left,” she muttered. “I told Fred, and he checked around outside, but he said no one was there. Said my eyes were playing tricks on me.” A hint of fear that the security guard was right made her mother’s voice quiver.
But fear slithered through Peyton. On another day, she might dismiss her mother’s comment as paranoia related to her dementia. But in light of the news report, Inman’s arrest and the fact that the FBI had shown up at her door, she couldn’t ignore it.
Chapter Four
Liam’s phone buzzed just as he reached the sheriff’s office in Whistler. Early evening shadows cast a grayness over the town, made drearier by the storm clouds above. Already the days were growing shorter, night setting in and drowning the area in darkness long before Liam was ready to call it a day.
He punched Connect.
“It’s Bennett,” his partner at the Bureau said. “I’ve been looking into Peyton Weiss’s financials, but haven’t found anything suspicious. The woman seems squeaky clean. Not even a parking ticket. And no complaints ever filed regarding her work.”
“Except for her name being mentioned by Barry Inman,” Liam said.
“Yeah, that’s true. But you got me thinking, so I obtained a list of every staff member who worked at Whistler Hospital around the time of the fire, and also ones who left within six months prior to the fire.”
“Did you find anything?”
“That’s a serious list,” Bennett said with a chuckle. “It’s going to take some time to go through them.”
It had already been five damn years. But Bennett was new to the case and they could use a set of fresh eyes.
Bennett cut straight to business as usual. “So far, I did find one name you should check out. A med tech, Herbert Brantley. Thirty-five, works at River’s Edge Hospital now. But a few months after the Whistler fire, he made some fairly big purchases. A cabin on the lake, an expensive convertible and custom motorcycle.”
“The man likes to play,” Liam said. “But where did he get that kind of money?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Bennett said. “I’ll let you know when I get some answers.”
“Any reports of misconduct or problems on the job?” Liam asked.
“Not that I’ve found. But I’ll dig deeper.”
“Jacob and I will go have a talk with him. Text me his address.”
“It’s coming your way.”
“I have another job for you, too,” Liam said. “Peyton Weiss mentioned the hospital kept a list of drug seekers who strike the ERs. She said security escorted a homeless man from the hospital that night. Hospital records were destroyed in the fire, but if he was a repeat offender, he might have gone to an urgent care or another hospital close by.”
“On it,” Bennett agreed.
Liam ended the call, then climbed from his vehicle and walked up to Jacob’s office. Jacob met him at the door. “Did Peyton Weiss reveal anything more on the way home?”
Liam shook his head. “We just talked about her ailing mother. She’s pretty devoted to her.”
“She’s hiding something,” Jacob said. “I can feel it in my bones.”
Liam gritted his teeth. “Me, too. Anything else from Inman?”
“He insists Peyton is lying, that he knows what he heard.”
“My partner may have a lead. We need to have a chat with a med tech named Herbert Brantley.”
Jacob’s brows rose. “Who’s he?”
“A former employee at the hospital who came into a boatload of money after the fire.”
* * *
PEYTON SEARCHED HER MOTHER’S cottage for something the mystery man had left inside but found nothing. Had her mother imagined the incident?
Breathing a sigh of relief, she waited for her mother to get ready for bed, grateful she could still feed and dress herself. It was so sad when the residents got past that stage. Losing their dignity was the hardest cross to bear.
A smile glowed on her mother’s pale cheeks as Peyton tucked her in and made sure she had water beside her bed. Her mother brushed Peyton’s cheek with her frail hand. “I treasure every day with you, honey.”
Tears burned the backs of Peyton’s eyelids, but she blinked them away. “I’m glad we’re together, Mama.” The very reason she had to keep her silence about the past.
She claimed the rocking chair by her mother’s bed, then read their daily devotional and they said a prayer before her mother fell asleep.
Peyton enjoyed their nightly rituals almost as much as her mother seemed to. Sometimes she read poems from her mother’s favorite poetry book, inspirational quotes or devotionals. Other times, they reflected on the