Page 34 of Every Last One
“Average, but she’s very thin, Caucasian.”
“Hair color?”
“Brown.”
“Did you hear her speak? Does she have an accent?”
“I briefly overheard her talking to Pam, but I didn’t detect an accent or anything that stood out.”
Sandra was impressed by Janie’s calm composure. It was adrenaline helping her keep a cool head, or Sandra was wrong about the woman on the other end of the line. It was possible she was talking to the shot caller, who was pretending to bean innocent. She could have provided the name off a badge. To confirm this woman’s identity, Sandra needed to find out something personal that went beyond a name badge. “Do you have a loved one we can call to let them know you’re okay?”
“My sister, Remy Bishop,” the woman said without hesitation. “She was going to meet me at break this morning.”
Sandra nodded at Brice and mouthed, “It’s her.” But what were the chances she’d be in contact with her sister? Slim to none, but life had a way of presenting these serendipities. “You mentioned the woman with the gun and Pam went into a meeting. What one?”
“It’s for the board of directors.”
“And who is Pam?”
“Pamela Cherry. She’s Megan Beal’s assistant.”
“And Megan Beal?”
“The CEO of the hospital,” Janie said at the same time, Luis said, “CEO.”
Brice wrote,Possible motive connected to board members?
Sandra nodded. The HT would be in a room with the most powerful people in the hospital. She either wanted them to do something for her, or she planned on hurting one or more of them. Either way, it would seem she wanted uninterrupted time. “You’ve done great, Janie. Now I need you to find a safe place that’s out of the way and preferably has a lock on the door. Don’t be wandering the hallways, all right. Go find that spot now, and stay there until this is all over.” She added the bit about wandering because Janie must have at least popped out to answer the phone. Her insight was valuable, but she’d risked her life to convey it.
“Okay, I’ll go now.”
The line went dead.
Sandra hated thinking of Janie being in there without having eyes on her. There was no way to know if she’d make it safelyinto a room or not. But Sandra had other things that required her focus. For one, Luis. She took her headset off and looked at him. “Luis, I appreciate your contributions today. You have proven yourself an asset, but when I’m on the phone, I ask that you stay quiet. No matter who I’m talking to.” She didn’t like being placed in a position where she had to verbalize this request. But if he pitched in while she was speaking with a hostage taker, it could distract her enough to jeopardize negotiations.
“Sorry about that. I got carried away. It won’t happen again.”
“Thanks.”
“So I’ve pulled backgrounds on Janie DeSilva and Pamela Cherry. Nothing flags,” Gibson said, and wheeled out of the way. Their pictures were side by side on his screen. Janie was in her thirties, and Pamela was in her late twenties. “Both are confirmed hospital employees. DeSilva has a sister, Remy Bishop, who is married.”
Brice faced her. “Which we know. That’s the woman you spoke to when we arrived?”
“Yes.”
“You going to tell her about her sister?” Neal asked, having listened to the call along with everyone else except for Luis. He’d just overheard Sandra say Beal’s name and jumped in.
“Not yet.” She feared that by telling Remy her sister was okay, she’d somehow jinx things. And technically, Janie wasn’t okay. She was on the eighth floor with an armed woman. It was best to focus on what they just learned. “Now we know the location of another armed assailant. She’s likely the shot caller we heard on the walkie-talkie.”
“All fine, but why is she interested in the board meeting?” Neal asked.
“The most powerful people in the hospital would be in one room,” Sandra offered.
“Not just people with the hospital,” Luis said, speaking up. He rattled off several names and followed up with, “These are founders and CEOs of large medical and pharmaceutical companies. But there’s one more person in there you need to know about. The director is Valerie Cowan MD, head of cardiology. There’s no one better qualified than Dr. Cowan to perform a heart transplant on a four-year-old.”
The back of Sandra’s neck tightened on that reveal.
“Shit,” Kreiger said under his breath.
