Always Watching by LS Sygnet Read Free Book Online Page A

meet.
    “ Mr. Fangman.”
    He rose.  “This is the head of human
resources, Vicky Ferrite.”
    Not Vanessa Fremont.
    “ Ma’am,” Devlin nodded
curtly.  “Wish this was under better circumstances. 
We’re going to need access to your personnel files right
away.”
    “ Mr. Fangman and I were
discussing the rigorous process required to hire our staff, sir,”
she said.  One hand rested in a protective gesture over the
laptop computer.  “I can assure you that none of our staff has
a criminal record of any kind.”
    My smile sent frost climbing up the
walls.  “Then again, Ms. Ferrite, every criminal has his or
her first time.  I’d prefer that we avoid any delay in
obtaining the information we need.  I believe that Mrs.
Datello – and the lawyers she and her very wealthy husband are
certain to hire – would appreciate your immediate cooperation,
rather than forcing us to obtain a search warrant for these
personnel files.  That kind of lawsuit would be a public forum
after all, and would hurt the confidence the city has in your
hospital.”
    One of her perfectly manicured claws tapped
the laptop.  “And I’m sure that you realize we’ve already
summoned our legal department –”
    “ Devlin, would you get
Zack Carpenter on the phone?  We’re going to need a phone
warrant from a judge to access these files.  Also, if you
could call someone from the Sentinel over here, the television
stations too.  We’re going to get that Amber Alert on the air
right away, and I don’t see any point in holding the press
conference for this abduction anywhere else.  I’m sure Chris
Darnell can handle it from his command center downstairs until the
FBI arrives.”
    Ferrite flipped open the laptop.  “Are
there any employees in particular that you need information
about?”
    “ Everyone on duty during
the time that this child disappeared, specifically those with
access to the nursery.  At the top of that list should be one
of your nurses who escaped questioning and slipped away at change
of shift.  Her name is Florence Payette.”
    “ Florence Payette?”
Ferrite echoed.  “But she’s a harmless old woman.”
    “ How old?” Devlin still
held his phone poised and ready to dial.
    “ Mid fifties.  She’s
worked here on and off for years.  Since she graduated from
nursing school, Florence has been voted employee of the quarter, of
the year, countless times by her peers.  She’s worked here
nearly twenty years.”
    “ How many babies have been
abducted from your hospital in the past, Mr. Fangman?” I
asked.  “Two?  Five?  Twenty?”
    “ Three,” he said
softly.  “But this is the first since we implemented the
security system that is mandated by JCAHO.”
    “ When did the first two
take place?”
    He glanced at his fuming human resources
director.  “There was one in the mid 1990s, the other probably
before you were born. This one is the third.”
    I did the math.  The one in the ’90s
was during the Lowe years of Darkwater Bay.  “And were those
children ever found?”
    “ I don’t believe so. 
That was long before our tenure in this hospital, Dr.
Eriksson.”
    “ I’d like Ms. Payette’s
file now, if you don’t mind,” I said.
    A printer hummed to life behind
Ferrite.  Devlin retrieved the pages and handed them to
me.  I scanned the ancient cover letter.
    “ She wasn’t trained in the
United States?”
    “ Her mother was a citizen,
but Florence was born overseas.  Saudi Arabia I
believe.”
    “ Interesting.”
    “ Is it?” Dev
asked.
    “ We’ll talk about it
later.  I’d like to see her performance reviews as well,” I
said.  “Has she always worked in obstetrics?”
    “ Yes,” Ferrite said. 
“I believe that while she was working her way through nursing
school that she was employed as a nanny for a retired
diplomat.  Her mother had worked for him in Saudi
Arabia.  When he came back to the United States, Florence and
her mother came with them.”
    “