Checkmate (Caitlin Calloway Mystery Book 2) (36 page)

Jamie couldn’t hold it together any longer and began sobbing. CC held her tightly until Jamie forced herself to stop.

“Crap,” she said and sniffed. “I need to get back to work.”

“Baby, you need to take a moment.”

“I can’t.” Jamie brushed the tears from her face. “Today has been insane enough. I have to call Mike, tell the staff, and I have no idea when I’ll be home. I’m second in command without him…”

“Easy.” CC once again wrapped her arms around her sobbing wife. “Take a moment.”

Jamie gave in to the comfort of CC’s embrace. She started crying once again. Then she allowed herself to simply be held. When she felt a little steadier, she pulled herself together. She took a moment to wash her face and gave CC one last embrace before she set off to face what would probably be the longest day of her life.

CC kissed her goodbye and asked Jamie to call if she needed anything. Feeling a little more composed, Jamie made her way back into the emergency room. She entered during a lull and just in time to hear Nolan talking about Jack’s lack of professionalism.

“Dr. Nolan, zip it.”

He jumped at her hostile tone and kept his mouth shut.

“Get any and all available staff together in the lounge, now,” she ordered him.

“Excuse me?”

“I said now.” It was a rare occasion when she reminded a member of the staff that she outranked them. When she did, no one, not even Nolan, questioned her.

Jamie took a moment to catch her breath. Then she went down the hall and entered the break room. Anyone who could be pulled away from what they were doing mingled around, awaiting her arrival.

“I’m sorry to pull you away from your duties.” She felt the weight of the world pressing down on her as everyone in the room watched her. “There’s no easy way to say this. I don’t have any details, yet. Dr. Temple has passed away. Apparently, he had an accident late last night or early this morning. Again, I don’t have any details. When I do, I’ll let you know.” Her mind went blank. She had no idea what she should say next. After a couple of decades of informing immediate family members of the passing of a loved one, she had no idea how to tell the staff about Jack.

“But—” one of the residents began to say.

“Dr. Jameson will post the funeral information when she knows more.” Stella effectively cut the youngster off. “In the meantime, as sad as this moment is, we do have a responsibility to our patients. Isn’t that right, Dr. Jameson?”

“Yes, this is an extremely sad day, but we have to keep the ER running.” Jamie felt herself slipping into work mode. “As I said, when I have more information, I will let you know. If anyone would like to take a moment to go to the chapel or catch their breath, I understand.”

The staff was clearly shaken as they shuffled out of the room. Nolan lingered behind. Jamie knew the wheels were spinning. He wasn’t concerned about the how or why of Jack’s passing. She hated thinking it, but she knew Nolan was thinking about who was going to fill Jack’s seat.

“Doctor?” She shook her head when she saw him flinch.

“When did it happen?” He seemed at a loss. Jamie hoped that just perhaps he was moved by Jack’s passing and not mentally calculating the perfect time to submit his resume.

“I’m not certain,” Jamie answered. “The police are doing an autopsy. He was discovered on the beach. At this moment, it’s anyone’s guess.”

“So you found out from the family?”

“No.” Jamie mentally counted off at least a dozen times during that hour CC was waiting that she and Nolan had not only crossed paths but had spoken as well. “My wife, the police officer, told me. I’m curious as to why you failed to inform me that she was waiting in my office.”

“I didn’t know.” His voice squeaked a school girl’s. “I thought it was personal.”

“It was,” Jamie said furiously. “I considered Jack to be a good friend. Even if CC was stopping by to say hello, why not tell me? You know what? Never mind. We have work to do.”

“Who’s going to be in charge?” he asked.

Jamie paused for a moment, choosing her words carefully. She wished she could smack him around. “It’s the weekend. We carry on just as we would during any other long weekend. If you would like to go home, you are more than welcome to. Come Tuesday, I’m certain the suits will assign someone to handle things during the interim. For the moment, you’re free to go if you want to, and you don’t need to come in tomorrow either.”

“I see.”

Jamie didn’t miss the leery tone of his voice. He thought she was making a power play. The truth was, she hadn’t thought about who would handle what. Her only concern was for Jack’s family and keeping things running. She didn’t want Jack’s job. She liked being in the thick of things and practicing medicine. She found the administrative aspect of her job frustrating.

