Justice by Oleander - 2012 Watty Awards, Finalist

Chapter 17

© Carey MacLean, 2012

Chapter 17

They had managed to wean out all of the women at Xavier’s request and put those files off to the side, ready to be returned to the Chief before they left.  After that was done, they had the matter of sifting through every MD’s employee files and remove any that hadn’t listed any cardiovascular conditions.

“What now?”  Mika asked him.

She couldn’t believe how one crime made out to look like all of hers had graced her with freedom beyond her imagination.  Of course she was partially remorseful for what she had done.  She had taken lives and for that she’d always have remorse.  For the demons she rid the world of, she would never feel guilty.  The only thing she was trying to figure out was who had assumed her murderous duties.  Not one but two people had now died before she could get to them.  If Xavier and his team, along with her help, didn’t tailor down their suspects’ list, they’d be in hot water.  Make that boiling – after thirteen victims, the temperature of that water was rising substantially.

“Now, we go home,” he grabbed his papers and they shoved the files they needed to keep in a separate box and walked them to the Chief’s office.

“Already done?”  He asked and then his face shrunk in confusion.  “Hadn’t I left you with one box?”

“This box you can return to your files,” Mika dropped it and a little over half of what he had originally brought them earlier onto his desk.

“These ones, I’m going to need to take a more in-depth look,” Xavier informed him.

The Chief nodded.

“I’ll keep those in my cabinet, under combination.  Come see me when you get in.  I suspect that you’re okay with Dr. Stafford as your chaperon?”  The Chief asked him.

“Yes, Sir,” Xavier looked over at Mika and gave her a small smile.  “She’s been great,” and his smile widened into a full out grin.  Mika couldn’t hold back a smile of her own and threw in a blush to go along with it.

“Good to hear, Detective.  We’ll see you tomorrow,” he eyed both Mika and Xavier.

“Thank you,” Xavier walked up to the Chief and shook his hand.

The following morning, Mika had left for the hospital while Xavier headed to the office, stating that he had to brief the Captain on yesterday’s developments before the man blew a gasket.  What he had neglected to tell Mika was that he had received a call of an unknown source – one that stated that they were barking at the wrong tree where Doctor Mark was concerned.

He was proven right when he walked through the doors at the precinct and Connor was sitting at his desk waiting for him.

“We have to go,” he told Detective Ryans.

“What’s going on?”

“We have another one,” Connor divulged.

“What?”

“The call you had wasn’t a hoax.  They found Mark Sutter in a hotel room this morning,” Connor continued.  “Same MO, same everything but one exception.”

“What’s that?”  Xavier inquired.

“The guy’s not married.”

News was making its way around the hospital staff rather quickly as whispers of Doctor Sutter being found murdered floated about.  As happy she was free of the ravenous bastard, Mika certainly didn’t see that one coming.  A sense of unease filled her to the brim.  She was beginning to think that whoever was exacting their revenge on these men had a personal vendetta that revolved around her.  Mika wasn’t enjoying the fact that despite she was no longer the one doing the killing that she was still at the center of the action.  And that was too close for comfort.