“Jake’s signature is all over in here.” She kept flipping, her face so pale he was tempted to make her sit down. “There’s a nurse’s name on a lot of these. Janet Kelly.”
“Got it.” He moved to another cabinet and looked for personnel files. “They’re not here.”
“Another office?”
“Probably,” he said, flipping through drawers.
“What’s Midazolam?”
Ryan glanced up. “It’s a benzodiazepine.”
“What’s that?”
“A drug used as a hypnotic sedative.”
Her gaze shot to him. “Sedative? Like for a coma?”
“Maybe. If it’s combined with a paralytic agent, yeah.”
Kate swallowed and glanced back at her chart. “Like Anectine?”
Oh, shit. “Yeah.”
“What about Tabofren?”
Ryan’s hand stopped moving through files. “Say that again.”
“Tabofren. It’s all over in my chart.”
“It’s a cancer drug.”
Annie looked up sharply. “I didn’t have cancer, did I?”
He shook his head, but worry rippled through his chest.
A hand pounded on the door. “Hey, are you done in there? I have to lock up.”
“Shit.” Annie ducked behind the desk.
Ryan pulled the door open. His adrenaline pumped, but he forced a smile. “Sure thing. Just gotta get new bags.” Whistling, he made his way back to the cart, found what he needed, and came back. With a frown, Annie waved him out from her space behind the desk.
He took his time, made sure the window was closed, then eased out of the room.
The secretary checked her watch. “Took you long enough.” She flipped off the light and ushered him out of the main office, then locked the door.
“Night,” he drawled.
She didn’t answer, just headed down the long hallway, the clicking of her heels the only sound echoing in the empty space.
Ryan pushed the cart into the nearest janitor’s closet and carefully made his way back to the business office. He knocked, glanced around, and waited. The door opened a crack, and he pushed his way through then locked it behind him.
Annie’s green eyes sparkled in the darkness. “You sure know how to show a girl a good time.”
“This wasn’t my idea. Check that office. I’ll take this one.” They split up, each searching file cabinets and desk drawers. When Annie whispered from a nearby room, he closed the drawer he’d been searching and followed the sound of her voice.
“I found it,” she said. “Janet Kelly was let go almost a year ago. 794 Harbor Drive.”
“That’s on the waterfront.”
“I can’t find anything on Jake.”
Keys jangled in the outer office.
“Shit.” Ryan pushed her toward the window. “Go.” She yanked it open and slithered through. Ryan followed and did his best to pull the window closed behind them, then crouched down next to Annie in the bushes.
Light darted through the window, sweeping over the bushes. Ryan held his breath. When a giggle slipped from Annie’s lips, he slapped a hand over her mouth.
No sound echoed from inside the room, but the flashlight beam stayed on. After what seemed like an infinite amount of time, the light flipped off. Feet shuffled, a door opened and closed. Then silence stretched out behind them.
“Are you trying to get us caught?” Ryan whispered.
Annie pulled his fingers away from her mouth. “Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I’ve never seen you move so fast.”
“I can see the headlines in tomorrow’s paper. Pharmaceutical CEO arrested for breaking into Backwater Nursing Home.”
Annie giggled again. “Afraid you’ll tarnish your pretty-boy image?”
“It’s already been tarnished. And no. I’m afraid of going to jail and getting a cellmate named Bubba.” When she laughed, his heart bumped. “And I don’t want our kids left in Mitch’s incapable hands. Julia already has a smart mouth.”
“And she definitely doesn’t get the swearing from you, right?” Her eyes danced, and the dimple in her cheek shot his pulse up.
“Absolutely not.
She grinned. God, he’d missed that smile. The way her whole face lit up, the way it made her green eyes sparkle. The way it sent heat careening to his belly. He ached to kiss her. Ached to touch her. Ached to finish what they’d started earlier.
As soon as they got back and sorted through everything they’d just found, he planned to do exactly that.
He grasped her hand. “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.”
Light from the dashboard illuminated Simone’s face in the front passenger seat of Mitch’s SUV. She and Mitch were arguing about which turn would take them back to the freeway. They sounded like an old married couple.
Kate glanced at Ryan seated next to her in the back. He’d ditched the janitor’s uniform in the bushes outside the nursing home before they’d left. At the moment, he was studying her chart intently. Deep worry lines creased his forehead.
That couldn’t be good.
“You have the worst sense of direction,” Simone grumbled. “No, turn right at the next light.”
“We passed a McDonalds on the way in,” Mitch said. “I distinctly remember. It’s that way.” He pointed ahead.
“No, it’s not,” Simone tossed back. “It’s on the next street. Just turn.” She reached for the wheel.
“Damn, woman. Let me drive.” When she flashed him a look, he frowned, shook his head then made the turn where she’d pointed. The golden arches glowed bright down the street.
“See? Told you. Never argue with a woman about directions. Freeway entrance. There”
“Especially one who’s a lawyer,” Mitch grumbled. “I’ve got eyes, sweetheart, and I want points for remembering Mickey D’s. Speaking of which, I’m hungry.”
“I need to get to the office,” Ryan said.
“Why?” Kate asked. The way he kept staring at her chart and his lack of amusement at the show in the front seat set her nerves on edge.
“I need to look something up. Drop me off downtown and I’ll grab a cab home.”
“Bye-bye double cheeseburger.” Mitch sighed and drove past the fast-food restaurant. He pulled onto the freeway headed toward the city.
“Talk to me, Ryan,” Kate said. “What’s in there that’s got your attention?”
He flipped papers in his lap. “It looks like you were in a natural coma for quite some time. After Reed was born, though, you were given coma-inducing drugs. Almost as if you’d come out of it on your own, only someone didn’t want you to wake up.”
Kate’s stomach tightened. “What about the other drug?”
When he didn’t answer, she said, “Ryan. Tell me.”
His lips thinned. Then he finally said, “Tabofren was an AmCorp drug in stage one clinical trials five years ago.”
Simone whipped around in her seat. Mitch glanced in the rearview mirror.
“What?” Kate’s eyes widened.
“We pulled it because the FDA had some serious issues with side effects.”
Kate felt the blood draining from her face. Felt the walls closing in around her.
Ryan’s hand brushed hers on the seat. “Don’t freak out yet. Let me do some research.”
She nodded, though inside she didn’t know what to think. What to do for that matter. With shaky fingers, she rubbed the scar along the side of her head. Swallowed back the fear.
It didn’t work.
Mitch pulled up outside Ryan’s building. “Simone and I’ll go grab some take-out and meet you both back here.”
“You don’t have to,” Ryan said, easing out of the car. He grasped Kate’s hand and helped her out.
“Don’t argue, Ryan.” Simone reached through the window and squeezed Kate’s fingers. “We’ll be right back.”