Peril (25 page)

“Coincidence?” Brett offered.

Nathan shook his head. “I don't think so. I've been taught not to believe in randomness.”

“What do the two of you know that you're not telling me?” Lee asked.

Brett turned to Lee and lowered his voice. “We've talked with Dr. Tyler Adams, who is married to Morgan, because his business card was found at the crime scene of a child's murder.”

“The case my wife helped you with?” Lee asked.

“Same one. I also think the suspect could possibly be tied to Adams's contract work. Haven't made a solid connection yet. A set of dog tags was also found. Guy could be military.”

Nathan leaned against a nearby chair. “We also just came from the scene of an apparent suicide. Military guy, too. Tyler's boss, Dr. Thomas Reeves, wrote his prescriptions and his widow claims one of these men here was involved in the same surgery her husband participated in.”

“Any footage of the trio?” Brett asked Lee.

“Some hospital footage. We have the incident on the helipad on security tapes.”

“What happened there?”

“They assaulted the medical helicopter as it landed, fired upon it, and injured the flight nurse. She's here but they had to take her to surgery. The pilot was uninjured. At gunpoint, they escorted the flight paramedic with the patient into the unit. Used his badge to get in.”

“So the injured security guard gets them the key code for the helipad. The flight crew gets them badged into the unit. And in the unit, they have all the hostages they need.” Nathan paced a tight circle. “Seems like a lot of work for a simple procedure.”

“What do you mean?” Brett asked.

Nathan approached the boardroom table and flopped open several notepads. “For one, couldn't anyone with an ID get them access into the PICU? I assume badge access is not restricted. An employee is going to have unfettered entry. All they had to do was grab anyone walking by with one and they're in. Seems like they did it the hardest way possible—waiting for a helicopter to land.”

“Unless they wanted that not to be an option,” Lee thought aloud.

Nathan agreed. “That's what I'm afraid of. They don't want to make an escape. Is the helicopter disabled?”

CEO Horton leaned in. “Yes.”

Nathan took down a few notes. “Now the helipad is tied up with a lamed aircraft. No room for anything else to land up there.”

The nursing supervisor began to shake. “You're saying they don't plan to leave?”

“At least not via the air,” Nathan confirmed.

Her voice rose an octave. “But you're making it sound like this is a last-stand type thing.”

Why do women have to be so intuitive?

“Let's not make assumptions we can't prove,” he said.

Lee settled his hand over the hilt of his weapon. “The issue becomes what this Scott character
really
wants.”

“Has he made any demands?” Brett asked.

“Only one—to get Thomas Reeves on-site for a little conversation, but he won't elaborate as to why he wants him here.”

The blood scurried from Nathan's face. “What?”

Lee looked his direction, one eye narrowed. “You know him? Evidently he's some well-known physician.”

“He's Lilly's father.”

Lee raised his eyes to the ceiling. “Great. Your father-in-law? That doesn't leave you in a good position to serve as negotiator.”

“I'm not worried about it. We're not close.” Nathan rubbed the side of
his neck. “Listen, we've got to prioritize here. Lee, what've you done thus far?”

Watson turned back to the CEO. “Fire is working with the building maintenance crew to get a set of structural plans. SWAT teams from Denver, Adams, and Arapahoe County are doing a systematic search and clearing people out. Quick response team is situated down the hall from the PICU.”

“You're certain the only present threat is in the pediatric ICU?” Nathan asked.

“Won't know for sure until the search of the building is complete. However, video from the hall confirms them entering the PICU. Bomb squad has a couple of dogs here looking for IEDs, too.”

Kathleen continued to take notes. “Is it necessary to put the ER on diversion? We're a regional children's hospital.”

Nathan looked at the woman, somewhat surprised she'd thought of the issue versus the CEO. “Absolutely. We don't know the intentions of these men, and we're not going to put anyone else in harm's way. In fact, we need to evacuate.”

“Who?” Horton asked.

“Everyone. Patients, staff, and families,” Lee stated.

Nathan started to make notes. “Where can patients go?”

“Blue Ridge,” Horton said. “We can call and see how many beds they have available for critical patients and those that should be in isolation. A local high school can be used for less sick kids.”

“If the ER is closed, can we hold our ECMO babies there? Moving them to another facility would require specialized transport teams,” Kathleen said.

Lee looked at Nathan. “It's reasonable. The ER is on the other side of the hospital on the ground floor. Should be safe.”

“What's visible from the PICU windows?” Nathan asked.

“Main entrance,” Horton said.

Lee adjusted his Kevlar vest. “The ambulance bay is going to be the best bet for evacuation. It's at the rear of the building. Ambulances can load patients who can't travel by bus.”

Horton loosened the tie around his neck. “Can you keep them from shooting more people?”

Nathan glanced at the CEO. Daniel Horton's face was almost translucent. He understood the man's horror. Even to Nathan, it felt extreme to discuss clearing a hospital, but they couldn't be certain they could contain the incident to the PICU. They couldn't be certain there weren't planted explosive devices, or other men who were prepared to lend aid to these individuals.

Nathan's mouth dried. He knew he couldn't promise the man no one else would die. Including the children.

“I know all of this seems drastic, and it is. But you need to look at this like your building is on fire and we don't know how the flames are going to spread. The safest thing to do is remove all staff and personnel who don't need to be here and protect those who remain. We don't want to give them any more potential hostages.”

