UNSEEN (24 page)

Agent Blake lifted his chin. "Oh, he's in there."

Angela strolled over to the car and looked down into the passenger's seat. Its occupant was curled down over the stick shift with his back to her, but she recognized his clothing. It was the young man who’d come to Holly’s apartment with Jake Paris. Angela rapped on the side of the car.

Dan flew up to a sitting position. "Oh, hey. I didn't see you there. I was looking for change, you know, for the poor."

"
You're Jake's friend, right?"

He looked up sheepishly. "Yes?"

"
Did you come with Holly Paris?"

"
Yeah. She has an appointment."

"
And you're just innocently waiting for her, doubled over in the front seat, hiding from the authorities?"

"
Well when you put it like THAT it sounds suspicious."

"
It is suspicious." She groped her memory for his name. "Dan, is it?"

"
Yeah."

"
Did Holly tell you why she’s here, Dan?"

"
I told you."

"
Did she have a weapon on her?"

"
No, not that I know of. Why would she?"

"
How was she acting? Was she in an agitated state?"

"
That's the only state she's ever in. Truth be told, I think she is the governor of that state."

Angela maintained a neutral expression. "Did she leave you any instructions?"

"
Yeah, wait in the car and don't say anything that would indict her with the federal government. I said I'm all over that first one, but you might be in trouble if they start sliding bamboo shoots under my fingernails. I'm delicate."

"
You do realize it’s a crime to mislead a federal officer?"

"
I'm being straight with you. I don't know anything. She's here for an appointment, and I'm waiting for her. When I saw you guys, I don't know—I guess I got weirded out."

"
And why is that? Would it have anything to do with the fact that her appointment is at the workplace of a suspected serial killer—a man she may believe is holding her son with the intention of killing him?"

Dan's jaw dropped. It was obvious he was unaware of the connection. "Is it—Amber’s boyfriend? He works here? Are you kidding me?"

"
You were not aware of this?"

"
No," he said in utter shock.

"
Did Holly know?"

"
If she did, she didn't tell me about it."

"
Was she acting suspicious?"

"
She always acts suspicious."

"
Did she tell you her reasons for coming to this appointment during this crisis with her son?"

"
She hinted at it being a checkup for, I don’t know, something serious like cancer or something. I figured that made sense."

Health centers did do checks for ovarian cancer—and that would certainly be a valid, though unlikely, reason for her to come to the clinic while her son was still being held by a known murderer... But the pieces didn't quite slide together. There was something else going on, something Dan was probably oblivious to. He didn't strike her as the type who could hide anything.

"
All right, Dan. Thank you. We will be speaking to Miss Paris so she may be awhile."

"
Can I come in?" He gripped the door handle.

"
No. Stay put. If I see you anywhere near that building, I'll arrest you for obstruction. Do you understand?"

His fingers slid off the handle. "I'll just wait here then."

She left Dan and joined the other officers on the sidewalk. Perez had stood close enough to hear the conversation, but she brought the others up to speed with one sentence. "Holly Paris claims to be here for some kind of cancer screening. Her friend Dan believes she is unaware of the connection between Gary Carter and the clinic."

They all acknowledge her assessment.

"
Let's go find out what’s really going on."

Chapter 34

Gary Carter's office looked official with its L-shaped chestnut desk, black leather office chair, and cushioned visitor chairs. Potted plants adorned chestnut cabinets in each rear corner, and the walls were sparsely decorated with more of the same kind of paintings found in the rest of the building. This surprised Holly. Why would he choose the same style of painting for his office? They had the same outdoor Maine theme with the same heavy brush strokes, the same gold-spec frames. Was Gary responsible for choosing the décor of the clinic? Did he run it?

If he was the killer, this would make sense. He had pursued a career that allowed him to be a gatekeeper of life, deciding which mothers were fit to have children, and which should be pressured to abort. But running an abortion clinic wasn't enough for him; he had taken his ideology to the furthest extreme. He wasn't content to spare unborn children a life of hardship and pain; he was driven to randomly select living children to rescue from a life of despair, the life he himself was forced to live. But the children were not random. She had come here six years ago and rejected this clinic’s advice to abort her baby. Gary Carter must not have been content with that. Too many mothers must have slipped through his fingers. Too many babies had lived to suffer at the hands of their unfit mothers. It must have eaten at his insides. If his whole identity was locked into saving babies from a long life of pain, it had to kill him when they slipped through his fingers.

So what was his role at this clinic, Holly wondered, doctor or administrator? Was he directly responsible for executing the procedure that cut the babies from their mother's womb, or did he just facilitate it? Her time was terribly short, but she couldn't leave without knowing.

