Edge of Mercy (A Kate Reid Novel Book 11), Robin Mahle [freenovel24 .txt] 📗

again with Nick by his side. “That guy’s a piece of work. He tracked me down and insisted on hashing out who was going to be paying for this operation. Seriously?”

“I’m not surprised,” Nick added. “It’s part of the job—justifying expenditures.”

“Sounds like you speak from experience,” Palmero added.

“Sadly, yes. But no longer. Come on. We need to lay this out,” Nick opened the door and Palmero walked inside while he followed. “No one’s found anything that will point us to a location, but my team and I were discussing hitting up public transportation.”

“I like it.” Palmero joined the others. “What’s the plan, folks? I’m all ears.”

Bishop arrived at the bus depot in Charlotte and headed into the restroom. Inside his bag, he retrieved a baseball hat and slipped it on. It would be enough to keep his face hidden from the CCTV cameras dotted around the area. He opened his wallet and pulled out a bank card, twirling it through his fingers. “I can’t. They’ll find me.” He slipped the card back inside his wallet and pulled out some cash.

A final check in the mirror and Bishop walked out of the restroom and headed toward a kiosk. “One ticket to Raleigh, please. The next bus, if possible.”

The man behind the counter typed on his computer. “Looks like we have one leaving in an hour.” He peered at Bishop. “That’ll be $113.67.”

Bishop handed over the cash and when the man slid the ticket across the counter, he gave a final nod before leaving. Now he had to wait for an hour and the only way to ensure he wasn’t spotted was to keep his head down. He had shaved off the stubble grown for Eli Parnell, but his hair was still light brown. That might be enough to keep him from being identified if the hat came off.

He peered at his ticket. It was issued to Eli Parnell, Bishop’s new alias. This was who he had to be now if he wanted to break away clean. However, that meant no longer working as an EMT, or doctor or anything relating to the medical field at all.

As he waited for the bus, there was one person Bishop wanted to reach out to if for nothing else than to reassure her whatever she was about to hear on the news wasn’t true. He wasn’t who they would say he was. He had been engaged to her once a long time ago, before he started his residency at the hospital in Providence. Bishop held his phone and peered at the screen. She had loved him, though he had been incapable of reciprocating. He pressed the button and the line rang.

“Hello?” she answered.

“It’s Theo. How are you, Holly?”

“Theo?” She paused for a minute. “Why are you calling me?”

“Is this a bad time? Are you at work?” he asked.

“No. My shift doesn’t start for another two hours. Theo, I haven’t heard from you in more than a year.”

“I know. I just thought after everything…”

“You mean after I left you?”

“Despite what you think, we meant something to each other once, didn’t we?”

“Money. Is that what you need? Are you in some kind of trouble, Theo? After what they all said about you at the hospital. They all knew what you did to those two patients.”

“If I’d done anything wrong, I’d be in jail by now and I’m not. No one proved anything. I told you that long ago.”

She laughed. “Yeah, well, I think we both know the reason why that was. Theo, I don’t have any money to give you, okay?”

“I don’t need your goddamn money, Holly.” His voice was raised. “I thought… screw it…”

“Whatever feelings I had for you are long since over. I know who you really are, Theo.”

He heard the line drop. “Holly? Holly?” Bishop pulled the phone from his ear. “Bitch!”

“Bus 618, leaving at 3:42pm, headed for Raleigh is boarding now in Bay 15.”

Bishop pushed off the bench and walked outside to Bay 15 where his uncertain future awaited. “Raleigh?” He asked the bus driver.

“That’s right. Ticket?”

Bishop handed over the ticket.

“Thank you, Mr. Parnell. If you’ll take a seat.”

Bishop headed through the aisle and all the way to the back of the bus. He was going to make it out of Charlotte before the evening news aired when his face was sure to be plastered all over the city. Holly would know exactly who he was then.

Kate rubbed the back of her neck as she sat at the table alongside Walsh and Duncan. Nick had opted to go with Bingham and Palmero to check out the various locations where Bishop might attempt to flee.

“I haven’t found anything,” Kate began. “No airline ticket purchases, no train tickets…”

“No bus tickets,” Walsh added. “Yeah, me either.”

“It’s like he vanished,” Duncan said. “I wonder if Scarborough and those guys are having any better luck.”

“If they had, I’m sure we would’ve been the first to know,” Walsh replied. “Scarborough was right. Our window closed. Dr. Theodore Bishop is in the wind.”

“No. There has to be a way to track him down. With the sheer volume of surveillance footage, he’s bound to turn up somewhere.”

“He’s smart, Reid,” Duncan replied. “You said so yourself. He’s a doctor who managed to slip through various jobs and training doing exactly what he’s accused of doing now, only he came out clean.”

“Because no one wanted to admit they screwed up,” Walsh said. “Everyone we talked to was so concerned about their own jobs, or lawsuits. Even the medical school allowed him to graduate with the allegations brought forward. They were afraid too. Everyone has turned a blind eye to what Theodore Bishop has done.”

“That makes it all the more important that we don’t do the same,” Kate said. “He’s been emboldened by inaction on the part of his superiors and the authorities. That’s what allowed him to slip into the volunteer sites virtually unnoticed. No one questioned his credentials. They needed help and who would think a doctor would