The woman looked near tears. “Oh my God.” She jumped up and said, “It’s this way.”
They followed her through a secure door, which she opened by holding a security card to the reader port on the wall.
They hurried down a long corridor and through another secure door. Laid out in front of them were a series of cubicles where people were inputting information into computers as other people sat in chairs next to them. Some folks were on gurneys parked against the wall. EMTs were standing next to some of them, apparently waiting for confirmation of their patient’s status.
“This is the Admissions Office,” she said.
Decker glanced around and then hustled over to a woman who was just getting up from her desk.
“We’re looking for an Alice Lancer. She was just admitted here.”
“I don’t know who that is.”
Another woman, sitting in the next cubicle, said, “She’s gone.”
Decker looked over at her. “Gone? Did she refuse admission?”
“No. Two police detectives came and took her away.”
Chapter18
I’VE GOT AN APB OUT,”said Andrews. “And I’ve spoken to the Coral Gables Police. They have no information about a woman being taken from Harden Hospital by their people.”
They were in the car outside the hospital.
White said, “So the detectives were bogus? The hospital staff said their badges looked real and Lancer went with them.”
“At this point it doesn’t look like they were legit,” said Andrews. “What the hell is going on?” He eyed Decker, who was in the rear seat staring moodily out the window. “Any thoughts, Decker?” he asked.
“Clearly the lady didn’t want to meet with us.”
“You mean she faked the faint and then escaped from the hospital with the help of a couple of buddies?” said White.
Decker continued to look out the window. “It wasn’t just her and a couple of buddies. It’s not easy to pull something like this together that fast. You’d need resources that can act on the fly. And contingency plans.”
Andrews said, “You don’t think Gamma is involved in this, do you?”
“We didn’t get to talk to apparently the only woman at Gamma who can tell us anything. And now we’re out here and they’re safely back in their little cocoon.”
“Roe said they would provide copies of their records,” countered Andrews.
“No, she didn’t. She said corporate counsel would determine whether they could provide us anything,” corrected Decker.
Andrews started and said, “Right, I guess that is what she told us.”
“So don’t be surprised if that counsel tells us Gamma can’t provide the documents without going to court. And we all know how long that bullshit takes. The strategy of running out the legal clock has become pretty popular. And by then it may be too late.” He turned to look at Andrews. “And when you called for an appointment with Roe, they had a chance to prepare. Whether it was just Lancer or some or all of them, I don’t know. But they acted fast.”
Andrews looked at White. “What do you think?”
“I think the question is, if we can’t get the info we need from Gamma on a timely basis, wheredowe get it?”
Decker said, “Presumably the judge would have some documentation of the threats. They weren’t found in her house, correct? Or on her answering machine, if she even had one.”
Andrews said, “They weren’t. But we’re still checking her cell phone and computers.”
“Then we might have to get them from the court,” said Decker.
“I’ll need to speak to our legal counsel,” noted Andrews.