Ghostly hostage, p.20
Ghostly Hostage, page 20
Angus laughed. "At least others see her for what she is. I don't know how you deal with her. She's got every business owner in the city upset with her ideas and lack of funding for every project. She's fine remodeling the mayor's office, but she won't spend the money to fix the potholes around town or give city employees a raise so they stick around and don't leave for better pay."
"My wife retired from the city library early because she hadn't had a raise in over four years and was making less than new hires in other cities doing less work than she did. We talked it over and decided it wasn't worth her staying on. She's able to garden and enjoy time with the grandkids now and not working herself to death for nothing."
"I hear the same thing from a lot of city employees in the area. They're looking to move somewhere that they can make more money. I know I've considered it," Franks told them as they walked out to the car.
Angus looked at him in shock. "You just bought a house."
"I said I'd thought about it. I decided I liked this area enough to stay. Might even like my co-workers at times too," Franks teased.
Angus punched him playfully in the arm before settling into the backseat of the car.
Franks climbed into the front passenger seat. "It's sad when you have to choose between making a good living or staying with family or friends. I'm sure a lot of people feel trapped here. The sad thing is the money is there if the mayor would just use it correctly. I don't get how she thinks she has a chance of winning the next election."
"She doesn't. That's why she's trying to get all her ideas implemented now and get herself as much money and kickbacks as she can while she's in office. Everyone knows what she's up to. In fact, I heard a rumor they are going to audit the mayor's office to make sure she's not breaking any rules with her insane ideas," Captain Marshall informed them as he pulled out of the parking lot. "But that stays between us. I don't want her getting a heads-up on it and moving money around to protect herself. Whoever takes her place is going to have their hands full trying to undo all the damage she's doing and get the city back to normal. The chief is desperate for some new squad cars, and you two know with the influx of crime, we need a few more detectives. Then maybe we can talk about raises."
"That would be a nice bonus." Franks sighed.
They drove in silence the rest of the way to the attorneys' offices. It was inside one of the larger buildings in town. As they walked inside, Angus felt underdressed in his khakis and button-up. Most of the men walking through the lobby were wearing suits that probably cost more than most of the items in his closet would together.
"Fancy place," Franks whispered as they rode the elevator to the tenth floor.
"I'd go nuts working here. I'd be afraid to touch anything. Our place might be a bit run down, but at least it's comfortable." Captain Marshall pointed. "I'm scared to leave fingerprints on the elevator buttons."
Angus laughed as the elevator opened to show the doors to the law offices. He barely noticed the names on the door as they made their way inside.
"Captain Marshall, here to see Mr. Bloomquist," the captain told the receptionist at the large desk.
"Please take a seat. I'll let him know you're here." She reached for her phone.
They didn't have to wait long. They'd barely sat before they were called back and led to a small conference room down a short hallway. They each took a seat along one side of the table.
"Can I get you something to drink?" the receptionist asked.
They all refused. Angus was glad. The sooner they got out of there, the sooner he would stop second-guessing his career choice. Should he have become a lawyer instead of a cop? Financially, it appeared he'd made the wrong choice. Even the glass-top table he sat beside screamed money.
They didn't have to wait long before three men entered the room. Two of them, Angus recognized from the interrogations they'd done with hospital staff. The third man was older, probably nearing seventy. He had thinning gray hair, but like the others, he wore an expensive suit and probably had more money in his pocket than Angus did in his bank account.
"Gentlemen, let me introduce Gavin Mitchell. He's the CEO of Fairway Regional Hospital," Mr. Bloomquist told them. "And you remember my partner, Jessie Rend."
"Of course." Angus smiled as they all exchanged handshakes.
"Now, we don't want to keep you, but we have some information for you," Mr. Bloomquist said once everyone was seated. "We're hoping we can find a way to limit the media exposure of this and avoid drawing even more attention to the hospital."
Captain Marshall nodded. "You know any information getting out isn't coming from us. We haven't spoken to the media and have directed any questions concerning the hospital to you. We can't make you any promises concerning the media other than you have my word that we will do all we can to keep the attention on the people, not the hospital."
Mr. Mitchell nodded. "Thank you for that. I'm afraid this is going to turn into a circus no matter how we try to stop it." He ran his fingers through his hair, the tension in his face obvious. "We went through some of the information you gave us the other day and searched through all the sudden deaths that were similar to the ones you mentioned. We even went a little deeper and pulled up other deaths at the hospital with similar scenarios. There were nine deaths in the last year that we questioned. We looked at where in the hospital those deaths took place, then looked at the staff that was working when each person died. In eight of those nine deaths, one person worked with each patient."
Angus guessed the name before it was said.
"Todd Anderson, one of our certified nurse's aides, was involved with each case." Mr. Mitchell went on. "We are currently going even deeper and trying to find out if there were other deaths during Mr. Anderson's shifts that we hadn't noticed. It's a process, but we hope to have a final report in a couple of days. As of right now, he's been on shift during eight deaths that appeared to be, shall we say, suspicious in light of the information we now have."
