“No, it was just the CEOs of each company meeting with the president of the company,” he tells her.
“Thanks, Frankie. I appreciate you looking into that for me. Anything on Kim?”
“No,” he says, sounding deflated by the question.
“Shit,” she says, then adds, “We will find her Frankie.”
“I know, Mya. I just hope we find her soon,” he says.
“Me too,” she tells him quietly before ending the call.
“Is Kim your missing colleague? What happened?” I ask.
“Yeah. As far as we can tell, she made it home after a run at the park with some other colleagues, but when another of our colleagues got to her house to pick her up, she wasn’t there. Her car, purse, and keys were, but she wasn’t. Her cell phone was turned off so there’s no way to locate her. She just disappeared,” she whispers, and my heart constricts at the pain in her voice.
“I know you all will find her, and I’m sure you're looking at everything you can,” I tell her, showing my support.
“We are. I checked all the airports, trains, and bus stations, plus called all the taxi companies, and requested the Uber and Lyft reports. Nothing. The team is combing through all our past cases, and I’m hoping they find something that will lead us to where Kim might be,” she offers up.
I can’t see anything that they are missing, and they all seem to be doing everything they can. So to lighten up the conversation, I ask her, “So your first name is Mya?” I really like the sound of her name as I roll it around in my head.
“Yes,” she says simply.
“You can call me Shane,” I tell her as we pull into the hospital parking lot and I find a space to park in.
We both get out of the car and meet at the back of the car. As we walk across the parking lot, I can feel a magnetic pull to her. I don’t know why this woman affects me so much, but I find it so cute how I have to look down at her. She doesn’t say anything as we make our way inside the elevator, and I wonder if she feels the same pull. I press the button, waiting for it to come to the first level. When the doors open, we both step in, and I press the top floor where the administration is located.
As soon as the doors close, the energy buzzes, and I can feel the electrical current zapping between the two of us. I can hear Mya take a sharp breath, and I want nothing more than to slam my lips on hers and feel how soft they really are. I want to taste her as our tongues battle for control.
Before I can act on my desire, the elevator door opens, and Mya quickly steps off. We walk out of the elevator and into a reception area.
“Good morning, how can I help you?” the receptionist asks.
“I’m Detective Maguire from the Homicide Division, and this is Agent Morgan from the FBI, we need to see the Director, please.” I introduce us, as we both hold our badges up.
“Oh, wow, just a moment,” she says, picking up the phone to make a call.
Mya and I walk around the reception area, taking in all the white furniture, green plants, and white walls. This area looks very clinical. I would expect it downstairs, and upstairs to feel a little homier.
The Director’s office door opens, and out walks a man, tall with a slim build, salt and pepper hair, dressed in a suit. If I had to guess, I would say this man is in his late fifties.
“Detective Maguire, Agent Morgan,” he calls out in greeting, “I’m Director Noah Fields, what can I do for you today?”
“Do you have a few minutes? I have some questions that I think only you can help with,” I say to him.
“Sure, come on in,” he tells us both as he holds the door open for us to enter his office.
At a quick glance, his office is huge. He has one wall of glass windows overlooking the City of Boston. He has a wall of shelves with nothing but books and a seating area in front of it.
On the opposite side of the room, against the wall, is a credenza with several filing drawers and a bookshelf attached to the top of it with pictures of his family, his degrees, and medical journals. In front of that is his massive wooden desk, with his computer, monitors, nameplate, and phone on top. In front of the desk are two chairs that he is showing us to.
Mya and I both take a seat, and Director Fields asks, “So, what can I help you with?”
“We need to know if you are able to account for all your NMBAs?”
“Of course, we can account for all our medications,” he says defensively.
“Sir, I’m sure you can, however, I don’t need to know about the other medications, just the NMBAs,” I tell him politely.
“What is this about?” he asks, sounding annoyed that we are even here.
“Someone is using NMBAs to paralyze victims before killing them, and I need to know if you are missing any from this hospital,” I tell him, slowly starting to lose my patience, but still trying to be nice.
I watch as his face goes pale at the news, then he picks up the phone. “Gretchen, can you tell me if your department is missing any NMBAs?”
“That’s right. I need to know if you can account for all of your stock?”
“Yes, please send the report up to me as soon as possible,” he says before hanging up.
“My pharmacy director will do an audit and then send the report up to me. Would you like me to send it over to you?”
“That would be greatly appreciated,” I tell him, handing him my card with my email address on it.
“She should have the report to me in a couple of hours.”
“Perfect, we will be waiting for it. Thank you for your time,” I tell him, as Mya, and I stand up and walk out of the office.
I hit the button on the elevator, and Mya whispers, “He is hiding something, but I don’t believe it has anything to do with the drugs. The man looked genuinely surprised that we were here for that.”
