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  Zoller was quiet for several seconds. "Sounds like they searched every place except the Troicki site and the original hospital. Give me a minute, then I'll meet you at the Foxworth door. I don't know why she'd be in either of those places, but if she went in there for a smoke or something, maybe she got hurt on the way to the old facilities building."

  "Good point. She does step out for a quick cigarette every now and then. I'll bring one of the techs and a stretcher just in case."

  15

  "Might as well park the gurney there." Miki pointed to a sealed area near the Visqueen flap entrance to the Troicki construction site. "It'll be available—God forbid."

  "Yes, ma'am," Walden said, following directions. "I don't know why we're here. Arlene wouldn't stop to smoke on her way across. She always uses the side door and sits on the bench." He paused a moment, looking anxious.

  "The ER staff and the guards have searched the rest of the campus, except this area." Miki stopped and turned to Walden. "John, if this makes you uncomfortable, leave the stretcher and go to the ER. I'll call and have another tech come over if we need muscle."

  "No, I'll stay. I was just saying."

  The door from the Foxworth Building opened. Victor Zoller entered the corridor. The bulk of his body almost hid the open door from view. Zoller, who approached six feet tall, had been a professional boxer in his heyday. He maintained his powerful build with a steady regimen of weight training and sparring. He retired and entered the police academy when a physician told him he'd lose his hearing if he took one more blow to his left ear.

  Miki met him halfway. "This is the most scary and uncomfortable thing I've ever helped with. I've never lost a charge nurse before. Let's get to it. I called Arlene's name several times, and she hasn't answered. I don't think she's here, but let's check and be sure."

  "I agree." Zoller pointed to the flap. "Might as well do the new side first. Faster, cleaner, and less dangerous. If I was going to sneak a smoke, I'd go there. But if you ask me, she just ran off with some guy."

  Miki grimaced and glared at Zoller.

  "Come on, Murphy. You know how Porter is. Makes no secret of it either, at least not to anyone wearing pants." He produced flashlights for Miki and Walden, then motioned toward the entrance. "Let's move slowly through the first floor. The construction crew disconnects the construction elevator every night—and we checked that they did—so there is no reason to go onto the second floor."

  "No stairwell?"

  "Yeah, but the door for the one on this side is locked, and the one on the other side isn't finished yet."

  Miki followed Zoller through the opening while Walden held it open.

  Walden, appearing reluctant, came last.

  Zoller looked over his shoulder. "Let's split up. We'll cover the space faster that way."

  "Can do." Miki headed left. "Arlene," Miki called, then heard the name echoed by Zoller and Walden as they searched their areas.

  Only a few uneventful minutes passed until the party reassembled on the far side of the Troicki building. The site was clear of clutter, and the search had been easy—and nonproductive.

  "I'm not keen on going into the old hospital building in the dark. Maybe we should call the police." Miki shifted her weight, feeling nervous. "What do you say, Victor?"

  "I'm not calling downtown and saying we lost a nurse," Zoller said. "I'd be the laughing stock of the whole damned police department. She could be anywhere, for cripes sake. We look for ourselves, or we wait for her to return on her own."

  "Then let's do it. Three hours is a huge amount of time for her to be missing." Miki nodded in the direction of the building. "What's it like in there."

  "I haven't had reason to go in for quite a while, but I know it's in bad shape."

  "What could possibly happen?" Walden said, stepping back.

  "Lots of things," Zoller said, sounding annoyed. "One of us could drop through the floor, or something could fall. It's a decaying, dangerous building. The original section is seventy or eighty years old. Then, after we vacated, a flood weakened the floor and walls. It's a mess. There are holes in the floor. Even some of the studs are rotten."

  Miki and Walden followed Zoller across the ten feet separating the decaying structure from the temporary hallway.

  Zoller pointed to the door latch. "This has been tampered with. Someone broke in, I think."

  "Arlene wouldn't bother. She'd duck under the plastic and have her smoke," Miki said.

  "I agree with you there." Zoller pointed again. A dusty outline of the sole of a man's shoe was on the wall next to the door. "Someone braced himself to force the lock."

