Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Audrey peeked out of her office and glanced up and down the hall, but everything was clear. Everyone else had already left, and she had seen Magda come in just a little bit ago to begin cleaning. She left the room and started down the hallway toward the offices.
Carter had texted a little while ago and told her he was running late, so she decided to do a little digging of her own.
She tried to justify it by telling herself it wasn’t that bad.
All she wanted to do was find out if Kellerman had kept any records anywhere, any indication of who may have been responsible for his death.
By now, they all assumed that it was tied together.
Like the police said, it was probably someone they both knew.
She rounded the nurses’ station where Magda stood disinfecting the counters. “Hello, Dr. Stanton,” Magda greeted her.
Audrey shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and smiled back. “Hi, Magda. How are you?”
“Fine, thank you. Such a shame about Dr. Kellerman,” the woman clucked. “Such a nice man.”
Sympathy seized Audrey, along with shame for what she was about to do.
“I know. I feel terrible. I’ll be taking over a few of his patients, and I need to get a few things from his office.
” She prayed the woman wouldn’t read into it and wouldn’t question her for being in his office instead of her own.
“Well, don’t let me bother you,” Magda said. “We weren’t sure what to do with it, so we just left it alone.”
Audrey nodded, grateful that HR had decided not to clear it out just yet. She wondered if the police had searched it, or if they would need to now that he’d been killed. That made her feel even worse, but she was tired of waiting around for something to happen. “That’s perfect. Thank you.”
Leaving Magda to her work, she meandered down the hall to Kellerman’s office and veered straight to the window.
After the blinds were in place and she was sure that no one could see inside, she crossed the room again and flipped on the lights.
Leaving the door open so as not to raise any questions, she glanced around the space.
It felt oddly empty without Kellerman there, and the realization that he would never sit behind that desk again sliced through her.
Though she hadn’t known him all that long, he’d been a nice enough man.
She still wasn’t sure if he was involved in whatever was happening; they might never be sure.
It only made her reason for being there more resolute.
She was determined to find anything she could to help the investigation along.
She pushed down the guilt she felt at snooping around the dead man’s office, and with a deep breath, she dived right in, starting with the desk first. She sifted through the contents of the drawers, inspecting everything, unwilling to disregard anything.
The drawers were cluttered with paraphernalia, from notepads and pens to nail clippers and stock supplies like fabric tape and bandages.
There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to his storage methods, and the next three drawers were almost identical.
In the fourth, though, she found a worn paperback copy of Jane Eyre.
It seemed incongruous with its surroundings, and she flipped through the pages.
As she did so, a small rectangle slipped out and fluttered to the ground.
The watermark on the back identified it as a photograph, and she turned it over.
The pretty blonde’s face took her breath away.
She was beautiful—captivating, really. There was something light and airy, inherently good about her.
From her manner of dress, Audrey speculated the picture had been taken a decade or more ago, and as she studied her features, she realized something else—this was not Kellerman’s wife.
She lifted her gaze to the framed photographs on the bookshelf behind her.
Eli’s wife was pretty enough, with curly brown hair, but she looked nothing like the woman in the photograph.
Her eyes dropped to the blonde again. Who was she?
Whoever it was must’ve been important to him.
She obviously meant enough for him to secret away a picture of her in his desk.
The book made sense as well. It looked well-loved, a timeless romance read and reread by someone in love.
Audrey sucked in a breath as realization hit hard.
What if this was Lucy—Edward’s wife? They’d been together at the time of her accident, obviously very much in love.
Part of her felt sad for them; both were married to other people, but they’d never been able to let go of one another.
If they hadn’t been in the accident, would they be together today?
She was so caught up in her musings that the soft pop from the vicinity of the lobby barely penetrated her consciousness.
She glanced toward the doorway, expecting to hear someone or something, but silence reigned.
She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut to keep from calling out.
Uneasy and on edge, she crept toward the hallway.
Peeking around the doorframe, she searched for Magda.
The building remained quiet—too quiet. Moving slowly and keeping her back to the wall, she walked silently toward the lobby.
She had just reached the nurses’ station when something on the floor caught her attention.
She froze in place and leaned forward as far as she could, straining her neck to see around the corner.
Blood pooled on the floor around Magda’s body, and she slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from crying out.
Quickly, she ducked down out of sight and fought to get her emotions under control. Her breathing seemed to echo in her ears, and she forced herself to calm, listening intently for any movement.
“Audrey.” A soft voice lilted on the air. “I know you’re in here.”
Without thinking, she scrambled on her hands and knees into the closest exam room and ducked behind the patient table.
Seconds later, the soft rustle of material met her ears, and she knew the person was right outside the door.
Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest, and she drew a deep, even breath in through her nose, then expelled it slowly out her mouth, fighting to keep her body from shaking.
“Audrey.” The voice was closer this time.
She pressed herself back against the table, and the traitorous paper stretched over top crinkled slightly.
Every muscle in her body coiled with tension, and she prayed he hadn’t heard the slight movement.
The soft scrape of footsteps against the rough industrial carpet resumed, and she let out a measured breath.
She remained still, tracking his movements, trying to gauge where he was going.
