27. Dr. Alami

Chapter twenty-seven

Dr. Alami

*AURELIA*

T he stylist who Eric hired has truly worked her magic. I'm wearing a ton of makeup and look more sophisticated than ever. But even with her makeup skills and a more conservative hairstyle, I still look pretty young.

Well, fake it till you make it. Confidence is everything.

After my amazing date with Arden yesterday, I feel even more motivated to pull this off. "You think they will buy it?" Nox asks me. Similar to me, they have styled him to suit the guy he is copying, and instead of a late teen, he looks like a guy in his mid-twenties.

I put on a pair of fake glasses to hide parts of my face. "We are going in there with confidence," I say.

Nox and I will be heading to the archives and to the blood bank, while Zoé will pretend to be a relative of a patient, waiting in the general waiting area. She won't raise much suspicion that way.

Emilien and Arden are driving us, all of us equipped with an earpiece to stay in contact. We can't take too long, or we'll raise suspicion. "The doctors we have stolen the identity from work in different departments," I explain to Arden and Emilien. "They are both not at work today, so we can't stumble over them by accident, and the chances of meeting someone who knows them are lower. Nox's doctor actually works in the birth clinic, mine at the geriatrics, which is in a whole different building."

"What if they spot you?" Arden asks. "And ask questions?"

Nox and I exchange a gaze. "Let's say Nox and I are used to winging it."

Zoé looks at us in awe. "How often did you do that?"

"Break into a hospital?" Nox asks. "Never," he pauses. "Unless…"

"That doesn't count," I say.

"Technically, it was also a hospital, not just a police station," Nox muses.

"Nox," I say. "You forgot rule number 1: we don't talk about it."

Emilien chuckles. "Does your father know what you were up to as a teen?"

"He doesn't know everything." I smirk.

"She is smart and skilled enough to become alpha," Arden tells him. "Of course, she knows how to hijack one or another building."

"I wasn't aware that's a typical alpha trait," Emilien mutters.

"It isn't," I say. "But a fellow female alpha and my brother's mate, Celine, keeps saying that we women need to train more than one asset, to shut the other alphas up. Being shady is my secret weapon."

"I told you we are bringing criminal energy to the table," Nox adds.

"Makes sense," Arden says, completely unfazed. I love how he takes this all as a matter of fact and isn't even surprised. To him, apparently, what I just said makes sense.

To be honest, I'm not sure if Mom and Dad truly don't know what we did when we were younger. Part of me thinks Dad wanted to see if I could pull it off. I'm certain he doesn't know everything, though.

"What about Zoé?" Arden asks. "What's she going to do, exactly?"

"I will wait in the waiting area and pretend to be waiting for a relative," Zoé explains nervously.

"Don't be nervous." I smile at her. "If you feel off, go to the bathroom or step outside. A hospital is so busy they won't pay attention to who is waiting."

"What if they do ask?"

"Here." Nox hands her a sheet of paper. "That's the name of a patient who is having a pretty lengthy checkup today. If they really push for a name, say you are waiting for him. Then it makes sense that you might be around for more than just a couple of minutes."

"And if they start to get suspicious, just be the one to ask questions first," I suggest. "Just confidently ask them if there is a cafeteria somewhere and if you can use it. Or if they know where this or that station is. You can also ask straight away if it's okay for you to do some homework while waiting, so no one will wonder why you have your laptop with you."

"She is right," Emilien agrees. "Act as if you are part of the whole daily business there. You won't be the only relative who is waiting."

"Do you think you can do it?" Nox asks gently. "If not, we could try a different approach."

Zoé takes a deep breath before she nods. "I can do it," she says. "At least I'm quite unremarkable due to my age. I shouldn't raise any suspicion."

She is young. I think Arden mentioned she is only sixteen, yet she is able to approach her worries so logically. His whole team of geniuses is like that.

"If you feel off about something, just tell me through the little mic you have," Emilien says. "And I will come up with a distraction."

"Got it," Zoé says.

