Covert Reich Read online

  “I don’t know what to say, but I need some help here, Doc. I’m having a hard time getting this IV started on her,” Eric said.

  Kelly focused back on the baby, scanning her body. The poor thing let out a fragile cry, similar to a puppy’s whimper, as Kelly found a vein on the top of her head and inserted the tiny catheter. God, please help me save her.

  The baby girl was hooked up to numerous monitoring sensors in order to regulate heat, oxygen, and carbon monoxide levels as well as her heart and breathing rates. “Okay, I’ll get the tube in, and then let’s get this little one a dose of surfactant,” Kelly told Eric. The baby’s underdeveloped lungs hadn’t had enough time to produce their own surfactant, but thank God Kelly could give it to her. Machines and drugs could do pretty damn well, sometimes almost as well as a mother’s own uterus.

  Kelly expertly threaded a tube through the baby’s nose, down the back of her throat, and into her trachea. Eric then connected the tube to the respirator and started the machine, regulating the flow of air, oxygen, and air pressure in and out of the lungs. “Thank you,” Kelly said to Eric, who smiled back at her.

  He had a great smile—perfect white teeth and dimples to boot. His grey-blue eyes matched the surgical gowns he wore. His black hair and superb physique caused many women to take second and third looks because the guy could easily have been a Calvin Klein underwear model. It was a shame he was gay. At least for all of those swooning women, anyway.

  Eric was fairly private about his sexual preference. The only reason Kelly even knew was because of an embarrassing incident that had occurred at last year’s holiday party. Kelly had gotten drunk and made a complete fool out of herself, telling Eric how hot he was, and more. Frankly, this was pretty out of character for her, but who can resist the pull of a frozen margarita (or four)? And then he’d told her he was gay, and she was mortified. When Monday rolled around, she could hardly look him in the eye.

  At lunch time he’d sweetly taken her by the hand and said, “C’mon, Doc, let’s get something to eat.”

  Over turkey sandwiches and Diet Cokes, she tried to apologize.

  “For what? Are you serious?! First of all, I’m flattered.” He leaned in closer, flashing his adorable smile. “Second, if I wasn’t gay, I’d do you in a heartbeat. I actually gave it some serious thought the other night. You looked good enough to eat in that red dress. Maybe you could have converted me.” He’d winked at her, and they both burst out laughing, causing heads to turn in the cafeteria. From that day forward, their friendship was permanently cemented.

  There was no one Kelly would rather have at her side.

  “She is a very sick little girl, isn’t she, Doc?” Eric asked, placing soft cotton bandages over the infant’s eyes, shielding her from the Bilirubin lights.

  Kelly nodded. “I’m going to do my damndest to see she makes it. Right now, I’m just concerned with stabilizing her.” She frowned. “I don’t know what to think with the reports. From everything I saw in that ER room and seeing how sick this baby is, I would have assumed there were narcotics involved. I would expect to see some withdrawal signs in this one’s early weeks, but…well, now I don’t know.”

  “Huh.”

  “What?” Kelly asked.

  “You heard about the other cases from last week, right?” Eric asked. “They happened while you were off.”

  Kelly nodded slowly. “Yeah…I heard a couple of maternity patients passed away, but I never did get the full scoop. What happened?”

  “Our team was called in to stand by for the infants but neither baby survived. They were both stillborn. They had heartbeats until a few minutes before delivery, but once the mothers died, well, things went rapidly downhill from there,” Eric replied.

  “Who were the attending OBs and who was on for NICU those days?”

  “Dr. Pearson was on both of the cases for NICU. Brightman was the attending OB,” Eric shrugged as he adjusted an IV. “It seems a little weird. Kind of coincidental, don’t you think?”

  “I hear you. I think I’ll track Pearson down and see if he can enlighten me a bit. Something tells me Brightman may not want to talk to me after our little showdown in ER.”

  “You may have to wait to speak with Dr. Pearson. I heard he left on vacation the day after the second baby died. Rumor is he was pretty distraught. He may have even been forced by the chief to take some time off. Someone said he’s in southern Europe…Greek Islands, maybe?”

