Critical Diagnosis (15 page)

“Wait. Don’t go. It’ll be okay. I’ll help you get this straightened out.”

A horrifying cry erupted from the girl’s mouth. Talia hit the edge of the open door hard with an
oomph.
Groaning, she bounced off, shifted and darted outside. The sound of feet on metal stairs sounded like tiny explosions in the night air.

Lily raced toward the open door. “Wait, Talia. We can fix this.” She leaned over the railing and yelled at Talia as she ran toward the thick landscaping edging the deepest part of the yard.

Spinning on the balls of her feet, Lily turned and raced down the stairs. She had to stop Talia. A flash of blue caught her eye. James jogged down the path toward her, fear in his eyes. Lily stopped short and pressed a hand to her chest. “You scared me.”

“Are you all right?”

“Yes.” Lily pointed frantically toward the back of the deep yard. “It’s Talia. We have to stop her.”

“Talia? Where?”

Lily pointed and James took off running. She followed him, but was slowed when she stepped on something sharp. A quick examination of her foot told her nothing was bleeding. Resuming her pursuit, she caught sight of James emerging from the thick foliage at the edge of the property. He swatted at unseen insects.

“Where did she go?”

James shook his head. “My guess? Through the large gap in the chain-link fence.” He glanced at a deep cut on his arm. “I couldn’t fit through, but I have no doubt that’s how Talia made her escape.”

THIRTEEN

L
ily sat on the couch in the great room of O’Reilly Manor twisting her hands in her lap. Fingers smoothing the Band-Aid over his recent injury, James sat on the arm of the couch, resisting the urge to run his hand across Lily’s back. The last time he had seen her so frail was shortly after her mother had died, when she had moved into the carriage house. He’d hardly known her back then. They had crossed paths only on the rare occasion when she had accompanied her mother to work. At the time of her mother’s death, he’d been only twenty himself and still raw from his parents’ deaths five years earlier. The grief he saw in her mirrored the emptiness haunting his soul.

“We have a real problem here,” his grandfather said, leaning forward in his chair, resting his crossed wrists on his cane, his hair disheveled as if they had disturbed his sleep. He wore a brown robe, tied at the waist, and striped pajama bottoms.

“Security’s on it.” Striding back into the room, Stephanie dropped her cell phone into her oversize designer bag. Her long blond hair was pulled into a high ponytail and she was perfectly made up. Apparently, she had just gotten home from a date when James had called her to come by their grandparents’ house.

“I don’t understand,” Stephanie said. “I thought we had increased security after the nightmare during Grandfather’s party.” She plopped her purse onto the coffee table and let out a heavy sigh. “That deranged girl should have never had access to the property.” Stephanie seemed disproportionately annoyed, as if
she
had been attacked.

His grandmother strolled into the room, looking almost regal in her silky nightclothes. “This really could have waited until morning.” She rested her hand on his grandfather’s shoulder. “He needs his sleep.”

His grandfather waved her off, lifting his cane as if he were shooing a pesky ankle biter. “I need to return to work full-time. Everything’s falling apart.”

His grandmother brushed a kiss across her husband’s cheek. “You promised me you’d take it easy.”

He pushed to his feet and jabbed his cane in Stephanie’s direction, barely missing her shin. “
I
already talked to the head of Security.”

Stephanie narrowed her gaze and flicked her fingers toward her purse. “Now we both called.” She lifted a perfectly groomed eyebrow, as if issuing a challenge. But something in her gaze, a shadow of doubt, unease perhaps, had James watching her closely.

“That’s not important right now,” his grandfather said, a perturbed expression on his wrinkled features. “Go on, James. What were you saying?”

James stood. “Security assumed the intruder last weekend gained access through the unlocked main gate. They had no reason to suspect someone had cut through the fence. The breach is hidden by some shrubbery on both sides of the fence.”

“What do we pay these guys for?” Stephanie asked, disgust dripping from her voice. She spun around and glared at Lily. “Now, what did your lab assistant—what’s her name, Talia?—say to you?”

Lily rested an elbow on the arm of the couch and explained how Talia had recognized the man on the news as the man she’d been dating, a man named Frank Smith. When Talia had confronted him, he had told her if she came forward, he’d tell everyone she gave him the research files on Regen. Lily shuddered and her elbow slipped off the arm of the couch. “Talia claims that if he does have the notes, he stole them. She naively let him into the lab.”

Stephanie gasped.

Lily met James’s gaze, worry in her eyes. “Talia had to sneak away from her boyfriend. I’m worried about her. She’s in over her head.... She’s just a kid.”

Stephanie’s normally smooth forehead crumpled with disbelief. “She’s hardly a kid. I think you should be less concerned about Talia and more concerned about your research.”

