“Gabe works for R.I.S.C.,” Ellena chimed in. “It’s a private security company based out of Dallas.”
“I’ve heard of it.” The other man nodded. “They do good work, from what I hear.”
“Better than good,” Gabe stated bluntly. “We’re the best, which is why I need to see that footage.”
With a curt nod, Howard got on his radio and instructed one of the other officers to come to his location immediately. Three minutes later, a young man in a uniform appeared.
“Jamie, this is Dr. Dawson. Her office was broken into, and I need you to stand guard until Mr. Dawson and I get back.”
“Yes, sir.”
To Gabe, Howard said, “Follow me.”
Howard walked out the door, but Gabe didn’t follow. Instead, he looked at her and said, “Stay here. See if anything’s missing. We need to figure out what it was they were looking for.”
Ellen glanced down at the floor and sighed. “This is going to take forever to straighten out, but you’re right. The answer’s here, somewhere. I just have to find it.”
“We will.” He reached out as if he were going to touch her but dropped his hand back to his side. “Lock the door behind me, and do not let anyone in but me.”
“Okay.”
“I mean it, Elle. I need you to trust me on this.”
“I heard you, Gabe.” She glanced at the mess once more. “And right now, you’re about the only person I do trust.”
An emotion she couldn’t quite place reflected off his eyes, but then he turned to the young guard. “No one comes in or out of this office until I get back. No. One.”
The man’s eyes skittered nervously to Howard then back to Gabe’s. “Y-yes sir.”
With a final glance back at her, Gabe shut the door, leaving Ellena alone to deal with the mess. Knowing she had to start somewhere, she picked up one folder, then another. And another.
As she worked to sort through the papers, she made three stacks. One for the patients she knew, without a doubt, were not a threat, a second for those who had something in their notes that gave her pause, and a third area was reserved in case she found any notes she felt were cause for alarm.
An hour later, Ellena’s office was back in order, and every loose note or document had been put back into the files in which they belonged. All except one.
A yellow sticky note with the word ‘monarch’ written on it.
Sitting crisscrossed on the floor amongst the three groups of neatly stacked files, she studied the tiny note more closely.
It wasn’t wrinkled or faded and didn’t appear to be very old. For some reason, the word struck a chord, but for the life of her, Ellena couldn’t remember why she’d written it down. She also had no idea which patient she’d been talking with when she did.
My computer.
She’d been so busy dealing with the paper mess, she hadn’t thought to look for it before now.
Rising to her feet, Ellena quickly made her way over to her desk. She looked around its top, opened drawers. She searched every possible space, all the while knowing in her gut…
“Damn it.”
Without really thinking about what she was doing, Ellena pulled her cell phone from her purse with the intention of calling Gabe but stopped short. He was busy in the security room, and would be back soon, anyway.
She started to put the phone away but halted her own movements. This time for an entirely different reason.
There was a tiny red box at the corner of her voicemail icon reminding her she had several voicemails she’d been ignoring. Between her hospital stay and everything else that had transpired since, she hadn’t bothered to check her messages since the accident.
Hoping there might be something there to help put the pieces of her lost day together, Ellena tapped her screen and began scanning the list. It was a long shot, but it was also the only thing she had to work with until Gabe came back.
Most of her messages were from the last couple of days. Co-workers and acquaintances who’d heard about the wreck and were most likely calling to check up on her. With enough on her plate, she’d purposely ignored the incoming calls.
