Free Covert Reich by A. K. Alexander Page A

about.”
    “What do you mean?” He set his cup down on the chrome table, and leaned back watching her every move—her eyes, her hands. All of her. He was looking for any tell-tale expressions or movements that would show she was lying.
    “Have you looked through his most recent case files?” she asked.
    “Of course we have. I can’t go into details, though. Why?”
    She crossed her arms and sat back in her chair. “I went to speak to Jake yesterday about a patient. A young mother, Lupe Salazar, came in for an emergency delivery. She was a runaway but was really concerned about her baby. She told me she had been doing all of the right things, as much as she could anyway, and was even being seen at the local clinic. She was living at the shelter on East Fifth. The whole thing was strange. The girl had a wild-eyed look to her, and it crossed my mind she was using. Lupe flat out denied it, but she was frightened. These kids come in and think if they give us any kind of information about using, we’ll have them hauled off to juvie after they deliver. Anyway, I didn’t get much time to get any history from her, and neither did the attending O.B., because she seized, coded, and died in a matter of minutes. We had limited time to attempt to resuscitate because of the infant.” Kelly finished telling him the details of Baby S’s delivery. She told him about the inconclusive reports and possible connection to other recent deaths with pre-term mothers. “This isn’t normal. Three young women die in labor and delivery in one week, presenting the same symptoms…I don’t know what to think. It’s what Jake and I planned to discuss over dinner.”
    “I’m confused how all this relates to Dr. Hamilton’s murder, though. Granted it sounds strange but what’s the tie in?”
    She frowned and leaned towards him, lowering her voice just above a whisper. “Jake got nervous…I mean, not just nervous, but he seemed terrified when I asked him about Lupe and the other girls. I asked to see the autopsy reports. He told me to back off, told me I could get hurt. He wasn’t acting at all like his usual self. He was…he was really scared, and kept trying to get me to drop the whole thing. When I kept insisting, he agreed to meet me for dinner and tell me what was going on, or maybe what he thought was going on. I don’t know. I am wondering if my insistence on getting info out of him got him killed.”
    Tony wasn’t sure he believed her. It didn’t make much sense. Was she trying to feed him a line to make him think Dr. Hamilton was caught up in some rotten deal? She was sounding a bit too “conspiracy theorist” for his tastes. Street kids died every day from drug overdoses and other causes. Maybe she was a crazy and covering her own tracks? And why hadn’t she told him this last night? She’d had twenty-four hours to concoct a story, but why? “So you are saying the deaths of these women and their children are tied to Dr. Hamilton’s murder?”
    “Yes. Exactly.”
    “How?Why?”
    “If I knew, I would tell you, and then some bad people would be behind bars.” She took a bite of her sandwich.
    “Why didn’t you tell me this last night?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know. I was in shock and I guess after seeing the fear in Jake’s eyes, it had me spooked. I’m sorry. I should have said something.”
    “Yes, you should have. I don’t mean to patronize you, Doc, but I have to be honest. This sounds a bit far-fetched. I am not even sure where you’re headed with this.” He raised his hands in confusion.
    “Here is what I think…”
    Uh oh.He watched as she shifted from cagey and anxious to annoyed and angry.
    “I think there’s a new street drug out there and it’s flying under your radar. It’s potent and hard to detect. And it kills.”
    “Wouldn’t there be other deaths?” he asked.
    “I assume so. Maybe you could start looking into it. I know drug overdoses happen all the time, Detective, but not the