BLOODY BELL Page 6

  “That’s why I’m here.” Erin rolled her shoulders back and smiled at Campbell. “To keep things professional.”

  Detective Campbell chuckled as I answered the incoming call from my editor at the Times. “What’s up, Dawson? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

  “Sam, drop what you’re doing now.”

  I stared at Campbell, wanting to ask him about Cameron. Knowing him, he wouldn’t tell me anything, but it was still worth a try. And I would have, too, if Dawson didn’t steal my attention away from what I was doing. “I’m listening.”

  “That suppressed case we’ve been watching,” I could tell Dawson was excited by the way he was speaking, “well, it just opened up and is on the docket for 10AM.”

  I could see Dawson’s squirrely grin through the phone as I flicked my wrist and checked the time—9:42.

  “This is the big break we’ve been waiting for,” Dawson kept going. “I need you to see what this judge is hiding and why the court wants to keep these cases hidden from public view.”

  I watched the clock tick to 9:43 and stared as if I had the powers to make it magically go back one hour, just to allow me enough time in the day to complete all the tasks I wanted to get done.

  “This has the potential to be big, Sam.” Dawson’s voice nearly cracked with interest.

  “Dawson, that’s in less than 20 minutes.” I couldn’t make it. Not this time of day. Don’t make me do it, I’m onto something here.

  “Then I suggest you hurry.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Allison Doyle was working on her laptop when the door to her room opened after a quick knock. She lifted her eyes off the computer screen with hope that one of her friends had come to keep her company again.

  She arched one eyebrow as she watched a strong set of thighs cross the threshold. Her head floated up to the ceiling with sudden interest. Who could this be? Her eyes drifted up his torso and she felt her heart beat faster as she grew anxious to see who her visitor was. Then his face appeared and Allison exhaled a breath of air.

  “Please tell me you’re here with the release papers,” Allison said.

  Doctor Daniel Pico chuckled and lowered Allison’s chart down to his side. He had a stethoscope dangling around his neck and a pager attached to his belt. He was easy on the eyes but the attraction stopped there.

  Allison appreciated his casually opened collar and well fitted slacks, not to mention the cute dimples that appeared every time he grinned. It helped ease the pain of having to endure her unexpected hospital stay.

  “You really should be resting,” Dr. Pico said, eyeing her computer.

  “When you work for yourself there is no such thing as vacation.” Allison smiled. She had already been here longer than she would have liked and she was growing impatient. “So, what time can I expect to leave today?”

  Dr. Pico’s eyes flashed as he stared. “I don’t have a time yet.”

  “Then what are you keeping me for?” Allison’s expression pinched. “I feel fine.”

  The doctor set a gentle hand on Allison’s shoulder. “You look exhausted.”

  “You try sleeping in a hospital bed and you’d feel exhausted, too.”

  “Ms. Doyle, I have both good and bad news.” Dr. Pico reeled his hand back to the bed rail and paused for a brief moment to watch Allison’s lips press firmly together. “Which would you like to hear first?”

  Allison twisted at the hips and set her laptop on the bedside table next to her. She sipped from her juice box to quench her sudden thirst and released the muscles in her neck. Her head hit the pillow with a solid thump. Then she sighed.

  Looking the doctor directly in the eye, Allison said, “I’d like to begin with the bad.”

  Dr. Pico never looked away as he delivered the news. “The bad news is we don’t know exactly why you collapsed or why your vision has been blurry.”

  Allison drew her brows together as she lifted her head off the pillow. “If that’s the bad I can’t wait to hear the good.”

  The doctor smiled. “The good news is you’re not diabetic.”

  “So that’s it?” She lifted her chin. “I’m good to go?”

  Dr. Pico broke his locked gaze with Allison and glanced to her laptop. “I was hoping the cause of your dizziness and low blood pressure was only due to stress.”

  “I’m sure that’s all it is.” Allison spoke in a bubbly tone. “I’m fine. I told Patty that, too, after I collapsed but she insisted I come here.”

  “It’s a good thing she did.” The doctor’s eyes were back on Allison’s. “Stress can lead to other complications if left unchecked.”

  Allison rolled her eyes. “Really, this isn’t anything new for me,” she pleaded, making her case. “I like working under pressure. Sure, I could eat out less and walk more, but time is tight.”

  “Let me listen to your heart.”

  Allison agreed and Dr. Pico helped her sit upright. Placing the stethoscope on her heart, he listened to it beat steadily.

  “Any chest pain recently?” he asked.

  “Only after eating too many tacos,” Allison joked.

  The doctor moved the tool to her back and listened to her breathe. “Any joint pain?”

  “I’m forty, Doc, and we’ve already established I don’t exercise enough. You don’t have to rub it in.” She laughed. “The pain is something I could do without, but I’m not going to let it slow me down.”

  “And fatigue is nothing new either, I assume?” Dr. Pico plucked the stethoscope from his ears and looked Allison directly in the eye.

  “No. Nothing new.” Allison could see the serious look he was giving her but, despite it all, she fought to keep the mood light. “Coke and Red Bull get me through my days.” Then her expression pinched. “Why are you asking me all this?”

