Brain Storm by Cat Gilbert (detective books to read .TXT) 📖

THIRTY-SEVEN

I WOKE WITH a start, completely disoriented. It took a minute to remember where I was and why. The room was dark and had an unusual smell that I couldn’t put my finger on. The monitors were quietly beeping away, their lights casting strange glows around the room. I slowly lifted my head from the pillow, pleasantly surprised to find my headache gone and my neck and back nowhere near as sore and stiff as I had expected. I slowly sat up, wondering where the light switch was when I realized that the room was gradually growing brighter on its own.

“It’s set to respond to your movements.” I looked over to see a young woman who had slipped quietly into the room while I was watching the lights. “The lights are tied into the monitors. They dim when you’re tired, encouraging you to rest. Go dark when you’re asleep and gradually come on when you wake up.”

She’d come across the room as she’d explained and was now checking the monitors and noting figures on my chart. The fact that her entrance was timed perfectly wasn’t totally lost on me. Apparently the lights weren’t the only things tied into the monitors. I sincerely hoped I hadn’t talked in my sleep.

“You’re suspicious.” She said it as a statement, a smile in her voice. I just watched her as she finished up with the chart and slid it back in its holder. “I don’t blame you. I would be too, but I assure you, you have nothing to worry about.”

She had no clue how much I had to be worried about, but I wasn’t going to contradict her. The less I said, the better, as far as I was concerned. My continued silence didn’t seem to bother her. In fact, she seemed to take it in stride.

“My name is Jenny. I’ve been taking care of you,” she informed me softly. “How’s your head feeling? Any pain?”

“You’re a Doctor?” I asked, shaking my head in answer to her question. She didn’t look like one. There was no lab coat, no stethoscope. No attitude.

“We prefer the term Healer. Doctor is too limiting a word for what we do here.” She checked my eyes and seemed satisfied.

“How is ... Sean,” I asked, barely catching myself in time. Mac had said they only knew him as Sean here. I had no idea if that was his real name or an alias, but it didn’t matter. She knew who I was talking about.

“His injuries are severe, as I’m sure you had guessed. It will take time.”

That was hardly an answer, and she knew it, but it was obvious she wasn’t going to volunteer anymore, so I let it go. For now.

The door opened, and the Director walked in, his presence filling the room. His hair, which had looked brown in the early morning shadows, was actually a deep mahogany red. He wore it longer than most people holding an executive position would have, but then most executives didn’t work in jeans and sneakers. That he did and still managed to exude power and authority was a testament to his ability. Frankly, I was surprised he could be in the same room with the monitors as much power as he gave off, but maybe it didn’t effect machinery the same way it had me.

“How’s our patient, Jenny?”

“Your patient wants to know how Sean is doing,” I said, cutting her off. “In fact, I’d like to see him.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” He waited for me to respond, but I stayed quiet and just watched him, waiting. “He’s alive, Taylor. That’s all I can give you for now. It will have to be enough.”

It wasn’t enough, and I wanted to tell him exactly that, but there was something about the way he said it that stopped the words from leaving my mouth. I looked over at Jenny, who hadn’t said a thing since he’d come into the room and was surprised to see her give me a barely perceptible shake of her head. I might have imagined it, but it had me wondering enough that I decided to keep quiet.

“In the rush to get you and Sean to medical attention, I neglected to introduce myself,” He continued, drawing my attention back to him. “I’m Dr. Alex Connors, and I’m the Director here at the Agency. We spoke on the phone when you called in. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to hear from you. We’d heard that you and Sean had both perished in the fire in Little Rock.”

My brain must have been more rattled than I had thought because his words were swimming around in my head. The fire had been days ago. The police had had plenty of time to figure out that the bodies they’d found weren’t ours, and yet Connors was standing there telling me that he didn’t know we had survived until I phoned in. We had assumed the police would be searching for us, wanting some answers. If Connors really didn’t know we were alive, that meant the police didn’t know either. Someone had covered it up.

