Jamie Brodie 01 - Cited to Death

called Pete's phone. It rang, then went to voicemail. So the phone was on, but he wasn't answering. I left a message - "Hey, where are you?" - then hung up. I texted him and waited a few minutes; no response.
    Weird. If he was just at the lab talking to Ben, why wouldn't he answer?
    Maybe they were in an elevator.
    Or maybe something was wrong.
    Shit . Had we been wrong about Ben?
    Well, there was one way to find out. I changed from sweats to jeans and a t-shirt, grabbed my wallet, phone and keys, and went out. It took me about 20 minutes in the Friday evening traffic to get to Cedars. I spotted Pete's Jeep in a parking space about halfway between the front door and the street. I pulled in next to it, cut the engine, and called Pete again. Same result. I texted him again; no response.
    So I called Kevin. His phone went to voicemail, too. I left him a longer message, telling him where I was, what Ben's text had said, and that Pete's car was here and he wasn't answering his phone. Then I texted him - "911 - Check your voicemail asap."
    I locked the car and went inside.
    I took the stairs to the third floor. If anything bad was happening, I wanted to be able to come in through the back of the lab. I eased the door open and stuck my head through. The hallway was deserted. I could only see enough of the back door of the lab to see that there were lights on in there. The door to Dr. Oliver's office was to my immediate right; I tested the handle. Locked. I crossed the hall and put my ear to the door of the lab. I could hear voices, although I couldn't make out what they were saying.
    There were two voices. One was male - low, calm. Pete's voice.
    The other voice was raised and agitated.
    And it was female.
    Oh, shit .
    I tried the handle of the door, very slowly and quietly. It didn't turn. I was going to have to go to the front door of the lab.
    I sent Kevin another text. "I'm at lab. Can hear Pete and a woman. She sounds upset. I'm going in." I turned my phone to silent mode and slid it into my pocket.
    I went to the front door of the lab and tested the doorknob. It turned. I slowly, quietly eased the door open a crack and peeked in.
    And found myself looking right down the barrel of a gun.
    The door opened the rest of the way. Alana Wray backed up, keeping the pistol she was holding leveled at my face. "Finally. Get in here."
    I went in.
    "Turn around. Hands on your head."
    I did what she said. She stuck the barrel of the gun right at the base of my skull, kicked the door closed and locked it.
    What I saw sent a paralyzing jolt through me.
    Ben Goldstein was slumped in the far corner of the lab, covered in blood from a head wound. Pete was in the center of the room, his wrists handcuffed behind him, locked around a supporting beam.
    I looked at Pete. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head very slightly. Don't do anything stupid.
    Wray gave me a little shove in the back. "Move. Down that aisle." She motioned me to the aisle one over from where Pete was chained to the post. "Turn around."
    I turned and noted that Wray was wearing latex gloves. Wonderful. I took another look at the gun. A small .38. It occurred to me at that moment that we might not make it out of this. I prayed that Kevin was on his way.
    Because Alana Wray was pissed. She was breathing fast and sweating and her face was flushed. She glared at me and yelled, practically spitting. "This is all your fault !"
    " My fault?"
    "Yes, your fault! You and Christensen! You...you... fucking librarians! You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you? Either one of you? Had to go snooping around in things that weren't your business. No one was getting hurt, no crimes were committed, but the two of you just couldn’t let it go! "
    I tried to look with my peripheral vision for anything I could use as a weapon. There was some glassware sitting on the countertops. Maybe I could palm something. "You've sure committed some crimes now. How did you kill Dan?"
    "I injected him with potassium. Right through one of the holes left over from those ridiculous piercings. That should have ended it." She was pacing a little bit now, but not lowering the gun. I still didn't think I could make a move to do anything without getting shot. "How did you find out about it, anyway?"
    I couldn’t think of a reason not to tell her. "He mailed me a letter with the two citations and asked me to look into it."
    She stopped pacing for a second and pointed the gun back directly at me. "I was