Page 33 of The Shadow Friends

“She should be. Why?”

“Detective Alfond just arrived at the hospital, and he looks like he means business. Something’s going on.”

“Something’s going on here too,” he said.

Over the phone, she heard a noisy rumble, growing louder. “What’s that noise?” she asked. “It sounds like a chopper.”

No answer. The rumble grew louder.

“Declan?”

The noise of the helicopter drowned out most of his sentence, but she could make out a few of his words: Just landed . . . golf course . . . multiple passengers . . .

She focused again on the hospital parking lot, where a large white van had just pulled up to the building. It had no official markings, nothing to ID whose van it was, but the large satellite dish perched on the top made her think this must be a news crew from some local TV station. Then the side door slid open and four people emerged, all of them garbed in white Tyvek suits. They moved with almost military precision as they began unloading equipment, backpacks.

“Declan,” she said. “We have a situation here.”

Through the rumble of the helicopter, she could just make out his answer: “So do we.”

Chapter 14

Ingrid was not answering her phone. If anyone knew why the state police and these four Tyvek-suited individuals were at the hospital, it would be Ingrid, but Maggie’s calls to her went straight to voicemail.

She dialed Lloyd’s phone next. This time, at least, her call was answered.

“I’m a few miles north of New Haven and heading home,” he said. “I have no idea why Ingrid’s not answering her phone, and frankly, I’m worried. I haven’t been able to reach her all morning. It’s not like her, to be out of touch for so long.”

“Maybe her phone’s dead or she’s out of range. Or she’s taking a much-deserved nap.”

“No, Ben just swung by my house. He said her car’s gone.” A horn blared over the phone. “This bloody traffic.”

“Did you meet with that knife manufacturer?”

“Last night. He said the scratches on the blade are probably a result of the manufacturing process, but it doesn’t narrow down where the stiletto was made. This was a wild-goose chase. Now I just need to get home.”

“And I need to get out of this hospital. It’s driving me crazy, being stuck in here.” Her phone buzzed with an incoming call, and she glanced at the name. “Ben’s calling. I’d better take this.”

“Go. Find out where my bride is.”

She switched to Ben’s call. “I’m here.”

“When are you getting out of there? We can use your help.”

“On a number of fronts, apparently. Where’s Ingrid?”

“Wish I knew. I was just at her house and took a peek inside. No Ingrid, and the morning newspaper’s still on the front porch.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“You know what else doesn’t sound good? The reason why that chopper landed at the Cod Cove Resort.”

“It’s not just some rich guy here on vacation?”

“I checked the registration of the helicopter tail number. It’s from the Department of Energy. According to its flight path, it originated from the Brookhaven lab in Upton, New York. Declan says the crew unloaded what looked like radiological monitoring equipment.”

Maggie went to the window and stared down at the parking lot. She thought about the two doctors she’d seen this morning, and the fresh round of blood and urine samples they’d collected from her. And she remembered the odd question they’d asked, about whether she’d seen any leftover food or drink in Dr. Maslov’s room. “I don’t like where this is going, Ben.”

There was a knock on the door. “I’ll call you back later,” she said to Ben, and turned to see two men walk into the room. Like the doctors who’d come in to see her earlier, both these men were garbed in Tyvek, and one of them carried what looked like a black suitcase.