Chapter Six?
Tara smelt the unpleasant aroma of vomit as she went into the locker room. She held her breath as she sat down in front of the bathroom.
"James?" she asked towards the sounds of gagging.
The toilet flushed, and he came out. He splashed some cold water on his face then joined Tara on the floor in front of the stalls.
"Why were you vomiting?" he shrugged and continued to stare blankly at the lockers in front of him. "There was another suicide. Though it wasn't a suicide, was it?" he didn't respond. "I can't do anything to help you if you don't talk to me. What's going on?"
He started banging his head against the wall. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Tara frowned and placed her hand behind his head. "Are you seriously going to go to jail for these people? Destroy everything you have to help them? You can't even stomach what you did. You honestly think they won't get rid of you when they find out you can't handle it?"
He shrugged once more. "Maybe that's what I deserve," he used his hands to wipe the tears welling in his eyes. "They knew I needed the money. I have a kid with medical bills, and my insurance won't pay for it. What else was I supposed to do?"
"How many people are involved in this?"
He paused for a second, then answered, "almost everyone on our floor."
"You know who's in charge?"
"I just listened to JJ, the night supervisor. Whenever they needed help staging, they call us. They asked me maybe a few months after my arrival. I've been helping for maybe four months. Doing everything they asked."
She stared at her hands as she asked, "have you ever helped kill anyone?"
"Charlie Booker. They said he was too jumpy lately. They were scared he was going to talk. They told me to push his head underwater so that he'll be unconscious."
"Was he unconscious?" James shook his head at the question. "You think you're willing to say this in front of a friend of mine?"
"They'll kill me."
"I promise I won't let that happen."
"How?"
"Just a guy by the name of Detective Bonanno."
Rita handed the hitter a cup of coffee; eyebrows furrowed to the statement: Crane's running tests on the patients.
"And the proof for this accusation is?" she asked.
Eliot sighed. He didn't have anything physical to show, "You're telling me all these suicides are just a coincidence?"
"Do you know where we are? It happens, add that on with not being mentally stable, then it triples the statistic of suicide. It's not uncommon, Dr. Abernathy."
He frowned, "Neither is what these patients are going through. Think, my patient can't be the only one who spoke up." Rita nodded, "What about patients come in having seizures, or showing signs of potential overdosing on medication? Anything."
She paused, thinking for a second before walking them over to her office. She shuffled through the drawers, then tossed seven files to the hitter.
"One other came in like your patient, four came with potential signs, and two came in after suffering episodes from taking the wrong medication. It's odd. I'll give you that. However, I wouldn't say there are signs of torment from Dr. Frankenstein."
Eliot crossed referenced the names in the file with the names of the suicides, and they all matched. "These are the same patients who later committed suicide. If you put together sudden unexpected "suicides" with patients overdosing and taking the wrong medication, and allegations, what do you get?"
She looked at him for a long moment before smiling, "You are not a real doctor. Are you?" he smirked and shook his head, "Figured. Who sent you?"
"Aubrey's daughter."
Rita's smile disappeared, "Aubrey was a good person. She told me about all her goals, and she was trying to get out of this place. Tell her daughter I express my condolences."
"You can tell her yourself when you testify against Dr. Crane."
Sophie and Hardison pulled up to a small home. There was no sign of anyone even on the block beside the two thieves.
"I read some of her notes," she said before the two of them got out of Lucille. "The way she talked about her patients, it seems she had a deep connection with them. If we weren't investigating her for being involved with Mr. Cowl, then I'd say she was one of those hippie doctors,"
Sophie knocked on the door, and they waited until a tall brunette opened.
"May I help you?" the young woman asked.
"I'm looking for a Rebecca Copper," the woman at the door nodded at the name, "I'm Laura, I work at Lilly's Mental Hospital. Do you remember Audrey Reid?"
She smiled slightly at the name, but it faded. She invited the two of them in, sitting down on one of her sofas. "Her daughter came a few months back. She told me that her mother committed suicide."
"Did she ever try to contact you again?" Hardison asked.
She nodded, "Last week, she told me that she thought someone murdered her mother. Honestly, I think she's going through a lot since her mother died. Everyone wants to believe their loved ones are happy, even when they're not."
"What about you? Do you think Audrey committed suicide?"
She shrugged, "Yeah, there were signs of her being suicidal when I was talking to her. I even told Everett about it, but she kept saying how she thought her mother was doing better."
"What about these patients?" Sophie said as she handed her the list of suicides.
Rebecca chuckled slightly, "Those patients seemed happy to me. They were doing good in the programs and moving quickly up levels. If they kept getting better, then they would've been out soon."
"We think that these suicides are someone 'curing.' patients to death."
"Curing?" she handed back the folders, "If someone's talking about curing patients, then I guess you have spoken with Ms. Remy. She went on about Dr. Crane wanting to as you say 'cure' patients. However, she does have a history of making up false memories."
"What about Mr. Cowl, or anyone else, do you think someone besides, Crane is involved."
Rebecca frowned, "My husband has nothing to do with this."
"He might not know what's going on, but he might've been covering it up. Does he seem more secretive? Irritated once he comes home, stressed?"
"I think you should leave now."
The two of them got up, moving towards the door, "If you think of anything, you can contact us?" Sophie said as she handed the woman their card before the grifter and hacker left.
"You think she'll call Cowl and blow our covers?" Hardison asked.
"I don't know. We had to take the chance. But if she does, we should be ready for hell itself to rain down."