the nurses’ station. He said you’re expecting him.”
“Right.”
“Brady?”
Brady looked back when Natalie called after him with uncertainty. He responded to her unasked question. “I’ll be back.”
It occurred to Brady as he stepped into the hallway and the officer at the desk started toward him that he suddenly felt like smiling.
Why?
The answer to that was embarrassingly simple. It was because Natalie hadn’t wanted him to leave.
BRADY PULLED THE DOOR of the precinct station house open and strode inside, squinting as his eyes acclimated to the darkness within. He swore under his breath as he tripped over a carton of snack cakes beside the vending machine that was being refilled. He glared at the service attendant, mumbled an apology and moved the carton out of his way, then turned toward the squad room in the rear where Wilthauer was waiting. He was late. It had taken him longer than he had expected to get cleaned up, change his clothes and negotiate the traffic for his morning meeting. The fact that Wilthauer was waiting was already one count against him.
In Wilthauer’s office minutes later, with Stansky standing silently nearby, Brady insisted, “You know damned well Natalie Patterson will need protection, at least until she leaves that hospital. She can’t protect herself and since she’s the possible target of a homicidal maniac and somebody already tried to push her into the path of an oncoming car, I’d say we have no choice.”
“Possible target of a homicidal maniac? Don’t you think you’re going a little overboard on this, Tomasini? I don’t have the statistics, but I’d say similar, unfortunate accidents like the one that happened to Patterson, have been known to occur more often than we care to admit in this city.”
“It wasn’t an accident. Somebody pushed her.”
“So she says.”
“I believe her.”
“Maybe somebody did push her, some careless bastard in a rush who—”
“She said that careless bastard called her by name.”
“What do you mean?”
“She said he whispered her name before he shoved her into the street. There’s nothing accidental about that, and you know damned well I wouldn’t be making a case of it if I didn’t believe it was true.”
“Come on…”
“Natalie’s not the type to cry wolf, I tell you.”
“You haven’t gotten far enough in this investigation to be sure what type this Patterson woman is, or to be sure if this Moore character is still in the country—if he is the perpetrator.”
“He’s the one. He had motive and the opportunity to obtain the Candoxine. You know that as well as I do. And I’ll make you a bet that as soon as we do some checking to determine his location, we’ll find out—”
Breaking his silence, Stansky interjected, “I’ve already checked on Moore’s location. There’s no record of his return to England…or of his leaving the U.S., for that matter. He’s still in this country somewhere as far as the records show.” At Brady’s inquiring glance, he added, “What did you think I was doing while you were babysitting at the hospital all day?”
Brady looked back at Wilthauer’s frown. “What does that tell you?”
“That you’re both jumping to conclusions.”
“I don’t know. Are we?”
Brady stared at Wilthauer boldly. Damn, the man was hardheaded! He’d been able to get a uniform stationed at Natalie’s door temporarily, but he knew temporarily wouldn’t do. He said, “Look, Captain, we can’t afford to take the risk. If Natalie gets attacked again and the attack succeeds, there’ll be hell to pay. Natalie’s the golden girl of the CDC. They won’t take it lightly that we didn’t protect her.”
He knew he had hit the bull’s-eye with that thought when Wilthauer hesitated, then responded, “All right. You win. I’ll keep a uniform outside the Patterson woman’s hospital door until she’s released, but remember, we can’t provide protection for an extended period. We don’t have the manpower to spare, so find this Moore guy and make it quick. Manderling provided us with his picture. Leak it to the newspapers. Notify the networks. Flood the town with his picture, and then get set for the deluge. If he’s still around, you’ll get him.”
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