The Girl Who Disappeared Twice (Forensic Instincts 1)

He pulled out his staple gun and fired a staple directly into the jacketed wire. Ryan waited—one minute, then two. After five minutes had passed, he whipped out his cell phone and called the head nurse’s station.

“Yes?” she answered in a frazzled voice.

“Hey,” Ryan greeted her. “This is the security company. Are you having a problem with your closed-circuit TV?”

“How did you know? Our bank of monitors just became wavy and full of static. We can’t see much of anything.”

“The system monitors itself for trouble, and a message popped up in our office. You’re a medical facility, so you’re a priority customer. Would you like me to drive over now and take care of it?”

“Oh, God, yes.” The nurse sounded as if she were being thrown a lifeline. “Thank you so much.”

“Not a problem. Who should I ask for?”

“Jeri Koehler. That’s me. I’m the head nurse here.”

“Okay, Jeri, you hang tight,” Ryan said in a reassuring tone. “I’ll be there within the hour.”

He hung up, placed his tools in his toolbox and left the building, strolling across the grounds and walking out the main gate.

Reaching his van, he climbed into the back and settled down. He opened the brown bag that was waiting for him, and helped himself to the protein bar and coffee he’d bought himself for breakfast. While he was eating, he checked in with the office, let them know that phase one was complete.

A half hour later, he changed into a work shirt—making sure to leave the top few buttons undone—got out of the back of the van, opened the driver’s door and sat down behind the wheel.

He drove through the front gates and parked in the main parking lot. Checking in at the front desk was a snap.

To say that Head Nurse Koehler was happy to see him would be a gross understatement. She visibly released a breath of sheer relief when he walked over. A few of the other nurses poked Jeri, asking who the hot guy was, in low undertones that Ryan wasn’t supposed to hear. She answered in a no-nonsense voice that said he was here to fix their video system, and to save their flirtations for later. Then, she showed Ryan the problem and headed off to tend to a pressing medical situation.

Ryan unpacked a few things and dismantled the monitors, listening as the other nurses muttered under their breath about Nurse Koehler. He chuckled a few times, commiserating with them about uptight supervisors and turning on the charm that came so naturally to him and that he was careful to use to his advantage in situations such as this one.

He spent just enough time searching for the problem, before announcing that he needed to go down to the basement to locate the source of the weak signal. With a wink, he promised to be back ASAP.

Once downstairs, Ryan began to repair the cable he’d sabotaged an hour ago—but with modifications. He inserted a splitter, routing the second video line to his personally designed “black box”—a computer capable of streaming the closed-circuit video signal over the internet and directly to the Forensic Instincts office.

Task completed.

Ryan used his Android phone to remotely access the brownstone’s video server, checking to see if his handiwork had been successful.

A nod of self-congratulations. His black box was sending the video perfectly.

Job done. He was a genius.

Ryan packed up and headed upstairs and back to the nurses’ station.

“Hi, ladies,” he greeted the nurses, who were still hanging around, waiting for his return. “I made a repair, but unfortunately, it’s only temporary. I’ll need to order a part and come back in a few days to install it. In the meantime, the good news is, you’re back in business.”

“Thank you so much,” one of them said gratefully. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Glad to be of service.” Ryan gave her a broad smile, again cranking up the charm. “Now I’ll just need a few minutes to reassemble your monitors and clean up the mess I left you.”

“Take your time.”

Ryan did, taking as much time as he could, and chatting with the nurses as he worked.

“I noticed your gardens when I drove in,” he commented. “They’re pretty impressive. My mother would be jealous.”

“Yes, our patients love to sit out there and enjoy them,” a young, pretty, blonde nurse’s aide supplied.

“I figured as much.” Ryan carefully fitted one of the monitors in place. “Do they get to go out there a lot?”