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  Jett ran in a moment later and took in the scene. “Jesus, are they alive?”

  “Chanel is, but she’s hurt. I haven’t had a chance to check on Tanya.”

  Jett raced over to where Tanya lay and searched for signs of life. “She’s still breathing!” he shouted and Bryce swallowed a sigh of relief.

  “I think the bastard knocked them unconscious. Chanel has a mother of a bruise on her jaw and I can feel a lump on the back of her head.”

  “It looks like Tanya took a direct hit to her cheekbone. She’ll have a hell of a black eye tomorrow.”

  “Call for a doctor. They both need to be taken to the ER.”

  Jett tugged out his cell phone and disappeared the way he’d come and Bryce leaned over Chanel. He gently slapped her on the cheek.

  “Come on, Chanel, wake up for me. Open your eyes, honey.”

  She groaned and her eyelids fluttered and he smiled in relief. “That’s it, sweetheart. Open your eyes. I need to see you’re okay.”

  This time, her eyes came open and she blinked against the light. “Ouch, it hurts. What happened?”

  Before he could offer her an explanation, comprehension flooded her face. “Doctor Baker! It’s him! He hit me!”

  Bryce pressed a quick kiss against her forehead. “It’s okay, we caught everything on tape. He won’t be hurting anyone else again.”

  “You have him? You were listening?”

  “No, not yet. And yes. Tanya was wearing a wire.”

  “Oh, my God! She’s such a brave woman. He hit her hard. Is she all right?”

  “Yes, she’s going to be fine. She’ll sport a shiner about as good as yours, but I’m sure she’ll be okay.”

  Chanel’s expression turned somber. “He killed his father.”

  “Yes, and a lot of other people, from what I heard.”

  “I was listening through the door. He had such a sad childhood. Nobody should be allowed to treat a child like that. It…did something to him. It warped his way of thinking.”

  “I love that you’re finding excuses for him, but don’t. Many people have it tough and don’t become serial killers. I’m not as kind and compassionate as you and I’m definitely not ready to hear any more excuses. He hit you. I could have lost you. God, I can’t bear to think about it.”

  She smiled groggily up at him. “So, does this mean you care for me, even a little?”

  Emotion rushed through him and choked him up. “More than a little. Are you okay with that?”

  Her smile widened. “More than okay.” She looked around and her smile faded. “Where did he go?”

  “We’re not sure, but we have a van full of officers who’ll find him. He won’t get too far away.”

  She frowned. “He said something about having to go somewhere and kill another patient. He laughed when he said it and I thought maybe he was joking, but what if he wasn’t? What if he’s crazy enough to kill someone else?”

  Bryce froze. He wanted to deny that it could happen, but it made a perfect kind of sense. Was that the reason Baker had hit the women? Was it because he needed them out of the way? He might have confessed, but in his warped mind, he hadn’t done anything wrong. Perhaps rendering them unconscious was just a convenient way of getting rid of them while he went about his work.

  “Grandma,” he gasped, remembering she was waiting for him to collect her. “She’s still here. I need to go and find her.”

  Chanel paled. “Ward Three. I spoke to her earlier. She told me about you.”

  Bryce started in surprise and wanted to stay and hear more, but the feeling of dread that now consumed him wouldn’t be denied. It urged him to go to his grandmother and make sure she was safe. He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss on Chanel’s lips.

  “Stay here. Help’s on its way. Don’t leave the hospital without me.”

  She nodded and Bryce was relieved by her calm acceptance of his order.

  “Go and find her,” she whispered. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  * * *

  Doctor Baker strode down the corridor of Ward Three with something akin to a skip in his step. He always felt that way right before he set into motion a chain of events that would eventually lead a patient to their Maker. The thought the police were onto him gave him pause, but he didn’t break his stride. God would look out for him. He always had.

  It was God who’d given him the words that had put that detective off the scent. Ha! Taking his wife out on the harbor! As if that would ever happen. It had been years since they’d done anything together. What a joke!

