CHAPTER 25
NIYAH
Xander pulled over in front of the medical examiner’s office.
Niyah turned and looked back at the car that had been following them since they’d left the Creed Compound.
She’d relented to Xander’s insistence that one of Lincoln’s men provide security as long as he stayed out of the way.
Xander placed his hand on her shoulder. “I promise you won’t even know he’s there. ”
Niyah turned and smiled. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’m grateful for the security.”
She could see relief in his expressive blue eyes. “Okay, good.”
“Time to make the donuts,” Niyah muttered, grabbing her backpack from the back seat.
Xander opened the door, climbed out of the front seat, and ran around to the passenger’s side.
He opened the door and held out his hand to help her out of the car as if she were helpless.
Niyah chuckled and accepted his hand. She stepped out of the car, startled by his large hand, cupping her jaw.
He leaned down and kissed her lips before they parted to protest. But would she protest?
The last time she was that close to him, she had longed for more.
Xander kissed her forehead. “Have a good day,” he whispered against her skin.
Niyah stepped back and looked into his eyes. He was tearing down the walls she had built around her heart. Surely, that had been his strategy all along. “I’ll see you later.”
“You will,” he responded with a sexy grin.”
Niyah walked off toward the entrance, knowing that Xander was staring at her ass. She didn’t dare turn around. However, she did throw that ass a little harder, giving him something to look at. When she got to the door, she giggled at her silliness and pushed inside.
A quick trip down the hall and around a corner landed Niyah at her office door. Only, before she could enter, she was approached by a pretty woman with long micro-braids. “Dr. Reed?” she addressed her with an unrecognizable foreign accent.
The woman was wearing a short, white, intern’s coat. Niyah shook away the sadness at the loss of her previous intern and smiled. “You found me,” she responded playfully.
The intern smiled in return and handed Niyah some paperwork. “I’m Katima Leer, your new intern.”
“Welcome. Where did you come from?”
“Just finished my ER rotation. But I’m really excited to be working with you. I’m thinking of pathology as a specialty.”
Niyah raised a brow. “Why?” she asked out of curiosity.
“It’s the mystery of it all,” she answered with a grin. “I don’t like unanswered questions when it comes to death.”
“I see.” It was a good answer, but the hint of trivialism in her response rubbed Niyah the wrong way. She pulled her keys from her purse and unlocked her office door. “Well, I’ve been off for a while, so I’ll need a little time to get settled.”
“Oh, I understand,” Katima said as Niyah entered her office.
She closed the door and walked over to her desk.
On top, of course, a pile of neglected cases needed her attention.
But Niyah was looking for one chart in particular.
And as she sifted through the pile, she realized it wasn’t there.
She walked over and checked the file cabinet.
It wasn’t there either. With her hands on her hips, Niyah sighed and wondered where the file could be.
A knock at the door diverted her attention. “Come in.”
Niyah smiled when her assistant entered her office. “Helen!” she chirped, excited. “How was your vacation?”
“It was wonderful,” she responded with a wide grin.
Helen was a beautiful woman with flawless black skin and icy, gray pixie curls. She and her husband had vacationed in Venice for their thirtieth anniversary. After five years of working together, their relationship surpassed employer-employee. Niyah considered Helen a friend.
“When did you get back?”
“Yesterday.”
“Yesterday!” she exclaimed. “After a two-week vacation, I would definitely need at least four days of recovery before coming back to work.”
Helen chuckled. “Sweetie, we’re in our sixties. What exactly do you think we were doing that needed so much recovery time?”
Niyah wiggled her brows. “I can think of a few things.”
Helen laughed and smacked her on the arm. “Go on, little nasty girl. We got work to do. Have you met your new intern?”
“Just now. What do you think about her?”
Helen shrugged. “Don’t know yet. But time will tell.”
“Okay. Well, let’s get caught up.”
Niyah walked over and took a seat behind her desk. Helen sat in the chair in front of her. “I’m already caught up. It seems that I’ve returned to the Twilight Zone.”
“Tell me about it,” Niyah grumbled. “I need to send flowers or something to Mario’s family.” She’d had every intention of doing so, but there was so much going on that she’d completely forgotten.
“You did,” Helen revealed with a smirk. “When I got the news, I sent his family flowers and a cheese basket on your behalf.”
Niyah’s head fell. “Thank you, Helen,” she whispered.
“No worries, ladybug.”
Niyah looked up with a smile. “What would I do without you?”
Helen chuckled and muttered, “Girl, I don’t know.”
Niyah laughed. “Well, let’s get to it. I can’t find the chart for my John Doe.
Helen raised a brow. “John Doe?”
“The hospital shooter,” Niyah clarified.
“Oh, yes. Your intern has it. She was studying it in preparation for your return to work.”
“Yeah?” Niyah questioned with a bit of surprise.
