"Raya managed to track down our missing victim." Gil didn't offer an explanation for how she had done it, he simply dropped the file she handed him before exiting his office on the conference room table. "Evan Chambers, a doctor at the hospital where Eddie Smith was taken following Martin Whitly's counterattack on him."
The only time the man attacked someone and in self-defense was not lost on Gil.
"Evan Chambers?" JT's brow creased. "I remember that name from somewhere."
"He was Eddie's doctor." Dani slid the file to her and flipped it open. "He was on shift at the time Bright went to see Eddie."
Her tone indicated to Gil how much she struggled with accepting the kid had nothing to do with Eddie Smith's death. Gil understood why she was having a hard time believing Bright innocent of any wrongdoing. Past instances of the kid doing questionable things coupled with hard to refute facts.
Dani's trust issues also ran as deep as Bright's. She had to work through things on her own, though. It wasn't something Gil, JT or anyone could do for her. He had faith she'd come around once everything was said and done.
"He could have planted that blood and Bright's hair on Eddie after Bright left." JT leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "Nobody would have thought his being in the room was odd since he was the guy's doctor."
They hadn't initially considered the possibility of a doctor or a nurse being the one to plant the blood and hair fibers on Eddie because the evidence pointed to one person: Bright. The suspect pool opened up with the possibility of Eddie being dead before Bright arrived. While it didn't help exonerate Bright, coupled with the results Raya delivered to Edrisa, it did provide reasonable doubt.
"We need to find Evan Chambers before any of the other killers in Endicott's employ are sent to dispose of him." Gil placed his hands flat on the table to keep from slamming them into the wall at his back. Bruised and bloody knuckles were the last thing he needed what with Watkins and a Talon on the loose. "He is the only one who can tell us who hired him to plant that blood and hair on Bright."
And if he names Endicott as the one who hired him to frame Bright... Gil would personally clap the cuffs on the son of a bitch himself.
"We'll go to the hospital." Dani closed the file and stood. "See if we can find out anything about Evan."
"Should hit up Mini-Bright's stepdad." JT pushed back his chair. "See if he can't give us a phone number or address."
"Why would Sorcha's step-dad have Evan's phone number or his address?" Dani's brow furrowed. "Did I miss a connection between him and Evan?"
"Her step-dad is Chief of Staff at the hospital he works." JT pushed to his feet. "Took Bright there after his skinny ass re-broke his thumb. That's who treated him."
Gil hadn't known Bright re-broke his thumb or that JT took him to the hospital. He also hadn't been aware that Sorcha's step-dad had been promoted to Chief of Staff. There hadn't been a lot of time between Watkins kidnapping Bright to Bright being accused of killing Eddie Smith to discuss things like promotions or family events.
"How do you know he's the hospital Chief of Staff?" Dani questioned, one brow tilted.
"Lite-Bright gave me her step-dad's card for whenever Bright gets injured."
Whenever the kid gets injured, Gil mused, hiding a smile, not if.
"Harry Wilson's a good man," he said. "And a great doctor."
"You know him?" Dani looked at him. "Personally?"
Gil nodded. "Harry Wilson is one of the few doctors Bright trusts to take care of him when he's injured."
Harry had been called on to treat the kid a number of times over the years and so understood his... issues. Appendix, tonsils, a broken wrist after he hit a wall ice skating, neck injury after being tossed from a horse, torn rotator cuff, dislocated knee... and those were only a few of the injuries and illnesses Bright had.
All before he turned twenty-one.
There were dozens of other times where Harry Wilson stepped in to treat Bright. Especially after his ordeal with John Watkins. The kid wouldn't let any of the emergency room staff treat him. The anxiety and paranoia he dealt with on a daily basis had been dialed all the way up to ten. Dehydration, blood loss, and exhaustion didn't help matters, either.
Sorcha even struggled to calm Bright down enough for her mother to get an IV in. Harry Wilson stepped in and got the kid to quiet enough to allow him to take care of him. How he did it, Gil didn't know. He was simply glad he had.
Now, Watkins was back on the loose and free to finish what he started in December.
Not that Gil planned to let anything happen.
To Bright, his mother and sister or anyone else for that matter.
"Tell Harry about Watkins having gotten out of Arkham," he told them. "He can warn the rest of Sorcha's family just in case Watkins tries to go after them instead of Bright and his family."
"You think he'll go after someone in Sorcha's family?" Dani cocked her head to the side. "Not Bright or his family?"
"Lite-Bright makes sense," JT said. "Losing her will hurt Bright the most."
Gil agreed. "That's why I sent Raya to Jessica's. She can keep an eye on both Sorcha and Bright."
"Gonna deserve a medal for keeping Bright outta trouble." JT headed for the door. "Full-time job right there."
Gil's lips twitched. "Raya's familiar with the job requirements."
"What're you going to do while we run down Evan's location?"
"I'm going to work on finding Watkins."
With the help of the man who just strolled into the bullpen. Dick Grayson had shot up nine inches since the night they met, packed on a ton of muscle, gained a ton more knowledge and experience, and got rid of the god-awful mullet he sported when he joined the NYPD as a new recruit.
"Guessing that's Not-Bright's better half."
"She'd probably tell you I'm her annoying half." Dick flashed a wide grin as he held out a hand to JT. "Dick Grayson."
"Tarmel." JT nodded towards Dani. "That's Powell."