Before I had time to think about who that someone might be, the door swung open, and Hughes came sliding through. I took one look at him and knew my reprieve was over. The inquisition was about to begin.

“Dr. Connors, Jenny. Ms. Morrison.” He nodded a greeting to the others before turning his attention to me. “I’m Matthew Hughes, Head of Security here at the Agency. I’d like to ask you a few questions if you’re up to it?”

He was smiling and pleasant, and if I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought he was one of the good guys. I nodded at him and watched as Connors moved to take a seat, apparently intending to stay.

“She’s had a severe head injury, and she’s still suffering the effects of shock,” Jenny informed Hughes, moving up closer to the head of my bed to see the monitors better. “I don’t want her upset.”

I still wasn’t exactly sure what was going on here, but the fact that my concussion was now being labeled as severe, and I was in shock wasn’t lost on me. I settled back into my pillow and tried to look the part.

“I don’t want to upset her, Jenny, but there has been a fatality, and I need to ask some questions. I’ll try to be brief.”

I could actually hear the heart monitor speed up as he mentioned fatality and tried to slow my heart rate, as the realization hit me that I was essentially tied up to a lie detector. Best to stick to the truth, or as close to it as possible.

“We found a body in the house that we haven’t been able to identify yet,” he stated, pulling a chair up closer and settling into it. “You have any idea who it might be?”

The presence of the monitors wasn’t lost on Hughes. He may have asked me the question, but his eyes were glued to the monitors, waiting for my answer. Fortunately, there were several reasons to account for my rising blood pressure and racing heart rate. The best of which had been conveniently supplied by Jenny.

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s probably Dr. Brown,” I said, putting a catch in my voice.

“Dr. Brown?” Hughes asked, leaning forward in his chair. “Dr. Caleb Brown? From this Agency?”

I nodded, nearly in tears. Jenny patted my shoulder and handed me a tissue, throwing Hughes a warning look.

“Dr. Brown has been missing for nearly a month, Taylor.” Connors stood up, clearly agitated. If he was in on this, he was doing a good job of hiding it. “Are you’re saying that he was with you, and he’s been killed?”

I shook my head and tried to look confused. “It all happened so fast. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I think they found us.”

“Who found you?” Hughes demanded.

“The men who are after me. The men who kidnapped Dr. Brown.”

“Brown was kidnapped?” Hughes finally looked at me, and I could see the question in his eyes before he said it. “If that’s true, how did you two end up in that cabin?”

“We rescued him. Sean and me. Then we hid at the cabin. They must have followed us there.”

Hughes looked at me unblinking while I batted the tears away.

“Who is after you, Taylor? Who kidnapped Brown?”

I cleared my mind, the best I could. I was pretty sure Hughes couldn’t read my thoughts. If he could, he wouldn’t be in here asking questions, but I wasn’t ready to take any chances. Everything hinged on Hughes believing that we had no clue that he was involved. I wasn’t taking this risk just to get to Hughes. He was just part of a bigger picture. One I couldn’t see yet, but it was getting clearer by the minute.

“Who kidnapped Dr. Brown?” I repeated finally. “I’m pretty sure it was the same people who attacked us in Little Rock. Dr. Connors?” I turned my attention to him, ignoring Hughes for the moment. “I think you have a traitor in the Agency.”

Jenny gasped, and Connors’ jaw dropped open. I refused to look at Hughes, afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep the condemnation off my face and give myself away. I let my statement hang out there in the air, waiting to see which way people jumped. Hughes wasn’t the only one looking for answers.

I watched Connors instead and caught his furtive look at Jenny. He’d already known. They both did. I didn’t see her as the mastermind here. She just didn’t have the presence, but Connors did. In spades. How easy would it have been for the Director of the Agency to be selling his star pupils to the highest bidder? It was possible, but it just didn’t feel