I'm back with another chapter for you all.
Chapter 78.
House, Cameron, Anita and Hadley drove to Snow Hill in silence at first, each wrapped up in their own thoughts. Hadley broke the silence, "You're sure Steve's going to the hospital?"
"He probably doesn't know Wilson's patient was discharged yesterday morning," Cameron said.
Hadley accepted that. "Do we have to keep calling him that? Wilson's patient?"
"We don't know his name," Anita pointed out.
House sped up. "Wilson will keep that secret even if it kills him."
Cameron shrugged. "Doctor-patient confidentiality, but also, according to Wilson, a matter of national security."
"That's BS." House grimaced. "Wilson just likes to keep things to himself."
"House, he's sworn to in this case." Anita shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Someone in Washington will have to prove that national security is best served if the agency knows the name of the patient and those of his staffers.
Hadley's eyes narrowed. "Are we sure it isn't the patient who Steve wants to meet?"
"We're not sure of anything, at this point," Cameron said.
"Except that Steve's been lying."
Hadley took out her phone. "Should I alert the team to be on the lookout for Steve?"
Cameron hadn't thought of that. "Might he try to silence Les?"
"It's a possibility." But Hadley didn't act on that.
House parked in his old spot in the doctors' part of the parking garage.
Hadley sneered at him but said, "I suppose no one's here to object on a Sunday. You could have used my space."
"My car likes this one."
They entered the hospital and all, except Hadley, signed in as visitors. The man at reception narrowed his eyes at House and Cameron. "Wait, weren't you here earlier today?"
"We liked it so much, we came back," House quipped.
The man stared at them all as they walked to the elevator.
"Should we have flashed a picture of Steve, asked if anyone had seen him?" Cameron asked.
Anita shook her head. "We'll do it at the nurse's station."
Hadley led the way on her floor. She stopped briefly with the duty nurse. "Jeannie, have you see this man?" She held up a photo of Steve on her phone.
Jeannie shook her head.
They continued on to Les' room. He was alone. "What's up?" he asked. Maybe it was the serious and determined frowns on their faces.
"We were afraid Steve might come for you," Anita explained.
He nodded. "You think he's here, in the hospital?"
"Yes," she said.
House tapped his cane. "The only other person he might try to talk to is an aide to Wilson's patient."
"The senator. Yeah. He may have tried to meet him before. But haven't they left?"
House mouthed, a senator, huh? "Steve doesn't know that."
"Or maybe by this time he does."
"I'll check if he's been in Oncology," Cameron said.
"I'll go with you." House headed for the door.
"And we'll stay here with Les." Anita looked at Hadley, who nodded.
HHH
Chrissy was so busy with the lunch crowd she almost forgot Steve's behavior. But when she delivered meatloaf to Wilson and a chef's salad to Jessica, she said, "Where is everyone today? Only one who was here for breakfast was that Steve guy."
"Alone?" Wilson scanned the diner but didn't see him.
"He went south afterward." She grinned. "I told Chief Anderson."
Wilson nodded. "Thanks, Chrissy."
"Did you enjoy the party last night?" Jess asked.
The teen grinned. "Especially after we found the library. So many great books. Rachel, Hannah and I have permission to visit whenever we're looking for something else to read."
HHH
Steve barged onto the oncology floor of the hospital and went straight to the nurse's station. "Which room is the senator in?"
"What senator?" The nurse looked at the wild hair and blazing eyes of the man in front of her and silently pressed the security alert button that would call a guard. She shook her head. "We don't have any senator here."
"Senator Carmichael. Dr. Wilson's patient." Steve couldn't get the words out fast enough.
"He had a private patient here until yesterday morning." She looked past Steve for the appearance of the guard. "Is that who you're talking about? I didn't know he was a senator." Keep him talking.
"He left?"
