Once in the building, he steered her toward an elevator and surprisingly went down. What could they possibly be seeing in the basement of a hospital? An idea popped into her mind and she turned her head to stare at him. He dropped her hand as they watched a man in a suit approach.
“Agent Shaunessy?”
Chris nodded and shook hands with the dark-haired, man. They were of similar height and she guessed he was a few years older than Chris.
“Detective Rawlins. This is Meg O’Hara.”
She shook hands and eyed the detective. “What happened? Chris only said my phone had been found at the scene of a crime. You know I haven’t seen that phone in over a year.”
“Don’t worry, Miss O’Hara,” he said as he guided them down the hallway. “Agent Shaunessy explained the circumstances. We need you for an identification.”
They approached a door and her suspicions were confirmed. It was the Morgue.
Her breath grew shaky. “You just want me to identify my phone, right?”
“Meg.” Chris faced her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Your phone was at the scene of a homicide. They think you might know the victim.”
Chris grew blurry as tears filled her eyes. “Do I have to?” She couldn’t think of much worse than identifying a dead body.
“I’ll be right next to you. You can do this.” The tender look in his eyes and his hand caressing her cheek, gave her courage.
She took a deep breath then nodded. “What happened?”
Rawlins opened the door and walked through to a cold, sterile room. “Neighbors reported hearing gunshots. When the officers arrived they found a man injured. They brought him here but he was dead on arrival. His license shows him as Edward Ballantine. We want you to confirm that.”
Meg squeezed her eyes shut. She had a feeling it was Eddie. Who else would’ve had her phone if not Moreno? A hand touched her elbow and she opened her eyes to see Chris staring at her, concern etched on his features.
Rawlins escorted them into another room, this one lined with metal drawers. She’d seen all the movies and shows. These were filled with dead bodies.
He moved over and pulled on the handle of one. As it rolled out, she took a shuddering breath. Chris pulled her in closer to his shoulder and walked her forward.
She didn’t want to look but that was the whole reason she’d been brought here. Holding her breath, she opened her eyes and glanced down. Eddie’s pale face stared back at her. Well it would have stared back if his eyes had been open. Thankfully they weren’t. That would have creeped her out even more than she was.
She nodded her head, not sure she could speak at the moment. Then she noticed a small round spot on his forehead. A bullet wound? He’d been shot in the head. That could have been her. She turned not wanting to see any more and bumped into the firm chest of Chris. His arms held her tight as she attempted to get herself under control. The shaky breathing wasn’t fooling anyone.
He stroked her back and she burrowed deeper into the strength surrounding her. She was getting too used to this. Where had her independence gone? Her ability to take whatever was thrown at her and deal with it?
Rawlins closed the drawer. “He’s being sent to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner for an autopsy though I have a feeling the cause of death will be the gunshot wound. The forensic team needed to go over him first for any evidence.”
The man put out his hand to indicate they could leave the room. She couldn’t get out fast enough. As soon as the door closed behind her she started to tremble. Damn nerves.
“Hey,” Chris whispered in her ear, “Sit down for a few minutes.”
He guided her to a chair a few feet down the hall then moved away to speak with the detective out of her hearing. She narrowed her eyes wondering what they were saying that she shouldn’t hear.
“How was my phone even still working?” she called out. “I haven’t added new minutes to it since I lost it. Shouldn’t it have shut off by now?” Her phone plan had been pay as you go.
Rawlins walked closer. “My guess is Ballantine was using it. Since it wasn’t registered to him, he could use it without anyone tracing it back to him. It’s easy enough to buy a refill card at any grocery store.”
“Probably didn’t want Moreno finding him through his own phone.” Her mind whirled with thoughts. “He was killed today, right. So has he been in Ft. Lauderdale all this time? A half hour away from where I was.”
“The information we have so far is that he lived in his present location for about a year. He worked at some tourist shop down by the beach that caters to college kids.”
Heat crept up her neck at the thought. He’d been having a blast, living the high life while she’d been paying off his debt working six days a week, in high heels, and having her ass grabbed and pinched on a regular basis.
She looked back at the door they’d come through. But now he was dead. She was definitely better off.
Her gaze moved to the detective. “Do you know who did this?” Had it been Moreno or had Eddie pissed someone else off? Enough to kill him?
