medical clinic’s basement. Romo’s boss was on his way in but Brenner was not waiting. Romo used a key card to gain entrance to the oncology lab.
The lab was deserted. Brenner found an inventory sheet and a lab log on an entrance desk and started reading. There was a small video monitor on the desk that showed a camera view of a safe.
“He was here,” Brenner said.
“When?” Bosch asked.
“Seven o’clock, according to this.”
Reid pointed to the monitor.
“Does that record?” he asked Romo. “Can we see what Kent did when he was in there?”
Romo looked at the monitor as though it were the first time he had ever seen it.
“Um, no, it’s just a monitor,” he finally said. “Whoever’s on the desk is supposed to watch whatever is taken out of the safe.”
Romo pointed to the far end of the lab, where there was a large steel door. The trefoil warning symbol for radioactive materials was posted on it at eye level, along with a sign.
CAUTION!
RADIATION HAZARD
PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
MUST BE WORN
CUIDADO!
PELIGRO DE RADIACION
SE DEBE USAR
EQUIPO DE PROTECCION
Bosch noticed that the door had a push-button combination lock as well as a magnetic key-card swipe slot.
“It says here that he took one source of cesium,” Brenner said, as he continued to study the log. “One tube. It’s a transfer case. He was taking the source over to Burbank Medical Center for a procedure there. It names the case. A patient named Hanover. It says that there were thirty-one pieces of cesium left in inventory.”
“Is that all you need, then?” Romo asked.
“No,” Brenner said. “We have to physically inspect the inventory. We’ll need to enter the safe room and then open the safe. What’s the combination?”
“I don’t have it,” Romo said.
“Who does?”
“The physicists. The head of the lab. The chief of security.”
“And where is the chief of security?”
“I told you. He’s coming.”
“Get him on the speaker.”
Brenner pointed to the phone on the desk. Romo sat down. He put the phone on speaker and tapped in a number from memory. It was answered immediately.
“This is Richard Romo.”
Ed Romo leaned forward to the phone and looked as though he was embarrassed by the revelation of the obvious nepotism at play.
“Uh, yeah, Dad, this is Ed. The man from the FB-”
“Mr. Romo?” Brenner cut in. “This is Special Agent John Brenner of the FBI. I believe we met and spoke about security issues a year ago. How far away are you, sir?”
“Twenty to twenty-five minutes. I remember-”
“That’s too far, sir. We need to open the hot lab safe right now to determine its contents.”
“You can’t open that without hospital approval. I don’t care who-”
“Mr. Romo, we have reason to believe the contents of the safe were turned over to people without the interests or safety of the American people in mind. We need to open the safe so that we know exactly what is here and what is missing. And we can’t wait twenty to twenty-five minutes to do it. Now, I have properly identified myself to your
There was silence from the speakerphone for a few moments. Then Richard Romo relented.
“Ed, I take it you are calling from the desk in the lab?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, unlock it and open the bottom-left drawer.”
Ed Romo rolled his chair back and studied the desk. There was a key lock on the upper-left drawer that apparently unlocked all three drawers.
“Which key?” he asked.
“Hold on.”
Over the speakerphone there was the sound of a key ring being jingled.
“Try fourteen-fourteen.”
Ed Romo pulled a key ring off his belt and went through the keys until he found one stamped with the number 1414. He then inserted it into the lock on the desk drawer and turned it. The bottom drawer was now unlocked and he pulled it open.
“Got it.”
“Okay, there’s a binder in the drawer. Open it up and look for the page with the combination lists for the safe room. It’s changed week to week.”
Holding the binder in his hands, Romo started to open it at an angle that would allow only him to see the contents. Brenner reached across the desk and roughly took the binder from him. He opened it on the desk and started leafing through pages of safety protocols.
“Where is it?” he said impatiently to the speakerphone.
“It should be in the final section. It will be clearly marked as hot lab combinations. There is one catch, though. We use the previous week. The combination for the current week is wrong. Use last week’s combo.”
Brenner found the page and drew his finger down the listing until he found the combination for the previous week.
“Okay, got it. What about the safe inside?”
Richard Romo answered from his car.
“You will use the key card again and another combination. That one I know. It doesn’t change. It is six-six- six.”
“Original.”
Brenner held his hand out to Ed Romo.
“Give me your key card.”
Romo complied and Brenner then handed the card to Reid.
“Okay, Kyle, go,” Brenner ordered. “The door combo is five-six-one-eight-four and you heard the rest.”
Reid turned and pointed to one of the others in hazmat suits.
“It’ll be tight in there. Just Miller and I go in.”
The leader and his chosen second snapped on their face guards and used the key card and combination to open the safe room door. Miller carried the radiation monitor and they entered the safe room, pulling the door closed behind them.
“You know, people go in there all the time and they don’t wear space suits,” Ed Romo said.
“I’m happy for them,” Brenner said. “This situation is a little different, don’t you think? We don’t know what may or may not have been let loose in that environment.”
“I was just saying,” Romo said defensively.
“Then do me a favor and don’t say anything, son. Let us do our job.”
Bosch watched on the monitor and soon saw a glitch in the security system. The camera was mounted