By now, Emilien has parked the car in a side road. We give Zoé a moment before she nods at us and climbs out of the car, her bag with her laptop in her hand. She still looks a bit shy when she approaches the hospital, but it's actually not a bad look on her. She will evoke sympathy like that, instead of suspicion.

Meanwhile Arden switches on the device he brought along to hear what's going on. For a few minutes, we only hear Zoé's breathing, then there are voices all around, beeping sounds, and someone calls out a number.

She must be inside now.

"Excuse me," we can hear her shy voice.

"What is it, dear?" a female voice asks. "How can I help?"

"I'm waiting for someone, but I'm early."

"Oh, poor sweetheart," the voice says. "You can wait here as long as you want."

"Thank you," Zoé sounds relieved. "Is it a problem if I get some homework done in the meantime?"

"Not at all, but poor you. They give you homework over the Christmas holidays."

"Yes," Zoé mutters. "It's a group project. Do you have a guest WLAN?"

"Yes." We can hear something being scribbled down on a note. "Here, that's the login."

"Thank you," Zoé says.

For a while, it's silent; we just hear some rustling before: "I'm settled," Zoé whispers. "I've put the earplugs in, so they think I'm humming to music when I say something."

"Smart girl," Emilien mutters.

I turn to Nox. "Then it's our turn. Shall we, Dr. Laurent?"

"After you, Dr. Alami," he says.

I hug Arden from behind before exiting the car. Nox and I first go to a nearby coffee shop to grab a coffee-to-go. A lot of nurses and young doctors seem to frequent it. While waiting for our order, I head to the restroom and change into my white doctor's coat before switching places with Nox. Once we are both ready and have our coffee, we make our way to the hospital, pretending we didn't come together. Nox has his earplugs in, listening to music, while I pretend to talk on my phone.

Once inside, I bid goodbye to my imaginary friend on the other end and put the phone aside. Out of the corner of my eyes, I can see Zoé sitting and typing on her laptop. I grab my fake permit and clip it to my coat like I saw the other doctors doing in the coffee shop. Then, I march past the admission ward, mumbling my greetings to them while gazing on some sheets of paper in my hands.

Nox goes even further and stops to chat with one of the nurses, flirting a little before continuing his path. We both studied the map of the hospital yesterday—at least the part we know about—and made sure to learn it by heart. We decided not to take the same path. The archives are on the ground floor, but for the blood bank, we need to go to the basement.

I grab my phone and switch on the app Zoé installed for me. "Do you hear me, Zoé?"

"Yes," she mutters.

"I'm following both you and Nox."

"Nox?"

"I'm here," he whispers. "I'm close to the archives. There are a lot of nurses around here. Let me handle that."

"Okay, let's split," I mutter. "I'll head to the basement."

"Dr. Alami doesn't have clearance for the basement," Zoé whispers. "Wait, give me a moment."

To avoid raising suspicion, I head to the restrooms and pretend to have business there, while Zoé works to get my permit approved and Nox talks to some nurses. His personality is usually quiet and reserved, but he can be chatty if he wants to. He is handsome, so, soon I can hear some giggling from the other side.

"Got you approved, Aurelia," Zoé mutters. "Go now. There is no one in the basement aside from two cleaning ladies."

"Surveillance cameras?"

"Are covered," she reassures me.

I straighten my coat and, with confident strides, make it out of the restroom and towards the elevator leading to the basement. Meanwhile, I can hear Nox chatting with someone. He is playing the doofus now, pretending he is new and has no idea how to copy something from the archives. One of the nurses apparently even walks inside with him, showing him how to maneuver through the archives.

"Helps to have a handsome face," Zoé whispers.

I chuckle. People always underestimate Nox for his slightly gloomy expression, the scar on his face, and his being a bit of an introvert, but he isn't shy, he can deliver, and he is certainly attractive. He is also very loyal to me and my family, due to my father sparing his life when he came to our pack as a child, tasked to kill my dad.

Nox got a second chance in life and is living it to its fullest.

I press the button for the elevator, taking me to the basement, fortunately, all alone there. Once down, I realize Zoé was right, and there is only the cleaning staff down here with me. I nod at them before passing by and continuing on my way. I make it through one safety door with my card without being disrupted.