  “Must be nice,” Kelly muttered and then sighed loudly. “I suppose I could go and see what I can get out of Brightman. But I really don’t know if I want to deal with him today. Maybe I’ll visit Hamilton instead.” Jake Hamilton, the chief pathologist, was the only other man in the hospital corridors besides Eric to catch her attention. “Maybe he has some ideas. He can at least tell me what he found in the autopsies.”

  “Makes sense. But before you go, why don’t you take a load off and rest ? You look beat. What time is your shift over?”

  “God, I don’t know.” Kelly ran her hands through her hair. “I don’t think I care anymore. I feel like I live here. Any time off I typically spend sleeping.”

  “You need a life,” Eric said.

  “I probably do.” She wiped the perspiration from her forehead.

  “Go grab something to drink, take a few. I’ve got things here.” He glanced down at the baby in the incubator. “I think she’s as stable as we’re going to get her for now. I’ll page you if I need you.”

  Kelly scrunched up her nose and shook her head. “Hmmm, I don’t know. I don’t want to leave her yet.”

  “You can’t keep twenty-four hour vigil, Doc. Get a cup of coffee, think, and breathe for a minute. Regroup and come back. You can’t go very far, so if something goes wrong, I’ll have your ass back here in minutes. I insist.” Eric crossed his arms and gave her one of his no-nonsense looks. He’d make an awesome parent. He had the expression down pat.

  “Fine. But page me if anything happens. I don’t care how minor. I mean, even if her lead comes off, page me. Promise?”

  “Cross my heart.”

  Eric was right to send her away. A lot of what they called “the waiting game” was starting now. There would likely be many stressful, difficult moments before they could envision a healthy future for Baby Salazar, and Kelly simply couldn’t be here for every single second. She needed to take a break and recharge to keep her head clear in case something else went wrong.

  She walked out the double doors of the NICU and stopped in front of the elevator. After giving it some thought, she decided to head down to the morgue first to see if she could speak with Dr. Hamilton. Her radar was on and it screamed there was something peculiar about Lupe’s death.

  The elevator doors opened, and she stepped inside. Kelly took her hair out of its elastic band, ran her fingers through, and pulled it back again, hoping she looked somewhat presentable. A quick glance in the mirrored button panel was far from reassuring. When was the last time she’d had a good night’s sleep? Even when she had time for sleep, Kelly struggled to shut down her brain. In the scheme of things, sleep didn’t matter as much as the lives of her little patients. Sleep could wait. What she really wanted right now were some answers.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The elevator doors opened silently and Kelly stepped out. The stale, cool air hit her and she shivered.

  In spite of the charming Dr. Hamilton, this was not one of her favorite places to visit. She generally tried to avoid it if at all possible. She was all about saving lives. Dead bodies were a grim reminder things didn’t always work out.

  The morgue hallway was long and dim. Four doors on either side led to various offices. Jake Hamilton’s was the last on the right. Kelly tapped lightly, but there was no answer. She turned the handle. The door was unlocked, so she went in and waited.

  Jake’s cramped office was cluttered with stacks of files on the floor and half-opened cabinets. UCLA and Stanford degrees hung on the wall. The combined smel
ls of mothballs, formaldehyde, and coffee stung her eyes. A photo of Jake’s teenage daughter in a cheerleading uniform stood on his desk. All photos of his wife had been discretely removed, due to their recent divorce.

  Jake stepped into the room. “Hey, you!” His green eyes sparkled. Those eyes, nice smile, and sun-kissed blonde hair gave him the air of a pretty boy. But there was a definite edge to Dr. Hamilton. A slightly crooked nose, the scar above his right eyebrow—they were just enough to make a woman wonder what sort of trouble he got into in his spare time. If Kelly had to guess, the scar was an old one, probably from a fall off of his bicycle when he was a kid. “I didn’t expect you down here, but I’m happy to see you. What’s up?”

