blood.” He shuddered. “It’s all over me.”
“Head wounds bleed a lot. But she was moaning. You said she called out for help.” Chloe ignored the voices and people around them. “He knew she was still alive. She was weak. She wouldn’t have been able to fight back. Why didn’t he finish her?”
Another shudder. “That sounds cold. Scary cold. Can you word that differently or something?”
Why didn’t he finish her? That one question was burning through her mind. I thought he might be in the medical field. A doctor. A nurse. Cinnamon was attacked, but left alive. And what happens to vics who are hurt? Where do they go?
To the same place Judith had gone.
“Chloe!” The sharp call jolted her to awareness. That had been Cedric’s voice.
“Oh, great.” Reese peered over her shoulder. “It’s the cops. The one we like, and the one you don’t.”
She didn’t have to glance over her shoulder to know who he meant. And, sure enough, the bark of her name came again. Only this time, it wasn’t coming from Cedric.
“Chloe!” Agent Richardson snapped. He grabbed her arm. “What are you doing here? How the hell did you know about the victim?”
She glanced down at his fingers. Then back up at his face. “My brother Reese is the one who found her in the alley.”
Richardson’s face twisted. “Found her or tried to shut her up? You knew she was the witness who’d turned on Joel. You knew—”
“I know that you need to get your hand off me, Richardson.” Chloe’s order was flat.
For a moment, his hold tightened.
“Mister…” Reese began angrily.
Richardson let her go. He pointed at Reese and his bloody shirt. “You’re coming with me. Right now. We’re having a private talk and you are going to tell me everything you saw in the alley.”
“Funny.” Reese’s smile was cold. “I just told my sister everything. Seems right that you get to come in second again, doesn’t it? Because I know all about you, Agent Richardson.”
“Reese,” Chloe warned. “Be careful with him. He’s looking for a reason to arrest Joel and probably you, too, now.”
More agents were filing in. Two men in dark suits. When Richardson motioned with his hand, they immediately took up positions next to Reese.
“Let’s take this outside,” Richardson directed.
“Sure.” Reese was all cool. On the outside. She knew it was a front. The man was a very good actor, after all. “I could use with a bit of a fresh air.” His British accent was in full effect.
He sauntered away. Richardson and the FBI agents dodged his steps.
Cedric stayed with her. She raised her brows at him. “Did he give you orders to watch me?”
“Absolutely.”
She shook her head.
“But I’m here because I wanted to update you on Ruben’s findings. By the way, he was upset about this week’s beignet date being canceled. Told me to say you’d owe him a double order next time.”
“I’ll get him as many beignets as he can eat.” She moved with Cedric to stand behind a tall, potted plant. “What did he discover?”
“He was examining the remains we found, and, yes, dental records did ID the vic as Portia Strong. But that’s not a big surprise, is it?”
“No.” Not even a small surprise. I’m sorry you stayed in the ground so long. I wish you’d been found long ago.
“What was interesting—at least to Ruben—is the fact that Portia had suffered severe damage to her spinal column. He said to tell you…C1 to C4.”
“Oh, no.” Her gaze darted to the busy ER. All of the people in uniforms. Scrubs.
He cleared his throat. “I was hoping for a better reaction. You know, like that was some big puzzle piece that we needed to put things together.”
“It is a big piece.” She kept staring at the crowd. “Why are we here?” Her gaze darted to the doors that led back to the exam and operating area of the ER.
“Uh…because Coreen Miller was attacked? Because she was brought to the ER for treatment."
“She wasn’t killed.” Chloe began walking toward those doors.
“Judith Key was left alive, too. Well, mostly alive.” He kept step with her. “She only died here and—”
Chloe stopped. “She died here.”
“Uh, yes, you know that. We both know that. Everyone knows that.”
Her head swiveled toward him. “You need to get a cop in Coreen’s room. Now.”
“Chloe?” His face hardened. “This is the reaction I wanted, but I need you to tell me what’s happening.”
“Keep someone with her at all times. And we have to find Joel.”
“Wait…Joel, as in…Richardson’s chief suspect?”
A hurried