Chapter fifty

Catherine looked up as the outer door opened, relieved to see familiar faces. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she was a little scared being at the office alone, especially after Nicole's phone call last night. Nicole had told her not to come in today, but Catherine knew she had to make arrangements for the patients and reschedule appointments.

She smiled brightly at them, but Nicole shook her head disapprovingly.

" Catherine? What the hell are you doing here? "

" Someone had to rearrange your schedule."

Jake brushed past Nicole and leaned on her usual corner of Catherine's desk. " Weird phone calls? Anything? "

" I did have a hang-up, actually."

" When? "

" First thing. Right after I got here."

" Okay. Wipe her clean for all of next week."

" Jake, no. That's too long to be away, " Nicole complained. " A few days, maybe."

" Sorry. But it's not your call."

" The hell it's not! This is my practice. I've already missed too many sessions in the last two weeks. I can't cancel everything for next week. I won't do it."

Jake met her eyes without flinching. " Sorry, Dr. Westbrook, but you will do it."

Nicole started to protest, but Rick grabbed her arm tightly. " She's right, Nicole. You've got to shut it down until this is over. You're not safe, Catherine is not safe. Your patients aren't safe."

Nicole let out a deep breath, her eyes still locked with Jake. " Okay. You win." She glanced at Catherine. " See if Dorothy can squeeze some in. You might need to refer some to Dr. Andrews, too."

" I'll call right now."

Jake's eyes softened as Nicole looked over at her. " I'm sorry, Nicole. But I won't take a chance with this."

" I understand, Jake."

" Good. Now, we need to talk. Come on."

The three of them settled casually on Nicole's sofa, foregoing the desk and chairs. Jake pulled out the folded pieces of paper and handed the second e-mail to Rick.

" The stalker was an inside job, Nicole. I'm going to meet with Steven later today to get more information. He was afraid to reveal too much in the e-mail."

" Holy shit! " Rick waved the paper at Jake. " Gregory? "

Jake shrugged.

" We're fucking screwed, Jake."

" No we're not."

" What about Gregory? " Nicole asked.

" He deleted the dispatch records six years ago."

" Oh my God, " Nicole said quietly. " Why? "

" And a hacker deleted 911? " Rick said. " Gregory is not a hacker. Hell, he can barely get around the system as it is."

" You're right. He's not the hacker. But we've got to get the names of the four officers who responded that night. They had to have known about the cover-up."

Rick leaned back. " Okay, wait. We're working two different cases here. We have five murders, Jake. Don't you think we need to focus on that first? "

" Ricky, do you think the stalker cover-up is simply a coincidence? " Jake stood, beginning to pace. " The stalker was murdered, really. Shot down in Nicole's yard by four cops who knew what they were doing. They got rid of the body and Lieutenant Gregory got rid of the dispatch call. The only other evidence was Nicole's original call to 911. So, two days later, you find a hacker who gets in the system and deletes that as well. Then, all you have are four guys who pulled it off in the first place." She stopped, staring at Rick. " We find the four guys."

" And we start asking questions. How long before Gregory gets word of it? "

" And I still don't see how that incident is linked to the murders, " Nicole said. " I mean, that was just a random guy. And he's dead."

" Who was he and why was he stalking you? " Jake asked. " What did he want? And what link did he have to Gregory? Was Gregory the one who ordered him killed? Maybe someone higher up, " she said. " It was shortly after that he got transferred to Special Victims. Maybe someone owed him a favor."

" Christ, Jake, you're making me nuts with all this. We'll be lucky if we don't both lose our shields over this one."

" You're right. And the less people know about it, the better. Not a word to Salazar or Simpson. We don't know who we can trust." Jake pulled her cell phone out and dialed. " I'm calling Steven. We need to meet."

" How do you know you can trust him? "

" I just know." Jake waited only two rings. " It's McCoy. Where can we meet? " She nodded, then disconnected. " Damn. Never knew Stevie was gay."

" What are you talking about? "

" He wants to meet at Louie's Down Under."

" Are you serious? "

" Afraid so, buddy. Don't worry, I'll protect you."

" What is Louie's? " Nicole asked.

Jake grinned. " It's a bathhouse."

" For gay men? "

" Right."

" Oh." Nicole looked at Rick and laughed. " Sorry."