Angus fought not to smile. It was enough to get a warrant to get into the apartment. He hated that people had died, but the hospital was at least giving them what they needed and not hiding it as they tried to protect themselves.
"Have any of you spoken to Mr. Anderson?" Captain Marshall asked.
"No, he hasn't contacted the hospital or showed up for any of his shifts since the night Reggie Meyers died," Mr. Mitchell told them. "We've tried several times to call, but just get his voicemail. We left messages but said nothing more than ask why he hasn't shown up for work."
"We can thank the media for alerting him and giving him a heads-up that we're aware of the murder. He probably figured his time was up and it was best to move on." Franks sat back in his seat.
"Which is probably exactly what he's done." Captain Marshall sighed. "This will be enough for us to get a warrant for his apartment and to bring him in for an interview if we can locate him."
Mr. Bloomquist pushed several folders toward Angus. "This is Mr. Anderson's employee record, along with the cases we found where there was an unexpected death while he was on shift. While we aren't ready to admit that one of the hospital employees killed Reggie Meyers or any other patient, we do admit that it is possible and felt it was in the community's best interest for us to share our findings with you."
"I do have one question." Mr. Mitchell leaned forward, resting his folded hands on the table. "How did you get the information and names of the others who had died?"
Angus had expected this question at some point. "A confidential informant came to us with their suspicions. We simply passed the names to you in hopes you might find a connection if there was one."
"Can you tell me if it was one of my current hospital employees?" Mr. Mitchell asked.
"I'm sorry. I can't share that information." Angus wondered what his reaction would be if he told him about the ghostly nurse who had worked there years ago.
"I'm guessing these families will be told their loved ones might have been murdered?" Mr. Mitchell asked.
"That depends on the case. We'll have to evaluate each one and decide what to do. The issue we may have is that the drug used doesn't stay in the system. If we were to exhume the bodies, we'd probably find no evidence of the drug, but there may be other ways to find out if the deaths were similar to the deaths caused by this drug. I'm hardly knowledgeable enough to know how it all works. We'll leave that up to our district attorney and the medical examiner." Captain Marshall pulled the files toward him and straightened them.
"How will you proceed from here?" Mr. Mitchell asked. "I will need to prepare my employees should you have any questions."
"Right now, we need to speak with Todd Anderson. We'll work on finding him. Hopefully, he's hiding out in his apartment. From there, we'll interview him. Once we do that, we'll know better what direction this case is going to go. As of now, we have a suspect, but we don't have our killer. We need to keep investigating until we are sure we have the right person in custody. As before, if we need any assistance from the hospital, we will contact Mr. Bloomquist so he can work with you to get us what we need," Captain Marshall informed them.
"We appreciate that. Hopefully, this can stay out of the media."
"It's the mayor who keeps calling the press conferences and trying to demand we attend them with her to share information." Mr. Mitchell sighed. "We're going to have to give her something soon."
"She's been blowing up my phone as well. I keep telling her I can't comment on an active investigation, but she seems to think that as mayor she needs to be aware of every move we make. I'm holding her off, but she's a wildcard," Captain Marshall warned them. "The chief is doing all he can to appear helpful without giving her anything that we don't want out to the public."
"That is appreciated." Mr. Mitchell offered his hand to Captain Marshall. "We'll let you go. Please keep us updated on your investigation and if you find Todd Anderson. We've already terminated him for not showing up to work, but if he's found to be involved in any of these deaths, there will be additional paperwork we'll need to do."
Angus wanted to laugh at how casual the man was being. They already proved one murder happened under the hospital's supervision. They were about to have a bucket load of trouble once word got out and every unexpected death started to draw questions.
"We'll try to keep things as quiet as possible, but there will be no way to sweep this under the carpet. In time, it will all come out and the hospital will have to make a statement. I'd be ready for that sooner than later." Captain Marshall stood.
Angus and Franks did as well. Angus was glad it wasn't a long-drawn-out meeting. He was antsy to get back to the station and get a warrant to get into Todd Anderson's apartment. As badly as he hoped the man was hiding inside, his gut told him too much time had gone by. If he was guilty and knew he was about to be charged with murder, he was probably already out of the area and on the run.
They said their goodbyes and headed out to the car. Once on the road and headed back to the station, Franks looked back at Angus. "You might want to call and tell Lance you'll be home late. If we can get this warrant, we're going to be busy."
"You'll have your warrant. I'll call the judge the second we get back. But I'd hold off on saying you'll be late. If he's not in that apartment, we won't have much to do until we find out where he might be. What do you two know about the guy?" Captain Marshall asked.
"Not much. His family lives around here. He's got a younger brother and an older sister. I'll dig up what I can on them and the parents as soon as we get back. I doubt he'd hide out with them though. It's too obvious. My guess is he's caught a bus or plane out of town already." Angus stared out the window. "He's had days to plan and get out of the area."
"Just because leaving town is the smart thing to do, doesn't mean he's done it," Captain Marshall pointed out.
"If he was smart, he wouldn't have killed Reggie Meyers," Franks stated.
