Page 84 of Now Until Forever
“They’re going to die before we get inside.” Carlos went to the window so he could try to see the two on the floor. Were they already dead? Maybe it was too late.
A figure in white PPE stepped in front of the window.
Breath caught in Carlos’s throat. He couldn’t see the person’s features, with the hood of the safety clothing covering their hair and a mask over their face. After a second staring at him, they reached down and injected something into the two people on the floor, the medical examiner and the assistant. He saw the plunger of one needle go down. It was tossed aside. Another needle.
Plunger down. The needle was tossed aside.
They’d never get prints off that, because the person was wearing gloves. But whoever touched it before them might’ve left a print.
The PPE person rushed to the door at the far end and disappeared from sight.
“They’re getting away.” Carlos looked at Fox, and both of them turned to the security guards. “Where does that hall go?”
“West exit.”
Fox grabbed his arm. “Come on.”
Carlos raced after her. Hopefully, she knew where she was going. All he could do was pray for the two who’d just been injected. Was it with something that would end their suffering quickly, or would it reverse the effects of whatever substance incited the alarm?
Fox pushed ahead of him through a set of doors. Glor grabbed the door over his head as Carlos passed through, and the three of them raced down a hallway, brick on one side—the exterior of the building—and small rooms with waiting-area-style chairs on the other side. Beyond two of those was a storage closet. Bathrooms.
Fox pushed out into the bright light of afternoon and immediately yelled, “Hey!”
“FBI!” Glor took off running through the door, after his partner, moving faster than Carlos would’ve believed he could in those dress shoes. Gun out. Determined to stop them.
Squinting, Carlos saw the four in their PPE get into the back of a black van, hauling the body bags with them.
The last one looked at him, then climbed in, slamming the doors shut.
“FBI!” Fox raced after her partner, gun drawn.
Carlos strained to read the license plate on the back of the van, and when it was too far away, he slowed to a stop. Pulled out his notebook. Wrote down what he remembered.
“Did you get it?” Fox came close and looked.
“Partial.”
“Better than nothing.” She clapped him on the shoulder.
Glor raced back. “What do they want with the bodies?”
“To get rid of the evidence?” Fox said.
Carlos put his radio to his mouth and called it in, asking for units to pursue the van.
Fox had her phone out as well, saying, “Yes, sir, that’s correct.”
Glor stared in the direction the van had gone. A couple of squad cars blew past on the street, lights and sirens going.
Carlos listened to the dispatcher for a second, then said to the feds, “The ambulance just pulled up out front.”
Glor went to the door. “I’ll pull security camera feeds. Fox, find out what the doctor and his assistant can tell us. If they’re able to talk. Officer Ryson?—”
“I have about five minutes left on my lunchbreak.”
Fox held the door for him. “Aren’t you glad you came?”
Carlos didn’t answer, he just went inside.
