Even Monsters have a Social 2/?
Chapter 2
"The CDC?" At least Finch sounded as surprised as John was. "What does the CDC want there?"
"You telling me, Finch." John answered without losing sight of the door. "Something you didn't tell me?" He doubted there was something CDC worthy that Harold just happened to forget mentioning. That wasn't Finch. That man liked his secrets but when it came to the dangers of the job ...
"I'm in the CDC system now." Finch ignored his question and John had long ago stopped to wonder how he could get access to almost anything this quickly. Maybe he'd already a back door into most of the systems they frequently needed. Which the CDC was not. "There is no authorized case degrading to the Nightingale Hospital Center."
"Why am I not surprised?" John positioned himself closer to the door, pretending to be busy with one of the cabinets and had his phone ready to get the connection to the CDC guys. If possible he'd snap a picture of them as well.
"What did Rachel get herself into?" John asked but didn't expect an answer.
A few minutes later the door opened and the two men stepped out.
"Thanks, Doctor Mercer." The taller one of them said and shook hands with the doctor. "Please call us if you can think of anything else."
"What can I say." The doctor looked from one to the other in a helpless gesture. "I think you guys are a little bit paranoid. This is the stroke unit, sometimes people die here. Sad but true."
The two men just nodded to that and went a few steps down the hallway while Doctor Mercer went back to his office. More than enough time for John to snatch the connection to their phones.
"What do you think?" The shorter one asked and fingered at his tie as if he wasn't used to it and wanted to loosen it. A pointed look from his partner stopped him, though.
"I don't know." He sounded unsure. "Maybe we should talk to the staff."
"Great idea." A wide grin spread over the shorter man's face. "I'll take the nurse we spoke to earlier. You can take ..." He made a half turn in search for hospital staff but at the moment nobody was in sight.
"Him." The man pointed at John, clapped his partner's shoulder and then went off to find Rachel.
John wanted to follow him but the other man stopped his tracks with a little smile and a flash of his badge. John only caught a short glimpse at the badge so he couldn't tell if it was real or fake.
"Nash, I'm with the CDC." He introduced himself. "May I ask you some questions?"
The interview might turn out kinda short because it was supposed to be John's first day and all, however, this was his chance to get some information as well.
"CDC?" He faked surprise. "Is there something dangerous going on here?"
"No need to worry, sir." The man tried to reassure him and John had to say, he had his act down to an art. Or he really was who he said he was but John wouldn't bet money on that. "This is just a routine check. To see if the standards are met. It looks good so far, however, I noticed the rate of fatal strokes in this unit is above the average."
The interview was rather short. And rather fruitless on both sides. Nash didn't mention Rachel with one word, just asked about the staff in general and about the patients that died. If John had noticed something out of the ordinary.
"Sorry, this is my first day." John admitted with a half-shrug and then leaned in for a more private conversation. "My first day and I'm talking to the CDC, just between you and me, should I come back here tomorrow?"
"No need to worry, sir." Nash answered with an open smile and this John believed. The man didn't think John or anybody working here was in danger from something he still hadn't elaborated. "Like I said, this is more of a routine check. More paperwork than anything else. Thank you for your time." At least he was polite, lying but polite.
John watched him leave.
"Finch, what do you think?" He asked under his breath while he went to search for Rachel. The other man had dissipated in this direction but so far he hadn't come back for his partner and there was no sign of Rachel either.
"I'm not sure, Mr. Reese." Came Harold's answer. "But I'm having a closer look at the patients who died recently on this station."
John nodded to that and headed for the staff's locker room. By now Rachel's shift was over and he hoped to find her there.
Shouldn't have let her out of my sight, he thought while he hurried down the stairs. He hoped the other man had just interviewed her like his partner had interviewed John but she could be dead by now for all he knew. Without hesitation he dashed into the women's locker room. The empty locker room.
"Finch, I lost her." John turned on his heel and went for the parking lot. Maybe she was already on her way home. Or that CDC guy took her. Or she was lying dead in one of the laundry baskets.
"I found her." Finch had never said anything sweeter. "At least I found her phone."
"Where?" John made a sprint for his car. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed another car leaving the parking area, an old muscle car and for a second he caught a glimpse of the driver. The second CDC guy.
John got in his car and started the engine, ready to follow him but Harold stopped him.
"I'm tracking Ms. Martin now. Looks like she's on her way home."
