, but it wasn’t going to make her feel better. It would probably hurt more. “What did you find?”

Maizie said, “I’m texting Jax. You don’t sound okay.” Before Kenna could ask what she’d actually been about to say, Maiziecontinued, “The company that owns the doctor’s office where you went is a corporation that owns several properties across that part of Arizona. They’ve actually done some business with the company owned by Marshal Hapsworth and Terri Fleming.”

“What happened to her?”

“She was released on bail,” Maizie said. “And the Hapsworth Fleming team actually built that doctor’s office and the daycare beside it. Which apparently has a slide inside to go from upstairs to downstairs in the toddler area.”

Kenna smiled. “Thinking about kids?”

“Yeah, yours.”

Her smile dropped. “I think my life and my health need to calm down first. Don’t distract me. We need to finish our conversation. What else?”

“The other officer who responded to the callout at the medical center, the one who is Earnest Albertson’s partner?”

“What about him?”

“He was found dead in his house a few minutes ago, thanks to an anonymous tip from a concerned private citizen.”

Bruce, or so she assumed. “Was he murdered?”

“That has yet to be determined. Police have only just arrived on scene.”

Kenna figured Bruce could update her by text. Unless he hadn’t actually broken into the house, and he’d only seen the guy was dead through a window. “Anything else?”

“I was looking through the designs Terri Fleming did, because she’s an architect, right? She had another website that isn’t part of her business with Marshal Hapsworth. More like personal work and custom stuff. She had a few things buried on the site behind a portal you have to log in to.”

Which, of course, Maizie had managed to breach.

“One is a missile silo that could be converted into a medical research lab. Like in the event of a deadly contagion sweepingacross the population. Ebola virus, or an outbreak of MRSA—you know, the bacteria that causes necrotizing fasciitis. That one is fun to say.”

It was, but flesh-eating diseases would be less fun to experience. “Zombies?”

“I watched a movie last night.” Maizie cleared her throat. “Because I was done with my homework.”

Kenna smiled to herself.

“Anyway, the silo can house two hundred patients, including space for the labs to work on a cure. It can keep everyone quarantined in there with sealed doors and whatnot for months or even years.”

“A secret lab.”

“Yeah, weird, right?”

Kenna said, “Maybe she just drew up something off the wall that she thought of.”

“Or maybe it was a custom job.”

Not good, if she was right. “How are we supposed to find a…?” She didn’t want to say it out loud. “I actually know someone with a secret hideout.” She let out a long sigh. Her head seemed better, or she was just kidding herself. “Please find this doctor guy. I need to know where to find him.”

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