Lily pushed her thin shoulders back. “Trust me, I am. But first we have to make sure Talia’s okay.”

“We found a rat at Talia’s home,” James said, sitting down next to Lily. “Maybe Talia’s more involved than she claims. Didn’t you say she had a lot of student debt? Maybe she thought she could sell Regen. Pay off her debt.”

“She claimed Frank planted the rat in her closet,” Lily said.

Stephanie shook her head, her long ponytail sweeping across her back. “We need to find her. Regen is Medlink’s financial future.”

“I called the chief of police. He’s putting a ‘be on the lookout’—or whatever it’s called—on her.” He smiled at Lily, trying to reassure her. “They’ll find her. We’ll get to the bottom of this.” A sinking feeling roiled his gut.

Lily pushed to her feet. Her hair was a mess of curls from the humidity. “I’m having a hard time getting my head around this. Talia has been nothing but a solid researcher. Now we’re expected to believe she’s involved with a man who stole our research and then tried to break into the clinic. Why the clinic?”

“Don’t you watch the news?” Stephanie asked. “It’s always the quiet ones.”

“Maybe the clinic wasn’t actually the target. Maybe you were,” James said, the tiny hairs on the back of his neck prickling to life.

“But why hurt—” Lily’s face grew deathly white “—me if he already had what he wanted?”

“To keep you from finding out,” James said, his voice low and cool.

Lily pressed her palm to her forehead. James stepped a little closer, ready to react if necessary. “I’m afraid for Talia’s safety if this Frank guy finds out she came to me.” Lily ran a hand under her nose. “I’m afraid for her mental well-being, too. We need to find her. Help her. Straighten the rest out later.”

“Talia puts absolutely everything you’ve worked for all these years at risk and you want to help her?” Stephanie shifted her weight and scooped up her purse, signaling she was done talking about this. “Give me a break. You’re the one who’s naive.”

“I’ll have to deal with the research aspect later,” Lily said quietly. “For now, I’m worried about Talia.”

“What do you think happened?” His grandfather slowly lowered himself into the chair next to his wife. Without taking his eyes from Lily, he reached over and pulled his wife’s hand into his lap and patted it reassuringly.

“I think she’s stressed and snapped,” Lily said.

Stephanie threw her hands up. “Of course she snapped. Who cuts a hole in a chain-link fence and sneaks into her employer’s home?”

Lily let out a long, slow breath, as if buying time to rein in her emotions. “You didn’t see the home where she lived with her mother....” Her voice trailed off. “She’s obviously had a tough life.”

“Talia did have a difficult home life.” James hesitated to say too much more for fear of invading Talia’s privacy.

His cousin adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder. “Would you like to give her a raise and a corner office at Medlink? What kind of business are we running?”

“My first concern is finding her,” Lily said.

“Someone needs to go to her house. Check on Talia’s mother.” James studied Lily’s face. Her mask of composure slipped a little bit.

Lily tipped her head. “Thank you.” She ran a hand over her hair.

“This is going to be a PR nightmare. A loose-cannon researcher.” Stephanie shook her head, obviously disgusted. “This could ruin us financially.”

The news his grandfather had shared earlier—of possible embezzlement at Medlink—ran through James’s mind.

Pushing on his cane with a shaky hand, his grandfather stood up. “What do you think, James?”

Stephanie whipped around. “What does
he
think?” Anger rolled off her in waves. “He’s going to side with his girlfriend over there.” She flicked her hand at Lily.

James fisted his hands, but held his tongue.

“You are every bit your mother’s daughter.” His grandfather’s face shook with fury. “She was as headstrong as you’re being now.”

“I’m not my mother’s daughter.” Stephanie angled her chin in such a way she reminded James of their grandmother. “I have done so much more with my life than
she
ever did.”

“Stephanie,” his grandmother soothed, “we’re all just frazzled.” His grandmother rubbed his grandfather’s hand. “Don’t speak poorly about your mother.”

Stephanie waved a hand in dismissal. “I have to make a few phone calls. We have to hide the news from investors that the Regen files may have been stolen.”

James put his hand on Lily’s forearm. She stiffened under his touch. “Will you be okay staying in the carriage house or do you want me to ask Edna to prepare a room in the main house?”

“Security checked everything out?”

He nodded.

“I’d rather stay in the carriage house. I need some time alone.”

* * *

James made a check of the small apartment. Lily’s gaze slid toward the door, reassuring herself she had flipped the dead bolt after they’d come in. Seated on a stool at the kitchen island, she couldn’t shake the horrible sense of violation. Talia had been right there.

In her apartment.