“Yep.” Helen grinned. “The young doctor is eager and enthusiastic.”
“Good to know,” Niyah muttered.
After a knock at the door, her intern poked her head inside. “Dr. Reed, I don’t know if you remembered, but you have court this morning.”
Niyah walked over to her desk and fished her cellular phone from her purse. “I didn’t. Would you happen to know what case?”
“I do,” Katima said as she pushed inside. She handed her a file.
Niyah looked down at the file and frowned.
It was the Crawford case, one of the more disturbing cases of her career.
Celia Crawford, impoverished mother of four, was in a mall, struggling to afford a pair of shoes for her eldest daughter, 8-year-old Anna, when a stranger seemingly took pity on her and paid for her purchases.
After leaving the store, the stranger, who was later identified as Clifton Beeker, offered to buy the family lunch in the food court.
But once inside the food court, Anna decided that she’d rather have McDonald’s and asked her mom if she could go to the other end of the mall where McDonald’s was located.
Sadly, when Clifton Beeker offered to take her, Celia naively agreed.
One hour later, she was making a frantic call to 911, reporting her daughter missing.
Niyah sighed and dropped the file on her desk. She’d had hard cases before, but the Crawford case was one she wasn’t looking forward to reliving.
“I’ll grab the complete chart and your blue skirt suit,” Helen offered. “Black pumps?” she asked.
“Yes, please. But see if my grey suit is in there.”
“Gotcha,” Helen said on her way out.
Niyah looked toward Katima. “Dr. Leer, I need the chart for the hospital John Doe. Helen says you have it.”
“I do. I’ll get it to you right away.”
When Katima left and closed the door behind her, Niyah inhaled a deep breath and sank back into her office chair. She was at the Creeds’ compound for only a short time, but so much of her work had fallen by the wayside.
***
Once Niyah passed the security checkpoint, she waited patiently for the big man that Lincoln had assigned to protect her.
As soon as he was cleared, they entered the courtroom.
Unsurprisingly, it was packed. All of the major news outlets had been reporting on the case since the very beginning of Anna’s disappearance.
With her bodyguard in tow, Niyah made her way through the courtroom and through a set of doors that led to the witness room. Inside the room was the prosecutor from the state attorney’s office, four uniformed officers, and the two detectives that handled the case.
The prosecutor walked over. “You’re third on the stand. It might be a couple of hours.”
“That’s fine. I’ll use the time to get caught up on the case.”
Niyah waved her bodyguard to a seat at the long conference table. Without a word, he grabbed a chair and moved it to a corner of the room. He sat in a position where he could see everyone entering the room, as if everyone entering the room wasn’t a cop or a prosecutor.
Niyah studied the file. It didn’t take a couple hours. She was called to the stand within forty-five minutes.
After being sworn in on the stand, the prosecutor asked her to state her name.
“I’m Dr. Niyah Lee Reed.”
“And what is your profession?”
“I am a medical doctor, specializing in forensic pathology. I work in the office of the Cook County Medical Examiner.”
“Dr. Reed, did you perform an autopsy on Anna Crawford?”
“I did.”
“And, Dr. Reed, were you able to determine the cause of death?”
Niyah cleared her throat and looked up at the prosecutor. “Manual strangulation.”
“Doctor, can you walk us through the injuries that led to Anna’s death.”
Niyah inhaled a heavy breath. The dread of rehashing one of the worst autopsies she’d ever performed was almost suffocating.
“Dr. Reed,” the prosecutor prompted.
Niyah exhaled and raised her chin. “Before Anna Crawford was strangled, she was beaten, burned with cigarettes, and…”
Niyah’s head fell. The thought of everything that little girl had endured before her light was snuffed out by the monster sitting less than ten feet away was nearly crippling. Before she could help it, her cheeks warmed, and an unprofessional tear escaped her eye.
“Dr. Reed?”
Niyah swiped the tear from her cheek and closed her lids tight to prevent more from falling. “I-I need a minute.”
“Counselor, do you need a recess?” the judge asked.
“Umm… Dr. Reed?” the prosecutor questioned.
Niyah shook her head and inwardly scolded herself for getting emotional. “No,” she whispered. “I’m okay.”
“Are you sure that you’re able to continue?” the judge asked.
“Sorry, Judge. Yes, I’m okay.”
The prosecuting attorney stepped closer. “Dr. Reed, you stated that before Anna Crawford was murdered, she was beaten, burned, and… what?”
“S-she... Anna underwent a very brutal sexual assault, which included forced oral acts as well as vaginal and anal penetration.” She nearly choked on the words. “There was significant trauma.”
Niyah inhaled and exhaled a cleansing breath and remembered why she was there. It was her job to speak for the dead. So, she stiffened her spine and did just that. She answered question after question until she was satisfied that she had represented Anna Crawford as best she could.