I think. Right now I’m focused on finding Michelle Andrews, preferably alive.”
Josephine Ferrell held her temper in check as she was escorted into Marcus Hines’s office, but as her eyes met the practice administrator’s, she actually felt her skin crawl with irritation.
“Ms. Ferrell,” he began with an unsure smile. “What a surprise. I was just about to call…”
“Spare me,” she said, sliding open her mid-length, coffee and cream chinchilla to settle her gloved hands against her hips. “The first thing I want to know is how your
Mr. Hines cleared his throat and gave her a slow nod.
“Good. I didn’t want to get it wrong. How is it that your
Once again, Hines cleared his throat and squirmed beneath her hard gaze. “Ms. Ferrell, I know that you’re upset.”
“Pissed.”
“Very well. I know you’re pissed. But I want to assure you that we’re doing everything we can to get to the bottom of what happened here last night.”
Josephine’s lips curled as utter loathing for the short balding man hit her like a whip. “And what about
Hines paled to the point of looking ghostly. “Of course, we’re working closely with the authorities in locating Michelle.”
Josephine’s sneer turned into a wicked smile. “Are you now?” She glided over to a vacant chair in front of his desk and took her time settling into its soft cushions. “May I ask when exactly were you going to tell me about all of this?”
He hesitated a second too long.
“After discussing your position with your attorneys?” she guessed, and waited to scrutinize his reaction. “Maybe you’re worried that I’ll sue the hell out of this two-bit organization?”
“Now, Josephine—“
“Ms. Ferrell.”
Hines plopped into his own chair, seemingly unprepared to handle this sort of dilemma. “Ms. Ferrell, the practice was first trying to ascertain the full scope of the situation. We wanted to first make sure that Michelle wasn’t somewhere else on the fifteenth floor before we informed you that she was indeed missing.” “So you thought that you simply misplaced her?” A flash of annoyance flickered across his features. “We didn’t misplace her.” “As far as you know,” she countered, without missing a beat.
He paused as if needing to do a mental count to ten before continuing. “Ms. Ferrell, I understand that you’re angry...” He caught her daggered stare. “Pissed,” he corrected. “But there is a certain protocol that we must adhere to—” “Meaning that this has happened before?” He hesitated again, and Josephine waited patiently for his answer. “Years ago, we had a patient who wandered from the facility.”
One delicate eyebrow arched as she measured the nervous man before her. “Wandered off?” She suffered through another bout of his clearing his throat before he got around to clarifying his statement.
“It was a good ten years ago. Since then we’ve implemented security measures to prevent something like that from ever happening again.” “And yet my sister is missing.” “But she didn’t wander off,” he countered. “And how did you come to that conclusion?”
“You need an ID badge to scan in and out of the fifteenth floor. Period. So, whoever took your sister knew exactly what they were doing.”
“Took her?” Josephine blinked, then leaned forward in her chair. “Why would anyone want to
Hines patiently braided his fingers on his desk. “I don’t have an answer to that.”
Fire lit her eyes. “It doesn’t seem like you know much of anything, if you asked me.”
“The likely answer might have something to do with Michelle’s personal life,” he boldly added. “The unfortunate thing is that it may have cost the life of one of our doctors as well.” “That’s crazy,” she retorted indignantly. “Maybe Michelle stole a badge and left on her own. Did you ever think of that?” “Given her condition, I doubt that.” “But you don’t know for sure, do you?” she asked evenly.
“No.” Hines held her heated gaze as he continued. “But I suspect otherwise. The police have here several times and wanted to question Michelle about an ex-boyfriend. A drug dealer, if I remember correctly. Given her current medical condition, we were able to decline the request until a court order of some kind was obtained.
“When in the hell did all of this happen?”
The room sweltered from the woman’s intensity and Hines adjusted his tie in a vain attempt to get comfortable. “The early part of last week.”
She straightened her shoulders. “And why wasn’t I informed?”
“With all due respect, Ms. Ferrell, but until you present a power of attorney naming you executor of medical decision for Michelle, this facility has no legal obligation to inform you of anything. Given her propensity to violence whenever you visit, it’s clear to me that there is some bad blood between the two of you.” “How dare you,” Josephine snapped, smashing her hand on his desk. Hines jumped in his seat. “Ms. Ferrell, I’m going to have to ask you to contain yourself.” She stood. “Go screw yourself.”
Her venom struck him hard, but he maintained his professionalism. “Please sit down, Ms. Ferrell. While I understand your position—”
“I highly doubt that.” Josephine headed toward the door. “I’ll be back with my lawyers and your damn power of attorney.” She jerked opened the office door and promptly collided with a tall Asian woman. “Excuse you,” Josephine snapped. “Ms. Andrews?” Ming asked astounded, and then cut a questioning look across the room at Marcus Hines. “What?” Josephine stepped back and rubbed her hand along her temple.
“Detective Delaney.” Hines cleared his throat as he came around his desk. “This is Ms. Josephine Ferrell. She’s Michelle Andrew’s sister.”
Ming’s gaze returned to the woman before her. Remembering the photograph taken from Thornton’s wallet, she asked, “Are you and Michelle twins?”
Josephine smiled tightly. “As a matter-of-fact, we are.”
Chapter 6
“Josephine is a beautiful name.” The twenty-one-year old William said, accepting Josie’s hand and lifting it to his lips to place a kiss against her knuckles.
Her cheeks darkened prettily as she smiled. “Something tells me you’re a dangerous man, Mr. Hayes.”
“William or Will, if you prefer.”
She said her hand from his. “Not Billy or Bill?” She turned and maneuvered through the tight space between the cable’s table and patrons. “My father is Bill,” he answered, and followed close behind her. “So you’re a junior?” “Actually, I’m the fourth. William Charles Hayes IV.” She stopped and turned back toward him with a glowing smile. “My father’s name is Charles.” “Really?” Pleased that he’d said something to capture her attention, he relaxed and smiled. “I hope that’s a good thing.” “It’s not bad.” She gave him a quick wink. “Would you like to join me and my friends?” He followed the wave of her hand to a crowded table of women. “Well, actually, no,” he said, mustering a straight face. Disappointment crept into her features. “Oh? Are you here with someone?”
Until that moment, William had forgotten about his table of friends and turned to see them watching him from across the room. “Yes and no,” he answered, returning his gaze to hers. “What I would like to do is either grab our own table or go somewhere where we can be alone.”
Josie lifted a quizzical brow. “I hardly know you.”
“That’s the whole point,” he said. “It is a chance for us to get to know each other.”
She held his serious gaze while the band struck up a smooth instrumental number. “I’m curious, William. Is this charm or cockiness?”
“It’s definitely not cockiness. I’m terrified you’re going to say no.”
“You should be.” Her smile was slow to return as she made a casual glance around. “Where would you like to sit?”
Relief and excitement swelled in his chest. “How about we grab something toward the back? I want to make
