She dug her feet into the floor and pushed her chair to the desk.
Don’t hang up. Don’t hang up.
Tilting herself hard, she managed to get her face over the phone, which activated the facial recognition.
“Lily, it’s me Sean.”
She wanted to sob with relief. He didn’t have a reason to call her. If only she could tell him what had happened.
“Lillian, please. I know you’re pissed at me, but listen. El Socio is alive. I think he’s been looking for a patient that stops by your apartment on the weekends.”
She instantly knew El Socio was after Vinita. OB had more doors with badges than anywhere else in the hospital. Even most physician badges didn’t get you into the nursery.
“Can you hear me, Lily? Are you okay?”
Jerking against the tape, she couldn’t get any closer to the phone to touch it.
“Fuck this. I don’t care if you’re pissed. I’m coming to you.”
Tears of relief formed in her eyes. Sean was coming. It would be okay.
She just hoped he would be there in time for whatever El Socio was up to.
And that Sean’d stay safe so she could tell him she loved him.
Clarissa staggered into the nursery, finally out of the PICU. She hoped Lily had good Chinese food planned if she wasn’t going to lunch with the rest of the residents. Avigayle was out for her brother’s wedding, not eating reheated turkey.
The nursery was dark, which was a little odd since there were still babies in the nursery. The nurse must have been nearby, because her drink was still at the desk.
Not seeing Lily, Clarissa went forward into the doctors’ work room, passing the janitor and his cleaning cart.
“Hey, have you seen Dr. Hernandez?” she asked.
The tattooed Latino man looked at her blankly, and Clarissa stepped past him into the open door of the workroom.
The missing nurse was there, staring off into space. Clarissa had a second to notice a set of removed infant security bracelets—
Then she felt arms close around her neck from behind and darkness…
Chapter25
Sean came into the Second Precinct to tie up the ends of his part in the operation on Friday morning. He had the weekend off, but on Monday, he’d be back at the Fourth Precinct.
As expected, the regular guys were there in force, trying to keep the peace on the busiest shopping day of the year. However, the detectives weren’t in, happy to have cleared out before the holiday.
He collected his belongings off the piles of files and saw a new report.
The complete autopsy report of the headless victim. Its fax time was Wednesday night because the medical examiner must have liked the holiday off, too.
Sean flipped through the pages, wondering what else he’d learn about El Socio.
According to the report, the victim had been killed by strangulation, most likely using El Socio’s own necklace. The skinning and the broken bones had occurred after death, which Sean imagined was reassuring.
He turned the page related to the condition of the organs.
And paused.
The available organs had been intact, including the appendix.
