Page 96 of Mission: Possible

"He's with the doctors," said Alice. "But you can interview me. And Mr. Ortega is downstairs in the ER."

"He tackled the assailant," I explained.

"Where were you when this all went down?" asked Garrett, looking at me with unmasked suspicion.

"At the agency. I came when Alice called. What are we looking at here?"

Garrett scratched his head. "From what the responding officers told me, I can't tell if it's an attempted murder directed at Mrs. Takahashi, Mr. Takahashi, or potentially, Mr. Ortega."

"Why not go for the triple whammy?" I suggested. "Austen called the police when he thought his wife's accident wasn't one at all and he just got brushed off. My investigation so far merits another probe into what happened to her at his house."

"I'll look into it," said Garrett.

"I need to talk to Austen too."

"You'll have to wait in line. Stay here. Both of you." Garrett waved us back into the chairs and stepped inside the hospital room, holding his badge high.

"Great," said Alice, checking her watch. "I know I shouldn't complain. I was just looking forward to going home and taking a shower before I picked the kids up from school and took them to their art class. I better call one of the other parents." She patted her pockets and came up with her cellphone. "Excuse me for a minute."

Since I was stuck waiting for my brother, my head still spinning with the information I had to tell Austen, and for that matter, whether or not to tell him anything at all right now, I pulled out my cellphone. Maddox sent me another "Call me!" text and I planned to do that just as soon as I got out of the hospital.

Since emails were quiet, I opened my inbox. In my hurry to get here, I forgot about the email that arrived from Annie Woodley. She wrote:I hope these are okay. I don't have many snaps of Zach and his sister. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need anything more although I'm not sure how else I can help. Attached were four photos, slowly loading. The first was a photo of Zach, both Sophies on either side of him. Both wore pale cream dresses and held a small bouquet of flowers. The Sophie I knew had shorter hair in it and wore a pair of gold, drop earrings and a slim, gold necklace. His wife's dress was shorter, clingy around the chest and a cream cardigan that slid off her shoulders. She had big, gold hoops and dark circles under her eyes. Peeking out from her clutch bag was a cigarette carton. If I didn't know better, I would have said she looked more like the addict, not the Sophie I was investigating.

The second photo was one of the siblings together. Zach straddled a fancy-looking motorbike and Sophie stood next to him, wearing a leather jacket and holding a helmet. She was smiling, excitement visible on her face. The third photo was the same photo I saw in Zach's apartment, the trio together. A fourth was a few people at a barbecue, all of them dressed in shorts and tee shirts, surrounded by various things in red, white and blue, indicating a Fourth of July party. I shot my reply back, thanking Annie for the photos and asking if she had anymore of just his sister. I noted that she looked healthy, particularly in the motorbike photo and asked if she’d been in rehab perhaps? If Annie replied in the affirmative, I hoped it would give me somewhere else to look. Medical records would be an indisputable fact of Sophie's history if I could get hold of them.

Finally, Garrett stepped out of the room and looked around. "Where's Alice?" he asked.

"She's trying to reach someone to help her with the kids," I said. "How's Austen doing?"

"He's okay. A little shell-shocked, I think. He wants to talk to you. You can go ahead."

"Thanks." I got up and stepped towards the room. "Can you tell me what the doctors said?"

"They think someone tried to tamper with Sophie's medical equipment but they said nothing was disconnected so it's possible the assailant tried to inject something into her IV line."

"Like poison?"

"Possibly. Or an air bubble. They noticed a syringe on the floor but Austen seems to think the assailant wore gloves. I bagged it anyway but I'm not sure we'll get anything. I'm hoping to catch something on the security cameras. I'm on my way down there just as soon as I get Alice's statement."

"Manny Ortega definitely pointed the finger at Zach Gallo. Perhaps he'll be more sure now he's had some time to reflect on it?"

"I'll find out. Don't let me hold you up. I'd appreciate it if you could give me a heads-up on what you're doing for Mr. Takahashi, especially if you think it has any bearing on the case."

"I'm looking into his wife's first attack and her true identity," I said. "Austen had some suspicions."

Garrett raised his eyebrows. "I did not expect that."

"Even worse, I think he might be right. I should really talk to him first. Can I fill you in afterwards?"

"I'd rather listen in if Mr. Takahashi has no objections. This could change my investigation."

"Now?" I hadn't even prepared what I planned to say and what with the race to find Manny and then all the activity in the corridor outside Sophie's room, I hardly got a chance to find the words to put the subterfuge more delicately. I had a horrible feeling I might make things worse, but I had to say something. Regardless of what Sophie engineered, she didn't deserve to be murdered for it.

"We're all here," pointed out Garrett.

I waited for the doctors to emerge from the hospital room before walking over. Just as I stepped inside, followed by Garrett, my phone rang.Maddox. I declined the call and stuck the phone back in my pocket. Whatever it was, it could wait while I delivered the bad news. If it concerned the bank and Joe Bagshot, Maddox could always call Solomon. "How are you?" I asked, raking a look over Austen. He didn't need to tell me he was exhausted and his head probably throbbed with pain. That much was obvious.

"Could be better," he said, slumping into a seat. "Can this day get any worse? At least Sophie is all right. I insist that you find whoever did this."