Chapter 16
Hannah walked down the eerily dim hallway of the building where she’d spent the majority of her time for the past three years.
The air was normally filled with the sounds of monitors beeping, patients and staff chatting, elevators chiming as they arrived on the floor, but today there was only the sound of their footsteps and Brady whining.
“I’m hungry.”
“I know, baby. I’ll get you a snack soon.”
Noah touched her arm. “I have a protein bar in my bag.”
She snickered. “Of course you do. Go ahead and give it to him.”
“You want one?” he asked.
“I’m good. My office is right up here.” She needed to get her key ring with the fob that would give her access to the rest of the hospital. “Hopefully the fob is working with the emergency generator on.”
“I think it will be. They had to have accounted for staff movement throughout the building in an emergency.”
She stopped at her office door, surprised to find it ajar. She looked to Noah and he held up his hand, drawing his weapon before gesturing for her to move aside with Brady. He opened the door with his foot. “Nobody’s in here,” he said.
“But somebody has been. I know I locked that door before I left. I always do.” She pushed past him into her office. Papers were scattered over her desk and a large portion of the floor. “What the hell?”
“You said a bad word,” said Brady.
“Heck. What the heck? Who would go through my things?” She bent and gathered papers from the floor, Noah helping her pick them up.
“What’s in here?” he asked.
“Personal correspondence. Administrative paperwork. Things like that.”
“Someone who thought you might know about the drug theft. When’s the last time you were here?”
“Yesterday, though it feels like a year. I went right from the hospital to my in-laws, then the corner store where you found me. But that doesn’t make any sense. Joe’s been gone almost a year. Why would they think I knew something now?”
Noah frowned. “Something must have changed. How many people were left in the hospital when you were here?”
“It’s hard to say, exactly. A few, but it’s a big building. I certainly couldn’t see them all.”
He handed her his stack of papers and they stood. “I thought you weren’t a coffee drinker,” he said, gesturing to a mug on her desk.
“I’m not.” She picked it up, her eyes going wide. “This is still warm.”
He withdrew his weapon again. “Is there anywhere secure I can take you and Brady?”
“Anyone with access to my office has access to ninety-nine percent of the hospital.”
“What about the other one percent?”
“The isolation ward. It requires a PIN. Only a few people have it for security purposes to prevent the spread of contagious disease.”
“Let’s go.”
“Wait, let me grab my fob. And my computer.”
“Why do you need your computer?”
“I need to research the slides from the autopsy.”
“They won’t have Internet access.”
“We’re probably the only place in all of Hilton Head that does. Satellite link. Necessary for emergency patient care.”
“We need to be quiet, Brady,” Noah said. “Can you do that for me? No talking at all?” The boy nodded.
They walked quickly and quietly, Noah leading the way as Hannah directed him up two flights to the isolation ward. She entered her code and the keypad lit up green as the mechanical lock disengaged.
It was dark inside. “Don’t turn on any lights, even if they work,” said Noah. “You need to be safe without anyone knowing you’re in here.”
“What about you?” she asked.
“I need a plan and a map of how to execute it. We’ll use the bathroom and a ChemLight to see.” The three of them sat on the tiled bathroom floor. Noah produced a small notebook and Hannah got to work on a map of the hospital.
“I’m scared,” said Brady.
“Come here, sport,” said Noah, opening his arms to the boy, who climbed on his lap. Noah looked to Hannah. “Is this okay?”
“Given the circumstances, yes.” She drew a long rectangle with a central hallway. “On most floors, these are patient care rooms. But on the second floor they’re administrative offices. Here’s accounting, where your sister worked.”
“Where’s the head of her department?”
“Right here,” she said, pointing to an attached corner office. Her pen moved across the hall. “Here’s the hospital director’s office, and his secretary.” She moved the pen down. “HR. A conference room.”
“Are there any administrators on any other floors?”
“No, just this one. Who are you looking at?”
“Lizzie was dating her boss, the head of the accounting department, Eric Manning. I want to check him out. Would he have keys to your office?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so.” He pointed to the largest office, which belonged to the hospital director, remembering the name from the letter in Hannah’s husband’s desk. “This guy. Thomas Patel.”
She licked her lips. What he was suggesting was preposterous, yet undeniably likely at this point. “Be careful.”
“Be careful,” Brady parroted, giving Noah a big hug.
When Noah extricated himself, he unzipped his go bag and withdrew several items, tucking them into the pockets of his pants before he turned to Hannah.
“Whatever happens, stay in this room. If I don’t come back within an hour, use the Internet to contact anyone you can and let the authorities know you need help.
Under no circumstances should you come out alone. ”
She nodded. “If you’re right, these people have a lot to lose. Be safe.”
“I will.”
“And I’m sorry for what I said to you earlier.” She looked at her hands. “I was upset with myself.”
He touched her cheek. “You shouldn’t be.” He leaned in and kissed her softly on the mouth. “There’s nothing wrong with this.”
She was as stunned by her reaction to his words and kiss as she was that he’d spoken them and done it at all. She simply nodded, taking it in stride rather than rallying against the feelings inside her.
Brady took her hand.
“Lock the door behind me,” said Noah.
And he was gone.