Lee nodded in affirmation. “Nathan's right.”

The CEO straightened his shoulders. “Has anything like this ever happened in a hospital? A children's hospital?”

Nathan inhaled. “It doesn't matter. We have a situation here we need to control.”

The CEO shook his head in resignation. “I'll start making phone calls for two off-site shelters, and bus and ambulance companies. I'll have them line up at the ER entrance.”

Kathleen flipped her notebook closed. “I'll call the individual units. Help the nurses make a plan to evacuate their children.”

“No one moves until I give the okay. They'll need to be escorted by police,” Lee said.

The two walked off to the bank of phones. Lee motioned to Nathan and Brett and they headed to a relatively unpopulated corner of the room.

“You sure you're going to be okay?” Lee asked Nathan.

“Other than I'm working as the negotiator for a hostage situation at a children's hospital?”

“I meant that Dr. Reeves seems to be involved in this.”

“Well, we don't know that he is involved. We know the hostage takers have an issue with him.”

“I have an appointment set up for today with a military commander,” Brett said. “Since there is a connection between my murder suspect and Adams, I think I should keep it. Maybe he knows something about Reeves and his experiments.”

“All right, if you think it can help us here, go ahead and go. But be ready to get right back,” Nathan said.

As soon as Brett left the room, Lee's radio squawked. “Someone's making a ruckus at the police perimeter.” Lee's eyebrows rose slightly. “It's Tyler Adams. Says he has video from one of the assailants.”

Chapter 30

1100, Saturday, August 11

N
ATHAN WATCHED TWO
police officers escort Tyler Adams into the boardroom. They pulled out a chair and sat him down at the table. Nathan eyed him from a distance. He looked like he'd had a hard night: eyes bloodshot, face pale, hands shaking. He held a cell phone between clenched fingers.

“Do we know how he got the video?” Nathan asked Lee.

“He's saying Morgan sent it to him.” Lee's head tilted into his earpiece. “Floors one and two are clear. They're moving up to the third floor.”

Nathan approached. “Dr. Adams, I know we've met already. Today, I'm serving as the SWAT negotiator. Can I see what Morgan sent you?”

He nodded, the terror on his face held his voice prisoner. His thumbs quivered over the device while he pulled the footage up on the small screen.

“Who's on the video?” Nathan asked.

“Just Morgan.”

He tapped the screen to start playback, and laid the cell flat on the table for others to see.

Morgan was seated at a table, hands open, palms facing down. Curls of fine, blond hair nearly hid the black tubing of her stethoscope as it rested on her chest. Her dark green eyes were fixed in front of her.

A man's voice prompted. “Go ahead, Morgan. Tell them.”

The woman paused, swallowed heavily, and brushed her tongue over dry lips. “My name is Morgan Adams. I'm one of the charge nurses for the pediatric ICU. We are being held hostage by three men who are known to Dr. Thomas Reeves.” She pressed her hands into the table. “They say they participated in a research experiment conducted by Reeves and are now suffering ill effects. They want to know why.”

She folded her hands, pushing one thumb against the other. The gleam
from her thumb ring flashed against the lens from the sharp, overhead lights.

“You need to say it, Morgan.”

“You can't charge into the unit. The doors are rigged with explosives.”

“No, Morgan. Say what you don't want to say.”

She momentarily shielded her face with her hands. “They expect a press conference with Dr. Reeves disclosing the experiment and a medical evaluation from an independent party for treatment of their symptoms. If one is not done by 1700, they will begin to shoot hostages.”

“Who am I going to start with, Morgan?”

She wiped a single tear from her cheek. “The children . . .”

Nathan's heart sped up, feeding on newly released adrenaline soaring through his veins. He felt lightheaded with a duty-bound obligation to get this fixed before the threat came to fruition.

It was the worst-case scenario.

The shot stilled after Morgan uttered those words, her eyes wide with horror. Nathan's chest felt heavy, like iron chains had wrapped themselves around his lungs and someone was pulling them tighter.

“Do you think they'll do it?” Tyler asked, his face pale.

Nathan waved at the nursing supervisor and she scurried over. In a lowered voice, Nathan posed the question. “What is in that unit they could make a bomb from?”

“You don't think they brought one with them?” Kathleen asked.

“From the surveillance cameras, they don't look loaded down with equipment. Just a few small duffel bags. That's not to say they didn't plant something earlier, but my gut tells me no.”

“What sort of chemicals are on the unit?” Lee asked the nursing supervisor.

“Basic things. There would be smaller bottles of rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, iodine.”

Lee cleared his throat. “How many IV bags?”

“Lots. It's an ICU and they have their own satellite pharmacy. Most of the children likely aren't feeding themselves.”

“Oxygen tanks? How many?”

“We can check with respiratory therapy to be sure. My guess is one for every bed. If something catastrophic happened to the hospital, each ventilated patient would have to be manually bagged if the wall oxygen
stopped working—for whatever reason. Plus, I'm sure they have a couple of extras for patient transport. You always want to have enough.”

“How many beds?” Nathan asked.

“It's a twenty-bed unit.”

“In this particular situation, having all those supplies is a bad thing,” Lee said.

Nathan sighed. “So we know they can accomplish what they say. They could easily build a bomb.”

Leaving the group, Nathan rubbed his hand over his face as he walked back to Dr. Adams. He took a chair next to him. “We need to start back a few steps. Why would these men send this video to you?”