"Darling Eve, that's so touching. And all the while I thought it was my coffee connection."
Love could swamp her at the oddest times, she realized. "That didn't hurt. Tomorrow, you do whatever it is you do to zap it back out and close it down. And next time you…Louise. Oh Christ. Head to the Drake! Head there now! Damn it, how did this slip by us?"
He punched up speed, clipped the curb at the corner. "You think they'll go after her?"
"They took out Jan. They can't let Louise talk." Ignoring jams and privacy, she used the car 'link and tagged Feeney on his communicator.
"Get to the Drake," she told him. "Get to Louise. I'm on my way, ETA five minutes. They'll go for her, Feeney. They've got to go for her. She had data."
"We'll head out. She's under guard, Dallas."
"It won't matter. The uniform won't question a doctor. Contact him, Feeney, tell him not to let anyone in that room."
"Confirmed. Our ETA fifteen minutes."
"We'll be there in two," Roarke promised her as he flew across town. "Waverly?"
"Current president of AMA, chief of surgery, organ specialist, board member. Affiliated with several top-level centers worldwide." She slapped a hand on the dash to keep her balance when he swung into the garage. "Cagney—he's her uncle, but he's chief of staff, chairman, and one of the most respected surgeons in the country. Hans Vanderhaven, international connections. God knows where he is right now. If not them, there are others who can walk right in and get to her without anyone blinking twice. There must be a dozen ways to off a patient, then cover the tracks."
She sprang out of the car, raced for the elevator. "They don't know she's talked to me. She's smart enough to keep that to herself, maybe to play dumb if anybody tries to pump her. But they might have gotten something out of Jan before they killed her. They've got to know by now she has data on the calls, asked questions, made accusations."
She watched the numbers light above the door, willed them to hurry.
"They'd wait until the floor was quiet, until the change of shifts, most likely."
"We won't be too late," she promised herself, and sprang out of the elevator the moment the doors opened.
"Miss!" A nurse came scrambling around the desk as Eve rushed by. "Miss, you're required to check in at the desk. You're not authorized." Racing after them, she dragged out her beeper and called security.
"Where's the uniform assigned to this door?" Eve demanded, shoving and finding the door itself secured.
"I don't know." Grim-faced, the nurse moved over to block them from the door. "This is a family or authorized personnel only area."
"Unlock this door."
"I will not. I've called security. The patient in this room is not to be disturbed as per doctor's orders. I'll have to ask you to leave."
"Go ahead and ask." Rearing back, Eve broke the door open with two vicious kicks. Her clutch piece seemed to leap into her hand as she ran through. "Oh God, goddamn."
The bed was empty.
The nurse sputtered when Eve whirled on her, grabbed her by the collar of her pale peach uniform smock. "Where's Louise?"
"I—I don't know. She's supposed to be here. She was logged out as not to disturb when I came on shift twenty minutes ago."
"Eve. Here's your uniform."
Roarke was crouched on the other side of the bed, testing the unconscious cop's pulse. "He's alive, sedated heavily I'd say."
"Which doctor logged her as not to be disturbed?"
"Her attending. Dr. Waverly."
"Do something for that uniform," she ordered the nurse. "Cops will be here in ten minutes. I want you to order this building sealed, all exits."
"I don't have the authority."
"Do it!" Eve repeated. She spun on her heel. "Organ wing, best guess. We'll have to separate when we get there. We can't cover the whole wing in time unless we do."