As silently as possible, she duck-walked toward the doorway and, keeping low to the ground, peeked around the doorjamb. The man’s back was to her as he moved around the nurses’ station, checking beneath the desks. As he turned slightly, his profile came into view.
Nate.
She felt absolutely blindsided, her mind spinning as she tried to understand. Why would he do something so terrible? He glanced upward, almost as if feeling her presence, and she jerked backward out of sight.
She couldn’t stay there and risk being found, but he was blocking the main exit to the lobby.
There was an emergency exit on the other side of the facility, and she plotted how to best get there.
She peeked around the doorjamb and watched as Nate turned his back to her again.
She had to make a decision, and now. Repositioning herself in a low crouch, she got ready to run.
As quickly and quietly as possible, she bolted from the room and sprinted down the hallway away from Nate, staying bent at the waist. She heard a harsh expletive behind her, but she didn’t slow down.
The hallway that led to the emergency exit came up on her right, and she got ready to turn.
Just as she started to slow, a shot rang out, and sheetrock exploded near her right shoulder, sending a flurry of powder into the air.
Instinctively throwing her body away from the path of the bullet, she kept running.
The door to the supply closet was just ahead on her left, and she seized the handle as a second shot rang out.
Her fingers shook as she tapped in the three-digit code, then shoved the door open and threw herself inside.
In her peripheral vision, she watched as Nate bounded down the hallway toward her, his feet slapping against the floor, the sound warring with the rapid heartbeat thudding in her ears.
She managed to slam the door just as Nate heaved himself against it.
Her gaze dropped to the floor, and she noticed a small rubber door stopper.
She hastily shoved it underneath the door, and the low beeping tones, along with the click of the lock disengaging, reached her ears just as she kicked the door stopper into place.
Nate threw his weight against the door, but it only budged an inch, thanks to the door stopper.
Shoving away from the door, she frantically pulled at the bins on the shelves, searching for something to defend herself. Items clattered to the floor, and she seized a disposable scalpel sleeved in red plastic. She jumped as a heavy thud came from the door again, and Nate’s laughter trickled in.
“I’ve got you now,” he taunted. Her gaze flew around the room, and she stared at the large shelving unit in front of her. Approximately seven feet tall, it stood in the middle of the room all by itself. If she tipped it over, it might prevent the door from opening.
She shoved the scalpel in her back pocket, then darted around the huge steel frame. Bracing her hands against the middle shelf, she shoved as hard as she could. It didn’t budge. Tears sprang to her eyes as pain shot down her arm, and she let out a little growl of frustration.
“Come on, damn it!” Another thud sounded against the door, and it squeaked open another inch.
Another shelving unit lined the wall behind her, and she stepped up on the second shelf, using the extra height for leverage.
Suspended between the two shelving units, she rocked her body back and forth, trying to sway the shelves in front of her.
It rocked precariously, and hope flared as it slammed heavily back to the ground.
She pushed again as hard as she could and felt herself start to fall as the feet left the ground and the unit began to topple forward.
At the same moment, the door to the supply closet flew open, and Nate launched himself inside. She braced herself for the fall, and she watched in horror as Nate’s eyes met hers through the gaping hole of the shelf as she tumbled toward him.
He threw his hands up, but it was too late. The shelf hit him hard, knocking him to the ground, and she landed with a jolt, sprawled over top of the shelving unit. The wall stopped its progress, and her chin glanced off the steel shelf, sending stars dancing in front of her eyes.
Quickly regaining her wits, she scrambled up the incline of the shelving unit and slid through the doorway.
As soon as her feet touched down, something wrapped around her ankle, stopping her progress.
Fingers curled tightly into her skin, and she lost her balance as Nate jerked her toward him.
His shoulders appeared in the triangle between the wall and the shelving unit, and a cruel smile transformed his mouth.
“I like when they put up a fight.”
He was too big, too fast; she knew he would catch her before she even made it down the hallway.
She kicked at him, and he let out a little grumble but didn’t let go.
Something poked her lower back, and she hastily reached into her back pocket to withdraw the scalpel just as Nate emerged from the rubble.
Pushing the blade up, she stumbled to her feet and swung upward, aiming for his neck.
Understanding flashed across his features, and he threw himself to the side just in time. The scalpel sank into his skin, stopping when it collided with his collarbone. His eyes widened in disbelief, and he let out a harsh grunt of pain.
She stumbled backwards, trying to get her feet underneath her so she could run.
In front of her, eyes locked on hers, Nate climbed to his feet and wrapped his fist around the scalpel.
He yanked it out and tossed it to the ground with a little shake of his head.
“You’re only making it harder on yourself. ”
Her heart jumped into her throat, and she threw herself into action and propelled herself away from the wall. She tried to scream as a heavy weight slammed into her back and knocked her off her feet. Pinned to the hard floor, she writhed and twisted, trying to throw him off, but he was too strong.
She let out a muffled shriek as one hand fisted in her hair and slammed her face into the floor. A sharp, stinging pain stabbed into her neck, then radiated outward. She went limp as the sensation burned through her veins, and her body gave over to the pain.