Chapter 8 - The Undercover Detective
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Two days after the fall, while Adrian and Cordelia were downstairs in the hospital cafeteria performing their grief for a group of visiting board members, the door to my ICU room clicked open.
A man in a blue hospital technician's scrub suit walked in, pushing a cart of medical supplies. He moved quietly, methodically checking the machines. When he turned toward the bed, I recognized the sharp, observant eyes immediately.
It was Jonah Mercer. The private detective I had hired.
Jonah was the kind of man people forgot five minutes after meeting him, which made him exceptional at his job. He leaned over my bed, pretending to adjust the blood pressure cuff on my exposed upper arm.
He leaned in close, his voice a barely audible hum beneath the sound of the machines.
“Lillian,” Jonah whispered. “Blink twice if you can understand me.”
My heart hammered against my broken ribs. It took intense focus, but I commanded my eyelids to move. Down, up. Down, up. I blinked twice.
Jonah’s jaw tightened, a flash of fierce relief in his eyes, but his voice stayed perfectly level.
“Good,” he murmured, checking the monitor screen. “Listen to me. We have the bank records. The balcony contractor, Nolan Reeve, is missing, but we found the payments routed through the renovation account. It was a hit. I think they may try to finish the job.”
I stared at him, terror rising in my throat. I blinked once, slowly.
“I brought something,” he said, his hands moving swiftly beneath the blanket. “It’s a micro-recorder. It has a remote transmitter. I’m taping it inside the edge of your cast, right near your right hand. Can you move your thumb at all?”
May you like
I channeled every ounce of willpower I possessed into my right hand. The pain was blinding, but my thumb twitched, shifting just enough to press against the plaster.
“That is enough,” Jonah breathed. “The button is under your thumb. Press it, and it transmits live audio to my phone. I have two detectives from Major Crimes waiting on the floor below. But we need them to act. We need a confession.”
