The deep remorse and regret in his words singed her. “You didn’t know. Neither of us did.”
“You knew something was wrong. I should have trusted you, trusted those uncanny instincts of yours.” He squeezed her fingers. “I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Thank you,” she said, her voice husky with emotion.
“We can’t help the ones who’ve already paid with their lives, but we can stop this drug trial and bring down the ones killing them.”
“And get justice for Dustin.”
“And the others. Yeah.” He stood. “I’ve got some phone calls to make. I want Kilgore—”
“And that nurse, Donna—I don’t know her last name—”
“—and Nurse Donna, in an interrogation room ASAP.”
“They’re here in the hospital,” Sarah said.
“We’ll get them.”
Asher had been listening, his gaze snapping back and forth between them. He slapped a hand to the table and Sarah jumped. Caden’s brow rose and Travis flinched. “Dude, what’s that about?”
“Something’s wrong,” Asher said.
She exchanged a look with Caden, who’d narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?” he asked.
“Gavin. He was on the phone when I asked him if everything was all right. He said it was a client, a Mr. Hahn. The name rang a bell but has been bugging me. Mr. Hahn died about six months ago.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and punched the screen, held it to his ear a few seconds, then lowered it and tried again. He finally met Sarah’s gaze, then moved to Caden’s. “His number is going straight to voice mail.”
“He’d never turn his phone off or let the battery die,” Sarah said. “Not with everything going on.”
“You guys locate Gavin,” Caden said. “I’m going to work on things from this end.” He paused. “If you need help with Gavin, let me know.”
Caden made arrangements for hospital security to pick up the doctor and the nurse and bring them to the conference room for questioning. “They’re going to kick us out of here and lock the doors behind us, thanks to all the problems we bring every time we enter the place.”
With a heart that beat too fast, Sarah crossed her arms. Was Gavin really in trouble or had his phone simply died? She supposed it was possible. Then again why would he give Asher the name of a dead client? It had to be a signal that all wasn’t right.
When the security officer arrived, he came empty-handed. “I can’t find the doctor or the nurse,” he said. “Dr. Kilgore never showed up for work, and the nurse, Donna Hayden, left about an hour ago, saying she had some kind of family emergency.”
Caden’s jaw hardened. “Great. All right. Can you stay here while I make a call? I’m going to need one more thing.”
“Sure.”
Caden called Elliott and brought him up-to-date—and told him he would be searching for Gavin. When he hung up, he turned to the officer. “I need security footage from the hallway.” The man opened the cover on his iPad and tapped the screen. Sarah watched over his shoulder. “There,” she pointed, “that’s him talking to someone on the phone.”
“Now, he’s walking,” Asher said. “Can we follow him?”
“Of course.” More tapping. Then Gavin paused, turned slightly and his phone came into clear view on the iPad.
“Smart,” Caden grunted. “He’s using the cameras in the hallway, trying to clue us in.” He pointed. “Can you zoom in on the picture on his phone? He’s FaceTiming someone.”
The guard zoomed. Sarah gasped and Caden stilled.
“That’s the general,” Sarah said. She looked up. “That’s our father tied up to a chair.” Her heart pounded. She stared back at the screen. He looked so . . . helpless. Powerless. In any other situation, she might have taken pleasure in seeing him like that. But not this. Out of anger, she might have secretly wished for him to die, but now faced with the real possibility of it happening, she went weak with regret. Fear for him covered her. Along with the deep desire to make things right with him.
“And, if I’m not mistaken,” Travis said, “whoever’s on the other end of that call is using the general to lure Gavin to wherever he is.”
The security guard tapped the screen and the outside cameras came on. “It looked like he went out the east wing of the hospital. If that’s the case . . . there.” He zoomed in to see Gavin walking toward his red truck in the distance. He glanced around, then his gaze went back to