Chapter 6
6
Her week just kept getting worse—and this was not shaping up to be her month either. Aubrey finished dealing with the police and the reports for the assault and just hoped she could make it home soon.
It wasn’t the first time there had been violence in the ED. It probably wouldn’t be the last. But everyone was going to be okay—Genny was going to be sore for a while, but it could have been a whole lot worse. Aubrey knew that on the deepest level.
Aubrey’s shoulder blade hurt, where that drunk idiot had connected tonight. But she knew it could have been a whole lot worse. For her, and especially for Genny. That guy could have done serious damage to Genny. She shuddered as she remembered.
Caine had called in the police—standard procedure when a patient who could control themselves turned violent—and Aubrey had had to give a report. There were now assault charges filed against the patient—for him kicking Genny and Aubrey the way he had.
It was just the way it was.
He hadn’t been that drunk. Not so drunk he wasn’t in control of his actions. She’d dealt with his type far too many times before.
Tonight, she was going to go home, hug her sister, order a pizza—Ayla was a real disaster in the kitchen, and Aubrey wanted comfort food—and then soak in the huge tub off the master bedroom.
Tonight, she just wanted to go home to her sister. And forget the memories for a little while. She’d text Genny, and then she’d forget everything for the night.
And, well, she suspected that very shortly Genny was going to get very lucky. Chad Fields had had a look in his gorgeous eyes when he’d practically carried Aubrey’s best friend away. It made her smile—Genny was freaking out over that man completely. Aubrey didn’t think he was as much a player as Genny thought.
Genny had known Chad her entire life, and she had a lot of shared history that she was freaking out over. And looking for excuses not to try because she was afraid. Well, Aubrey could understand that—the only man she had ever let herself love had died when she’d been twenty-one. She would never forget that pain, the hole he’d left in her very soul.
Aubrey just wanted her best friend to be happy. Chad saw Genny for the amazing woman she was. Wasn’t that what mattered?
It did make her miss Carlos tonight, though. He had been a nurse, a good ten years older than Aubrey, and one of the kindest men she had ever known. He had always supported her. Encouraged her. She probably wouldn’t have made it through that year without him. He had helped her fight to get Ayla, too. He’d even paid the legal fees for the custody battle. Aubrey had loved him, and felt safe with him. When he had died, it had almost destroyed her.
Carlos had shown her one thing that she had never forgotten. The one thing she always tried to remember. There were good men out there. She just had to look around to find them.
Caine was there, across the parking lot. With his brother-in-law Dathan and with Nikkie Jean. No sign of the kids today. As she watched, Caine leaned down and lifted Nikkie Jean right off her feet. Nikkie Jean wasn’t any bigger than Genny, and Caine was a massively built, muscled man. They were so cute together. Caine kissed his wife, then set her back on her feet.
If she had a man like Caine wanting to be with her, would she be with him? Or would she be afraid? Afraid would probably win out.
Even if there was a man she wanted to be with here in Value, to begin with.
Hazel eyes popped into her head as she approached the row where her car was parked. A wicked smile, very much like Genny’s.
No.
She wasn’t going to think about that man that way. It just wasn’t going to happen.
Even though she had caught him watching her, speculation in those eyes. Aubrey had felt his gaze every time he had been in the vicinity. He hadn’t been obviously watching her, but she knew he had been aware of her.
Or maybe she had just been hyper-aware of him? A distinct possibility, and she was going to have to take some time and figure out why. Just… not tonight. Tonight, Aubrey wasn’t going to think about anything except relaxing.
Then Aubrey was almost to her car.
Someone called her name. She turned. Her stomach tightened, and her breath caught immediately. There he was. The very man she did not want to think about. Of course, that was the way the world worked, after all.
“Wait a minute,” he called.
Aubrey stayed right where she was. And waited.
Then he was next to her. “Hey, you shouldn’t walk out here alone.”
In a town of eight hundred? She just looked at him. It wasn’t like they were in Houston.
“I wasn’t alone. Not really.” She nodded toward where Caine’s wife was getting into her Jeep. “Caine and Dathan are right there.”
“Far away. You should have security walk you out. Anything can happen out here.”
Well, yes, it could. But she had walked herself out to her car late at night in far more dangerous places than Value, Texas, population eight hundred.
“I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time, you know. I grew up in Houston, you know.”
“I’m sure you have. But just humor me. I don’t exactly like Genny walking out here by herself, either.”
Well, she had heard him telling Genny he wasn’t about to let her walk out to the parking lot by herself late at night while he was around a few times before. She’d give him that. He did like to hover over his little sister. Much like she did hers; she understood.
“Is there something in particular you need, Dr. Hiller? My little sister is waiting for me to call her that I’ve made it home okay tonight. She’s with your sister and Hala somewhere. They are breaking curfew and being really wicked, she told me.”
“Yes. Your audits.”
Okay. So business-related. She could handle that. For five minutes. It was part of the job. “What about them?”
“I have some concerns. Recent pharmaceutical request sheets have wandered away.”
