Page 30 of Iron Will

“That’s right.” I almost have to laugh at the memory. “It was the day after Paisley was brought in. He said they wanted to take her home, and the nurses should give him her painkillers so he could give it to her himself. To ‘save money’.”

“He said that?” Despite how angry Rourke is, this news seems to pull him back into the present a little. He actually snorts at my words. “That guy’s ballsy as well as stupid as shit, I’ll give him that.”

“Do you think he wanted the for himself?” I ask. “Or to sell?”

“To sell, most likely,” he growls. “From what I hear, he’s the kind of guy who’s always looking for anything he can beg, borrow or steal and make a profit on. Drugs would be an easy first choice. And what better place but a hospital…” Rourke trails off. “Shit,” he mutters.

“What?”

“I think I have an idea.” Rourke says slowly, his brow furrowing. “Ya know, I saw Mickey here the other day, fiddling with a locked door. Trying to get it open. At the time I didn’t know what he was tryin’ to pull. But now I’m guessin’ he was looking for shit to steal.”

I look at him, stupefied. “Here at the hospital? Are you serious?” God, what a total dirtbag this guy is. “I wish we could catch him in the act,” I say with a sigh of frustration. “That would be the perfect excuse to get him banned from here.”

“Yeah,” he says. “Exactly.”

“What?”

For the first time since I told him about Paisley’s bruise, the hint of a grin plays across Rourke’s face.

“We catch him in the act,” he says simply. “Or rather, we set him up so that the right people catch him. We get him not just banned from the hospital. If we play our cards right, we get him out of the picture completely. At least for a few days, and maybe even longer.”

* * *

“You can’t be serious!”I protest after Rourke has explained his plan that’s started to form in his head.

“Why not?” he shrugs. “You don’t want me to give him a beatdown. This is a way to get him out of the picture for a while.”

“But it’s… it’s crazy!”

“What’s crazy about it?” he challenges me. “This is a hospital. There’s drugs all over the goddamn place. All we gotta do is make it easy for Mickey to get caught in the act trying to steal some. He gets hauled off, spends a few days in the slammer waiting for charges. Assuming no one posts bail, he’s out of Bethany’s hair. And away from Paisley.”

“But I don’t see how we actually make it work.”

“It can’t be that complicated,” he counters. “We just gotta lead the dipshit to water, and he’ll drink, right? Ain’t no way a loser like Mickey who’s down on his luck and lookin’ for a quick way to make a buck is gonna resist a golden opportunity that’s right in front of him.”

“It’s not that simple. There’s no real way he could get into the pharmacy. And all of the med cabinets and closets in the hospital are locked. Only authorized people have access.”

“Right. So your job is to figure out how to get one unlocked, so Mickey can get caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I can take care of gettin’ him caught.”

“Stop mixing metaphors,” I retort. “AndallI have to do is make sure the med cabinet is unlocked?”

“You think you can handle it?” He leans forward, his dark eyes locking on mine.

“How?” I ask.

“You tell me.”

I blink, and sit back in my chair, thinking.

“I don’t know that I can,” I say slowly. “Only medical staff have access to the Pyxis machine that dispenses meds. A nurse or doctor has to log in with their credentials and input the patient before they can get drugs out. As a social worker, I don’t have authorization. The only way I can think of to trap Mickey would be to make it easy for him to steal someone else’s credentials and clear out the machine.”

“So, let’s do that.”

“It’s not that simple,” I protest. “Even if he was caught red-handed, the person whose credentials he took would register as having unlocked the machine. They would be immediately under suspicion, either for being involved or for failing to keep track of their ID.” I shake my head. “I can’t put any of the hospital employees at risk like that. I think we have to think of another way.”

Rourke frowns, then nods. “Okay. I see your point. So, there’s gotta be something else he can steal around here that’d be easier to get at.”

“I mean, technically, there’s plenty of stuff, if you’re looking. But, how would we trick him into doing it? And doesn’t that mean we have to let him actuallystealsomething?” I fret. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that. Supposing he gets away?”

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