  Dr. Pico took one step back. “Because I’d like to run a few more tests before I release you.”

  “I’m not a lab rat.”

  “No. You’re not.” He grinned.

  “Check for what?” Allison felt her limbs go cold. Her blood had slowed and she could feel that this was much more serious than she’d originally thought. She was too afraid to say the word cancer, but that was what she was thinking.

  Allison held her breath as she watched the glimmer in Dr. Pico’s eyes dull. He broke more bad news to her and, as he explained his hypothesis and the tests he wanted to conduct, Allison felt a bubble close over her head. All she could hear in that moment was the sound of having her head submerged underwater.

  It couldn’t be. What did that mean?

  Her heart beat, but she didn’t feel alive.

  Dr. Pico’s words looped around the track as if stuck on repeat. It was all she could hear. She didn’t know what his words meant or what was going to happen to her. All she knew was that things would never be the same.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Erin, in the car now,” I barked, suddenly feeling pressed for time. She gave me a funny look like I was crazy. “I’ll explain in the car, but we have to go. Now.”

  Erin lunged forward and yanked her car door open.

  “Leaving so soon?” Campbell frowned, equally as confused as Erin. I was certain he was questioning what was said on the call he saw me take—who it was and why it was suddenly more urgent than anything else we had going. “Is it something I said?”

  “Do be in touch if you track down Tyler,” Erin called out to Campbell before lowering herself into the car. He shook his head and watched as we sped away. Erin turned to me with a twisted forehead, curious to what was happening. “Wait, this isn’t about Tyler, is it?”

  I had no choice but to take Erin with me. I was thankful for her keen sense to pivot in my sudden urgency. “No. This isn’t about Tyler or Cameron Dee.”

  “Then what is it? I’m starting to question where your priorities are.”

  “That was Dawson on the phone,” I said as we rushed downtown to the courthouse. “After the Sniper investigation, I discove
red something I wish I hadn’t.”

  “Why are you just telling me about this now?”

  I tightened my clamp hold on the steering wheel and focused on weaving in and out of traffic in my rush to make it to the courthouse in time. “Several months ago, I brought it to Dawson’s attention,” I said, beginning to fill Erin in on what was happening, “and each time we tried to dig deeper into what was actually going on, we were met by more roadblocks and more jaw-dropping surprises neither of us could believe.”

  Erin’s eyes were round saucers as she stared and waited for me to reveal more. “What are you talking about?”

  I must have been giving off a buzz of annoyance for having to step away from Cameron Dee’s story because Erin was anxious to hear why this was important enough to break our original plans. I understood her confusion. It was the last thing I wanted to be doing, but also knew I had no choice in the matter.

  “There are over a thousand court cases across the state purposely being hidden from public view,” I said, applying the brakes and stopping at a red light.

  “What, like concealed behind judge’s orders?”

  “Exactly.” I flicked my gaze to hers. “Orders that can remain in effect for years. We’re talking felonies, too. Not just traffic tickets.”

  The light turned green and I set the wheels in motion.

  “Any idea why?” Erin asked.

  “My initial guess…” I paused long enough to collect my thoughts, “the courts know that there are fewer eyes on them now that journalists are dropping like flies.”

  “The checks and balances are being eroded,” Erin mumbled. “But you don’t sound convinced.”

  “I’m not.” My heart knocked fast against my ribs and I kept stealing glances at the clock. We weren’t going to make it in time. “That could certainly be half of the reason—”

  “And the other half?”

  “The newsroom’s new location. Where we were once positioned directly across the street from City Hall, we’re now far enough outside of town to make it impossible to pop in conveniently at any time of day.”

  “And the judges are taking advantage to cloak their courtrooms in secrecy?” Erin shook her head as if thinking it was too farfetched to believe.

  “Most of the requests are coming from either the prosecution or defense.” I flipped on my blinker and merged lanes. “The judge is simply granting them their wish.”

  “As if by design, without journalists, corruption can flourish.”

  “It’s only my suspicion that’s why,” I assured her. “I have no proof to back it up.”

  “It makes sense. Without good reporting, the public remains in the dark.” Erin’s ponytail whipped across the back of her shoulders when she turned to look at me. “How long has this been going on?”

  “Far longer than you would believe.” We were almost downtown and traffic was completely congested. I had five minutes before it would be too late. “Even the judges’ reasons for supporting the orders are shielded from public scrutiny. No one is acknowledging the suppressed cases exist.”

  Erin looked ahead. “Shady.”

  “Completely suspicious.” Stuck in gridlock, it was stop and go, leaving me no other option but to keep traveling toward my destination while hoping for a miracle. “Especially considering many of these cases are already closed and the convicted are potentially serving lengthy prison terms. All this information should be made available to the public under the Open Record Law, but they’re not. And how the law is currently written in the state of Colorado, this is all perfectly legal.”

  “All without anyone double checking to see if their shuffle through the legal process was fair.” Erin’s voice fell flat as if she was thinking of the innocent and unknown faces sitting behind bars who had slipped through the cracks of an overly complicated justice system.