  "I don't like this. Maybe we should wait until it's light. Maybe get a couple extra people. Maybe . . ." Her shaky voice trailed off.

  "I don't have any men to spare. They're in the lot escorting the early crew inside."

  Miki took a deep breath, exhaled in a rush, and spewed a nervous laugh. "We're right behind you."

  They crossed the old ER lobby and entered the hall.

  Feeling something brush her ankle, Miki pointed her flashlight at the floor. A huge rat, baring teeth, stared at her. Miki screamed and jumped back three feet, crashing into the wall, which held for a second before giving way. Wallboard broke around her, leaving her suspended between rotting studs.

  Walden rushed to her side. "Are you okay?" He helped her regain her balance.

  Miki shined the shaking beam of her light around the area. "No rat. No rat. I must have scared it away. Oh, God." She took a moment to move her arms and legs. "I'm fine. Nothing hurts. Nothing broken. Let's get on with it. Get this over with." She forced her knees to stop moving, then held a hand under her jaw to make her teeth stop chattering.

  "There will be more rats," Zoller said.

  "I know. Next time I'll do better." She shuddered, wondering if it was possible to live up to her bravado.

  "Maybe you're right. I should wait until the next shift starts and get one of the men."

  "No, we're here now. We'll take care of it. Then you can have the place secured, and we won't have to worry about it ever again. My God, I wonder how many rats are in this place."

  "Lots. The exterminator is doing what he can. The problem is the rats are multiplying so fast he can't control them. All they need to thrive is food, water, and shelter. Here they have it all. That's what's delaying demolition. Administration doesn't want to scatter live rats around the campus. They'd rather bulldoze dead ones. So, they're meeting with the city building people to make a plan."

  "Charming. I'll be sure to take a long vacation when the dozers arrive." Miki shuddered. "Let's go." She turned to the left, intending to explore radiology first.

  Together they moved through the abandoned department calling Arlene's name. There was no answer—except the scraping sounds of many little feet avoiding the intruders.

  Zoller stopped at the end of the corridor. He grabbed the door handle, shook it, and pushed. "This door has been tampered with, too. The hole for the lock to slide into is plugged with crap. I don't like this one bit."

  "Me either. Let's keep searching."

  "Might as well," Walden said, sighing.

  They walked to the opposite end of the hallway and turned north. They maintained that direction, checking patient rooms along each side.

  All were empty, even of rats, though Miki saw an army of giant palmetto bugs deploy with each movement of their flashlights. She squeezed her eyes tight and shuddered after brushing three huge specimens from her left pants leg. "I never imagined what was here during the years I worked in this building."

  Zoller said in a soft voice, "Miki, these critters weren't in here then. The building has been empty and locked for almost a year. It's out of control, but I'll see it gets taken care of. Don't you worry. Let's keep searching. There's central supply and the operating room back there." He pointed over his shoulder toward the west side of the building.

  "Let me call the ER and see if she's returned. If she
has, I'm going to personally rip her a new one."

  "Can't say I blame you."

  Miki dialed the ER and learned Arlene had neither returned nor called. She gave the information to Zoller. "Let's keep searching. I say central first, then the OR."

  "I know for a fact central is filled with rats. It was that way the last time we surveyed the place."

  Miki shook her head, then, in response to a sudden chill, pulled her shoulders in tight. "I can do this," she said, more for her own benefit than Zoller's or Walden's.

  They retraced their path to the point where a shorter side hall abutted the main one they had searched. Turning into it, they stomped their way into the darkness. The smells of mold, mildew, and rot thickened the air.

  Walden coughed and wheezed. "Damned mold. Makes it hard to breathe."

  The door to central supply closed on a bent hinge—except for five-inch openings at the top left and bottom right. Several huge rats squeezed inside through the opening as Zoller and Miki approached.

  "Stand away."

  Zoller and Walden grabbed on and hauled the door into the corridor, removing the remaining hinge in the process.

  A mass of gray creatures swarmed a mound on the table in the center of the room.