  He took the return of Doctor Munro to the hospital as a sign from up above. It made his choice of victim very simple. He assumed she’d already attended upon the one who was to receive his healing touch. She was at the bottom of the doctor’s list. He found the room he was seeking and greeted the patient in the bed.

  “Virginia, how lovely to see you. I thought I might have missed you. Aren’t you supposed to be going home today?”

  “Yes, Doctor Baker, I am and your nice young Doctor Munro came to sort out the paperwork. I’m just waiting for my grandson to come and collect me.”

  “I see your meal has arrived. You might as well eat while you’re waiting.”

  “Thank you, Doctor. I wasn’t sure what time Bryce would arrive, so I went ahead and ordered dinner.”

  Leo came closer and lifted one of the lids. “Mm, it smells good. Better than the hospital food they used to serve when I was a kid.” He laughed and the woman laughed with him. He loved it when they died with a smile on their face. Not that she’d be smiling in a few hours, when the poison took effect.

  Surreptitiously, he pulled a vial from out of the pocket of his white coat and carefully prised open the lid.

  “Would you like me to pour you a glass of water, Virginia?”|

  “Thank you, Doctor. That would be very nice of you.”

  “What about a little salt and pepper? Do you need a hand with that? Those little paper thingies can be tricky to get opened.”

  “Yes, a little salt would be lovely.”

  The doctor shot her a smile so bright he was sure she’d feel it all the way down to her toes. All was going as planned.

  * * *

  Bryce charged into Ward Three and skidded around the corner. Nurses looked up from their posts, curiosity clear on their faces.

  “Doctor Baker— Have you seen him?”

  “Yes, he went by here a few minutes ago. He headed that way.”

  The nurse who’d spoken pointed in the direction of Bryce’s grandmother’s room. He spun around and raced down the hall. He reached his grandmother’s room and bolted through the doorway. The doctor stood beside his grandmother’s bed, shaking something in his hand. Bryce pulled his service revolver out of his holster and shouted.

  “Stop! Police! Step away from the bed and put your hands up where I can see them. Grandma! Don’t touch anything. Move, quickly! I need you to get out of there!”

  “Bryce, what’s going on? Whatever are you doing?”

  His grandmother sounded bemused rather than scared and he implored her once again. “Grandma, I have reason to believe Doctor Baker’s trying to poison you. Please, get out of the bed and move away.”

  Bryce eyed the tray of food and his heart nearly stopped. “Have you eaten anything?”

  “No, it only just arrived. Doctor Baker was helping me open the salt. You know how much trouble I have with those tiny little packets.”

  With his gun still trained on the doctor, Bryce closed the distance between them. He flung the covers across the bed and helped his grandmother out of it. She shook her head and fussed at him, still convinced he had it wrong. Bryce preferred to be more safe than sorry and his gut was telling him he’d gotten there just in time.

  With his grandmother safe on the far side of the room, he pulled a pair of handcuffs off his belt. He’d just finished securing the doctor when Jett arrived, Chanel in tow.

  “What the hell are you doing here
? I told you to get her to the ER!”

  Chanel stepped forward. Apart from the bruise shadowing her jaw, she looked almost like her old self.

  “I insisted he bring me here. I needed to see your grandmother for myself. Is she okay?”

  “Yes, she’s fine.” He shot a narrow-eyed glare at Doctor Baker. “I got here just in time.”

  Jett looked at the doctor in disbelief, but directed his comment to Bryce. “I don’t believe it. You mean, he was trying to poison your grandmother?”

  Fresh anger surged through Bryce and he nodded. “Yes, it’s my guess that’s exactly what he was trying to do.”

  More staff arrived, confusion and concern in their eyes. Within moments, the room was full of people, including more members of the task force.

  “Bag up everything on that tray,” Bryce ordered when the forensics team arrived. “And search the prisoner’s pockets. He must have it stowed somewhere.”

