Taboo (18 page)

Later, Reilly lay quietly in the hospital bed while a plump young nurse fussed around her. When she leaned over she smelled pleasantly of white jasmine, and maybe mint. Jo Malone, Reilly pinpointed, it was a popular brand in this part of the world.

She had slept on and off throughout the day but was feeling better now. The nurse changed her IV bag, plumped her pillows,
then tucked the crisp white sheets up under her arms. Finally, she stood back and regarded her.

‘You feeling all right now, honey?’ She had a delightfully distinctive North Dublin accent, the kind that made Reilly want to smile just listening to it.

‘I’m fine, thanks. What time is it?’

The nurse checked her watch, clipped to the front of her uniform. ‘Almost four o’clock,’ she informed her.

‘Four? I’ve slept for most of the day.’ She managed a tired smile. ‘Wow, after that much sleep I think I feel better than most mornings.’

The nurse looked at her for a moment then nodded. ‘There’s been a fella waiting outside for a while; are you up to a visit?’

‘Sure. I could do with a distraction.’

‘I’ll send him in.’
She glanced over toward the door and gave Reilly a surreptitious wink. ‘Good-looking fella he is too …’

She bustled out, and moments later Chris hurried in, a small bouquet of tiger lilies in his hand. He held them out like a trophy, as if unsure what the correct protocol was.

‘How’s it going? These are for you.’

Reilly smiled. ‘They’re great, thanks – you can put them over there.’ She nodded to the bedside cabinet. ‘I’ll have the nurse put them in water later.’

Chris duly lay the bouquet down on the bedside table, then turned and dragged a chair over to sit beside the bed.

He settled himself on the chair and then looked around at the other patients in the ward. There was a mixture of young and old, some sleeping, others propped up in bed watching TV. ‘So how are you feeling?’ he asked, finally. ‘Jesus, you gave us all a hell of a scare.’

‘Yeah, I’ll bet Kennedy was
really
worried,’ she said, chuckling.

‘He sends his regards,’ Chris informed her. ‘In fact, he was the one who warned me not to turn up without flowers.’ Despite his jovial tone, there was concern written all over his face. He was watching her carefully, as if searching for anything untoward in her eyes.

She felt oddly touched by his concern. ‘I’m tired, but OK,’ she said. Then she paused. ‘I gather from the nurse that I have you to thank for getting me here so quickly?’

‘Yeah, well when I found you on the stairs I was in two minds whether or not to leave you there. All that surfing and swimming, I thought you’d probably weigh a tonne with those muscles …’

Reilly looked down at her short-sleeved hospital gown and playfully flexed a muscle. ‘Yep, a real heavyweight, that’s me.’

‘But, somehow, I managed to get you down to the lobby.’

She rewarded him with a warm smile. ‘Thanks. I really mean that.’ It couldn’t have been an easy task in his weakened condition.

‘Once the paramedics took over I went back up to your office to see if there was any sign of him – or her.’ He paused a little. ‘I noticed something on your desk.’

‘The photo album?’ she said, having almost forgotten about that.

Chris nodded.

‘It was taken from my apartment. I think it’s supposed to be some kind of message.’

‘What kind of message? I saw the photo – it looked like a standard family shot.’

‘I wish I knew.’ The appearance of such a personal item had shaken her badly. Besides breaking into her apartment and invading her home, what was the killer playing at with that photo?

‘It’s a bit of a mindblower, Reilly,’ Chris admitted. He gave a deep sigh. ‘This is serious shit. Someone broke into your apartment, stole your ID, could have fucking killed you and now they’re leaving you cryptic messages?’

‘I know.’

‘Fancy a cup of tea, love?’

They both looked around in surprise at the tea lady making her rounds. She looked over at Reilly, enquiringly.

‘No, I’m fine, thanks.’

