Teddy’s mind raced. She didn’t know, but she was going to find out. “When was the last time anyone heard from Molly?”
“Dunn visited her yesterday,” Jillian said.
“We need to go to the hospital, we need to warn—”
“Calm down,” Pyro said, rubbing his hands down her arms. “Let’s think logically. You’re accusing Jeremy of something awful. I didn’t like the kid, and he was weird as hell, but that doesn’t mean he tried to kill someone.”
Teddy shook him off. She didn’t want to be calm. She wanted to do something. “If what Kate told me is true, Molly is in danger.”
“We can use the phone behind the bar,” Jillian suggested. “Call the hospital. See if they can put a security detail on her room until we get there.”
Perfect. Action. Teddy went to the bar and asked to borrow the phone. She dialed the number for the UCSF Hospital, a number she’d called so often to check on Molly’s condition that she had it memorized. “Seventh floor. Neurology Unit,” she said when a hospital receptionist answered.
“Thank you, I’ll transfer your call.”
A click and a dull hum echoed through the line as the call was connected. Ringing. Teddy waited what felt like forever until a duty nurse picked up. “Neurology Unit. Nurse Williams speaking.”
“Hello. I’m calling to check on a patient. Molly Quinn. Is there someone—”
“Did you say Molly Quinn?”
“Yes. Is she okay?” Teddy blurted, then quickly checked herself. This wasn’t a call to check on her condition; she’d find how Molly was faring once she got there. In the meantime: “I’m afraid she might be in trouble. Is there any way to post security near her room, just to make sure nothing happens to her until we get there?”
“Security? For Miss Quinn?” The woman sounded taken aback.
“Yes. Just for a few—”
“I don’t know what this is about, but I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
“Then connect me to someone who can.”
“Miss— Who am I speaking with?”
“I need to be connected with hospital security. Now.”
“Miss, you don’t understand. Molly Quinn checked herself out about ten minutes ago.”
Teddy paused, stunned. “She left?” she finally managed. “Did she say where she was going?”
“I’m afraid it’s not our policy to ask. Someone came to collect her, and that was it. She left pretty quickly.”
Teddy’s stomach clenched. “Who was it?” she said. “A man? Thin, midtwenties, dark hair and glasses—”
“No. Not a man. A woman.”
“A woman?” Teddy’s head spun. She didn’t remember Molly mentioning family, but she must have had someone who looked after her. “A relative?”
“A relative? Possibly, but they certainly didn’t look alike. This woman was very tall, with white-blond hair.”
Teddy thanked the woman and hung up. Too late. If she’d just reached out to Molly sooner . . . And said what? She didn’t have any answers. Just a growing sense of unease. The more she thought about it, the clearer it became that something wasn’t right. Another Misfit gone.
* * *
She had to tell Clint. They hadn’t had a conversation, just the two of them, since that awful night in his office, but a student’s safety was at stake.
She didn’t have to go far to find him. Clint stood on the quad, watching workers secure the lines to an enormous white tent that had been erected on the field. “I have to talk to you—” she started.
“I wanted to talk to you, too,” he said. “Derek Yates escaped custody yesterday after his court hearing.”
Teddy reeled. Of all the things Clint might have said, not even the most gifted psychic could have predicted that. “What? That doesn’t make sense,” she finally managed. “He was being granted a new trial. He’s innocent. Why would he run?”
“Either he was convinced, based on his prior experience with the justice system, that he wouldn’t receive due process . . . or he was afraid that his former organization would come after him.”
“So,” Teddy said. “This whole thing was about creating an opportunity for a prison break?”
“More like a courtroom break.”
For weeks, Teddy had struggled to decide if she’d done the right thing in releasing the videotapes. Yes, Yates might have been part of a group who committed heinous crimes. But he hadn’t been guilty of the crime he’d been convicted of. He was entitled to due process, just like anyone else. So her actions had been justified. But there was no denying that she’d set loose a dangerous man. That meant she was responsible for whatever Derek Yates might do next. She forced herself to ask, “Was anyone hurt?”
“No. Not at the courthouse, at least.”
She let out a breath. “How did he escape?”
“The same way Derek Yates does anything: mental influence.”
“Where will he go?”
Clint squinted at the tent. He was silent for so long that Teddy thought he wouldn’t answer. Finally, he replied, “The Derek Yates I knew didn’t like loose ends. Hard to imagine he would leave unfinished business behind, particularly if he had a score to settle.”
Teddy’s heart began to gallop. In other words, settling the score with the once trusted friend whose deliberate mishandling of evidence had led to Yates’s incarceration. Now she wondered if she’d become a loose end, too. Or if she was just a piece in the game all along. If, from the beginning, Yates had used her as a conduit to Clint.
“Yates might try to come to campus. Especially tomorrow, when there’ll be visitors. Crowds provide good cover. Commotion. Distraction,” Clint said. “And with Yates comes the possibility of his old friends. And Teddy—there’s a chance he’ll come looking for you now, too.”
She nodded. “If he shows up on campus, we’ll be ready for him.”
Clint shook his head. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop it. Now.”
“But I—”
“I mean it, Teddy. No more misguided heroics. You’re on probation. One more screwup and I’ll have to expel you.”
He turned, walking over to kick the tent pegs before Teddy even had the chance to share her suspicions about Jeremy.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
SUNLIGHT STREAMED IN THROUGH THE dorm window, hammering at the