  Miki, ignoring the rats scurrying around the floor, saw a white leather clog amidst the commotion. A small dark rat seemed to have taken possession of it.

  Her beam caught a swath of red fabric draping over the side of the table. "That's Arlene's uniform top. I recognize the red fabric." She started to cry. "And that's a hand. There." She caught her breath, then moved her light. "Oh God, that's Arlene on the table. The rats…" She turned and ran, making it to the old ER lobby before she lost her dinner.

  16

  Miki leaned on the stretcher parked in the temporary corridor. Walden hovered close, having run to the ER for a glass of water for her. A light sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and he drew rapid, raspy breaths.

  She drew a sip of water through the straw. "Thanks, John. The police should be here any minute." She pointed toward the thoroughfare adjacent to the hospital campus. "I hear the sirens."

  Walden tipped his head in the direction she pointed. "Sounds like an ambulance."

  "I want it to be the police." Though the hallway was icy cold from the blasting air conditioner, Miki wiped perspiration from her forehead. She shivered. "I don't know if I'm warm or cold."

  "You're probably in shock after what you saw. Maybe you should sit on the stretcher."

  "No." She shook her head.

  The Foxworth Building door opened a crack, closed, and then swung wide. Dr. Joanne Ephraim approached. A pale, middle-aged woman in a taupe pantsuit, who was no bigger than Ephraim, followed. A huge, muscular, much younger black man brought up the rear. The man, seeming somewhat uncomfortable in his dark suit and tie, paused between each measured step as if giving the women a chance to make the two or three necessary steps to maintain a comfortable lead.

  When Ephraim was about twenty feet away, she said, "Miki, these are the detectives I told you were coming this morning to talk about Dr. Sanchez, but I didn't expect them this early. I told them what happened." Ephraim came closer. "You're pale. Are you okay?"

  Miki exhaled. "I'm holding it together. I have to. Right?"

  "I suppose." Ephraim nodded to the people following her. "Ellen Cavanaugh and Keith Quinlan from City by the Sea PD."

  Miki extended her hand. "Thank heavens you're here. I called 911. I guess more police will come."

  "Where's the body?" Quinlan asked. "Take us there."

  Cavanaugh raised her index finger. "First, call in and cancel the 911. Ask for the crime scene van and a couple of uniforms. Then let's take this in logical order."

  Ephraim said, "Sorry to interrupt, but I have to go return to the ER. There are patients waiting." She glanced at Cavanaugh. "I'll hang around after my relief comes. I assume you'll want to talk about Sanchez." She nodded to Walden. "You'd better come with me. Several patients need transport upstairs before change of shift." She gave Miki a fistful of masks and gloves. "I grabbed these for whoever goes inside. John told me about the mold." Ephraim hurried away with Walden trailing close behind.

  While Quinlan rocked his weight from heels to toes, Cavanaugh produced a small notebook. "Ms. Murphy, can you tell me what's going on?"

  Miki thought it obvious the tiny lady was the senior partner and the strapping young man, the junior. She steadied herself on the stretcher. "Victor Zoller, our night security supervisor, posted men by the entrances, then went to call administration. He should be here in a few minutes."

  Cavanaugh said, "I know Zoller from when he was with the force. Now," she made eye contact with Miki, "tell me."

  "We found . . ." She shuddered, then wiped a tear. "I'm sorry. I'm so upset." She took a deep breath. "At first, I couldn't see who it was. The rats are everywhere. But, I saw . . . I think I saw, anyway, a piece of fabric like Arlene Porter's uniform. And . . . a dark brown hand hanging off the table. And . . . her braids. Oh God, it's terrible." Miki's shoulders shook.

  "Start at the point you suspected something was wrong."

  Miki swallowed hard, then began with the call she received from Kimberly Hackim and walked the detectives through the search of the old hospital building.

  As she finished, Zoller appeared and supplied details about the guards he posted and the locks. "When you're ready, I'll take you to where we found her body," he said.

  Miki looked at Zoller and then at each detective. "We'll need lights. Can you rig something up?"

