Page 96 of Every Last One
“That’s right. We’re running close to the cutoff point, but if she’s safe, I’d like to call the donor hospital and get her prepped for surgery.”
“Give me a minute.” Sandra went over to Officer Willis in the doorway for a status update on the fourth floor, just as a man’s voice came over his radio.
“Officer Willis?”
“Go ahead, this is Willis.”
“We have a situation down here on the fourth with Tom Sparling. That negotiation woman still with you?”
Sandra grabbed Willis’s radio. “This is Special Agent Vos,” she said, speaking up for herself.
“Yeah, well, Tom Sparling’s saying he’s not leaving the Chapman room, and he’ll only talk to you. Get down here. Willis, you are to accompany her. Kemp can stay with everyone until the situation is all cleared.”
Sandra was looking at Dr. Cowan as the news came in.
Willis snatched his radio back from Sandra. “You might have heard there’s a crime scene up here. And a body. Kemp can’t cover it all.”
There was a groan. “Very well. Vos, get down here.”
“The elevators available yet?” Willis asked.
“Not yet.”
Willis handed her the keycard for the stairwell, and Sandra returned to Dr. Cowan. “I’m going to do all I can to save that little girl, so you can take it from there.”
The doctor nodded, and Sandra headed for the stairwell. She jogged down the four flights, savoring the spike in her heart rate. The journey to the fourth at a clip was giving her more of a cardio workout than hauling the backpack up eight levels had.
She stopped at the door for the fourth level and took a few deep breaths. She must look frightening. Wiping her face with a dry tissue was better than nothing, but the blood remainedcaked to her skin as a macabre mask. Looking down, she had some of Mindy’s blood on her shirt. But, oh well, they’d be getting her the way they got her. There wasn’t any time to waste if that little girl’s life was going to be saved.
She hurried past the nurses’ station, happy to see that Jordon Maddox was no longer there. He must be on the way to the operating room for surgery. The same should apply for Nurse Mahoney.
The three ERT officers were outside Phoebe’s room, positioned off to the side, likely in case Sparling fired through the glass. Sandra approached and stayed to one end.
“I’m here, Tom. It’s Special Agent Vos.” A formal introduction to make sure Tom recognized her authority and the seriousness of the situation. “Tom, you said you wanted to talk to me. Well, I’m here.”
“Make the men with the guns go away,” Tom said back.
“You know I can’t do that, and you know why. There’s a little girl in there, Tom.”
“I won’t hurt her.”
“But you already are. She is scheduled for a heart transplant soon. Without that heart, she will die.” Sandra didn’t even know if that could still happen tonight, or if the poor child would need to return to the waiting list.
There were a few beats of silence. “Her blood will be on this hospital.”
“No!” a woman cried out, and Sandra assumed it was Gail.
“Maybe the hospital will start to listen and be taught a lesson. They’d finally know what they do to people.”
Sandra didn’t care for how Tom spoke of Phoebe as a pawn he was willing to sacrifice to strengthen his statement. “She’s innocent, Tom. She wants the chance to grow up, make friends, get married, findhersoulmate.”
“Don’t bring my dead wife into this.”
“Didn’t you? That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Sure, having the money to pay off her medical bills was a side venture. But today was motivated by the love you have for your late wife. You did this for her. Or am I wrong?”
There was silence.
“Please, Tom. That little girl is only four years old. Her name is Phoebe, and she didn’t take your wife from you. Neither did her mother or Nurse Torres.”
