Chapter 52
FIFTY-TWO
“She was in the process of surrendering.” Sandra was muttering, but she couldn’t help herself. It didn’t have to end this way.
“Come on, time for you to go,” ERT Officer Willis said to Sandra.
One of the board members returned, likely a doctor, to tend to Beal and escorted her out.
Sandra gave one more look at Mindy’s body before leaving.
He was right, and there was nothing more to do in this room.
Crime Scene would come in and process the scene, collect the cash, and return it to the FBI.
None of this was her problem or concern.
She’d done her job. Or at least she tried to do it.
The loss of life hit hard. Down the hall, she snatched the tissue box from Pamela’s desk and wiped her face.
The metallic flavor of blood coated her tongue.
Death. She was wearing Mindy Ashmore’s life force.
Her poor husband was going to be destroyed.
And after all this, he’d still have debt from the hospital.
There was no way they’d ever write it off now.
If word got out they had, it would only encourage more events like today.
“Where did you put everyone?” Sandra knew that until all the gunmen were cleared from the building, the hospital was still in lockdown.
“Beal’s office. It’s the largest on the floor.” He pointed to the right. The blinds in the room were now open.
Sandra saw Janie DeSilva and went inside to her. “Janie?”
“Yes?”
“I’m Sandra with the FBI. We spoke on the phone.”
Janie nodded, but appeared somewhat distracted by Sandra’s appearance, which must have been hideous. She’d still have Mindy’s blood all over her.
Sandra continued. “I wanted to thank you for all your help and to also tell you I met your sister this morning at the cordon line.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Janie put a hand to her forehead. “I was afraid she was inside the hospital too.”
“She was running late.”
Janie smiled. “She’s always running late. Today, that was a good thing.”
“It was. When you get out of here, call her right away, okay? Tell her I told you.”
Janie bobbed her head. “I will.”
Sandra searched the room, seeking out Dr. Cowan. They might still be able to get Phoebe Chapman that heart. She’d seen Valerie Cowan’s photo before the breach. She spotted her at the same time as the doctor was making her way to Sandra.
“You’re with the FBI.”
“I am. Sandra Vos.” The doctor didn’t blink twice at Sandra’s appearance.
“I’m Dr. Cowan. I’m scheduled to perform a heart transplant on a little girl at eleven o’clock.”
“Phoebe Chapman.”
“That’s right. We’re running close to the cutoff point, but if she’s safe, I’d like to call the donor hospital and get her prepped for surgery.”
“Give me a minute.” Sandra went over to Officer Willis in the doorway for a status update on the fourth floor, just as a man’s voice came over his radio.
“Officer Willis?”
“Go ahead, this is Willis.”
“We have a situation down here on the fourth with Tom Sparling. That negotiation woman still with you?”
Sandra grabbed Willis’s radio. “This is Special Agent Vos,” she said, speaking up for herself.
“Yeah, well, Tom Sparling’s saying he’s not leaving the Chapman room, and he’ll only talk to you. Get down here. Willis, you are to accompany her. Kemp can stay with everyone until the situation is all cleared.”
Sandra was looking at Dr. Cowan as the news came in.
Willis snatched his radio back from Sandra. “You might have heard there’s a crime scene up here. And a body. Kemp can’t cover it all.”
There was a groan. “Very well. Vos, get down here.”
“The elevators available yet?” Willis asked.
“Not yet.”
Willis handed her the keycard for the stairwell, and Sandra returned to Dr. Cowan. “I’m going to do all I can to save that little girl, so you can take it from there.”
The doctor nodded, and Sandra headed for the stairwell. She jogged down the four flights, savoring the spike in her heart rate. The journey to the fourth at a clip was giving her more of a cardio workout than hauling the backpack up eight levels had.
She stopped at the door for the fourth level and took a few deep breaths.
She must look frightening. Wiping her face with a dry tissue was better than nothing, but the blood remained caked to her skin as a macabre mask.
Looking down, she had some of Mindy’s blood on her shirt.
But, oh well, they’d be getting her the way they got her.
There wasn’t any time to waste if that little girl’s life was going to be saved.
She hurried past the nurses’ station, happy to see that Jordon Maddox was no longer there. He must be on the way to the operating room for surgery. The same should apply for Nurse Mahoney.