  Erin was starting to see it for what it was. It was troubling enough to know entire files were disappearing, but a public courtroom operating in the dark was unimaginable. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

  “So who are these defendants?” Erin asked.

  “That’s just it. No one but the court knows.” I felt my body tensing. “We know nothing. Not the names of the defendants, the charges they faced, or even the identity of the judges who closed them. The only way of knowing any of that is by staking out the courthouse every morning and waiting for the docket to arrive just to learn whose proceedings were scheduled for that day. It all has to happen before the case is even tried.”

  “And without the manpower, that would never happen.”

  “Exactly. Who has that kind of time to waste?”

  “But you’d think the judge would have to give a reason for making that decision.”

  “There are many reasons a judge might suppress the details. Could be a case that had waited years to go to trial. Could be gang related, or involve a minor. But as soon as the trial is over, we might never learn the details of what went on to lead a person to conviction.”

  “Unless you were there…” Erin’s words trailed off.

  We didn’t have time to park. Even with us rushing over, I was already late. Instead, we pulled up front with Erin jumping behind the wheel and me galloping up the front steps and into the courthouse. Security slowed me up and by the time I reached the courtroom, the doors were already closed. They’d already moved on to the next case.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The morning was quickly getting away from the Guardian Angel, and so was his work. He’d changed out of the lab coat he’d been wearing since yesterday, showered at the office, and was putting on his suit jacket and tie, readying himself to leave, when he received word from the front desk that his patient had arrived.

  “Excellent,” he said to himself. “Impeccable timing.”

  He glanced to his watch as he stepped out of his office. While all he’d like to do was go home for a quick nap, he didn’t have that luxury. He had to quickly take care of his responsibilities so he wasn’t late to his next commitment.

  He traveled beneath the bright florescent lights, holding his chin high as he whistled along to the beat of his dress shoes clacking against the linoleum floor.

  Live and learn, today is another day, he sang to himself as he felt his spirits rise.

  Outside Room 3 he stopped to grab the patient’s chart. He quickly read over it. Everything was lining up, the initial data showing positive results.

  The Guardian Angel felt his heart stall.

  He picked his head up and let his gaze go distant as he filed through his thoughts.

  Behind his eyelids, images of Mystery, the baby, flashed.

  A sharp pang of regret stabbed his side. This chart was the same as Patient #1 before things went so terribly wrong. Mystery had since passed, as was expected, and the last thing the Guardian Angel wanted was to experience a repeat of last night.

  He took a couple deep breaths and refocused his eyes before opening the door to Room 3. Putting on a friendly face, he felt the color come back to his cheeks as he greeted the young woman staring at him, bright eyed and innocent. She lay in bed with her dirty blond hair tied up in a messy knot, looking as if the pregnancy was beginning to catch up with her.

  “Hello, darling,” the Guardian Angel greeted her. “How are you feeling?”

  The young woman cradled her pregnant belly with her left hand while she massaged her noticeable baby bump with her right. “Tired.” Her voice was flat and sounded exactly how she described her mood.

  He lowered himself to the stool beside the bed. “Are your mornings getting any easier?”

  “The queasy feelings come and go.”

  “And are you continuing to watch your diet?”

  “I crave French fries like there’s no tomorrow and eat like a pig.” She laughed. “But, yeah, other than that, I’m just peachy.”

  The Guardian Angel grinned. “Let’s take a look at what the baby is up to, shall we?”

  The patient agreed a
nd lifted her shirt to reveal her stomach. The Guardian Angel fired up the ultrasound machine, squirted a cool slab of lube on her skin, and turned to the monitor. Together, they listened to the baby’s heart beat soundly. The swishing sound filled the room and they both shared a smile. “Sounds excellent.”

  Relief swept over the woman’s face.

  Over the next half-hour, the Guardian Angel took the baby’s measurements and snapped a couple dozen images. Everything was looking great and when the baby kicked, he was thrilled.

  “Would you like to know the gender?” he asked.

  The young woman stared at the monitor. She couldn’t take her eyes off her child. It was the look of a first-time mother. A variety of emotions glimmered inside her eyes. The Guardian Angel had seen the same look on all his patients—they were all first-time mothers. There was fear, excitement, and a roller-coaster of ups and downs that came with knowing her life would never be the same again.

  “If it’s a girl I was thinking of naming her after me,” the woman said in a soft voice. Then she rolled her head and looked the Guardian Angel in the eyes. “But, no, I think I would like to keep it a surprise.”

  “Always exciting.” His smile was brief. He cast his gaze down and frowned. “I’m afraid there was something in the charts that has me concerned.”

  The woman’s lips parted as she stared.

  “Nothing to worry about. Honestly. But I’m going to suggest you stay here,” he paused to gauge her reaction before continuing, “for further testing and observation.”

  “That’s why they called and picked me up?”

  The Guardian Angel nodded. “Yes.”

  “Tell me. What is it?”

  He inhaled a deep breath and sighed. “It’s just that our tests show a high possibility of a premature labor.”

  “But I’m not even at 30 weeks yet.”

  “Yes, I know. But if anything were to go wrong, I wouldn’t want you to be far. It can be a serious condition. For not only your baby, but you as well.”