Page 89 of Mission: Possible

"If the deceased Sophie is the kind of woman that would attract a target like Austen, it could be possible. She would have had a live object to study and emulate, or at least, she did have once."

"Yeah." I managed a small smile. "I'm starting to think Sophie and Zach really did target Austen for his money. Where are you with the bank case?"

"Tracked down a bunch of information about Mackleton. Found out the sister is called Nessa Reyes but still no sign of her. She joined the Army as a teenager and had a clean record for a few years but might have changed surnames because the trail goes cold right after she was discharged. As for her brother, he changed jobs often and none of his previous employers or colleagues remembered anything about him. It's a sad life really. Charlie remains virtually unhelpful."

"I didn't investigate him," I realized with a gulp. I’d dismissed Solomon’s request as a distraction, but what if it wasn’t? "I'm sorry. It slipped my mind to take a closer look at him."

"I shouldn't have asked. You've had a strange day."

"I still shouldn't have forgotten him."

"I'll leave you to your case but it would be great if you could join us in the boardroom later. I need fresh eyes as we go over the investigation so far. I don't trust Charlie. Never did. "

"I'll be there," I agreed.

Behind me, the door banged open and Delgado thumped in. I suspected he purposefully made a lot of noise on entry although it was no longer necessary. "Lexi, didn't see you here," he said. "Did you just arrive?"

"Oh, please," I said with a roll of my eyes for his feeble attempts at surprise. Holding back a laugh, I turned back to my notes, scanning them again. Annie implied Sophie was an alcoholic and addict. Was she clean now? Surely Austen would have mentioned any erratic behavior, and if not, was Sophie simply excellent at hiding her addiction?

There was an easy way for me to find out. I called Alice.

"I'm just finishing my shift," she told me. "Do you want to meet up? I could do with a post-work drink."

"Not tonight but soon," I replied. "I wonder if you could check on something."

"About Sophie?"

"Yes. A couple of things actually. I don't think it'll take too long."

"Whatever you need. I can make another check on her vitals before I change out of my scrubs."

"First, was everything okay when Zach visited her earlier?"

"Yes. I don't think he stayed very long. Ten minutes maybe, max. He came by the nurse's station before he left and my colleague told him about the upturn in Sophie's condition."

"What did he say?"

"He asked if we were definitely sure she would wake soon and my colleague said they didn't like to guarantee anything but we were optimistic. He said it was good news and he wanted to be there when she woke up."

"Okay. One other thing. Can you check Sophie's arms for marks?"

"What kind of marks? Bruises? She had a few from the accident but they're almost healed."

"No, I mean track marks. The kind an addict would have."

"I can tell you that right now. She doesn't have any."

"Are you sure? They could have already healed."

"If it were once or twice, maybe. There's no sign of heavy usage. I'm sure of that."

"What about somewhere less obvious than on her arms? I've heard of addicts injecting drugs in other sites like between their toes."

"Well, sure, if their veins collapse, but I haven't noticed anything like that."

"Can you check her again? Please?"

"Sure," agreed Alice. "Let me call you back. What should I tell Austen?"