Those were paper copies of digital records. He could print out more whenever he needed. Why did he need her for that? “What do you mean?”
“I had four months’ worth of med request forms on my desk in my office when I left yesterday. My locked office. I did not misplace them. The file they were in is still there. The other eight sheets are still there. But four are missing. I scanned them before I left that night. I have the digital copies—but four months’ hard copies are missing.”
And it was procedure to report any irregularities. Okay, she could roll with that. But couldn’t this have waited until the morning? “Are you sure that you didn’t make a mistake?”
“I don’t make those kinds of mistakes, Aubrey. Not with drugs like Oxycodone and Hydrocodone.”
She fought a shiver at how the man said her name. He had no idea what kind of power that warm voice of his could have over a woman. But she was going to keep that to herself. “So what exactly are you saying?”
“I’m saying I think someone got into my office somehow and took four specific forms. I just don’t know why. Or what the point would be. All of the information in them was readily available. Anyone with the proper log-ins could print them for themselves.”
“Who knew you had them?” The hospital had a strict drug-monitoring policy. Every document was vitally important; every prescription request was heavily tracked. It just was. They followed all applicable federal and state laws, and Carrington Medical Group had regulations built on top of that. Regulations Aubrey now knew backwards and forwards.
“Whoever has access to the system, I’m sure. I was logged in. And it’s not secret that I do a paper audit every three months in our department. Especially… opioids and benzos.”
“Get me copies of everything that’s missing. I’ll have… someone go over everything. Who all has keys to your office or knows the code?” They had digital locks, plus manual. Thanks to Carrington. Jordan and Dathan Carrington were fanatical about safety and security. Period.
“No one.” His hand wrapped around her elbow. His fingers were scorching hot. He almost brushed his fingers against her skin. “Not even Chad. Only Caine and security have copies of my keys.”
“I see. Make sure that Caine or I get everything you have, as soon as you can.”
“Great. I’ll do that. Now…let me walk you to your car. And you can explain to me what the police were doing in the ED a few hours ago. I was a bit busy at the time. Twelve whopping pounds, three ounces. Boy. Mom weighs one hundred pounds tops. It got a bit dicey there for a while.”
Aubrey just stared at him in the parking lot lights. “That is a very big baby. Gestational diabetes?”
“I’m not sure. Most likely.” His expression tightened. “I suspect poor access to prenatal care had something to do with it, too. Garrity address. I’d never met her before. Incomplete history. I’m not sure she has had any prenatal care at all, honestly.”
Aubrey winced. She knew what he was getting at. Medical care in Garrity was almost non-existent now. There had been a small clinic in that area that had closed over a decade ago, and the once-thriving hospital in Garrity County was just a ghost town now. There was a doctor around Aubrey’s own age running an offshoot clinic there—they’d had a few classes together several years ago—and that woman was being run ragged. Dr. Zinck had privileges at BCGH. BCGH was the closest hospital for a good third of Garrity County. “That stinks. I hate when there are incomplete histories.”
“No kidding. She’s twenty-two. Could barely meet my eyes. I don’t suspect abuse, but definitely not comfortable with a male OB. And some results on post-delivery concern me. I’m going to keep her an extra day, run some blood work. If she’ll agree. Just to be on the safe side. There is a reason that baby was that big. He appears healthy, though. APGAR was great.”
He took his patients very seriously. She had noticed that before. “You are a good obstetrician, you know. She’s lucky to have gotten you.”
“Thanks. Now you just flatter.”
“I don’t flatter. It’s the truth.”
A trio of women came out of the entrance behind them. Aubrey’s stomach tightened again—and not in a good way. She wanted to go home, to forget this place—and that woman in the center—for one night. “I need to get to my car. I do not feel up to dealing with her.”
He looked over his shoulder, then started toward her SUV. No surprise—he was parked near her. “I don’t blame you. Can I… take you to the diner tonight? We can call our baby sisters and prank them. Ask if their refrigerator is running. That kind of thing. We can find Genny, and I’ll browbeat Chad into joining us. We can watch the two of them try not to fight constantly. We can do indoor mini-golf in Finley Creek. Go to a movie?”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Had she missed it—was Guthrie Hiller asking her on a date here? And… why did it sound far too exciting?
“Why?”
Aubrey hit the unlock button on her keys, before turning to answer him. But his hand had tightened on her elbow. He almost pulled her behind him. “Stay back.”
“What?”
“Look at the side of your car.” His entire tone had changed. Turned almost angry. Aubrey followed his gaze to see the paint damage running all down the driver’s side of her little blue SUV.
“Someone scratched my car. Damn it, this has not been my month.”
“Someone keyed your car. Because this was deliberate. There is nothing else it could be.” Guthrie pulled her closer. Then looked at the two men standing about a hundred feet away. He raised his voice. “Alvaro, get over here!”
Aubrey stayed right where she was.
Fighting tears she wasn’t going to let anyone see.
Who had done this?
This was the last thing she wanted to think about tonight.