James reemerged from checking the bedroom, compassion in his eyes. He straddled the stool next to hers. “You look tired.”

Resting her elbow on the counter, she played with a long strand of hair. “I am. But I doubt if I’ll sleep. It’ll take a while to come down off this adrenaline high. My nerves are buzzing.” She ran her palm across the smooth granite. Suddenly, she bolted upright. “What about the lab? Is it secure? Security knows not to let Talia into the lab, right?”

“Absolutely. They’ve reset the badge readers. You’ll have to go through security and get your badge reset. None of the magnetic strips on the old badges will work.”

Lily slid off the stool. “I should let Sarah know. She won’t be able to get into the lab, either.”

James grabbed her wrist and led her back to the stool. “Security will let her know in the morning. It’s fine. Sit. Relax. Take care of yourself.”

She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, trying to shake the chill. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” She took a step toward the couch, then turned to James. “I don’t know what scares me more. This Frank guy hurting Talia, or Talia trying to hurt herself. I’ve never known anyone to look so desperate. I should have stopped her.” She bit her lower lip, unable to derail her erratic thinking.

James cupped her shoulder, his smooth voice washing over her. “You can’t control anyone’s actions but your own. Don’t do this to yourself.”

“I should have done something more. Talia came to me for a reason. She wanted help.” She covered her face with her hands and dropped her head until her hands hit the counter. “How come I couldn’t reach her?”

“Talia is a grown woman. She’s not your responsibility.”

Lily lifted her head. “I feel like my world is closing in around me.” She was ashamed she lacked faith.

“The police are looking for Talia. They’ll find her.”

“I pray they do.” She searched his face but couldn’t find the comfort she so badly needed.

A knock on the door startled her. James smiled and patted her hand. “It’s fine. I invited Kara over.”

“Why?” Exhaustion weighed heavily on her shoulders. She wasn’t sure she was up for her chatty friend tonight. Kara would surely pester her for every last detail. Details she wanted to forget.

If only for tonight.

“I don’t want you to be alone, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to stay—even on the couch.” A smile touched his lips. “We don’t want to give Edna and Charlie anything to gossip about.”

“Edna and Charlie are rooting for us.” She laughed. James narrowed his gaze at her and she waggled her fingers toward the door. “Go. Answer the door.” She tracked James’s confident stride across the room. He opened the door a fraction, then pulled it open wide.

Kara brushed past him and rushed over to Lily. Her friend wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a fierce embrace. “Are you okay?”

Lily smiled wanly over her shoulder at James. Stiffening, she pulled away from Kara. “I’m fine. Talia just wanted to talk.” She didn’t know why she was defending someone who had shaved at least ten years off her life.

“I always thought she was a tad off.” Kara tossed her quilted bag on the couch.

Lily sat back on the stool and watched her friend breeze around the small apartment. “Did you ever meet her boyfriend?” Lily asked.

“No, we weren’t that close. I only ate lunch with her in the cafeteria.” Kara unzipped her bag, pulled out a pair of slippers, tossed them on the ground and slipped them onto her feet. “To be honest, I wondered if she was making him up because he seemed to come out of left field. Before then, she only talked about work and her plans to get her Ph.D.” Kara crossed her arms and leaned against the back of the couch. “Why all the questions about her boyfriend?”

James gave Lily a nod of approval. “Her boyfriend is the man who attacked me at the clinic and—”

“The guy who’s been stalking you?” Kara’s eyes grew wide. “I can’t believe it. Why?”

“We’re trying to figure all that out.” James dug his cell phone out of his back jeans pocket. “Excuse me a minute.” He turned around and answered a call.

“So are we safe here?” Kara asked.

“Yeah, the police and the head of Medlink security double-checked everything.”

Kara nodded. She grabbed a bottled water from the fridge. Twisting off the cap, she rounded the couch and flopped down. “This is unbelievable. You think you know someone.”

Lily sat on the arm of the couch, watching James’s concerned face as he talked quietly into the phone. “How well do you really know anyone?”

James ended the call. “That was the hospital. Mrs. Benson was admitted. She’s asking for me.”

“Go, go.” Lily got up and walked over to James. The thought of Mrs. Benson’s beautiful granddaughter, Chloe, came to mind. The elderly woman had been in the clinic many times recently. “Is her granddaughter being cared for?”

“Yes. The nurse said she was staying with a neighbor.” He scrubbed a hand across his face. She wasn’t the only one fighting exhaustion. “You guys okay here?”

“Yes, we’re fine.” She tipped her head toward Kara, who had a few DVDs in her hand. “I think my friend has a romantic-comedy marathon planned.”

“Looks like you’re in good hands.” Leaning in close, he brushed a kiss across her cheek. “Sleep well.”