"Sure. Dr. Wilson discharged him yesterday. Did you know he had two or three of his staff members with him at all times? In addition to hospital security staff." She shook her head. "Knew he had to be some big shot." She smiled, either to disarm Steve or because she saw the guard.
The large man in uniform came up behind Steve. "Can I help you."
Steve's face paled. "No. No, I was looking for a patient who already left." He turn to the nurse, "Thanks for your help," then made a beeline for the elevator.
"Was it really necessary to call me?" the guard asked the nurse.
"He was a little too intense for my liking. You get to spot someone who's over the edge."
"I'll make sure he leaves the hospital." The guard headed to the elevator Steve took a minute earlier. But before he reached it, the doors opened and House and Cameron came out.
"Excuse me." The guard walked around them.
"We may need you."
"Sorry, gotta catch a nut job."
House and Cameron exchanged glances that said, "the 'nut job' had to be Steve." They got on the elevator with the guard.
Cameron described Steve as a five foot ten inch slightly-built male with nondescript brown hair and eyes, and the guard nodded. "That's who we're after too," she said.
"He's either going after Les or leaving for D.C." House guessed.
"Fifty-fifty."
"We'll try Les."
"Hadley and Anita are already there. My money's on that senator's aide."
Cameron called Anita. "Steve may be headed to you."
"Already here," she said in a strained voice.
"Come with us," Cameron told the guard when they reached the floor where Les's room was.
HHH
Steve had burst into Les's room but pulled up short when he saw Hadley and Anita.
It was Les who said, "What do you want?"
"Answers."
"About what?" Les crossed his arms.
"What does the agency know that they're not telling me?" Steve asked.
"I repeat, about what?" Les shrugged. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."
"Why are you here?" Steve demanded.
"In the hospital?"
"No. In Shelby, now in Snow Hill," Steve pointed to Anita. "Working with her."
Les rubbed his forehead. "I could ask you a few questions too."
"Not until you answer mine."
Les nodded. "Boss sent me to get you and Curt to finish up here. You've been working on this case for too long. For one thing, what did you find out about Harve's murder? He wasn't even sure if one of you killed him."
"Harve was a double agent."
"Yes. That's one thing we know," Anita said.
"And the old couple were spies for Russia," Les said. "Maybe even involved in tampering with our elections."
Steve nodded. "They were."
"You weren't really attacked near Lorelei's apartment, were you?" Hadley asked.
Steve stared at her but didn't answer.
She stared right back. "How much do you remember?"
"And the biggest question," Anita added. "Whose side are you on?"
"Look, I already admitted to drugging myself a few days ago."
"The lady asked you a question." Anita's voice took on a commanding tone. "What do you remember?"
Steve actually gulped. "Almost everything."
"Did you arrange to be knocked out?" Les asked.
Steve's eyes darted to the window then the door but eventually settled on Les. "Not exactly arranged."
"Then, what verb would you used?" Anita crossed her arms.
"I kinda suggested to… to someone if they knocked me out, I would become a victim." He rubbed his head. "He went a little overboard."
"Does this 'he' have a name?" Les stared at Steve.
Steve shook his head. "I can't tell you. If I do—." He pressed his lips together.
No amount of cajoling could get him to reveal more.
"Let's see what you say in court," Anita said. "I'm arresting you on a charge of falsifying a report to the police."
"Actually, doesn't a Snow Hill PD officer have to do that?" Simpson asked. The team had arrived during the conversation and stood by listening to the entire exchange with a mixture of fascination and astonishment.
Anita laughed. "Technically, but since the two PDs work so closely together, I can arrest him. Just in case, though, let me make a call."
She walked toward the door and, in a voice the others couldn't hear, she first called the Snow Hill PD and then the Shelby PD. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Steve make a run for the door, but Jacobs and Magnani each grabbed an arm and kept him from fleeing. "We can add resisting arrest to the other charges," she said out loud. Technically, it was a stronger charge than any others the police could make.
