Chapter 24 HARPER-RAYN #2
He nods, and I quickly answer the call before I miss it.
“Hey, two seconds,” I say, slipping out of the morgue and into the quiet hallway where my conversation can’t be overheard by the whole morgue staff.
They’re already too nosy and have been asking me questions about this mysterious new boyfriend who happens to have the pull to assign sexy SWAT team members to watch my every move. Naturally, they’re curious.
“Hey,” I say, letting him know I’m good to talk.
“How’re you doing, doll?” he asks, his tone low. “I hope you’re not pushing yourself too hard.”
“I’m fine,” I tell him as a stupid smile pulls across my lips, loving that he’s checking in on me like this. “Just like I was fine the day before, and the day before that.”
“Had no problems? Nothing out of place?”
“No, everything is right in the world. I haven’t been rushed into emergency surgery just yet.”
“Good,” he murmurs. “How’s Anders doing? I haven’t heard from him in a while.”
A laugh bubbles up my throat, and just as I go to respond, Anders barrels out the door, his hand clasped over his mouth as he sprints past me, and as he runs, I realize he’s covered head to toe in a cadaver’s stomach contents.
“He’s, ahhh . . . having a day,” I tell Knight. “I think you’re going to have to tap him out. He can’t quite hack the morgue lifestyle.”
“What’s wrong?” he chuckles. “Does he have a queasy stomach?”
“More like an exploding stomach,” I laugh to myself. “He hasn’t said anything. I think he’s too proud or doesn’t want to give you a reason not to trust him with this, and while it’s more than entertaining, this level of continuous throwing up couldn’t be good for him.”
“Shit. Okay. I’ll let him off the hook, but not before somebody takes his place.”
“I don’t know if it’s really necessary during day shift. There are people everywhere. It’s like a zoo in here. Elias won’t be able to get to me here.”
“I don’t care. I’m not taking the risk. I don’t want you defenseless.”
I scoff. “I’m hardly defenseless. I can dangle from a pull-up bar, you know?”
Knight laughs. “That you can, doll.”
I grin and go to make some cheesy response when the door of the morgue opens and the whole team of interns, admin, and assistants swarm the hallway, chatting among themselves.
“Oh hey, Dr. Madden,” one of the young interns says.
“We’re heading up for lunch. Did you want to join us?
Perhaps bring that bodyguard of yours along. ”
I gape at the group of women in shock. Lunch?
They get lunch breaks? Shit. Back when I was just starting out, lunch breaks didn’t exist. I used to eat on the go, always wanting to get to the next thing, always wanting to learn something more.
I was a sponge, always needing more, and nothing has changed.
“I’m okay,” I tell them. “Go on without me. I’m going to catch up on some of my reports.”
“Awwww,” I hear Knight say in my ear as the group of women heads toward the elevator, leaving me to my conversation. “Are you making friends already? And on your first day. What a clever girl.”
“I want to smack you.”
“Keep that attitude for when you get home.”
A sly grin creeps across my face as I swipe my access card and listen for the soft beep. “Oh, you can’t handle this attitude,” I tell him, shoving my hip against the door to make my way back inside. “I better go. I need to have a chat with Dr. McKullan about his taste in music.”
“Alright, doll. Stay safe.”
“Right back at ya,” I say before ending the call and stepping back inside the morgue, the sound of Dr. McKullan’s classical playlist the only sound I hear.
I make my way over to my desk as I slip my phone into my pocket, wanting to take advantage of the peace and quiet to work on the report from this morning’s autopsies, when a strange gurgling sound has my back stiffening.
I turn around and find Dr. McKullan across the morgue, directly facing me, his face ghostly white as he stands abnormally still. “Are . . . Are you alright?” I ask, taking a hesitant step toward him when a strange redness begins soaking through the front of his lab coat.
“Ru—run.”
My eyes widen in horror, and I suck in a gasp just as blood begins to trickle from his mouth. “Dr. McKullan.”
I start to race toward him when he drops to his knees, only as his body falls forward, Elias appears directly behind him, a long, bloodied blade dangling from his fingers.
