Page 33 of Down and Dirty

Chapter 14

“I have nothing to hide,” he said, sliding his hands into his pockets.

Jimbo pulled out his phone and pulled up the driver’s license picture of Erin Adams, the woman we’d discovered in the cave. He turned it to show Brandon. “How do you know this woman?”

Brandon took the phone, and his brows dipped. “I don’t know. She looks vaguely familiar. It’s possible I’ve treated her in the ER.” Brandon cleared his throat. “Maybe we should do this in my office.”

I started to follow when Jimbo blocked my path in the hallway. “This is official police business, Faith, and you’re friendly with our suspect, so maybe you should sit this one out.”

“He’s not a killer,” I said, resting my palm on Jimbo’s arm.

“Then he has nothing to worry about,” Jimbo said, leading me back to my hospital room.

“He promised to process me out and give me a lift home,” I said. “How long is this going to take?”

“As long as it needs to,” Jimbo said. “I’ll have him make a call to process you out before we hit him with all of our questions. Then we’ll give you a lift home.”

I nodded, only now wishing I’d gotten Reggie’s number in the event things turned worse. I might be one of only two friends that kid had in this town.

I turned into my room and was about to shut the door when I heard two nurses talking in loud whispers.

“That woman is dead. I saw it on the news.”

“Do you think he killed her?”

“I don’t know, but they spent an awful lot of time in his office. He even canceled one of his appointments with the chief of staff. Whatever they were doing must have been important.”

He did know her?

I slowly closed the door to my room and picked up my clothes, changing in the bathroom. By the time I was cleared and ready to go home, I didn’t wait for them to take me. I called a cab and was waiting when an ambulance rolled in. Patricia smiled and nodded in passing while pushing a man inside who had an oxygen mask attached to his face.

I was still waiting on the cab when Patricia came out. “You need a lift?”

“I called a cab, but thanks.”

Patricia grabbed a water bottle from her ambulance.

“Is your shift over?”

“No, my second shift is just starting. I’m waiting on Ben. He’s flirting with one of the nurses, Jill. She’s a nice girl, kind of quiet. They’d be good together if she ever gave him the time of day.”

“Has he been trying long?”

Patricia took a sip of her water. “They never stick. Most the time, the nurses get transferred to other departments and he doesn’t see them again unless he goes looking.”

“What about you? Your spirit guides think your boyfriend pick isn’t the right one.”

She shrugged. “They don’t know him like I do.”

A cab pulled up and stopped. “I guess that’s me.” I stood. “Thanks for keeping me company and tell Ben I’m rooting for him.”

She chuckled and waved as I slipped inside the cab and gave the driver my address.

What had started out as a decent morning had turned into a tiring evening. Nina had called the rest of my clients to reschedule. I asked the cabbie to wait while running inside to grab my wallet and returning to pay him. He drove off before I headed back inside.

“Honey, I’m home,” I called out as I leaned back against the doorframe. Veronica and Jared normally greeted me within minutes of hearing me walk in the door, and yet my house was eerily quiet.

“Fine.” I sighed and shoved off the door. I’d made it to the second step before knocks sounded on my door.

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