Overkill(69)

“That was the implication, but—”

“No buts, Kate. What’s being done about it? Will Clarke be arrested?”

“For what? He hasn’t broken a law. Even if he did create that hubbub over us last night, it was mean but not criminal.”

“You’re telling me those two detectives just dismissed Franklin’s note, the warning? Do they think he wrote all that out of spite against the Clarkes?”

“That was one hypothesis. But in any case, they think Franklin was disturbed, not thinking rationally. Otherwise he wouldn’t have taken his own life. Even so, they sent the AG a copy of the note.”

“And?”

“He took the warnings more seriously because he’s better acquainted with Eban Clarke’s case and knows how cunning and manipulative he is.”

“Glad to hear that, at least.” He staved off her next comment by raising his hand. “I’ve got a call.” He pulled his vibrating phone from the pocket of his jacket. The name in the readout gave him pause. “It’s Dr. Gilbreath.” He clicked on. “Hi, it’s Zach.”

“Hello, Mr. Bridger. I need—”

“Hold on. Kate’s with me. Let me put you on speaker.”

“Is this a bad time?”

“Actually it is,” he said. “But one of us would have called you soon anyway. Your strict privacy policy hasn’t stopped someone on staff from leaking information. She was being bankrolled by the Clarkes’ family lawyer. Most recently she reported that I’d been down there twice this week. Hold on. Kate’s pulling up her name.”

When he passed it along, the administrator apologized profusely and assured them that within the hour the employee would be dismissed and escorted from the building.

“Thank you. That will send a strong message to everybody else.” Zach then asked why she was calling.

“There’s been a change in Rebecca’s condition.”

His stomach dropped. He looked at Kate, whose apprehension matched his. “Changed how?”

“She’s developed a kidney infection.”

He remembered Dr. Gilbreath telling him at their first meeting that infection was a perpetual concern. “How bad is it?”

“It was detected this morning. She had a low-grade fever, so we did lab work. It’s a bacterial infection. Standard treatment would be to start her on an IV antibiotic.”

All that was solid information, but none of it had answered his question about how bad it was. “Has Doug been told?”

“He was here when I got the lab results, so, yes, he’s aware. He’s with her now. Very concerned, of course.”

“Yeah, me too. Maybe a renal specialist should see her.”

“I’ve already consulted one. He thinks the antibiotic I recommended is as aggressive as her system can tolerate without incurring damaging side effects.”

“I see.” As he contemplated what to ask next, Kate reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder, a consoling gesture he appreciated. “Dr. Gilbreath, best-case scenario?”

“The antibiotic will arrest it early.”

“And without it? Worst case? Is this serious enough to kill her?”

“With a patient like Rebecca, every infection has the potential of being fatal, even with medication. I tried to convey that to Mr. Pratt, who became extremely upset, not only because of the infection itself, but also because he’s afraid that you may choose to withhold treatment and let nature takes its course. He tried to persuade me not even to tell you, but of course I’m under obligation to do so.”

“Yeah.” Zach massaged his forehead, which had begun to throb. “Yesterday, Doug told Kate that he was going to file the petition that would transfer the say-so from me to him. Do you know if he did?”

“I didn’t know to ask, and he didn’t say, but I believe that if he had, he wouldn’t be in such distress now.”

“Right.” Which left Zach with an obligation to make a decision. Now.

“I take it your meeting with him didn’t go well,” the doctor ventured.

“No. I’d hoped it would help patch things up, but the rift only got wider.”

“I’m sorry. Then this development—”

“Doesn’t help.”

His bluntness caused her to hesitate before saying in her forthright bedside manner, “It’s your call, Mr. Bridger. Do you authorize us to start the IV?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll do so immediately.”

After an exchange of terse goodbyes, Zach disconnected. He dropped his phone into his lap and turned his head to look out the car window. He watched two squirrels chase each other round and round the trunk of a tree and wondered why they would waste so much energy on such a futile pursuit.

After a full minute, Kate softly spoke his name as a question.

“The hell of it?” he said. “My first reaction was to safeguard her life.” He snuffled a humorless laugh and came back around to Kate. “How crazy is that?”

She leaned across the console and brought her face close to his. “Not crazy at all, and I’m not the least bit surprised that was your reaction. Especially not after what you told me earlier.”

She pressed her lips to his, but briefly. When she would have pulled away, he hooked his hand around her nape and drew her back. He kissed her madly, hungrily. He kissed her like he was as stupidly carefree as those damn squirrels, like a woman’s life wasn’t hanging in the balance and it was up to him which way to tip the scales, like there wasn’t a sociopath of Eban Clarke’s caliber making a man so miserable with guilt that he would kill himself.