  “What isn’t? Up, I mean.” Kelly smiled, aware of the chemistry growing between them. They’d been colleagues and good friends for years, and it was clear he was interested in her. But he was fresh off a divorce and Kelly didn’t want to rush into anything just yet.

  “Oh, now you’ve piqued my curiosity. What brings you down to the depths of despair?”

  “Curiosity.”

  “Oh, yeah? About what?” He crossed his arms and leaned back against the desk, eyebrows raised.

  “You received a patient down here in the past hour. Lupe Salazar?”

  “I did. I haven’t had a chance to process her yet. Ty is prepping the body. I’m backlogged though. It’s been a crazy week.” He paused, tapping his fingers on the desk. “Why the interest in this girl?” He stood and walked over to his coffee machine and held up a cup. “Want some? I splurged and picked up one of those instant espresso machines. Delicious.”

  “Yes, thanks. Some liquid fuel would help right now, I think.”

  He fiddled with buttons and after 30 seconds of hissing, a freshly brewed cup of espresso streamed into a waiting cup. Jake deftly scooped a heaping spoonful of sugar into it, stirred, and then handed it over. She studied him for a second.

  “You wondering how I knew how you liked your coffee?” She didn’t respond. “Because I pay attention, Kel. We’ve had coffee together a few times. When you like someone, you notice things, file them away for future use.” He smiled and raised his cup to her.

  Kelly felt heat rise to her cheeks.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

  She smiled and took a careful sip of her piping hot, and perfectly sweetened, espresso. “No. Not at all. We’re friends.”

  “Yes we are. So before I dig myself in any deeper, let’s talk about this patient.”

  “She delivered one of my babies.”

  “Tough stuff, I take it?” He took another sip from the small cup.

  “Yeah. Strange. She came in here not even three hours ago, and now she’s dead. No family that we can locate. No boyfriend. Nothing. Of course, I start with the stereotypical train of thought, and I’m thinking she’s a runaway caught up in some bad things. Brightman was the attending, and he gets on the scene and tries to go chief on me. We were losing the girl, and the baby’s time was running out. I had no idea what we were dealing with since it all happened so fast the labs hadn’t even come back yet. My gut was telling me she’s addicted, got something running through her veins. It was the only thing that made sense.”

  “You’re skilled, Kelly. If that was your guess, I’m sure it was a good one.”

  “I know. But I’m watching this girl, looking into her eyes, and all I can think is something is off. Lupe wasn’t strung out, Jake. It would have made sense based on the way she was acting, but she wasn’t. So the girl seizes, codes, and dies. Nothing was going to save her. I’ve never seen anything like this. From everything I can tell, we were dealing with a healthy teenager. Anyway, baby was failing. I had to get her out. We couldn’t bring the mom back. She was gone, so I took over and did a C-section. I’ve got the baby now in NICU with all sorts of problems. I don’t know what to make of any of this. I need that autopsy. Something is wrong here.”

  “What are you saying?” Jake asked.

  “So far all her labs have come back inconclusive for drugs, which makes me wonder if there is something new on the streets we don’t know about. She had no alcohol present either.”

  Jake’s eyes widened. His left hand jerked suddenly, nearly spilling his coffee. He walked around to the back of his desk and sat down.

  “Are you all right?” Kelly asked.

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. It’s just what you’re telling me sounds, well, unusual.”

  “Tell me about it,” she replied.

  “I’m not sure what I can do. I won’t have a report ready on this girl for at least forty-eight hours, maybe longer. And you know how long tox can take.” He absentmindedly picked up the photo of his daughter.

  “Rumor has it this girl isn’t the only one. In the last week, two other women came in, delivered, coded, and died. Both had stillborns. The baby I have upstairs is the only one to survive so far. I haven’t had a chance to look into the mothers’ backgrounds or anything, so I’m only going off what I’ve been hearing in the hallways. I need your help here, Jake. Did you find anything in the autopsies on those other women? It might help the baby in the NICU.”

  For a moment, Jake didn’t say anything. He turned his head to the side as if trying to figure out how to respond. He brought his fist up under his nose and looked at her. His eyes closed for a second and then he sighed. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t think I can help in any way.”

