Liz caught his arm and held tight when he tried to move past her. “No, Vito. Listen to me. Emergency personnel got a call to the Albright Museum. They found the Albright boy unconscious on the street in front of the museum.” She visibly steeled herself. “And they found Officer Lyons dead in the back seat of his cruiser.”
Vito opened his mouth but nothing came out.
“And Sophie?” Nick asked hoarsely.
Liz was trembling. “Witnesses saw her being forced into a white van before it backed up over the Albright boy and drove away. Sophie’s gone.”
Vito could only hear the rush of his own blood as his heart went from a dead stop to clubbing out of his chest. “He’s got her, then,” he whispered.
“Yes,” Liz whispered back. “I’m sorry, Vito.”
Numbly he looked back through the glass and had to restrain the unholy need to put his hands on Savard and choke her dead. “She knew he was a killer and she said nothing.” He was breathing hard, every word ripped from his throat. “Now it’s too late. We can’t even use her to draw him. He’s got what he wants. He’s got Sophie.”
Nick grabbed his other arm and squeezed until Vito turned to him. “Vito, calm down and think. Simon still needs that lubricant. It could still work. We have to try.”
Vito nodded, still numb. But in his heart he knew better. He’d seen Simon’s eyes, right before Van Zandt died. They’d been cold, calculating. Like walking into a cage with a cobra, Pfeiffer had said. And now Sophie was in that cage.
Saturday, January 20, 6:20
P.M.
Simon’s cell phone rang. Frowning at the caller ID, he cautiously answered. “Hello?”
“Mr. Lewis, this is Stacy Savard, from Dr. Pfeiffer’s office.”
Simon sucked in his cheeks. The office wasn’t open on the weekends. “Yes?”
“Dr. Pfeiffer’s had a family emergency and the office is going to be closed for about a week. He and I are here, taking care of last-minute details. I wanted to tell you your silicone lubricant came in.”
Simon almost laughed. “I’m a bit busy right now. I’ll come in on Monday.”
“But we’ll be closed on Monday. We’ll be closed all week. If you want the lubricant, you have to come in tonight. I’d hate for you to run out.”
She was good, Simon had to admit, but there was the slightest quaver in her voice. “I’ll find another source. I may be moving soon anyway.” He hung up before she could say another word, chuckling out loud now. Savard was cooperating with the cops, any idiot could figure that out.
“Your boyfriend is really smart,” Simon called behind him. “But I’m smarter.” There was no response. If she wasn’t awake already, she’d be waking up soon, he knew, but he’d have no further trouble from her. He’d pulled over to change his license plates and tie her wrists and ankles once he got away from the main roads.
Stacy Savard hung up the phone, her hands shaking. “I did my best.”
“Your best wasn’t good enough,” Nick snapped. “He knew.”
Vito dragged his hands down his face as two uniformed cops took Stacy Savard back to the station in handcuffs. “I didn’t think it would work.”
Pfeiffer stood, wringing his hands. “I’m sorry. I was hoping it would.”
“You’ve been a big help, Doctor,” Nick said kindly. “We do appreciate it.”
Pfeiffer nodded, looking at Savard as she was taken through the door. “I can’t believe I shared this office with her for so long and never knew her. I kept hoping I’d been mistaken. That’s why I didn’t say anything when you were here yesterday. I would’ve hated to point the finger and have been wrong.”
Vito wished Pfeiffer had just pointed the finger, but he said nothing.
“So what next?” Nick asked when they were back in his car.
“We go back to the beginning,” Vito said grimly. “There’s something we’ve missed.” He stared out the window. “And we pray Sophie can hold on until we find her.”
Saturday, January 20, 8:15
P.M.
“We got him on tape,” Brent said, coming into the conference room with a CD in his hand. He handed it to Jen. “Sonofabitch tampered with the old lady’s IV.”
Vito had remembered the camera he’d left at Anna’s bedside as he and Nick had been driving back from Pfeiffer’s office. Now he stood behind Jen’s chair as she inserted the CD containing the camera’s footage into her laptop. Nick and Liz stood to his right, Brent came to stand on his left. Katherine stayed seated, pale and numb.
Vito hadn’t been able to meet her eyes. He’d promised her he’d take care of Sophie. And he hadn’t. He should have kept Sophie under lock and key until Simon was caught. He should have done a lot of things. But he hadn’t and Sophie was gone. Simon Vartanian had her and they all knew what Simon Vartanian could do.
He had to stop thinking like that. He’d go quietly insane. So focus, Chick. And find the thing you missed.
Brent slanted him a look. “Simon shows up five hours into the tape. The camera is motion activated. The first two hours are you and Sophie with the grandmother last night. I fast-forwarded through that visit and through the nurses’ visits, blood pressure checks, medicine, meals. There’s a card game in there, too.”
Vito looked at him. “A card game?”
“Some nurse came in with a deck about ten
A.M.
this morning. Said it was time for their daily game. Sophie’s grandmother lost and called the nurse mean.”
“Was the nurse’s name Marco?”
“Yeah. She was also the one that saved the old lady’s life.”
“Well, at least her grandmother wasn’t being abused by the nurses.” Vito shook his head. “Anna just didn’t like losing at cards.”
“I’ve got it cued,” Jen said. They watched Simon Vartanian come into Anna’s room and sit at her bed. He was dressed as the old man.
“He must have come straight from blowing up Van Zandt,” Nick murmured.
“Busy day,” Jen said flatly. “Dammit.”
Brent leaned over Jen and fast-forwarded the tape. “He tells her he’s from the opera society. That Sophie sent him. He calls her by name. They chat for twenty minutes, until the grandmother falls asleep. Here’s where he tampers with the IV.”
On the tape, Simon pulled a syringe from his pocket and injected it into the IV the nurse had left prepped next to her bed. He pocketed the syringe, checked the IV that currently dripped, then checked his watch.
“A very simple and effective time delay,” Jen said dully. “It gives him time to get away from the nursing home and lie in wait for Sophie at the hospital.”
Once again, Simon had thought of everything.
Which once again made Vito’s blood run cold.
Brent cleared his throat. “The nurse comes in to change the IV.” Jen fast-forwarded and again they watched. It was Marco again, and she recorded Anna’s vitals on her chart after changing the IV. The screen went dark, then a second later was full of activity as Marco ran back in. The cardiac monitor was beeping and Anna was jerking in pain. Marco leaned close to Anna’s mouth.
“The nurse said that Anna was saying that it burned,” Liz said. “The nurse is good. She took one look at the cardiac monitor and recognized the signs of potassium chloride overdose. She gave her an injection of bicarb. Stopped the heart attack.”
“And saved Anna’s life,” Vito murmured, swallowing hard.
“Marco thought she’d made a mistake on the IV,” Liz said. “She was prepared to face disciplinary actions, even dismissal. But she said she couldn’t lie, that if she’d harmed a patient, she’d accept accountability.”
Vito sighed. “Does she know about the camera?”
“No,” Liz said. “Telling her will ease her mind about her own culpability.”