  A few moments later, one of the officers gave a triumphant shout. “I’ve found something in his coat. It looks highly suspicious to me.”

  Bryce stared at the small clear vial filled with white powder and could only guess what it contained, but he was willing to bet everything he had that it wasn’t sugar crystals. The knowledge that he’d gotten there just in time began to set in and then it hit him hard. His legs weakened.

  Chanel frowned, as if she knew exactly how he felt. She moved closer until she stood beside him and held onto his elbow. Her support was just what he needed and he breathed a sigh of relief. She was fine. His grandmother was safe. It was over.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Susan finished arranging the vase of roses she’d picked earlier that day from her garden and stood back to survey the result. The crimson buds were on the verge of opening and promised a perfect display. Already, the sunroom was filled with the heavy scent of their perfume. She couldn’t wait for them to bloom.

  The phone on the wall of the kitchen rang, disrupting her thoughts. She walked out of the sunroom and made her way across the polished floorboards of the living room and at last picked up the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Mrs Baker?”

  “Yes, this is Susan Baker. Who am I speaking to?”

  “It’s Detective Bryce Sutcliffe from the City of Sydney Police Station. I’m calling to let you know we’ve arrested your husband on suspicion of murder. He’s being held here at the station. He asked me to contact you.”

  Susan frowned in confusion and tried to hear the detective over the roar in her ears. “Arrested? Leo? Murder? There must be some mistake.”

  “No, Mrs Baker. I’m afraid there’s no mistake. He was arrested at the hospital a couple of hours ago. He was caught red-handed with the poison in his hand. We have reasons to suspect it’s not the first time he’s killed a patient. In fact, at the moment, we’re looking at him for three murders. There could be a lot more.”

  Susan caught snatches of the detective’s response, but her mind refused to comprehend. Leo wasn’t a murderer. A lying, deceitful philanderer, perhaps, but a murderer? Surely, not.

  And yet the detective was speaking like there was no contest to be had. Leo had been caught in the act.

  But Leo loved his patients. She’d come to believe it was the only thing he loved. Trying to kill them with poison? It didn’t make sense.

  “What kind of poison?” she demanded, interrupting the detective.

  “Ricin. It comes from the castor bean. Somehow, it’s been extracted. It’s not the normal kind of thing we see.”

  Her mind went back to the night she’d found Leo in the basement and she thought again about what she’d witnessed. It hadn’t made sense at the time, but all of a sudden, it did. Like a piece of a complex puzzle falling into place, she knew with unexpected certainty she was right. He was using the house as a laboratory to concoct his murderous intent.

  “I… I’d like to see him. Is that possible?”

  “Yes, I’ll make sure the guards know you’ll be stopping by.”

  “Thank you, Detective. I’d appreciate that.”

  Susan hung up the phone with a hand that was far from steady. Her thoughts were in turmoil, filled with anger and disbelief. How could he? How could he do this to her? Was the man completely unhinged?

  Arrested and charged with murder? It would be splashed all over the news. Everyone would hear of it. She’d never live down the scandal. Her life would never be the same again. What was he thinking? Did it always have to be about him?

  The thought of him murdering his patients shocked her beyond all comprehension. He’d always spoken so lovingly about them. For years, she’d been a little envious over the attention they were given, but she’d learned to accept it was just the way he was. For all his other failings, there was no denying he was a kind and brilliant doctor who truly cared about the people in his care. It was an admirable way to be.

  Yet, if the police were to be believed, he’d been intent upon their murder. She didn’t have a clue what had happened to change him and now it was all too late. The damage had been done. The charges had been laid. The only thing she could hope for was to end things before the trial.

  The publicity during a trial would be beyond unbearable as the prosecutor picked over every aspect of their lives. She shuddered in horror at the thought of it and pressed her hand against her mouth.

