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

“This is Agent Surrey. We’re here to see Dr. Hilgard.”

“I believe he’s in his office. Should I call up to him?” He reached for the phone.

“No. Thank you. Do you mind telling me where I can find his office?” Kate replied.

“Sure thing.” He pointed to the right. “Head over there to the elevators. Go up to the 8th floor. His office is the big one at the end of the hall. Can’t miss it. “Says Administrative Director in big bold letters.”

“Director?” She replied.

“Yes, ma’am. Dr. Hilgard practically runs this place. Well, the admin side of it anyway.”

“Thanks for your help.” Kate started toward the elevators. “He’s up there on the food chain. Same as Whitman was.”

“What do you suppose that means?” Surrey asked.

“I don’t know yet, but maybe we’ll find out.” She stepped onto the elevator. Kate stared at the numbers, not wanting to engage Surrey. Although, it seemed unfair to hold his beliefs against him. What did she know of what he’d been through as an agent? Just because he didn’t put his job before his life—anymore—didn’t mean that was a bad quality, did it? “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be, well, kind of a bitch.”

Surrey laughed. “You’re not. And I would never use that word to describe any woman, regardless of what she might have done. Asshole, maybe. Anyone can be an asshole. But again, that’s not what I think of you. I think you’re passionate, and that’s great. It would be a shame to see that light go out in you, but it will someday, and you should be prepared for that.”

The doors opened to the 8th floor and the two headed down the long corridor lined with offices. When they reached the end, it turned out the man behind the desk had been right.

“This must be the place,” Kate said. “That guy wasn’t kidding when he said it couldn’t be missed.”

“No. I like the big bold letters.” Surrey turned to her with a smile. “He must be some kind of really important man.”

Kate chuckled and pushed inside where a desk was positioned near the entrance and two chairs rested alongside the wall.

“Can I help you?” A young woman with short red hair peered at them with a furrowed brow.

“FBI. We’re here to see Dr. Hilgard. Is he in?” Kate said.

The woman’s face masked in concern. She glanced over her shoulder to the closed door. “I’ll have to call him.”

“So, he’s in his office?” Kate walked around the desk.

“Ma’am. You can’t just go in there.”

“I have a warrant that says differently.” She opened the door.

Surrey turned up his palms and shrugged at the woman before hurrying to Kate’s side.

“Dr. Hilgard? I’m Agent Reid and this is Agent Surrey. We spoke on the phone late yesterday before you hung up on me.”

The doctor removed his glasses and pushed away from his desk. “What are you doing here?”

Kate unfolded the warrant and slapped it onto his desk. “It would’ve been easier if you had just answered my questions. But since we’re here now, we have a warrant to view Dr. Eugene Bishop’s medical records.”

Hilgard snatched the warrant and read it. “Well, I can see you’d prefer to go about this the hard way.”

“The hard way?” Surrey asked. “I’m afraid you left us with no choice. We can go on back and grab those records on our own if you’d prefer.”

Kate glanced at him with a wry smile.

“Fine.” He typed on his computer. “I can retrieve them here. We put most of the archived files onto a database a few years ago. You might as well have a seat.”

“Thank you.” Kate pulled out a chair. “We aren’t here to make your life difficult, Dr. Hilgard. We simply need to understand the circumstances that revolved around Dr. Bishop’s death. He was young to have died from a heart attack.”

Hilgard shifted his gaze. “It isn’t as uncommon as you might think, Agent Reid.” He peered at the screen and turned the monitor toward them. “Here you are. Cause of death, heart attack. I’m not sure what else you hoped to glean from this.”

Kate looked at the monitor. “If you’d be so kind, we’d like to review the entire file. Autopsy…”

“There was no autopsy,” Hilgard interrupted. “He died of natural causes and the family didn’t request one.”

“No?” Kate shot a glance at Surrey. “I think it would be best if you could get us a hard copy of the records. All of them. Including any and all medical history, not just the files surrounding his death.”

Hilgard looked again at his monitor. “I’ll have my assistant get those for you.”

“And a place to take a look at them, too. That would be great,” she added.

Hilgard stood from his desk. “Of course. It should only be a few moments. I’ll take you to an available meeting room now.”

X-rays, photocopied charts, lab results. All of it splayed out on the table while Kate and Surrey combed through each document.

“We’ve been at this for a while, Reid. I haven’t seen anything that stands out, have you?”

Kate pushed aside the documents she reviewed. “No, but doesn’t it strike you as odd that a seemingly healthy 45-year-old just dies from a heart attack?”

“Well, not according to Dr. Hilgard. He seems to think it’s a regular occurrence,” Surrey replied.

“No underlying problems, diseases, disorders.” Kate shook her head. “Damn. I thought we’d find something in here.”

“I know you did. Hey, you had to give it a shot. It was the right move.”

Kate sighed. “I hate to beat a dead horse, but I just don’t buy it. No autopsy? The wife of a prominent physician doesn’t ask for an autopsy. What if it had revealed some sort of hereditary condition? What if he had had mini-strokes before and he never got checked out?”

“You can ‘what if’ this all day, but it won’t do you any good. How do you want to move forward on this, Reid? We can’t sit here forever.”

“Right. You need to be getting