Page 80 of Cross That Line

It startled him how much he wanted to offer her, how much he wanted to get out of this problematic situation and just spend time with her, without worrying if someone was trying to kill them.

But that wasn't going to happen tonight. A lot of other things weren't going to happen tonight, either, he told himself.

His only goal was to help Rachel relax, which probably just meant he was going to spend the night in a lot more tension, he thought with a smile. But that was the way it was going to be, unless she had other ideas.

No, he told himself. Not even if she had other ideas. Despite that reminder, he wasn't quite sure he believed it.

Chapter Twenty-One

Dinner was better than good, Rachel thought, as she ate with Tyler at the dining room table in their suite. After a long, luxurious bubble bath, she'd put on leggings and a loose lightweight sweater that made her feel cozy and comfortable. Tyler had added to their dinner order, and she had to admit that she'd enjoyed every bite of the onion rings, roasted Brussels sprouts, decadent cheesecake and berry cobbler.

"You cannot be trusted with a menu," she said as she took another bite of the cheesecake.

"You looked like you enjoyed the extra dishes."

"They were all very good. I ate way too much, and I feel guilty about how much money you're spending."

"It's one night, one dinner. It's not a big deal."

"Well, I do appreciate all of this. What were you working on while I was soaking in the tub?"

He pushed away his empty plate and pulled his computer over. Then he turned it around to show her the screen.

"That's a lot of circles," she commented.

"It helps me visualize how everyone is connected. I may be missing people in the East River Hospital circle. What do you think?"

She took a minute to note the names he'd put on the chart. "The nurse with the question mark is Lily Chow. She met Jack when he came in for an appointment. She has a boyfriend, Andrew Lang, who is also a nurse and works in urology. They were together in the break room when we were all talking about Jack's disappearance."

"Anyone else?"

"Not in the area of evil perpetrators, but I did look up patients who might have moved on to Waverly." She got up and retrieved the envelope from her tote bag. Then she took out the printout and said, "I noted people who had skipped appointments after having been seen several times, with no marked relief in their symptoms, and who had left the military in the last five years. There are four people who fit that profile, looking from January to now, so four months. One of them is a 40-year-old female Navy pilot. I don't know if she counts, if they're looking for intelligence from ground troops."

"She could still have information, especially if she flew rescue missions. Who else?"

"We already talked about Mr. Kimoko. There are two other men, both Army, Allen Hopkins and Jeremiah Washington. They all had PTSD symptoms of varying degrees. Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Kimoko are both in their fifties, and their service ended a long time ago. Jeremiah got out last year and he's in his early thirties. I made a note of their phone numbers. Maybe I should make some calls tonight, see if anyone tells me they transferred their care to Waverly."

"That's not a bad idea. But you have to play it like you don't know anything is going on."

"I will."

"Getting back to the hospital and the evil perpetrators, as you called them, am I missing anyone who had contact with Jack?"

"Mikayla was the nurse on Jack's floor when he disappeared, the first person I notified when I couldn't find him. She was present when he woke up and when Dr. Morgan examined him. Anna Ramirez was the nurse in the ER, who witnessed Jack's first attempts to assault security officers." She paused as he put those names in the circle. "I talked to the security office, as did you. Is it possible anyone from security was involved? Officer Davina Mishra showed the clip, so she was being helpful. Sergeant Vaughn didn't want to give you anything without a warrant."

"They're worth putting down," he said as he added their names. "Better to have too many than too few."

She looked at his charts, her gaze moving from the hospital to the other circles. "You put a question mark over the arrow between Levitan and Conover? Why?"

"I know that Levitan treated Conover, that Conover put him in charge of the clinic, but I don't know if Conover is aware of the basement program, or if that is something Levitan is doing on his own."

"Wouldn't that be difficult?"

"Maybe not. Conover's equity firm owns several companies. He might have left Waverly Health to Levitan without much oversight."

"But we did see him there, so he's not a completely absent owner."

"True. That's why I have a question mark."