She was warm and motherly in her apron, clearly determined that everyone should have the comfort of a warm cup of tea at least three times a day. But unlike the nurse, her scent was unrecognizable to Reilly. Some kind of floral concoction, and not a fragrance, but perhaps a body lotion or face cream. ‘And what about your husband?’ she asked, turning to Chris. ‘How about you, love?’

‘I’m not – I mean, I’m …’ Chris looked back at Reilly and saw her trying hard not to laugh. ‘A cup of tea would be lovely, thanks,’ he finally replied.

They sat in silence while she poured his tea, only to dissolve in a fit of laughter when the woman finally moved on to the next patient.

‘Christ, do I look that settled?’ he protested.

‘If only she knew,’ Reilly added, wryly.

He sipped at his tea. ‘Still, a cup of brew is fairly welcome right now.’

‘Enjoy it,’ said Reilly. ‘You know, in the States they don’t have little old ladies coming round offering you free cups of tea when you’re in hospital.’

‘Yeah, I’ve heard they charge you for everything over there – even aspirin.’

Reilly slipped back into silence. She knew the small talk was simply their way of delaying the disturbing reality that still loomed large over them. Chris sipped his tea and waited for her to tell him more about the photo album.

She sat up and pulled the covers up around her. ‘The picture … it’s of me and my dad and my baby sister, Jess. My mom left when we were young – Jess was only a toddler – so I pretty much raised her.’

‘What’s the age gap?’

‘Five years.’

‘That’s pretty young to become a surrogate mum.’

‘Dad was always at work, there
was
no one else.’

He nodded. ‘Still, it must have been tough.’

Reilly looked at him and while she couldn’t be absolutely sure, she was still almost certain Chris knew more about her family situation than he was letting on.
Damn …

‘So it was up to you to take care of your little sister?’

‘Yes. My dad – well as I said, he worked a lot and then … later he drank a lot too.’

‘You mentioned he lives here in Dublin now.’

She nodded.

‘What about your sister? Are you two still in touch?’

Reilly glanced up quickly, certain that he was testing her but no, his expression was as clear and open as it always was.

‘No,’ she replied, softly.

‘So what’s all this about?’ Chris asked. ‘Why’s this guy so interested in you and your family? What’s it got to do with the murders?’

Reilly looked down at the IV drip in her arm. ‘I’m not sure yet,’ she replied. Looking up, she spotted a nurse across the ward. She tried to catch her eye. ‘Excuse me?’ she waved. The nurse saw her and
signaled at her to wait a moment.

‘What are you doing?’ Chris asked, surprised at her sudden change in mood.

‘You’re right, we need to know what’s going on and we’ve already wasted too much time today,’ she said, starting to climb out of the bed.

‘Reilly, what are you doing?’ Chris protested, reaching out and trying to restrain her. ‘You’ve been injected with a potentially lethal
anesthetic. You’ve got to give your body time to get over that. You need to rest.’

‘Yeah, well I think I got enough rest today to last me for a lifetime.’ Reilly ripped the IV from her arm. ‘Right now, I need to talk to Daniel.’

***

In the event, Reilly had to wait. Forrest was out of his office when she called, so the best she could do was leave a message. But she knew that the voicemail she left would guarantee that he called her as soon as he picked it up: ‘We think the perp broke into the lab and attacked me. We need to talk.’

She hung up the phone. ‘If that doesn’t get him to call, nothing will,’ she informed Chris.

When it became clear that she was going to leave the hospital no matter what anyone said, Chris insisted on accompanying her back to the lab – reluctant to leave her alone. He still hadn’t quite got over the sight of her fading away in the stairwell, or the moment in the ambulance ride to the hospital when he’d thought she was gone.

As soon as word got out that Reilly was back, her staff hurried in to check on her and ask questions.

The last to appear was Julius. After saying all the right things, he was straight back to business, dropping off the most recent report from the lab on the evidence collected at the Miles scene.

