very much just thinking about the size of those rats.” Her motion detectors had been triggered in two rooms simultaneously after her exit from her home. By now, she understood her home had been broken into.
Titus dipped his head for another life-affirming kiss. She was safe. That was all that mattered. In due time, the intruders would be dealt with. “Any particular reason you’re out here with me instead of in there with your patient?” He ran a finger down her cheek. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“Yes.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “I know you suspect he’s pulling a fast one, but I found him in the fetal position this morning, having one of his episodes. The doctor is with him now.”
“What doctor?” Without waiting for a response, Titus gently set her aside and threw open the door to her patient’s ward. Charging his way to Maximus’s bedside, he stopped short.
The creep was sitting up in bed, smirking knowingly. He was wearing a zany purple silk robe, one Titus figured was meant to signal he believed he was Kellan Maddox. Again.
“Someone looks a little rough around the edges this morning,” he greeted Titus sarcastically. “Trouble sleeping?”
Titus tamped down on his fury at the knowledge that Maximus was gloating. “Busy night.” He forced a lazy grin to his face. “You know how it is.” Oh, right. You don’t, because you’re here.
Maximus’s smirk slipped.
Turning his attention to the man’s physician, he eyed the guy up and down. “Shoot, man! I hear you’re a real miracle worker, I want a shot of whatever you gave this guy.”
Maximus’s doctor was a short, stocky man in his mid fifties or early sixties. His white lab coat looked freshly pressed, and a stethoscope hung at a lopsided angle from his neck. A name tag indicated he was Dr. Beller, but it was a name Titus didn’t recognize. The tired lines at the edges of his eyes, however, were what made the details of his identity click into place.
Gaze narrowed in contemplation, Titus estimated that the man’s height and build were roughly the same as the intruder in his apartment last night.
Gotcha, sucker!
Now that the weasel had a face and a name, they could gather evidence to build a case against him.
Chapter 6: Meetings and Confessions
Titus
Titus remained in Maximus’s room for the rest of Dr. Beller’s visit, to the thinly concealed irritation of both the physician and his patient. He made a show of turning his back and walking away to stand at the window, while pretending to give them their privacy, but he remained within earshot.
Plot away, little rats. If things go as planned, it’ll be your last visit before jail time.
Jolene breezed into the room. “Here’s the set of towels you asked for, doctor.”
Wondering what the towels were for, Titus turned just enough to watch from the corner of his eye.
The doctor lifted the blanket covering Maximus’s legs and placed the towel across his knee. Then he piled on a pair of ice packs.
“Poor thing,” Jolene soothed in a false soprano. “You really did a number on your knee when you fell.”
Ice packs, eh? Maximus wondered what was in them. He slipped into the next room to page Major. “Need a pair of ice packs pronto,” he said tersely.
“Roger that.”
It wouldn’t hurt to swap them out, in case Dr. Beller had used them to smuggle something in. You want to play games, little rats? I love games.
Major was entering the room about the same time Dr. Beller was leaving.
Pretending to jostle into the doctor, Titus took the opportunity to stick a tracking device on the bottom of his medical bag. “Oops! My bad.” He danced back a few steps with his hands up. “Guess I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Treating him to a hard, searching look, the physician left without a comment.
“Friendly fellow.” Major stared after him, frowning as he handed off the ice packs.
Even though the doctor was halfway down the hallway, Titus bent to speak quietly in his ear. “That’s the goon who tossed my apartment. Keep an eye on him until he leaves, but let him go.”
Brows shooting upward in alarm, his friend beat a hasty retreat after the faux doctor.
Returning to Maximus’s room, Titus made sure Maximus saw him rolling his eyes and muttering to Jolene as he handed over the ice packs, ensuring it looked like he disagreed with whatever he was telling her. He quickly explained to her the need to swap out the ice packs while making