  “Jake?”

  He was quiet for a moment. “There was nothing odd about the autopsies. I mean, no strange chemicals or anything. I don’t know. I wish I could help, but…”

  “But what? You’re telling me you don’t know how those girls died? Come on. Of course you know. Were the mothers healthy or not, Jake? That’s all I’m asking.”

  “I can’t…I don’t…”

  Kelly didn’t like the evasive tone in his voice. “Jesus, Jake. What is it? What the hell is wrong? You’re freaking me out.” She’d asked him a simple question, what was the big deal?

  He reached across the desk and grabbed her by the hand. Out of instinct she pulled back. He held on tighter and pulled her close, lowering his voice to a whisper. “You have to drop this. Leave this alone, Kel.”

  She pulled back again, and this time he let go. “Jake, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

  He put his hand to his forehead. He was visibly perspiring. “I can’t talk to you about these cases. They’re classified.”

  “Classified? Classified?! I’ve got a baby in my unit with a slim chance of surviving, but I certainly can’t help her if I don’t know what I’m up against. If you know something, you need to tell me. I will take this to the chief and the board if I have to.”

  He shook his head. “No. You can’t do that. Please. I’m begging you to drop this. You could get hurt.”

  “What?” She was furious. And confused. And beyond disappointed. What the hell was wrong with him? He knew damn well she needed information from the autopsies in order to help the baby. It was his duty to tell her. This conspiratorial attitude of his was ridiculous. Not in a million years would she ever have imagined Jake acting this way. “This is insane, Jake. I’m going to save that baby’s life, and you’re going to help me do it. You know that’s the right thing to do, rules or no rules.”

  He paused, breathing deeply. “Okay. I’ll tell you what I know. But not here. It’s too dangerous.”

  Now Kelly held his stare. She saw genuine fear in his eyes. Oh my God. He’s really serious. There was something going on here, and it obviously involved the death of three pregnant women. But clearly she wasn’t going to get any more information out of him here.

  His assistant, Ty, tapped on the door. “Dr. Hamilton, I need a hand.”

  “Sure. Be right there.” He looked at Kelly. “Tuscany’s at seven-thirty. I really wish you would drop this. Trust me.”

  “I’ll be there. And you should know me better than that.” She walked out of his office toward the elev
ator, baffled by what had just taken place. Jake wasn’t just afraid, he was terrified.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  After another sleepless night, Ryan decided to get up at 5:00 a.m. and head to the lab. If they were watching, they’d see how dedicated he was. And most importantly, they’d hopefully assume the brain washing had worked and he—good, all-American white boy—had truly joined their ranks.

  He’d been watching his back. He had to. If The Brotherhood knew his background and his true feelings, Ryan knew what they could do. He had to act as if he had been converted.

  How he hated these men and what they stood for. How he hated himself.

  And they knew everything. They had him by the short hairs. Ryan sighed heavily with memories of his old life pervasive in his head. He pulled into the garage at Frauen Pharmaceuticals—a privately owned company based in Germany with headquarters in Los Angeles. Frauen had some very influential investors, and was an up and comer in the women’s pharmaceuticals market. They produced pills for menopause, anxiety, depression; they were even working on a Viagra-like pill that would heighten sexuality for women. But Ryan didn’t develop any of those drugs. Not by a long shot.

  He parked the Audi and got out his card key. After getting through security, he went up to his office, and then into the lab where he stopped in his tracks.

  “Good morning, Ryan.”

  It was Peter Redding. Redding was the CEO of Frauen Pharmaceuticals. He was also much, much more.

  “Good morning, Mr. Redding. I didn’t know you were flying in.”

  A crooked smiled spread across Redding’s face. His blue eyes held an unpleasant light. Ryan was pretty certain the man was Satan himself. He was handsome, by most people’s standards. Peter was of average height, but well built. He obviously spent a lot of time in the gym. Redding was probably closer to fifty than forty, but it didn’t show. His salt and pepper hair sparkled under the fluorescent lights. “I came to see you. Only you. Come with me.”