  A sob escaped and then another, but she refused to allow him to best her. For too long, she’d let him do what he wanted, sleep with whatever slut he found… But no longer. Enough was enough. Her patience had come to an end.

  This time, he’d pay for what he’d done.

  * * *

  Leo turned at the sound of the keys rattling in the steel door that held him prisoner from the world. He didn’t have a clue what time it was, but he guessed night had fallen. The prison cell was made of solid concrete without a window to be seen. It was only because there had been a change of shift that he had any idea of the passage of time.

  He looked around and spied an officer outside the door to his cell. The door swung open and Leo’s heart lifted. God had saved him in time.

  “You have a visitor.” The surly guard grabbed him roughly and turned him to face the wall. “Hands behind your back.”

  Leo winced at the feel of the handcuffs biting into his skin. “Handcuffs, officer? Is that really necessary?” he asked in his most cajoling voice.

  The only response was a shove in the side and then he was led down a cold and silent hall. A moment later, a door was opened and he was pushed inside.

  “Fifteen minutes. I’ll be right outside. Don’t try anything stupid.”

  The thinly veiled threat from the officer should have filled Leo with foreboding, but he smiled and even gave the man a wink. God was on Leo’s side. There was nothing he would fear.

  Susan sat on a plastic chair with her elbows resting on a small table. Clad in Dior from top to bottom, including a matching handbag, she presented a striking image. Another chair stood opposite, completing the furniture in the room.

  “Darling, how nice of you to come.” He greeted her with a genuine grin, pleased to see her. While he’d been pacing his cell right after the arrest, it had come to him to call her. God would work through Susan. She was the key to setting him free.

  Her expression remained dark and forbidding and he wondered briefly if he’d made the right call. Perhaps he should have phoned his lawyer, like the officer who charged him had suggested?

  “What are you doing here, Leo? The police officer said something about you being charged with murder. Is it true?”

  He stared at her and knew it was time—time to reveal to her who he was—who he really was.

  “I wouldn’t call it murder. I’m just doing as I’m told.”

  She shook her head and her brow creased in a frown. Anger glinted in her eyes.

  “Don’t talk in riddles,” she snapped. “Just tell me the truth.”

  He stared at her, remaining calm. “I
speak the truth. It is you who doesn’t understand it. I was chosen very early on to carry out God’s work. God chooses who I heal and…who I don’t.”

  “So, you admit it. You poisoned those women. I looked it up on the Internet. It’s already all over the news.”

  He smiled, pleased to discover his gift was finally being recognized. “I am a disciple of God. I live to do His will.”

  “So, you’re God’s chosen one, murdering people in His name. Is that what you’re trying to say?”

  He frowned at the sarcasm in her tone. “I’m not sure I’d use the word murder. I help them on their way. For many, their time on earth was over. There was no hope of them ever getting well. God doesn’t like to watch them suffer, and neither do I. He tells me when it’s time for them to meet their Maker.”

  “I see,” she said in a tone much more to his liking. “Is that what you intend to tell the court when it comes time to explain your actions?”

  “I don’t need to explain God’s work. I’m merely a vessel for the Almighty. God decides who lives and dies, not me.”

  He thought of Amelia Arncliffe and Robyn Evan and even to some extent Eileen Green and did his best to ignore the guilt that flooded through his veins. He’d taken their lives at his own behest. God hadn’t factored in on those. Still, he was sure God would approve. He wouldn’t abandon him now. God had sent him Susan, hadn’t He? It was a sign He was still on side.

  “I need you to do something for me,” he said and his wife frowned at him again.

  “What is it?”

  “There’s a small brown bottle in the safe in my office. I need you to find it and destroy it. Don’t say anything to the police. They wouldn’t understand. Will you do this for me? Please?”

  He shot her his most charming grin and hoped it would have its desired effect. It had always worked in the past. To his relief, she smiled back.

  “You mean this bottle?”

  She held up the medicine bottle he’d filled with the ricin powder only a week before. He quickly got over his surprise and nodded.