much alive in spite of the beard, mustache, and wire-rimmed glasses shown in the security footage.
According to the official report, Mr. Xia had been driving late at night in heavy rain and hit a deer, which had sent him careening over an embankment and into a gas station tank. A spark had set off an explosion, and by the time rescue workers arrived, there was nothing left of the car or Mr. Xia. And yet, a man named Max—aka Mr. Xia—had sent Wilmont with medication to Brianne Davis’s house and was masquerading as an employee at the hospital.
When they stepped onto Wilmont’s floor, Caden’s gaze landed on Heather Fontaine, standing at the nurses’ station pointing to something on her laptop. She looked and waved. He nodded and trailed behind Elliott and Caroline, stopping in front of Wilmont’s room.
Elliott knocked and pushed the door open. “Mr. Wilmont,” the detective said, “glad to see you’re awake and feeling better.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
“Everything okay?” Heather’s soft voice came from behind Caden.
He turned. “Yeah, we just have a few questions for this guy.”
“He’s the one who attacked Sarah?”
“He is.” He patted her shoulder. “I’ll be back shortly.”
Caden slipped inside the room and stood to the left of the door. Heather stayed behind him close enough to hear.
“I trust you’ve had no ill effects from the evacuation?” Caroline asked.
“No,” Wilmont said. “I’m fine. Turns out it was mostly smoke. They got everything contained pretty fast.”
“We heard,” Caroline said.
“So, why are you back? I don’t remember anything more than I’ve already told you.”
Elliott raked a hand over his hair. “We wanted to ask you about Max.”
Wilmont shifted under the sheets and sniffed. “What do you want to know about him?”
“How long have you known him?”
“Just a few weeks.”
“So, he was new?”
“Yeah.” He frowned. “He just showed up one day and said he was the new guy and his name was Max.”
“What’s his last name?”
“I dunno. I never asked.”
“It would have been on his badge.”
The man in the bed rubbed his eyes. “Ah man, it’s weird. I never can remember it. I just call him Max.”
“Was it Xia?”
“Yeah, maybe. Yeah, I think that was it.” He pursed his lips. “If you knew, why ask me?”
“Tell us everything you can about the guy.”
“There’s not that much.” He paused. “I like him. He treats me like I’m human, like he saw me. Most of the time, I feel invisible, but Max is . . . nice.”
“Did he ever say anything about a car wreck?”
“No. Why?”
“Did you ever go to his house?”
“No! I told you I only knew the guy a few weeks. And besides, I think he’s living at the hospital.”
Caden straightened. “Why do you say that?”
“Because, one time about two weeks ago, there was a particularly nasty job to clean up in the ER. Max wasn’t supposed to be working that day. He’d told me the day before that he had something to take care of. I went looking for some cleaner and caught him coming out of one of the storage closets. He didn’t see me and I didn’t make it a point to let him know I saw him.” Wilmont rubbed his nose and shrugged. “Anyway, after I finished for the day, I snooped around in the closet and found several blankets and a pillow piled in the corner. Underneath the pile, there were a couple changes of clothes and a backpack full of toiletries. Not many people go in that closet, just janitorial staff, so there’s a good chance he wouldn’t be caught.”
“Did you report it?” Patty asked.
“No way. I liked Max. And like I said, he was nice to me. Not many people even notice the cleaning crew.”
Elliott glanced at Caden, then handed Wilmont a pad of paper and a pen. “Write down exactly where this closet is.”
Sarah shot another glance at Gavin. He’d accepted her disclosure with so much sympathy and understanding that it unsettled her. Her nerves were shot. Before she could recover her composure, her phone buzzed. “That’s Caden.” She set her coffee aside and tapped the screen. “Hello?”
“I can’t talk long, just letting you know I’m still at the hospital.”
“I figured.”
“It’s probably going to be a while.”
She hesitated. “Okay, we’ll come by the hospital and wait. What did Wilmont say?”
“That Max might be living here at the hospital. We’re heading to check out the closet he’s possibly been calling home. Look, I have to go. I’ll let you know if we find him.”