And that was what it all came down to. Angus didn't care if he had to track all buses, trains, and planes out of the area, he'd find Todd Anderson, not just because he'd killed Reggie and possibly others, but because he'd been the reason Lance had been held at gunpoint. Nobody put the man he loved in danger and got away with it. He'd find him if it was the last thing he did.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Angus stayed back and watched as the SWAT team made entry into the apartment. It might be overkill using SWAT, but they didn't have a clue if anyone was in the apartment or what they would find when they got there.
"He's not in there," Franks mumbled beside him.
"I agree. He's long gone." Angus sighed. "Still, we need to get in there. Maybe he left a clue where he went." He looked up at the fading sunset and wished he were still on that ship in the middle of the ocean instead of here investigating a child's murder. Had he really only been home a little over a week? The days had been long and busy.
"Clear." One of the SWAT members stepped out of the apartment and headed toward Angus and Franks. "Nobody inside, but I wouldn't want to be the one to go through it. The place is a disaster. Give us a few minutes to check the place out and make sure there are no surprises left behind and it's all yours."
"Thanks." Franks nodded, then looked at Angus. "Why can't we get a nice, clean apartment just once? Why do they always have to be a mess?"
"That would make our job too easy. The good news is, if it's a disaster, that means he probably didn't throw much out. We have a better chance of finding something. I'm just glad we didn't have a body inside."
"Me too, but now we have to worry about more victims. Hell, we aren't even a hundred percent sure this is our guy. Wouldn't be the first time the evidence pointed one way and it turned out to be another."
"He's our guy. Why would he suddenly go M.I.A. if he wasn't? The timing fits, he's been at the scene of numerous deaths, and even one of the ghosts said he was acting strange when Reggie died. He's the one. My question is, how many of those other deaths did he cause and how do we prove it? I know I'm getting ahead of myself. We have to find this guy first, but if he's our killer, I want him to pay." Angus slowly started toward the apartment, tired of waiting to be allowed inside. He wanted to know what they were dealing with. He paused to put on shoe covers and a pair of gloves.
"You guys are going to want to see this." One of the SWAT members waved them in. "Watch your step."
"Wow." Franks wrinkled his nose. "Are you sure we don't have a body?"
Angus had to agree as he stepped into the apartment. It was a nice-sized two-bedroom, but as soon as he stepped through the door, he was met with trash and clutter. He had no idea what was garbage and what wasn't since it all seemed to be mixed together on the floor, on the tables, and even on the overflowing kitchen counter he could see in the distance. The smell of rotten food and who knew what else filled his nose.
"Haven't found one yet, but anything is possible in here. There's a cat in the backroom. It's the only room that isn't a mess. Looks like a small office. That's where we're headed." The SWAT officer led them through a small path that was partially clear enough to walk, but even then, things crunched under his feet with every step.
"He won't be getting his deposit back," Franks mumbled.
Angus laughed, then wished he hadn't. "We may have to get masks if we're going to stay in here long."
"In here isn't as bad." The SWAT officer pushed a door open that led to one of the bedrooms that had been made into a small office.
Angus was stunned at how clean it was. A large desk sat against one wall with a standing lamp beside it. A large file cabinet sat against another wall, next to a dorm-room-sized fridge. Above that was a whiteboard, then other than a nice gaming chair and a surprisingly empty trash can, that was it.
"Please tell me that's not what I think it is." Franks moved closer to the whiteboard.
Angus moved his attention to the writing on the board and his chest tightened at what he saw. On the board was a list of names followed by a location and a date. They were each numbered, one through twenty-seven. The last name on the board was Reggie Meyers, Fairway Regional, and the date he'd died. "Those are all victims," Angus whispered.
"Probably. Looks like he worked at Fairway Retirement Center before getting the job at the hospital." Franks pointed at the board. "And look, this address is this apartment building. It doesn't give an apartment number, but I'll bet you anything that Sheldon Parks was one of the residents here."
"None of this helps us find Todd." Angus nearly growled out the words. He wanted Todd to pay for what he'd put Lance and the others through, but now, seeing a victim list, he wanted to throw Todd into prison and stop him from killing again.
"Captain Marshall has contacted all the airlines and bus depots in the area. He's not leaving here under his real name." Franks opened the drawers of the desks. "They're all empty except for a few pens and markers."
"Where the hell would he go?" Angus rolled his shoulders as tension built. He stared at the names on the board. "Damn it. I'm not letting this one get away." He turned, looking around the room but finding nothing that would give him a clue where Todd would go. He stared at the cat who sat on the corner of the desk watching him. "If only you could talk."
Franks laughed. "That's the last thing you need in your life."
Wasn't that the truth? Angus sighed as his phone rang. He glanced at the phone, saw it was Lance, and sent it to voicemail. As badly as he wanted to talk to him, now wasn't the time. "There has to be a clue to where he went somewhere here."
"Forensics are outside. I feel for anyone who has to go through this place." One of the SWAT officers glanced out the open door to see where the mess was.
"Tell them to start in here. See if he has family who can come get his cat. If not, call animal control." Angus stared at the cat, wondering what kind of life it had living in a place like this. Oddly, the cat looked well-cared for and happy.
