Karen Rose - Die for Me

Vito hadn’t been able to meet her eyes. He’d promised her he’d take care of Sophie. And he hadn’t. He should have kept Sophie under lock and key until Simon was caught. He should have done a lot of things. But he hadn’t and Sophie was gone. Simon Vartanian had her and they all knew what Simon Vartanian could do.

He had to stop thinking like that. He’d go quietly insane. So focus, Chick. And find the thing you missed.

Brent slanted him a look. “Simon shows up five hours into the tape. The camera is motion activated. The first two hours are you and Sophie with the grandmother last night. I fast-forwarded through that visit and through the nurses’ visits, blood pressure checks, medicine, meals. There’s a card game in there, too.”

Vito looked at him. “A card game?”

“Some nurse came in with a deck about ten

A.M.

this morning. Said it was time for their daily game. Sophie’s grandmother lost and called the nurse mean.”

“Was the nurse’s name Marco?”

“Yeah. She was also the one that saved the old lady’s life.”

“Well, at least her grandmother wasn’t being abused by the nurses.” Vito shook his head. “Anna just didn’t like losing at cards.”

“I’ve got it cued,” Jen said. They watched Simon Vartanian come into Anna’s room and sit at her bed. He was dressed as the old man.

“He must have come straight from blowing up Van Zandt,” Nick murmured.

“Busy day,” Jen said flatly. “Dammit.”

Brent leaned over Jen and fast-forwarded the tape. “He tells her he’s from the opera society. That Sophie sent him. He calls her by name. They chat for twenty minutes, until the grandmother falls asleep. Here’s where he tampers with the IV.”

On the tape, Simon pulled a syringe from his pocket and injected it into the IV the nurse had left prepped next to her bed. He pocketed the syringe, checked the IV that currently dripped, then checked his watch.

“A very simple and effective time delay,” Jen said dully. “It gives him time to get away from the nursing home and lie in wait for Sophie at the hospital.”

Once again, Simon had thought of everything.

Which once again made Vito’s blood run cold.

Brent cleared his throat. “The nurse comes in to change the IV.” Jen fast-forwarded and again they watched. It was Marco again, and she recorded Anna’s vitals on her chart after changing the IV. The screen went dark, then a second later was full of activity as Marco ran back in. The cardiac monitor was beeping and Anna was jerking in pain. Marco leaned close to Anna’s mouth.

“The nurse said that Anna was saying that it burned,” Liz said. “The nurse is good. She took one look at the cardiac monitor and recognized the signs of potassium chloride overdose. She gave her an injection of bicarb. Stopped the heart attack.”

“And saved Anna’s life,” Vito murmured, swallowing hard.

“Marco thought she’d made a mistake on the IV,” Liz said. “She was prepared to face disciplinary actions, even dismissal. But she said she couldn’t lie, that if she’d harmed a patient, she’d accept accountability.”

Vito sighed. “Does she know about the camera?”

“No,” Liz said. “Telling her will ease her mind about her own culpability.”

“And will let her know Sophie didn’t trust her,” Vito finished. “But she should know anyway. So should Sophie’s family. I’ll go by the hospital in a little while.” He sat down in his chair at the head of the table. At the beginning of this case he’d welcomed the responsibility for leading an investigation of this magnitude. Now the responsibility hung around his neck like a lead weight. The investigation was his. Where it went from here would be on him. That meant what happened to Sophie was on him as well.

“So what are we missing?” Vito demanded. “We need details.”

“Isolated buildings with elevators built on quarry soil,” Jen said.

“Identities of the old woman and the man at the end of the first row,” Nick added.

Liz pursed her lips. “That damn field,” she said and Vito narrowed his eyes.

“You mean why that field?” he asked and Liz nodded.

“We never answered that question, Vito. Why that field? How did he pick it?”

“Winchester, the old postal worker who owns that land, said it had been owned by his aunt.” Vito swiveled in his chair to look at the whiteboard. “The old woman buried next to Claire Reynolds can’t be Winchester’s aunt.”

“Because Winchester’s aunt didn’t die until October of this year,” Nick continued. “This old lady died a year earlier.”

“She was from Europe,” Katherine said. They were the first words she’d uttered since entering the room. “I had her dental work analyzed and the report came back late yesterday. Her fillings are an amalgam that was never used in this country but was common in Germany in the fifties.” She shook her head. “I can’t see how that’s going to help you. Thousands of people emigrated from that part of the world after the war.”

“It’s a piece we didn’t have before,” Vito said. “Let’s go out and see Harlan Winchester again. Let’s find everything we can on his aunt. We need something to tie that land to Simon, and right now the only thing that ties to the land is the aunt.”

Liz put her hand on his shoulder. “I have a better idea. Nick and I will go see Winchester. You go see Sophie’s family.”

Vito’s chin came up. “Liz, I need to do this.”

Liz’s smile was kind but firm. “Don’t make me take this case, Vito.”

Vito opened his mouth, then closed it. “You’re about to knock me off my bucket,” he said quietly, remembering Sophie and Dante.

“It’s a strange word association, but yeah, I guess it works.” Liz lifted her brows. “Your emotions are running high. Go home. Recharge. That’s an order.”

Vito stood up. “Okay. But only for tonight. Tomorrow morning I’m back here. If I don’t do something to find her, I’ll go crazy, Liz.”

“I know. Trust us, Vito. We’ll leave no stone unturned.” She looked over at Jen. “You were here all last night. You go home, too.”

“I’m not going to fight you,” Jen said, closing up her laptop. “But I’m not sure I can even get home. I think I’ll just crash in the crib for a while.” She gave Vito a hard hug on her way out. “Don’t lose hope.”

“Nick, you’re with me,” Liz said. “I’ll get my coat.”

“I call shotgun,” Nick said, then paused next to Vito. “Just sleep, Chick,” he muttered. “Don’t think. You think too damn much.” Then he and Liz were gone.

Brent hesitated, then gave Vito a CD in a plastic case. “I thought you’d want a copy.” One side of his mouth lifted sadly. “You have a hell of a set of pipes, Ciccotelli. There wasn’t a dry eye on the IT floor when I was viewing that part of the tape.”

Vito’s eyes burned. “Thank you.” Then Brent was gone and it was just him and Katherine. Not caring if she saw, he swiped at his eyes with the heels of his hands. “Katherine, I don’t know what to say.”

“Neither do I, except that I’m sorry.”

He blinked at her. “You’re sorry?”

“I damaged our friendship this week more than I thought. Because I hurt you before, you’re thinking I blame you for this, and nothing could be further from the truth.”

Vito turned the CD over and over in his hands. “You should. I blame myself.”

“And I blame myself for bringing her in in the first place.”

“All I can see in my mind are all his victims.”

“I know,” she whispered harshly.

He looked at her then. Her eyes were haunted. She’d done twelve autopsies this week, each one a victim of Simon Vartanian. “You understand better than anyone.”