  Zoller knitted his brow. "My men are all busy with a visitor incident in the parking lot. I know where there are a couple of floor lights stashed in the shop. I'll have to go myself to get them, then run lines across to the construction site. Should do it."

  Miki took a deep breath and exhaled. "I guess it's the only way to manage this. I'll stay here and do what's required."

  Zoller put a hand on Miki's shoulder. "You don't need to go in there. Just lead the way and wait in the hall."

  "Yes, that's a plan. I need to take a minute first and call administration."

  "I already did, and both Gardner and Anson are on the way. I'll stop by and leave a note for them to wait for us in the administrative suite. By the way, Mr. Troicki is in the building. I saw him as I crossed the lobby."

  "The chairman of the board." Miki scowled, not bothering to mask her dislike for the man. "What's he doing here at this hour? It's very early, even for him."

  "Don't know. I avoided him. Didn't want to answer any questions." Zoller produced flashlights for the detectives. "You'll want these. I chased off the rats and covered the body with a tarp, but I recommend you hurry since I can't guarantee the condition won't change drastically if someone doesn't tend to it."

  Miki watched as Zoller headed toward Foxworth. She'd have rather done the errands than taken the detectives to the scene.

  17

  Miki led the way around the north side of the building. "We'll go in through the main lobby area rather than the ER."

  "Why?" Quinlan stopped. "Shouldn't we enter the same way you did?"

  "Zoller said the south side of the building flooded during the big storm in May. The floors and even the walls are rotten in places. I fell through the wall. It would be safer to go there later, when we have enough light."

  "Why don't you have power in the building?" Cavanaugh asked as they resumed walking.

  "The engineers disconnected it after the storm, said there were too many shorts in the old circuits. It's not worth fixing because demolition starts in a couple months." Miki nodded to the security guard posted near the door, then motioned to her companions. "Detectives Cavanaugh and Quinlan."

  The guard held the door open, ushering the detectives inside before resuming his post.

  Miki surveyed the lobby area. The morning light filtered in through large, dusty windows, giving a soft, soon-to-be-open-for-business appearance. Several small settees flanke
d by lamp tables remained in their original positions, the dim lighting obscuring their faded upholstery.

  "The rats haven't made much use of this space yet. Some." Miki pointed to a gnawed sofa arm. "It gets darker and dirtier toward the rear."

  "This might be the best place for the crime scene unit's base of operations." Cavanaugh glanced around, grimaced, then stepped into the hallway. She cast her flashlight beam the length of the hall. "This place is eerie. It's like everyone shut the doors and left."

  "That's about what happened. When we moved into the Foxworth Building, almost everything was new. We moved paper, medicines, and patients." Miki took three surgical masks from her lab coat pocket, giving one to each detective. "Put these on. The place is full of mold and mildew. I, for one, don't want to get another lung full."

  They put on the masks and then donned clear vinyl gloves, also supplied by Miki.

  Miki shuddered, took a deep breath to find a bit of bravery, and led the way. "Watch your step. It's vermin soup—rats, their droppings, cockroaches, some spiders, and who knows what else." She directed her torch into the side corridor, then followed the beam.

  Quinlan, who was last in line, fell against the wall. "Damn. I slipped in rat shit." He gagged, then loosed a string of expletives.

  "You've been in worse," Cavanaugh said, flashing her light in his direction. "Good thing you're wearing gloves. You probably slipped in mildew. I think rats make little pellets, like rabbits." She pointed to his palm. "Better be careful. You're a filthy mess."

  Miki dug a clean glove out of her lab coat pocket. "Here. Change it."

  The door to the old central supply department was a few feet ahead. When she reached the door, Miki stood to the left. "The body is on the table in the middle. When Zoller and I got here, it was swarming with feasting rats. I left. Zoller said he and Walden tried to scare them—the rats I mean. Zoller threw an old tarp over it. He told me he didn't think it would hurt any evidence, and he wanted to protect the body."

  Miki stood in the open doorway, watching, filled with dread. A couple of lumps moved under the tattered gray tarp. She cringed. "Oh, God. Some of them found their way under the drape."