‘You’ll be happy to know that there’s some decent trace here, something that also appeared at the Ryan and Watson scenes but in more minuscule amounts.’

Reilly picked up the report and began reading. ‘Anything interesting?’

He nodded.
‘Could be. Check out the fifth item down.’

‘Calcium sulphate,’ she read out for Chris’s benefit.
‘Gypsum.’

‘What’s that?’ he
asked, eager to hear about anything that might help break this – especially when this guy seemed to be not only escalating, but getting bolder too. You didn’t need to be a big-shot profiler to know that breaking into Reilly’s place and attacking her at the lab was a clear statement of intent, or even worse – an assertion of control.

‘Technically, it’s a naturally occurring mineral, but has a number of applications in everyday life – blackboard chalk, plaster board, plaster of Paris—’

Julius cut in. ‘I was thinking that the plaster of Paris, coupled with the pentobarbital and animal hair samples adds even more weight to the veterinary angle.’

‘You think our guy might work in a vet’s?’ Chris asked and Julius looked at Reilly for affirmation.

‘It’s certainly a possibility – and a useful find. But it could just as easily be chalk dust from a teacher or lecturer or even a lab worker …’ He watched her turn the list of possibilities over in her head. ‘Thanks, Julius. It gives us something to think about.’

‘No problem.
Erm …’ He lingered a little, looking somewhat uncomfortably at Chris.

Reilly picked up on it.
‘Anything else?’

‘Well, I also got back those blood test results you wanted … for that other case,’ he said, cryptically, a second sheaf of paper in his hands. ‘I thought you might want to take a look at them, but I can bring them back later if you like.’

Reilly held out her hand. ‘Great. Right now is fine, thank you.’

‘Yes, well … again, we’re all glad you’re OK.’ He nodded, then turned and left.

Chris looked carefully at her. ‘Blood tests? Would those happen to be …?’

‘Why don’t you close the door?’ she suggested, quietly.

He did as he was bid, then sat down and faced her expectantly – he was unsure if he wanted them to have found something or not. While it would be a relief to know what was wrong with him, to have it out in the open and to try to deal with it, another side of him was hoping that there was nothing at all wrong, maybe just old-fashioned fatigue or something he’d get over in time. He fixed his gaze on Reilly, trying to read her face as she read through the report sheet. She looked thoughtful.

‘What is it?’ he urged, unable to contain his impatience any longer. ‘Do I have cancer or something?’

Her eyes gave nothing away. ‘Chris, to be honest, I still don’t know. There was something out of kilter in my initial screen, so I ordered another, but …’

‘Out of kilter?’

‘Some of the numbers were above normal parameters, but the second test seems to have come out fine.’ She exhaled deeply. ‘Look, I’m no doctor, and there’s a limit to what we can do at the lab here – you need to see a specialist, someone who can look at the overall symptoms. A blood test is really nothing more than a shot in the dark.’

He nodded, trying not to betray his disappointment, and he could tell by Reilly’s frustrated expression that she felt the same way. ‘Thanks for trying anyway, I appreciate that.’

‘I’m only sorry I couldn’t put your mind at ease. But Chris, you need to get this looked at; you can’t ignore it indefinitely.’

‘You’re right,’ he conceded. ‘Although coming from someone who’s just skipped out of hospital against doctor’s orders …’

She gave a weak smile. ‘That’s different, we’ve got a lot to do. And speaking of which,’ she stood up, ‘thanks for babysitting me this morning, but you need to go away now and let me get some work done. I need to read through this latest batch of results and see if I can—’

‘Can’t do that, I’m afraid.’
Chris folded the papers and slipped them in his pocket.

She looked at him sharply. ‘What?’

‘Reilly, it might have been water off a duck’s back to you, but a major crime was committed here today,’ he explained. ‘And we need to debrief you.’

‘We?’

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door.

Kennedy poked his head round the door and grinned sheepishly. ‘We ready? I’m looking forward to this.’