“You mean the ones that burned in that fire?” Sheriff Maverick replied.
Peyton shifted. “Yes.”
“How about Barry Inman?” Special Agent Maverick asked. “Did you see him at the hospital that night?”
Peyton massaged her temple again. “I really don’t recall. Once the fire broke out, it was chaos. People were running and screaming and panicked. Everyone pitched in to help evacuate the building. Firefighters were everywhere—the flames were spreading.”
The agent gave her a pointed stare. “How about on the lawn?”
She closed her eyes and envisioned the scene. She’d been in action mode helping patients outside. Had been desperate to find her mother.
Had Inman been there?
Chapter Three
Peyton gave a small shrug. “I don’t remember seeing Mr. Inman in the hospital or outside that night. But it was so hectic. Everyone was scared. Families looking for loved ones, patients needing help, first responders dashing onto the scene to assist and directing people to get out.” She sighed. “My mother was also in the hospital with pneumonia, so after I helped clear the ER, I was frantic to find her.”
“But you did?” the agent asked.
Peyton’s breath quickened. “One of the doctors was performing CPR when I reached her.” Dr. Butler, the same doctor she’d reported her suspicions to. “He saved her life.”
The other nurses adored him, too. Thought he was a saint in the ER. He’d mentored her, also.
She’d begun to wonder if she’d misread the situation with Inman’s wife, and Dr. Butler was simply trying to protect her from criminal charges by encouraging her silence.
Special Agent Maverick leaned across the table again. “Are you all right, Ms. Weiss?”
She exhaled and pulled herself from the memory. “Yes, it was just a scary night.” Her gaze met his. “I understand that your father died saving others. I’m sorry for your loss.”
The agent’s jaw tightened, and the sheriff released a wary breath. A tense heartbeat passed.
“He did lose his life that night, along with many others,” the agent finally said. “And we are going to get to the bottom of what happened. If there’s anything else you can tell us that might help, we need you to speak up.”
Peyton’s heart squeezed. She wanted to tell him everything. But she wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
“I wish I could tell you who set that fire, but I honestly don’t know. One of my coworkers, a PA, was seriously injured and still has scars.” Eileen’s battered body taunted her. “She suffered second-degree burns and a falling beam crushed her leg. She underwent physical therapy for months to learn to walk again. She can’t lift patients or do her job now and suffers from PTSD.” Peyton shuddered. She suspected Eileen was addicted to pain pills, too, and had encouraged her husband to seek help.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” the agent said. “Where is she now?”
“She and her husband moved to Asheville. He said they needed a change of scenery.” She understood that. Just driving back through Whistler resurrected her own tumultuous memories.
The sheriff dropped a file onto the desk. “I reviewed my father’s notes on the initial investigation into Inman’s claims. According to Inman’s statement, you were talking to another nurse and implied something was wrong.”
Peyton ground her molars to control her temper. This was not a chat. It was an interrogation. They kept asking the same questions over and over hoping to catch her in a lie.
The sheriff tapped the file. “But you denied making any statement indicating wrongdoing on the part of the staff.” He hesitated, the air tense with his scrutiny.
“That’s correct.”
The agent leaned back in his chair. “Why would he say that if it wasn’t true?”
“As I said before, he was distraught and in shock and desperate to blame someone.”
A skeptical look marred Sheriff Maverick’s face. “Then you stand by your original statement, that you don’t believe the hospital was responsible?”
She had her doubts. Ones she couldn’t share. “I do.” She heaved another breath, her body teeming with anxiety. “Now, can I go? I need to check on my mother. She gets disoriented if I don’t show up at certain times.”
The brothers traded looks again, then Liam stood and adjusted his holster. “Yes, for now. I’ll drive you back.”
She wanted to be anywhere but in the car with the intimidating, handsome federal agent. He made her want to talk, to help him. To make sure justice was served for all the people hurt five years ago.
But confiding in him was impossible, so she forced herself to remain calm, not confrontational.
She could fall apart later when she was alone.
* * *
LIAM AND JACOB left Peyton in the room alone to stew for a moment while they conferred outside the door.
“What do you think?” Liam asked Jacob.
Jacob muttered a sound of frustration. “I don’t know. Dad made a notation that he suspected she was holding back something. When I questioned her after the fire, she was a wreck. Seemed nervous and jumpy. But then again, everyone who worked at the hospital was upset and a wreck, too.”
“So were the family members who’d lost loved ones,” Liam added. “People were emotional and in shock and trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. She did say her mother almost died that night, too.”
“True. The staff was also defensive. Dodging blame. Some of the families wanted to point fingers at the hospital. Others at individuals who they thought had enemies,” Jacob added. “And then we became sidetracked thinking the fire was set as a diversion for the kidnapping of Cora’s baby.”
“That was a logical assumption,” Liam agreed, remembering the press descending. Their focus had been on the terrified mother who’d just delivered a little girl only to have her ripped away in the midst of the chaos.
Because he was the oldest, Jacob thought he had to take care of him and his brothers, and their mother, and stepped into his father’s shoes as sheriff.
The case of the missing baby had taken priority over Jacob’s own grief at the time. When the case had gone cold, he’d blamed himself.
“Stop beating yourself up over the past, Jacob. You found Cora’s little girl and her kidnapper is in prison where she belongs,” Liam said.
Jacob smiled. “But Cora suffered terribly until we did.”
“She’s happy now and she loves you, bro.” Liam patted his brother’s arm. “And now your family is growing.”