If Nolan wanted it, then more power to him. Although, it would mean he would be her boss, which was not something she was looking forward to. Still, given the choice of having Satan as her boss or being chained to a desk, she’d opt for Satan. 
First do no
harm,
she silently reminded herself.

He stood there, obviously weighing whether he should leave and spend time with his trophy wife or stick around in hopes of advancing his career. Jamie could see the fear in his eyes. He needed to show the powers that be what a good team player he was, when in reality, he only wanted the accolades and prestige without having to do the work. Jamie didn’t care about his dilemma. Her focus was on the here and now.

“If you’ll excuse me, Doctor.” She brushed past him, eager to get away from him. “I have work to do.”

Jamie hoped that by immersing herself in work she would be distracted. It only slightly helped ebb the pain. Much to her annoyance, despite the fact she had told everyone she didn’t have any details, everyone pestered her with questions regarding Jack’s passing. Since she didn’t know anything, she had nothing to say.

Around midnight, she retreated to her office in hopes of catching a quick nap or at least a moment of peace. Stella barged in without bothering to knock. Since she came with cookies and coffee, Jamie opted to overlook the faux pas.

“You look like crap. Eat something.”

Jamie did as she was told while the two of them made themselves comfortable on the sofa. “Nolan’s still lurking around.”

“We could use the help,” Jamie said, not really believing her words.

“He’s not helping.” Stella’s snort made her disdain evident.

“He hasn’t seen a single patient. All he’s done is trawl for information. He could care less about what happened. He wants Jack’s job.”

“He’s welcome to it.”

“Don’t you dare stick me with that prick.”

“I don’t want the job.”

“Why not?”

“Because I like playing doctor.” She couldn’t resist teasing the older woman.

“That must make CC happy.” Stella giggled before her face turned somber. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”

“I know. It just doesn’t seem real. He loved the beach and his nightly strolls. How did he end up drowning?”

“In that neighborhood, there could have been a thousand things that happened.” Stella shook her head. “I’m sure the condo is nice. But that area doesn’t have the best reputation.”

“For all we know, he had a heart attack. I feel so bad for Joyce. I know she wanted to spread her wings, but she really loved him.” Jamie shivered, fearful of what might have led to Jack’s death.

“Poor thing,” Stella said. “Could you do me one favor?”

“Anything.”

“Get Nolan out of here before I kick him in the balls?”

“I don’t know.” Jamie found herself smiling. “I’d like to see you kick him in the privates.”

“He isn’t doing anything but bothering my nurses.”

“Fine. I’ll get rid of him.”

*   *  *

Val grimaced when she pulled in front of the house. She looked at her watch. It was far too late for a visit. On the drive over, she had convinced herself that she simply wanted to pick up her belongings. She still couldn’t believe that she had forgotten to grab her bags when she came over earlier that day. Ricky would say she did it accidentally on purpose. There was a light on, indicating that Stevie might still be awake.

“And what do I say?” The only action she had managed to achieve since pulling up to the curb was limited to shutting off the car engine and putting the keys in her pocket. “I should keep it casual. Sorry for dropping by so late, I just needed to get my things. Oh, and I’m sorry for taking your sister in for questioning.” She cringed at the last part. She had no idea where she stood with Stevie. Based on the look Stevie was sporting the last time she saw her, she was less than pleased.

“You going to sit out here all night?” CC’s cocky question startled her.

“Geezus!” Val clutched her heart. “You scared the shit out of me. I must be losing my touch.”

“Or my sister has you so uptight you don’t know whether to wind your watch or spit.” CC laughed. “You should see your face.”

“Knock it off.” Val valiantly tried to slip her cool facade back in place. “For your information, I’m not sitting here worrying about your sister. I’m just collecting my thoughts. It’s been a long-ass day.”

“I know. If it makes you feel better, after I left you I had to identify my wife’s boss’s body. Then I swung by the station to let the brass know that I’m ready to return to duty.”

“Whoa, back up. Whose body?”

“Dr. Jack Temple apparently drowned last evening,” CC said. “I can’t help wondering if Brooks might be right.”