A defeated Steve slumped in Jacobs and Magnani's grasps. They sat him in a chair, and the three doctors circled it. Anita approached to stand in front of him. "They'll be here in fifteen minutes to take custody of the prisoner."
"I want to call my lawyer," Steve said sullenly.
"Didn't know you had one, or even knew one." Magnani stared at Steve's back.
"You'll be read your rights and given a phone call," Anita said. "Don't you worry. But while we're waiting, why don't you tell us everything you know about Curt."
HHH
House, Cameron and the guard arrived before the police.
"Shelby PD is on the way," Anita told them. "Steve's starting to spill, gotten to his opinion of Curt."
"Thought Curt wasn't a suspect for any of this," Les said.
House nodded. "Yeah, that's what we thought."
Anita crossed her arms. "Steve? Anything to say?"
Steve surveyed the people surrounding him and sighed. "Curt's okay. I doubt he killed anyone, that is."
She chuckled. "And you're claiming neither did you."
"Not another word until I speak to an attorney." Steve zipped his lips.
"Now what?" Simpson asked.
"Now we let the police handle it." Anita turned to Les. "Unless there's someone else we should call." She lifted an eyebrow.
He swallowed. "No. You got this. I'm just gonna lie here while these youngsters decide what's wrong."
Simpson exchanged a glance with Jacobs and Magnani then nodded slowly. "Okay, Mr. Colombo. We have two more tests to run. Just relax and we'll have you up and out of here in no time."
"What about the aide to the Washington bigwig?" Cameron asked Anita.
"Yes, glad you mentioned that." Anita looked from Les to Steve and back again. "Can either of you tell me who he is and what he has to do with all of this?"
Jacobs nodded. "Yeah, Mr. Colombo, who did you expect to meet in the Garden if not the man's aide?"
"Actually, I expected to find Steve talking to Palmer," Les shook his head. "That's the assistant to...well, to Wilson's former patient."
House mumbled, "The senator."
"Steve, did you meet with Palmer?" Anita asked.
Steve grimaced. "Never had a chance. He was one of Harve's contacts, thought he might know something."
"Was he crooked like Harve?"
"No, just fed him intel. We all have our sources, you know."
Two uniformed policemen from the Snow Hill PD appeared in the doorway. The older-looking one consulted a piece of paper. "We're here to collect Steve Holder."
Anita grinned. "You're welcome to him." She indicated which of the many people in the room was Steve. "I'm from the Shelby PD." She showed her credentials. "The two departments are working together on this."
The cop nodded. "That's what I hear. We'll book him."
"It might be on your paperwork, but the current charge is resisting arrest. There'll be other charges and other agencies involved later on."
Steve's face drained of all color. It had finally sunk in that he was being arrested.
HHH
After lunch at the diner, Wilson and Jessica spent an uneventful afternoon at home until Wilson's phone chimed. It was his former patient.
"Hello? Is something wrong?"
"Is this Dr. Wilson?" a female voice asked.
"Yes, it is. Who are you?"
"Oh, sorry, this is Suzie Carmichael, the senator's wife." Sobs punctuated her words. "He had a headache all day, but it got worse and now he's having trouble speaking, keeps slurring his words. What should I do?"
"Is his doctor available?" Wilson tried to maintain a comforting tone while his mind ran over the procedure he'd performed on the senator. "Nothing I did was anywhere near the part of his brain that controls speech."
"I can't reach his doctor. Please, Dr. Wilson. You must come here or at least tell me what to do."
"The best thing would be to have him med-flighted back to Snow Hill Mercy. I'll meet him there." Wilson throat tightened. "I'll arrange to have an ambulance take him to Dulles and have a helicopter pick him up from there."
"Thank you, doctor. Thank you so much."
He made the calls then turned to Jessica. "I have to return to the hospital."
Jess nodded. "I'm going with you. If Mrs. Carmichael comes with him, I'll stay with her while you determine what's happening now."