John started the car and drove in that direction while the other car disappeared around a corner behind him. There had been somebody in the passenger seat but the figure was too big to be Rachel. Most likely the man who'd interviewed John.
John gave Harold the details of the car and Harold promised to give the information to Carter. With the license plates they should at least get a name.
"Tell me if Rachel changes her mind and drives somewhere else." John ended the call and focused on driving. Harold would inform him as soon as Rachel diverted from her way home and in the meantime would call Detective Carter. By now John was used to Harold being constantly in his ear and the sudden silence gave him more room to think than he liked.
So far this whole case didn't make sense. The two CDC guys were suspicious and for sure they played a part in this but John had no idea what that would be. They had been interested in the people who recently died in the hospital, so that was a start and for sure Harold was already on it. Maybe one of them had told Rachel something she shouldn't know. Or gave her something. That was the closest John came to an explanation.
However, Rachel was the center of this and most likely she knew what was going on. Or at least could point him in the right direction.
"Ms. Martin has arrived at home." Harold informed him about half an hour later. "And Detective Carter came back to me with the license plates. The car belongs to a Gus Hudson from Colorado. I'm sending you a picture of his driver's license. Beyond that I can find nothing about him so I'm not sure if Mr. Hudson actually exists."
John had a quick look at the picture.
"That's the second CDC guy, he was driving the car. I didn't get his name." John confirmed. "Did you find anything on the other guy, this Mr. Nash?"
"Nothing so far." Harold admitted. "But I'm running both their pictures right now and Detective Carter is doing the same with the police database. If they've come in conflict with the law before we'll find them."
John had no doubt about that, both men had come across as professionals after all. And you didn't become a professional in this line of work without butting heads with the law at some point. John just wasn't sure what this line of work exactly was. Fake CDC, a hospital and a nurse in the mix, his first guess was drugs but he knew way too little to narrow this one down.
It still took John ten more minutes to reach Rachel's apartment complex but according to Finch she hadn't left her place and when John pulled into the parking lot he didn't spot that old Impala so maybe he was ahead of those two. It hadn't looked like they were on Rachel anyway but that was probably only a matter of time.
"Okay, I'm going to talk to her." John parked the car, adjusted his suit jacket and made sure his gun was where it was supposed to be.
This time he knew his way around and he stood in front of Rachel's door in a matter of seconds. However, she didn't open. John rung the bell and knocked but the door stayed closed.
"Ms. Martin?" He finally yelled. "This is the police, please open the door."
Usually that did the trick, he could explain the little misunderstanding about being a police officer later when he'd made sure she was safe. But this time the door stayed closed. And he didn't hear a sound from the inside either.
"I'm coming in." He announced and gave her a second to change her mind before he opened the door with one precise kick near the lock. The door bust open and John was inside before it hit the wall, gun in his hand. He made a quick round through the apartment but it was empty.
"She's not here." John informed Harold and had a closer look around.
The apartment looked nothing like when John had left it in the morning. A chair lay kicked over on the floor, drawers were open and clothes lay around.
"Maybe a fight." John closed the door of the fridge. The kitchen was a mess, too.
"Any sign of Ms. Martin, Mr. Reese?" Harold tried to keep his voice even but John heard the worry behind his words.
"Nothing." John returned to the bedroom, the center of this mess. On the bed he found her phone and credit cards among abandoned clothes and an empty purse.
"You think those men kidnapped her?" Finch asked while John had a closer look at the closet.
"I don't know, Finch." John's eyes were on the upper shelf where in the morning a suitcase had been. "Her suitcase is missing and she took some of her clothes."
He went over to the bathroom. Bottles and containers were knocked over here as well but some things were missing, too.
"And she took her toothbrush."
"So she left on her own?"
"Either that or her kidnapper let her pack a bag." John returned to the living room. "However, she left in a hurry."
From what John was seeing Rachel had left on her own but had left anything behind that could lead to her, namely her phone and her credit cards, smart girl. On the other hand that would make it harder for him to find and protect her. Because this for sure looked like the reaction of somebody in fear and not of somebody who was about to kill somebody.
"You have any idea where she might went?" John asked because he came up with nothing. There were no pictures of her family, nothing indicating a place she'd most likely turn to to hide. Her laptop sat still on the table, it didn't look like she'd even touched it while she'd been here.
"I've no idea, Mr. Reese." Over the line John heard him frantically tapping on his keyboard.
"We need to have a little chat with those CDC guys." John said and left the apartment.
Chapter 3
Masterpost