The Hazing Tower Read Online Free PDF

the hallway. It was like a maze for a lab rat, that’s how she always felt walking in here. She knocked quietly on Catherine’s open door.
    “Nikki!” She ran up and hugged her tightly. “Sit down! How are you?”
    “Catherine. I came to say goodbye. It’s just that, well, you know. I don’t have much time left. I quit my job today.
    Catherine had tears in her eyes.
    “I just wanted to tell you, I wanted to say, you are one of the good ones. You will make such a good doctor.”
    Catherine tried to wipe the tears away. “They tell me I am too emotional, as you can see.” She rubbed tears off. “I guess they are right.”
    “Stupid jerks! It’s your emotions that make you the doctor you are. Don’t listen to them. They want you to be a robot. Catherine, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have made it this far. And something else.”
    Catherine looked up at her.
    “You made my final days here worth living. You know, with my boyfriend leaving me and all, I didn’t really have anyone else. Don’t listen to them, OK?”
    She nodded.
    “I guessed you were leaving when they came for your medical records.”
    “What?”
    “You know, you gave the OK to have your records transferred. I wasn’t here, but I looked at the forms, it was your signature.”
    “Catherine, I didn’t sign any forms.”
    She looked stunned.
    “Who came for them?”
    “I don’t know. It was— Hey, wait a minute. You know my boyfriend, well, that’s a long story, but he is security here remember. Come with me.”

    They walked up the stairs and found their way to the security office. Clearly, Catherine had been here many times before. The room was full of monitors, a view of each hallway, all the rooms.
    “Paul,” she tapped him on the back.
    “Catherine!” He looked like a giddy school boy at the sight of her.
    “Paul, we need some help. Someone came in here two days ago. They took Nikki’s medical records without her consent. Can you help us out?”
    He looked around. He was the only one on shift today.
    “Close the door and lock it. Sure, let’s take a look.”
    “OK. Two days ago.”
    He started to scan back. It was all computerized now, a lot easier to find the right footage. He scanned back to that week.
    “Watch for Dr. Steven’s office. That’s where the paperwork needs to go.” Catherine softly touched his back as she talked to him.
    “They watched 50 people go in and out of his office. Catherine recognized them all.”
    “Stop! Stop, there!” Catherine said.
    He hit pause and rolled back the video.
    “Is that a woman? Her head is down.”
    “Let me go back, I can find her in the entrance and hallways, now that I know the right date and time.” He rolled it back to the entrance. “There! She walked in, her head was to the side.”
    Then the hallway, again head down.
    “What bad luck! Every shot missed her face!”
    “She knows,” they both said it at the same time.
    “Knows?” Catherine was confused.
    Paul spoke first. “She knows where the cameras are. It’s not bad luck.”
    Nikki nodded her head. “She sure does.”
    They scanned through all the footage. “Whoever she is, she is damn good. She knows where every camera is.”
    “Nikki, you know I used to be security in Vegas Casinos.”
    She nodded.
    “Whoever she is, it’s someone with training. She had to know this place like a map; she must have studied it, or had inside information. You’re police, you must have noticed something else. She isn’t nervous at all, perfectly calm. I have only seen that with professionals.”
    “Yep.” Nikki knew that all too well. “Well, at least we tried. And we know it was a woman, that’s a lead.”
    “Hey, Nikki, I’m sorry, about you know, everything. Catherine talks about you a lot.”
    “Thanks, Paul.” She thought for a second. “Catherine, can I talk to Paul alone for a second.”
    Paul looked nervous as hell; he started to sweat.
    “OK, sure, I mean if you want. I will be