Chapter 15 #3
“Her attorney; she’d set it all up that she’d be cared for until her death, at which point any assets she had left were to be given to an animal rescue society. But—” Grigsby began.
“But there are cameras everywhere,” Zach put in.
“And the local police have them now. No one has been able to figure it out. She was in her room; two nurses were at the station. We do have visiting hours from nine to five; there were people here, coming and going, but … no one saw Natalie leave!”
“And the police have the security videos now?” Grant asked.
“I believe in the police; I believe that they’ll find her.
And her overall health is amazingly good; she’s just …
she’s in a serious stage of dementia, as you’ve seen!
” Grigsby told him. “We have never, ever had anything like this happen before, I assure you! We’re good here.
Our patients, our elderly, are happy here. People don’t want to leave here—”
“Do you think that she might have been forced out by someone?” Shelly asked.
“Well, that’s something someone would have noticed, don’t you think? And what could anyone have done with her? Any assets she has are completely tied up!” Grigsby said.
“People don’t just disappear, especially in the midst of a dozen cameras,” Skye said quietly. “I wouldn’t mind seeing those videos—”
“They’re at police headquarters,” Grigsby reminded them.
“But you must have copies,” Grant told him.
“I … well, you can go to our security central. Mark Thomas is in there now; you are welcome to see if he can bring up the footage for you.”
Grant looked at the others. They would be later arriving at their forest cabin than they had intended, but he wanted to see the footage.
The woman had gone on and on about the gods and goddesses …
She could be in real danger.
“When was the last time she was seen?” Shelly asked.
“Between seven and eight. I was in her room at seven-thirty, followed by her nurse at about eight. You can see that easily on the footage.”
“When did you notice that she was gone?”
“When her nurse went back at eight-thirty, just at wellness check. We called the police immediately, and they arrived right after,” Grigsby told them.
“In fact, they just left. They’re searching for her all around the area near here …
if she’s on foot, they should find her. We sent out an emergency broadcast in case she wandered out … like a silver alert, you know.”
“Thank you. We know what times we’re looking at, and we’ll take you up on visiting the security room,” Zach said.
Grant was glad that it was his fellow agent who had spoken. They were in agreement on taking the time away from the task at hand.
Somehow …
This situation could be related. After all, breaking into her online communications had given them the clues that Angela and their tech teams had put together.
Grigsby nodded and said, “This way.”
The security room was on the ground floor, just down a hallway.
Mark Thomas was a young man, late twenties, Grant estimated, dark-haired and clean-shaven. He was quick to rise when Grigsby entered and introduced them as federal agents. “I leave you in good hands,” he said, shaking his head and leaving them.
“This is so horrible; I’ll show you the time track right away,” Mark promised. They saw that the cameras covered the three floors, but no cameras were actually in the rooms; they covered an area nearby, but the visitor chairs and the doors to the restrooms were beyond the scope of the cameras.
And Natalie Greenway’s room had been dark during the morning. They could see nothing, but at some point, she had rolled off her bed and disappeared for several minutes. Then minutes later, the door opened and closed.
No one entered. And it didn’t appear that anyone had left. The cameras in the hallway showed several people, hospital personnel and guests, moving by. And none appeared to be Natalie.
“The door opened and closed,” Zach noted.
“A nurse might have been checking on her, though …” Mark Thomas began before he winced and quickly amended, “We’d have seen a nurse heading to her room.”
The footage wasn’t going to help, Grant thought. Except that he thought it told them one thing.
The woman had escaped. But she hadn’t done so as the elderly patient they had visited the night before.
Or …
The footage had somehow been doctored.
They didn’t have the equipment or the expertise to make that discovery on their own. He would call Angela and tell her, and she’d get the right authorities to see that she and her tech division could study them.
“There is something else we can do,” Shelly murmured.
He realized what she was talking about. They had Skye with them. And while he couldn’t hold the woman’s hand since she had disappeared, the room just might give him something.
“Mr. Thomas, we need to see Natalie’s room,” Grant said.
“Oh, well, you’ll need Dr. Grigsby then,” Mark Thomas told them. “I’m sorry; I’m not supposed to leave my post. If you head to the receptionist’s desk, they’ll help you there.”
“Sure, thank you,” he told him.
He looked at the others; they all knew what they needed to do. Get Skye up to the room; keep others away from her.
And see if she could see what had happened.
As they walked toward the desk, Shelly murmured to him, “I don’t believe she’s dead. I … tried to reach her. Something else is going on.”
“Let’s put Skye to work,” he said.
“Absolutely. And Zach. And you …”
“Between us all!” he said softly.
At the receptionist desk, the young man on duty looked at them with distress when they asked about Dr. Grigsby.
“I’m so sorry; he was just called out on an emergency. I can get you one of other doctors, but a patient who was supposed to be coming in today had an episode at her son’s house, and Dr. Grigsby needed to help—” he began.
“That’s all right. We know where Natalie’s room is.”
“Um, sir, I don’t think I can give you permission—”
Grant pulled out his credentials. “We have permission from a higher authority,” he said. Not true really, but …
“Oh, go right ahead!”
They quickly made their way to the elevator and, in a few minutes, reached the door to Natalie’s room.
Naturally, one of the nurses moved in to stop them.
But Grant and Zach blocked her as Shelly and Skye slipped into the room.
“It’s all right. We’re going to be on the hunt for Natalie with the local authorities; we’re just taking a look around. You never know what clues we might find,” Grant said.
“Our fellow agents might notice something; they’re trained to do so, you see,” Zach said.
The nurse looked beyond them in distress. But she saw they were both big men.
She didn’t try to push them aside.
And a moment later, Shelly and Skye were back with them.
“Thank you so much,” Shelly said, looking at Grant. “We need to get out on the streets with the local authorities, see if we can find the dear lady!”
“See? We’re out of your way,” Grant added, and they were.
Quickly and silently down the elevator.
But once they were out of the building and heading to the car, Shelly whispered, “You’re not going to believe what Skye saw!”