Night Hack: A forced proximity alpha hero hacker romantic suspense (Nightshade Book 4)

Chapter 30

Brycen

“Got him!”Devolin exploded through the silence of the hospital’s security room where she and I had set up shop with the two security officers on shift. “He’s still on the grounds,” she relayed to our team through our earpieces.

A slew of copies came through loud and clear from the team as Shane came back with “Inside or out?”

“Still scouring the footage to confirm,” I said, then shifted to the cameras covering the areas with public entrances we’d just sighted Platt in.

“There!” Devolin pointed to the fourth monitor from my left. “South entrance. What’s the door number or entrance name?” she demanded from the officers.

“It’s the main entrance to our education center,” one of them answered.

Nodding at the man, I clicked my comms unit so I could relay the information to the rest of our team. “South side, left of main entrance off of Western Boulevard. Education Center.”

Acknowledgement followed as the four of us continued to trace Platt’s steps.

“Isolate the interior footage nearest and around the education center,” I directed. Within seconds, the system refreshed with ten alternating views of the center and the areas that led to the hospital’s main entrance and the adjoining cafeteria area.

It took some navigating, but we’d managed to follow him up to the fifth floor.

“Pull up a list of patients admitted to that floor,” Devolin demanded one of the officers, the one who was merely tagging along.

“That’s confidential,” he argued.

“And you’ve got a serial killer in here, along with the local JPD, NSI, and the fucking FBI, now get me that fucking list,” she demanded again.

It took him thirty seconds to pull the thing up and nearly a minute of syncing that list with all of Carson Platt’s known contacts—and we got nothing.

“Run his name against any patients admitted in the last ten years, Huss,” I instructed as my phone pinged. Pulling it out, I found a new alert from Jana’s phone, along with a few I’d missed that were a few minutes apart. “Fu-uck!”

Devolin’s eyes assessed me for a split second before returning to her laptop’s screen. “What?”

“Jana’s on her way here. Looks like she’s been texting Jason, but I don’t recognize the number,” I told her, punching the digits into my reverse lookup tool.

“Shit,” Devolin muttered. “How much you willing to bet that asshole spoofed her brother’s phone again?”

Exactly what I’m thinking, Huss.

When my alert system notified me Jana had arrived at the hospital, I hightailed it from the basement security quarters to intercept her.

After verifying Jason and Eloise were both home and neither had attempted to contact Jana within the last twenty-four hours, the authorities and NSI team knew Jana had been lured out of hiding with the guise Platt had established. Knowing my woman as I did, it was a foolproof stunt—the ever-dutiful daughter that she was, and the impending loss of the only parent she had—was a perfect ploy.

Devolin came through my earpiece as I spun around in slow circles, taking in the main entrance’s areas, moving around to make sure I got a proper visual of all the nooks and crannies between there and the cafeteria, and the elevator banks. “North side of the elevators, Bryce. She took the stairwell about two minutes ago.”

“Copy.”

Sprinting in that direction, I blasted through the doors, pausing to listen, but it was useless. Other than the pounding of my heart in my ears, I couldn’t hear anyone else’s footsteps.

“Anyone up on the fifth?”

“Theo and Cade are up there,” Dalton cut in. “Got an agent and a few JPD officers starting on a room-by-room search right now.”

“She’s gone left of the stairwell, Bryce,” Devolin said.

“Got it,” I growled, making a mad dash up the stairs as fast as my feet could carry me.

Jana

My body shook from the buildup of adrenaline in my bloodstream, and I couldn’t seem to process my thoughts adequately.

“W-why are you doing this?” my teeth chattered as I spoke.

The chest at my back rumbled with Platt’s muted amusement. “You mean you and your merry band of men haven’t figured it out yet?”

“N-no,” I pushed myself closer to him in an effort to get away from his knife.

In a swift move, Carson Platt had me backed against the door to what now—after my eyes had adjusted to the lack of lighting—I could make out to be a janitorial closet.

Instead of the blade he still brandished, his forearm pressed against my windpipe, and I struggled to get air to breathe as spots floated around my vision’s periphery due to both lack of oxygen, but also the way my head had smacked against the door.

“You used to be a nurse.” Spittle hit my face. “How is it that you can play God and I can’t?” He pushed harder against my throat, causing me to gag. “It took me four tries, but when you gave my victims your name, and when I heard that oh so sympathetic voice of yours, I’d recognize anywhere, I knew I had you.”

My hands came up, clawing at his forearm, but when that didn’t work, I tried to turn my head to the side to see if the pressure on my neck would ease off. It didn’t, so I pushed up onto my tiptoes—the suspicion of where we’d crossed paths irrelevant for the moment.

“I’ve never play-played G-god,” I choked out.

He sneered as he said, “Oh, but I beg to differ, sweetheart. My wife would beg to differ as well. I’ll have to enlighten you when we get to where we’re going.”

The crassness with which he said sweetheart grated on me, and my blood simmered with rage.

No one calls me that but Brycen, no one!

Platt put a stop to my rising knee by releasing my throat and spinning me around, slamming my face into the door, then pressing my cheek into it. Blackness infringed on my vision, and the sticky trickling of warmth told me my nose was bleeding—possibly broken.

“I hate to ruin our reunion,” he rasped, slapping a hat onto his head, the bill nudging my temple, “but it’s time we get gone. Thanks to the muscle at the motel, the authorities know who I am. It’s only a matter of time before someone’s on our tail.”

“Like hell.” I licked my dry lips, tasting the coppery flavor of my own blood, letting out an unamused laugh, saying the next with more conviction. “Like hell you will. Even if I were to cooperate, you said so yourself, your face is all over the local news. How do you plan to justify the blood on my face, huh?”

Tate

“Anyone check the supply and janitors’ closets?” Cade asked when we’d completed the sweep of the patient rooms. “Huss confirmed Jana’s up here on this floor, same as Platt, and yet, no one’s seen them?” The man snorted his disgust that we’d come up short, while I tried to keep my mounting frustration internalized because Matthews was about to join us.

“The head nurse is getting the access card now,” the FBI special agent answered. “I made the request while I waited for you guys to finish up.”

Before we got started, a muffled thump came from a closed door that boasted the image of a mop and bucket on the wall next to it.

Nodding to the group of men to follow me, I approached, careful not to bring attention as I heard a few of them rustling, most likely doing what I was, which was drawing my service weapon in case trouble came of this.

Holding a finger to my lips for silence, I pressed my back against the wall, and leaned my head closer to see if I could detect anyone.

As a second, much louder thump came against the door, I looked to my feet and shook my head on a “Shit,” escaping me.

“What is it?” Cade asked in a hushed tone.

“You’re going to want to clear this entire section of the floor, right the fuck now,” I whisper-barked. “They’re in there, and I think she’s hurt.”