The three ERT officers were outside Phoebe’s room, positioned off to the side, likely in case Sparling fired through the glass. Sandra approached and stayed to one end.
“I’m here, Tom. It’s Special Agent Vos.” A formal introduction to make sure Tom recognized her authority and the seriousness of the situation. “Tom, you said you wanted to talk to me. Well, I’m here.”
“Make the men with the guns go away,” Tom said back.
“You know I can’t do that, and you know why. There’s a little girl in there, Tom.”
“I won’t hurt her.”
“But you already are. She is scheduled for a heart transplant soon. Without that heart, she will die.” Sandra didn’t even know if that could still happen tonight, or if the poor child would need to return to the waiting list.
There were a few beats of silence. “Her blood will be on this hospital.”
“No!” a woman cried out, and Sandra assumed it was Gail.
“Maybe the hospital will start to listen and be taught a lesson. They’d finally know what they do to people.”
Sandra didn’t care for how Tom spoke of Phoebe as a pawn he was willing to sacrifice to strengthen his statement. “She’s innocent, Tom. She wants the chance to grow up, make friends, get married, find her soulmate.”
“Don’t bring my dead wife into this.”
“Didn’t you? That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Sure, having the money to pay off her medical bills was a side venture. But today was motivated by the love you have for your late wife. You did this for her. Or am I wrong?”
There was silence.
“Please, Tom. That little girl is only four years old. Her name is Phoebe, and she didn’t take your wife from you. Neither did her mother or Nurse Torres.”
“She deserved better.” Grief strangled his voice.
Sandra assumed he was back to talking about his late wife’s misfortune. “I’m sure she did. Tell me about her.”
“She was a loving woman. She balanced me out, grounded me.” A rough edge to his voice told her he was crying. “She saw the good in people.”
“I’m very sorry for your loss, Tom.” She wasn’t just saying that to move things along. Her heart went out to anyone who had to say goodbye to loved ones.
“And… And I shot two people. There’s no hope for me.”
“Both men are alive, Tom. They’re going to be just fine.” A stretch of the truth as that wasn’t a guarantee. Last Sandra knew they were stable, but that could have changed.
“That’s good.”
Sandra glanced over at the ERT officer next to her, who nodded. This was a good turn of events. Tom Sparling’s conscience was making a comeback.
“The others have surrendered peacefully, Tom. They’re all safe. You can put all this behind you too. Did you want to come out and join them?”
Seconds passed without a word.
“Tom?”
“No, I’m not going anywhere.”
“What would it take for you to come out peacefully?”
There was silence, and it didn’t feel good. Tom Sparling had nothing to lose. “Would you be willing to let Phoebe go so she can have her surgery?”
“And what do I get?”
Sandra racked her brain for what he might want, what might motivate him.
He had done all this for family, for the love of his deceased wife.
That told her he had family values. But this was also about making the hospital pay.
He owed them one hundred and seventy-five K.
There was two hundred and fifty K sitting upstairs that they could repurpose.
But last Tom knew his medical debt was written off.
“You should know something before we continue talking. Things didn’t work out for your friend Alaya Princess.
” She went with Mindy’s handle in case he didn’t know her given name.
“Uh, what do you mean?”
“She’s dead.”
“You’re lying.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“Sure you would.”
“I’m not, but if you want to take the chance I am, that’s up to you. Did you know that if you die or go to prison, Tom, your wife’s medical debt will pass to her daughter, Trudy Hall?” It was a bluff that Sandra hoped he’d believe given the heightened emotion of the moment.
“It would?”
“You basically just said Founders Hospital is unscrupulous. If so, they will get their money one way or the other. Trudy is your wife’s flesh and blood. The hospital has powerful lawyers.”
“What do you want from me?”
“I told you. Let Phoebe Chapman go. Once you do that, I’ll get the cash to Trudy.”
“You can say whatever you want. But no, I won’t let the girl go, but I will release her mother. If you get the money to Trudy, and I want to see it.”
“We have a deal.” Sandra turned to the closest ERT officer. “Have someone bring in Trudy Hall ASAP.”
The ERT officer nodded and got on the job.
Sandra ran for the stairwell and headed back up to the eighth floor.