Page 113 of Hades

When he is next to me, I notice it’s the same man who offered me the deal in jail.

“Officer, can I help you?”

“We aren’t all on his side, but we have to survive. This is a courtesy because you guys have always been good to us. Things aren’t going to get better. He is talking about staging a biker rally. He has men willing to dress up as bikers and show up to riot. Many citizens are going to get hurt. He told them no one is safe. You need to do something before it happens. I can’t watch innocent people get hurt over this.”

“We will do what we can. We appreciate you looking out.”

He nods. “I’ll always help when I can. Get out of here.”

He stalks back to his car, so I take off, wondering if I lied to Selena and Sienna.

Will we be able to fix this?

Evelyn

“We are glad you decided to come in today. As a courtesy, we have asked your union representative to also attend. Once we have your statement on record, everything will go smoothly,” Mr. Bradford says, looking proud of himself.

I look over to Benny and glare. Fucker is useless. Even now in his wrinkled suit, I swear I can see crumbs.

“I believe you are getting ahead of yourself, Mr. Bradford. I called this meeting to discuss the situation. After reviewing the evidence in this case, I have found many discrepancies. I am quite appalled at how this was all handled. Can you tell me who headed this investigation?” Atticus asks.

“Well…Dr. Pembrooke. He is her supervisor, so it made sense to have him do the investigation.”

“I see,” Atticus says, letting them stew in the silence as he makes a note on his notepad.

I bite my lip to keep from smiling when I see that all he “wrote” was a smiley face.

“Mr. Hale, the evidence we have is solid.”

Atticus looks up before clicking a button on his remote. “This is your evidence, correct?”

I keep my eyes on Dr. Pembrooke as they watch the video of me injecting Melanie with the wrong medicine.

“Yes. As you can see, Dr. Kingston administered the wrong medication,” Betty tells him.

“Awesome. So we are in agreement. Now who handed her the medication?” Atticus starts in.

Dr. Pembrooke speaks up. “Marie, her med student, but med students are covered. It is not up to them to know what medications are. They are learning.”

“Do the nurses know medications? Could they get the correct medication to hand to a doctor?” he asks.

“Of course,” Betty says before Dr. Pembrooke can answer. “It is in their capabilities, but as you see, Marie is the one who handed her the medication.”

A new video pops up showing the entire scene. Jackie handing the medication to Marie. Marie handing it to me.

“Where did you get this?” Dr. Pembrooke hisses.

“Quiet,” Mr. Bradford tells him. “We have not seen this footage.”

“It was with the footage you sent over,” Atticus lies easily.

“Bullshit. It can’t be. These aren’t our cameras,” Dr. Pembrooke grumbles.

“In fact, we also found this.” Atticus cuts to the footage of Dr. Pembrooke handing the medication to Jackie.

The room is dead quiet. Benny’s jaw is on the floor. Betty looks like she is having a really bad day. Dr. Pembrooke is red with that familiar throbbing vein.

It’s Mr. Bradford that surprises me. He is calm, but the look he shoots Dr. Pembrooke says he isn’t happy.