"Someone is coming your way," Zoé suddenly whispers. "He was in the blind spot of the camera before. Wait…" I can hear her typing something while I slow down. "It's the department leader," she mutters, shocked.

It's the first time that Emilien disrupts our conversation. "Better return, Aurelia. Nox is being successful in the archives and—"

I spot the man Zoé was talking about, realizing he has likewise seen me.

"No," I mutter. "I will raise more suspicion if I just turn around now. Name?"

"Dr. Charles Moreau."

"Do you have anything about him?"

"Wait…" More typing comes through the earpiece. I keep my eyes pinned to my phone, pretending to look up something while waiting for Zoé's reply. "Was off work yesterday, loves hiking, has two teenage boys. One is a mountain biker and tends to have accidents due to the sport. He is treated here at least once a month."

I don't react, and instead, I pull the earplugs out of my ears, only keeping the small earpiece that connects me to Zoé, pretending I've been listening to something on the phone. "Good morning, Dr. Moreau."

"Good morning," he pauses, gazing at my name tag. "Dr. Alami."

We both pause, the typical awkward moment when two people aren't quite sure what to say. But Nox isn't the only one who can be a flirt, so I put on my most charming smile, noticing how Dr. Moreau returns it immediately. "I hope you got some much-needed rest yesterday," I say. "Did you manage to go on that hiking trip you mentioned last week?"

Clearly, I have no idea what he talked about last week. He can't even remember Dr. Alami, fortunately, but I'm hoping that, as the head of the department with so many doctors and nurses under him, he just will fall for the trap.

"Oh, the hiking trip," he says, as if he is roaming his memory. "No, unfortunately, I couldn't do it. My son had a tournament."

"I didn't know they held mountain bike tournaments around this time of the year."

His eyes light up at my interest in his son's activities, which is kind of heartwarming. "Oh, I was surprised too, but apparently, Simon's club always holds an event right before New Year's Eve."

"As long as he doesn't end up in the ER," I joke.

He laughs. "True words." He looks at me, clearly only trying to be polite. "Are you working on New Year's Eve?"

"She is on a short trip with her fiancé," Zoé whispers. "She worked on Christmas."

"No," I smile. "I had my shift on Christmas. For New Year's Eve, I'll be away with my fiancé."

Dr. Moreau smiles warmly at me. "Then, I wish you a good start to the new year."

"Thank you, to you too," I say.

We nod at each other one more time before going our separate ways. It's silent on the other line while I make my way to the blood bank.

"Aurelia," Arden finally says. "That was hot."

"He is right," Zoé giggles. "Oh, wait, Nox needs me."

"Don't worry about me. I will be fine," I say once I reach the blood bank. I use my card to enter the cooled room, looking around for a moment. There are many refrigerator-like objects standing around, and more bags of blood fill the shelves. I roam them, noticing that the one I'm looking for is truly the smallest one. AB RH negative. I take my phone, photographing the bags so that we can see the tags with the dates, barcodes, and other information on them. Then, I roam around for a donor list. There has to be something. Donating blood isn't done anonymously; donors are numbered. I continue to search some shelves and cupboards until I find one with neatly placed folders. There are names, ages, and dates of blood donation on them… even numbers, and fortunately, they are sorted by blood group. I swiftly grab the one for the AB negative donors and photograph the donor list. It's when I go to return the folder that I spot a name… Louis Auclair. He is… he is one of our victims.

My heart picks up its pace. This can't be a coincidence! Louis donated blood here and then ended up abducted and dead.

"Aurelia." Zoé's voice reaches me. "When you are done, make sure to get out. There are a few doctors taking the elevator to the basement."

I nod, swiftly putting everything back in its place. I might be on a mission here, but blood reserves are important, and I don't want to jeopardize anyone's health by messing something up here. Nodding contently at my work, I finally leave the blood bank and make my way back the same way I came. I greet the group of doctors, who barely acknowledge me, before returning to the ground floor.

Time to get out of here and meet with the others.