“Hello, kitten,” he purrs, his vile gaze roaming over my body as I skid to a halt, terrified for Dr. McKullan on the floor. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“No. NO!” I scream, horror pounding through my veins as I hastily back up, my gaze constantly flicking back to Dr. McKullan as he begins bleeding out. I need to get to him. I need to stop the bleeding. If I can just get a team in here, we could still save him, but it needs to happen now.
Elias laughs and steps over Dr. McKullan, not even bothering to have worn the mask to cover the sickening injuries still covering his face.
Then as I continue to back up, he looks at my mentor.
He crouches down and grips Dr. McKullan by the hair, pulling him up and exposing his neck, making my blood run cold.
“No,” I cry as Elias laughs.
“RUN!” Dr. McKullan demands just moments before Elias swipes the blade clean across the base of the good doctor’s throat, spilling every last drop of his blood.
Dr. McKullan goes limp in Elias’s hand, and he carelessly drops his body as I gape at the scene in horror, my chest heaving as my hands violently begin to shake.
“No. No, no, no,” I cry, my whole body trembling. How can this be happening? He was supposed to retire. He was going to spend long days watching his grandkids in the pool. He was going to take his wife around the world just like she’s always wanted, and now he’s just . . . just dead?
Elias straightens to his full height, focusing his wicked stare on me as the blade dangles by his side, dripping blood onto the clinical linoleum.
“Now, kitten. It’s just me and you, just as it’s always supposed to have been.
There’s nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.
You’re all mine to do with as I please.”
His voice wakes me out of my shock, and it’s as though someone electrocuted me with the defibrillator machine.
My body doesn’t stop shaking, and I force myself not to glance back at Dr. McKullan, having to come to terms with the fact that there’s nothing I can do for him now. I have to try to save myself.
The buzzer sounds for the big double doors, and my gaze automatically flicks toward the entrance.
Anders strides in, his face clammy from his ordeal in the bathroom.
One step is all he needs to sweep the room, and in an instant, his hand is reaching for his gun, springing into action just as Knight trained him to.
He casually walks toward me, his gun pointed directly between Elias’s eyes, not stopping until he’s positioned right in front of me, physically protecting me with his body. “If you had any sense, you’d put the blade down,” Anders tells him.
The bastard laughs as though he’s the one in control. “One of my brother’s protégés, I see,” Elias says, the sound of his voice sending chills sailing down my spine. “How disappointing.”
Anders shifts his stance just a fraction, his chin angling toward me while he keeps his trained stare on Elias.
“Stay right behind me,” he tells me. “We’re going to walk to the door.
You’re going to swipe your access card. Then you’re going to run.
Find a crowd of people and call Knight.” I nod, but it’s not enough for Anders as he pushes for more. “Tell me you understand.”
“I understand,” I say, instinctively reaching for the back of his shirt, holding on to it as though it’s my only lifeline. He starts to walk, moving slowly, and I move with him, taking one step at a time.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Elias says, his tone so fucking chilling, it makes me want to throw up. “If you had any sense, you would turn around and walk out that door. I might even allow you to leave with your life.”
Anders laughs, and the sound is full of mockery. “Unlikely.”
“Alright,” Elias says as we continue making our way to the door. “You were warned.”
Then, with the fastest flick of his wrist, Elias launches the blade across the room with the kind of precision that only comes from years of training, and within the blink of an eye, the sharp blade plunges deep through the center of Anders’s chest.
I scream in horror, and as Anders drops to his knees, he immediately begins shooting. “NOW. HARPER!” he roars at me, and I don’t waste a single second, sprinting the rest of the way to the door. My hands tremble as I grab my access card and frantically swipe it over the card reader.
The door takes forever, and as it finally registers my card and flashes green, I barge through it, the sound of Elias’s laughter ringing out behind me. “I’ll be seeing you, kitten,” he calls. “You’ll be all mine.”
The door slams shut behind me as my feet pound against the linoleum, sprinting toward the stairwell as more gunshots boom from within the morgue.
Only there’s something different about these.
There’s a finality to them that makes my stomach sink, and as my eyes sting with unshed tears, I scramble for my phone in my pocket, bringing up Knight’s number immediately.
“Doll?” he answers on the first ring.
“He’s here,” I cry, sprinting through the hospital. “Elias is here.”