Page 71 of Crow's Haven
I’m still sitting there an hour later when Evan and Levi roll up to the clubhouse with my boys bouncing excitedly in the back seat of Evan’s truck, their voices spilling out the open windows, loud and full of excitement. Chase and Scout burst out the second the doors open, racing towards me with huge grins.
I come to my feet and stoop down to greet them, feeling truly happy for the first time today.
“Dad!” Scout shouts, leaping up into my arms as Chase brings up the rear, practically vibrating with energy. “We went canoeing, and Levi showed us how to make a fire!”
Chase nods eagerly. “We roasted hot dogs, and Evan took us hiking down by the creek. We saw fish and frogs, and Scout caught a cricket.”
Their joy is infectious, easing some of the heavy ache in my chest. I crouch down, wrapping an arm around each of my boys. “Sounds like you two had a pretty awesome time.”
“It was the best!” Chase confirms, eyes wide. “We even found more rocks for Ladybug.”
Scout pulls something out of his pocket, dropping a few small stones into my palm. “Levi said we can make a ladybug ring for her! It’s gonna be real pretty. Where is she?”
I hate lying to my boys again, but I have to do it. “You know how her uncle got sick, so she had to go look after him? He’s not well again, so she’s gonna have to be in LA for a few days but she’ll be back by the weekend.”
It hurts to promise them something that I honestly don’t know will happen. But I have to hope.
“C’mon, let’s go home. You’ll not be wanting ice cream for dessert if you’ve been eating hot dogs all day,” I say.
Scout giggles, “I always got room in my belly for ice cream.”
“Me too!” Chase agrees.
Chapter 23
Sharon
I’m jolted from my sleep in the wee hours of the morning by a gentle knock at my door. “Ms. Carlin, it’s Agent Dawson. We need to talk to you.”
Bolting upright from my restless sleep, I answer, “Give me a minute to get dressed and I’ll be right out.”
My phone is also buzzing. I grab it and see a message from Agent Harper’s number flashing across the screen. She’s telling me that she needs my help with the case and to get with Dawson to find out more information.
I pull on the clothing I wore yesterday and nervously finger-comb my hair, throwing it up into a messy bun before walking out to the living room. I can’t imagine what they want from me in these predawn hours. The excitement and anxiety churning in my gut tell me it’s something big.
I find four agents standing around waiting for me. Looking from one to the other of them, I ask, “What’s this about? I got a message from Agent Harper alerting me that you need my help.”
Agent Dawson steps forward, giving me an assessing gaze. “That would be correct, Ms. Carlin,” her voice is calm but charged with urgency. “Our chain of command is requesting your assistance this morning. We’ve secured two search warrants. One is for the hospital med room and surrounding area, and the other is for the pharmaceutical company’stransport truck scheduled to pick up the IV bags this morning. We need you at the hospital immediately to guide our team to the exact location.”
“It should be easy enough to find. But why do you need me?”
She glances at the other agents before responding, “The search warrant is very narrowly written. We’re allowed to search the executive offices and seek out and inspect the medication storage room, carts, and cabinets only. The judge didn’t give us permission to give the entire hospital a proper shakedown.”
Understanding clicks into place in my mind. “That makes perfect sense. Twin Rivers Medical Center is huge. It would take multiple teams of agents days to search every room. But I’ve been terminated, my staff badge doesn’t work. I’ll not be able to get into the storage rooms.”
“We can use reasonable suspicion if you identify areas that aren’t on the warrant.”
“Of course,” I say firmly, pushing down my nerves. “I’ll show you exactly where the IV bags are stored on each floor. If we don’t find them there, that means they’ve been moved.”
“Good,” Dawson replies with brisk authority. “I’ll be escorting you. The others have to move swiftly to intercept the pharmaceutical company’s truck and secure that evidence before they remove it. Are you ready?”
“Yes, I’m ready,” I affirm, determination steadying my voice even as adrenaline floods my veins.
Minutes later, I’m climbing into an unmarked black SUV parked quietly outside the safe house. Agent Dawson gets into the passenger seat and another agent slides behind the wheel.She glances back and nods silently as we pull out, navigating quickly through the darkened streets towards the hospital I used to love working at. My fingers curl tightly in my lap, and I stare out at familiar buildings rushing by. I’m extremely conflicted. Part of me wants to get involved, find the contaminated IV bags and put this whole mess behind me. Another part of me doesn’t want to go back to Twin Rivers Medical Center, to all the cold stares and looks of disapproval. I’m going to snatch up all my courage and do this though because it’s the only way to get my life back.
When we arrive, the hospital is eerily quiet, because it’s four in the morning and shift change isn’t until seven. Day shift employees won’t start showing up until around six-thirty.
Instead of going into the hospital, Agent Dawson takes me to a DOJ van parked across the street. When the door slides open, I see they’re running some kind of stealth operation inside. We climb inside, and I see Agent Harper and Agent Martin inside.
