“No shit! You have to be kidding me.” I sat up straight and focused on the page in my notepad.
“What?” J.T. jerked his head toward me.
“I got it. I swear I know who he is.” My head nearly hit the passenger door window as J.T. cranked the steering wheel and swerved the cruiser into a grocery store parking lot.
“Show me.”
“Geez, I think I have whiplash.” I handed him my notepad with the page folded back. “Look at the name of the last person we interviewed at the hospital where Heather worked. Think about it, J.T. You do remember what he looked like, right?”
J.T. stared at my notes. “Sam Reed. The initials are right, and he has blond hair. A well-mannered, polite guy if I remember correctly.”
“Yeah, a good act if I do say so myself, and he said he barely knew Heather. His hair color, age, and body size fits the descriptions we were given. Now we need to know what he drives. Hospital employees usually have parking passes on their vehicles too, just like Jerry described.” I grabbed my cell and called Sullivan. I tapped the speakerphone icon as the phone rang. He picked up before the third ring. “Captain, I think we know the guy. We need a DL for a Sam Reed and his vehicle registration information. If he drives a dark gray van, we have him dead to rights.”
J.T. pulled back out onto the street and continued toward downtown.
“Who the hell is Sam Reed?” Sullivan asked.
“He works at the same hospital Heather did. We interviewed the punk ourselves, damn it.” I checked my notes again. “He’s local and said he lives in the vicinity of Second Street but avoided giving me an exact address.”
“Okay, Charlie sent off a return message earlier, posing as Massimo, and the seller has already replied. He must be getting desperate. He wants to meet at twelve forty-five today at Franklin County Park. We can’t arrest somebody based on their initials, so we need to catch him in the act of trying to sell human blood. I’ll have tech pull up Sam Reed’s DL and vehicle registration. How far out are you guys?”
“We’re here and pulling into the parking garage right now.”
J.T. parked. We hurried through the door then headed straight for Sullivan’s office.
“Did tech get a hit on Sam Reed’s DL?” I asked as I took a seat in a guest chair.
“That name doesn’t come up in the system with any driver’s license at all.”
J.T. ground his fist in his right eye. “How the hell is that possible?”
“Maybe Sam Reed isn’t even his real name.” I checked the time. We had an hour and a half to come up with a plan. “Who’s meeting this guy in the park?”
Sullivan huffed. “Who do you think? It has to be Alex. It’s his picture on that website.”
“Shit. Has anyone briefed him yet?” J.T. asked.
“Andrews is putting him in interrogation room two right now. The rest of the clan has been released.”
“Okay, I’ll call the personnel department at the hospital and get Sam’s address.” I gave J.T. a glance. “You’re going to be the person briefing Alex, right?”
“Absolutely, and come downstairs after your call. Just don’t get your hopes up that the hospital is going to give you confidential information over the phone.”
“I know, but it’s worth a try. Maybe I’ll get a newbie on the line.”
Sullivan pushed back his chair and joined J.T. at the door. “Use my office to make your call. At least it’s quiet in here.” He pulled the door closed behind him. I watched through the glass wall as they walked away.
I looked up the hospital’s number on my phone and dialed. I waited as the phone rang four times.
“St. Mary’s Hospital, how may I direct your call?”
“Hello. I need the personnel department, please.”
“One moment.”
I listened to smooth jazz for a solid minute before somebody picked up.
“Personnel, how may I help you?”
I went through the usual introductions with no luck. Unless I went to the hospital and showed them my FBI ID in person, they weren’t obligated to give me any employee’s personal information over the phone. I hung up and flipped through my notes again. I remembered Joan Miller being talkative and helpful during her interview. She was the one who gave us information about Heather’s infatuation with Adam Drake. She could very well be the perfect person to talk to. I called again, altered my voice a bit, and asked for the lab. I was transferred to the receptionist there.
“Lab, Deb speaking.”
“Hi, Deb.” I recognized the voice of the not-so-helpful, gum-snapping young lady who sat behind the glass window in the lab’s registration area. I thought I’d play it nice and see whether I’d have better luck with her, but I wasn’t about to let on who I was. “I have an urgent message for Joan Miller. May I speak to her, please?”
“Give me a sec.”
I waited as Deb put me on hold for nearly a minute. A rustle on the other end told me she’d returned. “Joan just left for her hour-long lunch. I’ll give her your message when she returns.”
“No, thanks, but you can give me her cell number.”
I could imagine her smirking on the other end. “I don’t think so. That’s against hospital policies. You’ll have to try back after lunch.”
I hung up. “Damn it, I’m not getting anywhere.”
I pocketed my phone and headed to the elevator. Down on the first floor, I made my way through the security doors to the interrogation and observation rooms. I opened the door and entered observation room number two. Sullivan’s elbows rested on the counter. His head was propped in his open palms as he watched J.T. through the window. Andrews leaned against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. Fitch sat in a folding chair.
“How’s it going?” I asked. I stuffed my hands deep into my pants pockets and watched through the mirror with the others.
“J.T. is coaching him on everything to say and every move to make,” Sullivan said, “and Alex isn’t liking it one bit.”
“What other choice does he have?”
Mel grinned. “None, and he knows it. We can charge him with obstructing justice, fleeing an officer, speeding, erratic driving, and endangering the life of a motorist.”
I rolled the knots out of my neck as I joined Andrews against the wall. “That ought to convince him to cooperate.”
Sullivan asked how my call to the hospital went.
“Yeah, no luck with the personnel department—they’re tight-lipped—but I may have a chance with somebody after lunch. Isn’t it time for your guys to head out?”
Sullivan leaned forward and knocked on the window. J.T. rose and left the interrogation room.
Seconds later, J.T. entered the room and stood at my side. He sucked in a deep breath. “I think we’re good to go. There isn’t much more I can tell Alex before he goes into brain overload. How many of us are staking out the park?”
“I already have Stone, Mills, and Jeffries out there in street clothes. They’re parked several blocks away in their personal cars. They’re watching the area to see if the seller shows up early. It isn’t the time of year to be strolling through a park, and that’s likely why our guy picked it. He would definitely notice an unusual amount of people milling around and get suspicious, so it’s up to Alex to pull this off. The rest of us have to hang back.”
J.T. coughed into his hand before talking. “Jade and I can’t be seen if this man is actually Sam Reed from the hospital. He’d recognize us from the interview and know it’s a setup. We’ll stay back and watch through our binoculars.”
“I think I’ll take a pass on this one. I’m heading to the hospital. If the only way I’m going to get an address for Sam Reed is by flashing my badge, then I need to be there in person.”
“Okay, keep us posted,” Sullivan said. He jerked his head at Andrews. “Get someone from impound to bring a clunker around to the side entrance. It’s for Alex to drive. He has to look the part of a low-life wannabe vampire. We need to get a wire on him too. Let’s saddle up and get this pony show on the road.”
I parted ways with the rest of the group and wished them luck. After I took the elevator to the fourth floor and crossed the footbridge to the parking structure, I left in our cruiser and headed to the hospital.