“Brooks? Not this again.”

“When Fisher was Jamie’s student, he started crossing the line of a professional relationship and invading Jamie’s personal life, Temple had him bumped from Jamie’s team and moved to a different shift. Simon didn’t take it very well. After that, he went from stalking to menacing.”

“I still think you and Brooks are way off base.”

“Doesn’t matter,” CC said. “So, again I need to ask if you’re planning on sitting out here all night. Because in another six hours, Emma will be up and raring to go. Which is not for the faint of heart. Stevie just got her to bed a little while ago.”

“Stevie is awake?” Val tried to sound nonchalant but knew she had failed miserably. The bright light inside Stevie’s home was a dead giveaway.

“Yes, Deputy, she’s awake and probably calling the cops because a strange car is sitting out in front of her house.”

“I just need to get my stuff,” Val gruffly said, finally getting out of the car. “Sorry about hauling you downtown.”

“It’s procedure. If the roles were reversed, I would have done the same.”

“Detective?” Val cleared her throat. “When I was first looking into your background, I came across something I thought you might be interested in. Did you know a guy by the name of Terrence Donovan?”

“Yes, he was an enforcer for the Winter Hill Gang.” CC quirked her head, her interest clearly piqued. “Died from cancer back in the early nineties before everything in Southie unraveled. Why do you ask?”

“According to the Feds, he gunned down a guy outside of the Quiet Man Pub. You might know the guy he hit, Scotty McIntire,” Val carefully explained not certain how the information would be received.

“McIntire put two bullets in me, so yeah, you could say I knew him. Thank you,” CC said warmly. “I’ve spent a lot of time wondering if someone I knew thought they were doing me a favor. Good to know it was just the mob doing what they do.”

“It can’t be confirmed since everyone who was at the bar that night claims that they didn’t see a thing, but the bureau is fairly certain McIntire’s hit was ordered by the Winter Hill Gang.”

“Yeah, well the name of that place is more than a reference to a John Wayne movie. The Winter Hill boys didn’t like rats. It really pissed them off when they found out the boss was the biggest rat in the nest. Still is from what I hear. Thanks for telling me.”

“There’s something else. While we were booking Beaumont, another tip came in.”

“Just after he would have taken that stroll through my neighborhood.” CC shook her head. “We may never know what was going on. For the moment, I’m planning on enjoying the peace and quiet. If you want to know what is what with Stevie, I suggest you knock on the door and talk to her.”

“It was casual. She’s made that clear.”

“That’s what she’s said.” CC pursed her lips. “Still, I get the feeling that maybe that isn’t entirely true. Take it from an old married woman, if you don’t ask questions, you don’t get answers.”

“Just how is it you met your wife?” Val asked, her heart beating faster the closer they came to the house.

“I gave her a speeding ticket.”

“Really? Wait, you would have been in uniform. How long have the two of you been together?”

“Which time?” CC laughed. “I told you if you don’t ask questions, you don’t get answers. Trust me, I know. Go talk to Stevie. I’m going to bed. Frankly, this day sucked.”

“You feel bad about Shark, but you obviously don’t approve of what he did.”

“When cops break the rules, it makes us become ‘them.’ I prefer locking up the bad guys, not becoming one.” She knocked loudly on Stevie’s front door. “Have a good night, ladies,” CC said and snickered when Stevie opened the door.

Suddenly Val felt as if she couldn’t breathe. She was standing there, being glared at by a woman who did not look happy to see her.

“I just came to get my stuff.” Val felt lame when she offered her reason for being there at such a late hour.

“In the corner where you left it,” Stevie said calmly. “Right before you carted my sister downtown.”

“I had to.”

“I know. Caitlin repeatedly explained your reasons.” Stevie did not sound happy. “Something about Bert dying on your watch. I get it. I guess.”

“I just had to have her give a statement. She had motive.”

“Along with a lot of other people, including myself.”

“You were never without a federal agent nearby.” The harder Val tried to explain, the more she felt like she was skinny-dipping in quicksand. “If you want to give a statement, you’re more than welcome to. We have the guy, and he’s made it clear that he acted alone.”