Chapter Seventeen
Echo
Asher and I left the church in silence.
Once we were in the car and heading toward the hospital, I asked him what all he got out of that whole scene.
“Same chaotic energy as Amanda’s place. Something’s going on between the pastor and his wife. Can’t tell if it’s related to Amanda or not. Otherwise Amanda seemed like she was a nice girl.” Asher sounded pensive, like he was trying to figure out how the puzzle pieces fit, but he was new at this. There were more pieces that needed to be found to see the bigger picture.
On to the hospital we went.
We chatted about little thoughts we had about the whole case as he drove his sexy, red Camaro. Ironic that we had the same car, but a nice surprise.
The hospital wasn’t too far away from the church. You could travel around Seahill in fifteen minutes on a good day. With traffic, it could turn into an hour. Luck was on our side today.
Asher parked the car in the lot, and we got out in unison, heading toward the hospital, when I spotted two familiar faces.
“Everything okay?” I asked Rose, the small blonde with the birthmark. She smiled at me and rubbed her hands together for heat.
“Yep. Phillip sent us. Thought we’d be helpful with your case. He didn’t tell us what the case was, but said we’d be useful. Plus—” She leaned in closer to me.
“Draco’s been curious about Asher ever since we mentioned that we met him,” she whispered, but not too quietly, so Draco and Asher could obviously hear.
Draco was standing there, stoic as ever. He was watching Asher with a curious look on his face.
“Asher, this is Draco. Rose you already met.” I introduced them, and Asher smiled at them.
“Howdy.”
That was his hello.
“Another wild one,” Draco huffed and then turned to walk toward the hospital doors.
“He’s a sweet guy. Just not great with people sometimes.” Rose watched Draco walk away. I knew how he felt. I was okay with people, but I was usually best on my own. I looked over Rose and took into account what her power was: emotions. Maybe she could get a read on people while I asked questions.
“Okay. The more the merrier,” I agreed, but knew I wouldn’t tell the chief about Rose and Draco being there. There was something bigger in the works than maybe I knew. Phillip wouldn’t have sent them if it wasn’t important. He told me about the bigger picture he was working toward before I left—a future where people like us could make a difference. A future that was worth fighting for. A place where we were all the dream catchers of the world, keeping harm away from the innocents. And succeeding. A better life for people with powers than what we have now. I had to believe in a future like that.
Asher placed his hand on my lower back to guide me toward the doors. I didn’t shrug off his touch, which would be my typical reaction.
“You’re purring again, kitten. Might want to save it for later,” Asher leaned in and whispered against my ear. Rose seemed oblivious to our encounter—and my purring—which I was thankful for.
Until she glanced back at me with blushed cheeks.
Right. Guess she knew that Asher and I had something going on.
Great.
Draco was waiting inside, and Asher stood next to him.
“Let’s head to the psych ward. Split up. Asher can play nice with Draco, and, Rose, you’ll come with me,” I delegated, and got a subtle nod from Draco. Asher grinned, and I knew he was going to probably piss Draco off. Rose looked excited.
We walked together, probably looking like a mob squad on our way to a hit.
As soon as we walked in the door, we divided and conquered.
A Dr. Nathan Bellmont was the man in charge in this ward, the head psychiatrist.
“I went to school for psychology,” Rose muttered just before we made it to the nurses’ desk.
“Hello, how can we help you?” one of the nurses asked us politely.
I told the woman my name, showed her my detective badge, and asked where the doctor was. She scanned her computer and then mentioned he would be getting out of a meeting with the chief physician soon.
I took the opportunity to ask her about Amanda.
“She was really sweet. Hard-working girl. She didn’t socialize much, but she worked so many hours I never thought much about it. She seemed tired all the time.” The woman looked sad for a loss of life, but not the loss of a friend.
“Do you know anyone who would want to cause her harm?”
She shook her head.
“She was nice to all the patients. She had a real knack for calming down the agitated ones. They seemed to act better around her. We haven’t told all the patients yet. I know some are going to be heartbroken at the news.”
“We’re sorry for your loss, and for the hospital’s loss. It sounds like she was very special here,” Rose told the woman, but not in her usual kind way. I looked to her with a brow raised, and she gestured for us to move on from the desk.
“Thank you for your time.”
The nurse nodded and went back to work.
“What?” I asked Rose as soon as we were out of earshot from the desk. Rose looked around then shrugged.
“She wasn’t very broken up about Amanda. I kept getting jealousy from her. Like Amanda got all the attention, and now she has a fighting chance to be noticed. I didn’t get violent vibes from her, though. Just a bitch.”
Okay then.
I noticed Asher and Draco talking to a nurse. Her cheeks were blushing as she stood next to the two good-looking men, Draco playing the silent, broody one, and Asher the smiling, charming, bad boy.
Internally I had a laugh. Asher may be a nonconformist to his people, but his bad boy habits included reading and rescuing nearly-dead cats—not exactly what most would think as a rebel.
“Thank you for speaking with me, Dorian,” a male voice said from the now-open wooden door to Dr. Bellmont’s office.
There were two men standing by the door, one tall with short black hair, and the other gentleman was bald and a few inches shorter.
“The tall, dark, and handsome one is Dr. Dorian, chief physician of the hospital. Nice guy. Isn’t too much of a talker, though. I bet the other is our guy.” Rose nodded toward the men, and I started walking over.
“Excuse me, gentlemen. Mind if I have a word?” I flashed them my badge. Dr. Bellmont gave me a kind smile, while Dr. Dorian looked at me like I was inconveniencing him, but he’d go along with it because he had to.
“My name is Echo Cross, Seahill P.D. We are investigating the murder of Amanda Johnson. She worked on this ward, correct?”
Dr. Bellmont agreed, and went on to talk about how gifted Amanda was at her job and how much she’d be missed. It seemed to be a common factor with Amanda. Good for her that she made such an impact on people just by being so kind.
“I have a few things I must attend to, but, Ms. Cross, please have one of the nurses escort you and Ms. Griffin to my office once you’re done with Dr. Bellmont. I have something I would like to speak with you about,” Dr. Dorian said, then nodded a goodbye and walked off without another word.
“He’s like that, all about business. Typical case of lone wolf syndrome with that one,” Dr. Bellmont commented, and I could see it.
“Come into my office, ladies.”
As soon as I walked in, my senses were hit with the scent.
“Oh, what is that smell?” I pretended like the strong smell was bothering me.
“Ah, sorry about that. Before Dorian had come in to talk, I had been polishing my shoes. It does have a strong scent.”
Shoe polish. The strange, waxy scent I’d picked up where Lisa had been attacked was shoe polish.
A clue, and I’d found the scent at the pastor’s office too. Many men polished their shoes, though, so that didn’t make the doctor the killer.
I took a moment to take him in as he walked over to his chair.
He was probably five foot nine, in his late forties, and not in great shape. Looked like the stress of his job had given him some premature wrinkling, along with the baldness. His clothes were bland business wear: a button-up shirt, slacks, and black polished shoes.
The doctor was chatty as he started to give us details about Amanda’s job. He too mentioned the calmness that she gave the patients. After a total of fifteen minutes, I decided it was time to go meet with Dr. Dorian.
Dr. Bellmont was very eager to keep talking, and I was afraid if I stayed any longer he would take it as an invitation to ask me out.
Rose confirmed he was very interested in me as soon as we were out the door.