"And we're on our way to follow up a lead your wife gave us." Dani glanced at Gil. "We'll let you know what we find out."
"Just be careful."
"We're not Bright," JT said as he started walking towards the exit. "We call for backup."
"And wait for it," Dani added before leaving him and Dick alone.
"See Bright still hasn't learned how to call for backup," Dick joked.
"A habit he acquired from your wife."
"She got it from Batman."
Gil didn't doubt that. "Come on, let's talk in my office."
Dick followed without a word.
...
"So, tell me, Nicki..." The ghost of a smile appeared through the thick whiskers surrounding John's mouth. "What is it you want me to do in exchange for your..." a pause. "Help?"
Nicholas's fingers curled around the arm of his chair. The only physical reaction he allowed himself to being called by that despicable nickname. He might not have objected so vehemently to the name if it wasn't what his bastard of a father called him until a lifetime of drinking caught up with him.
Nicholas held onto his temper, however, and appraised the man seated across from him. Insolence shimmered in the depths of John's eyes. A taunting smirk screwed up one corner of his mouth.
He clearly relished this little game he was playing.
Well, he'd let John have his fun.
Soon as he outlived his purpose, he'd get rid of him. Same as he had gotten rid of all the others who were no longer of any use to him.
As he should have gotten rid of Martin Whitly.
A mistake he dearly regretted but would soon remedy.
To John, though, he said, "I want you to finish what you started in December."
A smile appeared through those thick bristles. "You want me to break little Malcolm."
"I want you to do more than break Malcolm." Nicholas leaned back in his chair. "I need you to turn him into the killer he would have become if not for that rigid morality instilled in him by Arroyo and Batman."
A code Malcolm might never have developed had his father not been so confident in his control over him. Martin Whitly's ego prevented him from turning his son into his mirror-image.
"What about Miss Corbin?" John steepled his fingers on his chest and cocked his head to the side. "She's preventing little Malcolm from reaching his full potential. Her and Doctor Kean."
Nicholas's mood soured. If there was anyone he hated with a passion, it was Raya Kean. The woman had been a thorn in his side for almost two decades. It was because of her that he fell out of favor with the Court.
Her and Martin Whitly.
Two problems he'd soon take care of.
Three counting Sorcha Corbin.
The other thorn in his side. Her and her father, Ian. The man continued complicating his life despite being dead for nearly a decade. The information Ian Corbin put together on him and his secret operation concerned Nicholas for obvious reasons.
When he learned Corbin left his files to his daughter, he sent Mercy to retrieve them. When she failed to find them in either the Corbin home or Malcolm's loft, he sent John to question the only man who might have knowledge of the files whereabouts: Ian Turner.
Turner surprised him by refusing to reveal where the files were hidden. Nicholas hadn't imagined the man not caving to John's... pressure. There had been no choice but to have John kill Turner. He couldn't risk his operations being exposed or his connection to the Court of Owls discovered.
After Turner's death and John's arrest, Nicholas doubled his efforts in locating those files. He needed to destroy those files before they could end up in the hands of his daughter. Or worse, he thought as a thump sounded in the hall outside his office. I don't need those files ending up in the hands of Batman.
Another man making his — and the Courts — life hell for the past few years. Corbin's files in the possession of the self-professed World's Greatest Detective was the worst possible thing that could happen. So much was on the line. He couldn't afford any mistakes.
Not when the Court had yet to forgive him for his past failure.
"Get rid of her." The how of it didn't interest Nicholas so long as Sorcha Corbin was no longer a barrier to Malcolm finally becoming the killer he needed. "Do it after you get from her where the files her father has on our operations are hidden."
"I think it should be little Malcolm who kills her."
"Oh?" One eyebrow lifted. "And why do you think he should kill her?"
"It's... symbolic." A gleam passed through John's eyes. "His first kill should be someone special. Who better than the woman he loves?"
The idea has merit, Nicholas conceded silently. Malcolm killing his girlfriend was exactly the push he needed. It will completely break him mentally, he realized as a door down the hall opened and closed. It wasn't like he didn't know who his visitor was.
He just had no idea what they were doing there.
"Yes." A small smile curved his lips. "Yes, I agree. Have Malcolm kill Sorcha Corbin. Only," he stressed as John made to get to his feet, "after you find those files."
"Sure." The man stood. "Anything else you want me to do?"
"Yes," Nicholas said. "I want you to get rid of Gil Arroyo, as well. The man has become a nuisance."
The feral gleam in John's eyes was the only confirmation Nicholas needed to know his order would be carried out.
Happily.
John turned and exited his office. Nicholas watched him go, confident the man wouldn't fail him this time.
If he did?
Well, he'd have Talon take him out.
As he planned to have him eliminate Martin Whitly.
Something he should have done after the man failed to kill Ellen Rae Berkeley and her daughter.
Nicholas wasn't the kind of man who lived his life in hindsight, though. When one of his business's was no longer profitable, he cut his losses, and moved on.
Martin Whitly had, by his estimate, outlived his purpose. Even the Court finally decided his skills were of no further value to them. The Surgeon had evaded judgment before because the Court found themselves in need of his surgical talent.
Not anymore, though.
Their new doctor served their needs quite well.
And has a working knowledge of who the man under the cowl is, Nicholas mused as he turned to stare out the window, and how to beat him.
A/N: Hello, all! Hope this finds you well!