Chapter 31

CHAPTER

THIRTY-ONE

Tori watched the medical examiner's face.

Dr. Morris knew something. But would he share?

Finally, he said, "You shouldn't be looking into this."

Her heart pounded harder. That was all the confirmation she needed to prove there was some type of cover-up going on.

"I can't let this drop," she told him. "This is my brother we're talking about. He deserves justice."

Dr. Morris tugged at the collar of his shirt. "I only did what I was told."

"Who told you to do what?" Kai kept his voice even and calm, but his shoulders bristled.

"The orders came from above me, and they were very specific." He tugged his collar again, almost as if he were hot.

His house was freezing cold, however.

"Tell us more." Kai's gaze locked on the man.

Tori knew enough to know Kai was using his nice tone and that he'd get more aggressive if Dr. Morris didn't cooperate.

Dr. Morris let out a long, slow breath. He blinked several times. Let out another breath.

Finally, he said, "When I went to do the examination of Mr. Bristow, one of the first things I noticed was he had some type of device near his heart, similar to a pacemaker. But when I looked at his medical history, I didn't see any mentions of that. I also found a chip in his shoulder that I found perplexing."

"You reported that his death was due to cardiac arrest. Do you believe this pacemaker-like device is what ultimately killed him?" Tori could hardly breathe as she waited for his response.

"I do." He nodded slowly, clearly still cautious about how much he said. "It's possible that someone remotely controlled the device and decided to end his life."

"And the chip embedded in his shoulder?" Kai asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it was some type of tracking device."

Tori's thoughts continued to race. "What about his brain? Did you see anything unusual there?"

Dr. Morris shook his head. "I did not."

"Do you still have the devices?" Tori asked.

"Someone from the government picked them up. It was all very hush-hush."

"You didn't question it when these orders were given?" Kai continued to press.

"I was told that this man was a part of a highly classified government program, and that's why he had that kind of hardware in him," Dr. Morris said. "I was instructed not to mention the devices. That's why the results look the way they do. If I didn't change the official paperwork, someone above me would have."

Tori couldn't argue with his statement. She could see where it would be true.

"What about the tox screen?" she asked instead.

"It came back clear. That part of the report was true."

Kai leaned closer, his voice hardening. "So you have no idea who gave your boss these orders?"

"All I know is that it came from someone above us. Someone who wanted to keep Bristow's cause of death—and those implanted devices—a secret."

"And morally you didn't have a problem with that?" Tori didn't bother to keep the outrage from her voice. "You lied."

"I did have a problem with it. But I'm only a year away from retiring. So I decided to keep my mouth shut and to keep myself in check. Because the truth is, ever since I did that autopsy, I've noticed someone tailing me. And I've wondered if I'll even live to see retirement."

"We need to go now," Kai told Gage when they were back in the SUV. "Dr. Morris said someone has been watching him. We don't want to be made."

Gage sped away from the house. As he did, Kai's thoughts replayed the conversation multiple times. Each time, he felt even more angry.

Two blocks later, Gage asked, "Well? How did it go?"

They updated him on what the doctor had said.

Gage let out a whistle before his jaw hardened. "The more I hear, the less I like it."

"You and me both," Kai said. "Something's definitely going on here. Whatever it is, the person behind it is high-ranking."

"All this time I was thinking that someone on the outside was calling the shots for this." Tori leaned closer from the back seat. "Now it sounds like it's someone on the inside, someone who maybe works for the government . . . someone who's supposed to be one of the good guys."

"Do you think Larchmont could still pull these kinds of strings?" Kai asked Gage.

"There's no telling what that man is capable of." Gage's eyes narrowed. "I say we remain open to all the possibilities right now until we have more information. The one thing that's certain is that if we were to go to someone above Dr. Morris, I'm sure they would deny any knowledge of this. It might even end up getting another person killed."

"I tend to agree with you." Kai crossed his arms.

Tori let out a sigh beside him. "So where does this leave us?"

"I'm still curious about this Howard guy," Kai said. "That car that was following us is registered to him."

"Could it have been stolen?" Gage asked.

"I checked," Kai said. "It wasn't reported as stolen. I don't know how he connects with everything that's going on. In fact, I'd never heard of him until yesterday. But he could have some of the answers we need."

"Shouldn't we track him down then?" Tori asked.

"We probably should," Kai said. "We'll just need to be careful."

He scanned everything around them one more time.

He didn't see anyone suspicious. Now that those chips were gone from him and Gage, maybe the bad guys wouldn't catch up with them again.

But he couldn't afford to let down his guard.

That was probably what these guys were counting on.

These men were still looking for Kai, Gage, and Tori. When they were located again, these men would strike.

When that happened, the three of them would need to be ready.