Rosa prodded Cael on his arm, and he gave a start. Shit.
“Sorry, Rosa.”
“We’re here.”
She motioned to the main hospital entrance, and Cael hopped to it. Time to get to work. Berating himself for his poor romantic choices would have to wait until later.
They headed through the glass doors to the reception area and spoke quietly to one of the nurses.
“Agent Cael Maddock from the THIRDS Unit Alpha and Agent Rosa Santiago.”
“Yes, of course.”
The nurse quickly got to her feet and spoke quietly to her coworker before motioning for them to follow. They followed her through the hospital wings toward the ICU and down another wing containing only offices. At the entrance was a medium-sized reception area with three nurses.
“I’ll leave you to it, Agents.”
The nurse excused herself, and Cael frowned. He looked over at the nurses by the desk, who were chatting as if nothing was happening. The corridor was empty. No flurry of activity, no agents, no CSIs coming and going. Rosa must have been thinking the same, because she turned to him with a questioning look.
Cael shrugged, and they headed over to the nurses’ station, showed their badges, and introduced themselves. One nurse pointed to one of the open offices. Did they know one of their coworkers had just died? Why was everyone so… blasé?
“This is fucking weird,” Rosa whispered as they walked into the doctor’s office. Cael stilled.
“Where is everyone?” The only occupant was the dead body lying on the floor in the middle of the room.
Hudson and Nina were always the first ones on scene, with a long line of CSIs trailing behind them. They should have arrived long before Cael and Rosa. He tapped his earpiece and asked Lisa, Unit Alpha’s receptionist, to patch him through to Hudson. There was no answer from him or Nina. That was odd.
“Agents?”
Cael turned in the direction of the soft voice and found a blond male Human nurse with pale blue eyes, his mouth covered by a surgical mask. His hospital ID said his name was Jude Russell.
“What can I do for you?” Cael asked.
“I’ve been instructed to inform you that your team has been momentarily detained. They should arrive shortly.”
Cael nodded, waiting for the nurse to leave before turning to Rosa with a frown.
“Why wouldn’t Hudson or Nina call us?”
“I don’t like this.” Rosa walked around the body and crouched down, reading the doctor’s ID. “Dr. Ward. Why does that name sound familiar?”
“Shit. Dr. Ward?” Cael crouched down beside Rosa. “This is the doctor that treated Ash when he was shot. He was also Sloane’s doctor when he was brought in after the explosion.”
“Carajo.”
“Yeah.” Cael looked the body over. “Male wolf Therian. Looks to be in his mid to late thirties.”
Rosa took notes on her tablet, and Cael pulled a pair of examiner’s gloves from his pocket. He tugged them on as he studied Ward. “We’ll need Hudson to confirm, but from the looks of him, I’d say he hasn’t been dead long. About an hour at most.”
“I don’t see any signs of a homicide.” Rosa used her pen to push open the sides of the doctor’s coat. “No blood, bruising, or wounds.”
Cael very gently placed his hands on the doctor’s head, feeling around and under. “No lacerations or bumps. Strange, considering he’s on the floor.”
“Heart attack?” Rosa asked.
None of this was sitting well with him. He removed his hand from Ward’s head when he noticed a tiny purplish blue blemish behind his earlobe. “I found something.” He leaned in for a closer look. “I’ve got an entry point. He was injected with something.” Damn it. Where the hell was Hudson? Cael was about to pull back when he noticed something white under the doctor’s desk.
Rosa followed his line of vision. “What is it?”