"I’m just curious. Didn't mean any offense, sir. I wonder if I may bring her her purse, house keys, and phone?"
"That’s kind of you. I can take it to her.” He drummed his fingers.
"May I? Your guys interrupted a moment." Martin waggled his eyebrows.
Doug Sharpe laughed. "Hmm, she’s a looker. Is she as fiery as that hair?" Martin managed not to cringe. "You wait right here. I'll see where Young and Logan are at with their questioning."
Martin texted Julian after Sharpe left the office.Send counsel for Elizabeth right away.
Already done. Ice is twenty minutes out,Julian responded.
Martin smiled. The men and women who now worked for him performed their jobs well. He needed to focus. Choices made by emotion were deadly in his career. Biding his time, he shot pictures of the paper strewn across the chief's desk before the man returned.
"Son, the interview is in progress. Why don't you wait for her at Austin's desk? Young is aware you're here."
His comment, by the omission, meant Elizabeth did not. The chief escorted him to a beat-up wooden desk. He smiled at the family photographs. The desk was a mess. Janey always teased Austin that he needed a secretary for work and home. Martin couldn't resist organizing its contents, chuckling at his brother's meticulous notation. They didn't appear to be in any logical order—it was, as he surmised, Austin's way.
A text vibrated, and Randall Knox's picture sneered up at him. Martin cursed under his breath with recognition.
"Those scratches on your hands, where did they come from?" Logan grasped her hand in the way a lover would before he kissed it.
She pulled her hand into her lap. "Randy Knox caused those."
"Why?" Logan crossed his arms.
"His patient died. It was his belief that I did not give him proper notification. He barged into my office and held my hands down. He scratched me as I pulled free."
"When did this happen?" Young creased his forehead.
"Before I saw Mr. Walter."
"You just said you didn't keep any other meetings," Logan's voice rose.
"I didn't consider it one. He wanted to pick a fight I had no interest in."
"Why do you think he thought you didn't call him?" Logan closed space on her.
"I didn't. Dr. Miles Gerba did the moment the patient took a turn for the worse. During the resuscitation attempt, the clerk tried numerous times. Afterward, Dr. Gerba made several more attempts. Not my fault he didn't answer." She pounded her fist against the table.
"Do you always get angry when someone annoys you? What else did you argue about?" Young rolled up his sleeves. The temperature in the room was oppressive.
"Why are you asking me these questions about Randy?" She grimaced when neither man answered.
Nineteen minutes later, the air crackled with electricity as two men and a woman in suits walked in with confidence. Martin didn't recognize two of them. The first man stood about five-feet-eight with curly espresso-colored hair. The brunette woman wore a white blouse and black pencil skirt, augmenting her Rubenesque body. Zachary "Ice" Wentworth, at six-foot-two with white spiked hair and piercing blue eyes, dominated the room.
Martin consumed himself with his brother's desk rather than giving in to the desire to pace or kick in the door like a caveman and rescue Elizabeth. A door thrown open jolted him to attention. "Dr. Reed is not at your beck and call. I will be happy to facilitate an appointment for you to speak with her if you wish. Today's questioning is over," a distinctive southern male voice boomed.
"We’ll be in touch, I'm sure. Your client remains under investigation. Dr. Reed, do not leave Silverton," a well-dressed man in his forties warned.
The voices grew nearer. Martin could see Zach with a helping hand at the center of Elizabeth's back. He jerked his head toward the door. Elizabeth's face was pale, and her eyes were red-rimmed. Zach supported her when she stumbled.
Outside, the trio waited for Martin to join them. "Thank you." Elizabeth's shoulders drooped.
"You’re welcome," Martin's voice cracked.
"Martin, these are criminal defense attorneys, Terry Newsome and Cleo Nolan," Zach introduced them.
Terrence Newsome was an old college friend of Kieran Chase's. The young woman, Cleo Nolan, was an up-and-coming defense lawyer in Iowa. The law allowed Newsome, from Chicago, to work in association with Cleo until he could file for his right to work.