Frantically she searched the wall behind his desk and found his medical diploma. There it was. Gary Earl Carter, M.D. Graduate of Tames School of Medicine. How nice. He burned his way through some backwoods medical school and found a place to nest here in Sunbury where he could prey on young women in crisis, all on the government's coin. Her stomach turned at the thought of how many unsuspecting young girls had put themselves in his hands, believing he was helping them out of a sense of compassion, when secretly he hated them.

She looked at the file cabinets on the right wall. What was in those cabinets? And why did he want to torch them? Did they contain evidence of malpractice? Would she be helping him escape prosecution for the crimes he had committed?

Was she willing to sacrifice the well-being of other children to save her own? She wished she had just mindlessly done the deed. At least then she would have been oblivious to her crime. But was it too late? She could slide the drawer open and drop the bomb in without looking. She didn't have to carry the guilt of knowing what or whom she had sacrificed to save her child.

She took the bomb out of her purse, dropped to her knees in front of the bottom right drawer, and clasped the handle. But she couldn't bring herself to open it. A war raged in her heart. But if she did not do this horrible thing, he had promised to kill her son. Her son's life was sitting on a pile of explosives, and her finger was on the button. But she couldn't do it without knowing.

She yanked the drawer open and rifled through the paperwork. The folders inside contained financial records for the clinic. There were no documents for patients. She opened the next drawer. It was filled with official looking government paperwork. Again, nothing to do with patients. The top drawer had more of the same. Did he want to destroy the financial history of the clinic? Maybe this wasn’t about the children at all. She pushed the top two drawers closed and pulled all the folders in the bottom drawer to the front.

The bomb was small, and the cabinet made of metal. It was a trade, financial records for the life of her son. She could live with that. She placed the bomb near the rear wall of the drawer, pushed the folders back into place, and shut the cabinet.

Chapter 35

Angela Grant moved briskly down the hall with the receptionist in hot pursuit.

"
Is this the one?" she said, pointing to the approaching doorway of examination room A.

"
No, she’s in the next one.”

Angela turned the corner. "Down here?" she said.

"
Yes, ma'am. Halfway down on the right."

Angela stepped into the examination room and looked around. "This is the room?"

"
Yes," said the receptionist pushing in behind her. "The nurse said she left her in room B."

"
Well.” She shot the woman an accusing look. "She's not here now. I want the building shut down. No one leaves without my authorization."

"
I'll have to get Dr. Page to approve this."

"
You call whoever you want, but I have a warrant to search these premises and detain any individuals I believe are suspect in this investigation. If you allow Miss Paris to leave this property, I will hold you personally responsible. Got it?"

The woman looked as if she might pass out. "O- okay." she stammered. "I'll see what I can do." She started to exit the room—then screamed.

There was another scream from the hallway. Angela pushed past the receptionist and unstrapped the revolver on her belt.

Holly stood in the hallway squeezing her purse to her chest. Her irises floated in a sea of white.

Angela released her grip on the revolver. "Miss Paris, what are you doing in the hall?"

"
I had to pee," she squeaked. "I didn't want to have an exam with a full bladder, so I went to look for the bathroom. Why is everyone freaking out?"

The receptionist was clutching her chest, so Angela put a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you go sit down, and tell Agent Perez we found Miss Paris."

The woman walked away, looking like she just stepped off a fair ride.

Holly looked rattled as well. Her brow and top lip were noticeably moist and her body quaked with subtle tremors.

"
Are you all right, Miss Paris?"

"
Y- yes." she said. "Why?"

"
You're sweating and trembling."

"
She scared me half to death!"

"
Being startled doesn't make a person sweat."

"
Yeah—well—I- I'm so nervous about the exam. I don't think I can go through with it."

Agent Grant watched her closely. Either Holly was telling the truth, or she was an excellent actress. Her neck muscles and eyebrows tightened when she said the word exam which meant the emotion attached to that word was real. She was not happy about taking this exam, but was that the only reason for her heightened emotional state?

"
Come in and have a seat, Holly." Angela moved to the side and let Holly go in and sit down on a chair in the exam room.

"
Why are you here?" Holly asked.

This was Angela's opportunity to check for motive. If Holly knew Gary's office was in the clinic, she would have no choice but to lie. Admitting that she knew this, but had still come, would be highly suspicious. She had to know that. If she was truly unaware of the connection between Gary and the clinic, her first and uncontrollable response would be shock.

Angela chose her words carefully. "We believe Gabe’s kidnapper works in this clinic. We are here to search his office."

There was no shock, not even feigned shock. Holly just looked puzzled.

"
Holly?"