Irish Throwdown (What Happens In Vegas Book 4) by Matt Lincoln (short books for teens .TXT) 📕

The drive over to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center went by in a flash. There wasn’t a lot of traffic that time of day, and being the largest hospital in Las Vegas, it was located right in the heart of the city.

I parked in an area far from the entrance where there were plenty of open spots available. I had no problems walking, and I would rather walk a little farther than waste time winding through the rows of parked cars trying to find a space closer to the front.

I stretched as I got out of the car. After spending over an hour sitting in that conference room and then another twenty in the car, my body felt stiff. I couldn’t imagine ever giving up my position as a field agent for one behind a desk. Sitting still just wasn’t for me.

As we approached the hospital entrance, I looked up at the massive, cream-colored walls of the building. I could see the fluffy white clouds against a clear blue sky reflected in the windows along the building’s front facade. Sunrise Hospital was a beautiful structure that almost looked more like a fancy hotel than a hospital, though the palm trees that flanked the entrance and lined the road in front of it probably contributed to its luxurious appearance.

A large “welcome” sign greeted us as we made our way through the front entrance. The inside of the building looked just as ostentatious as the outside, with high ceilings and shining surfaces all around the main lobby. I wasted no time in approaching the stout, friendly-looking woman sitting behind the desk.

“Good morning,” the woman smiled cheerfully as I came to a stop in front of her. “How can I help you today?”

“I’m Agent Castillo,” I answered as I pulled my badge out of my pocket. “And this is Agent Patel. We’re with MBLIS, here to speak to a Mrs. Simone Montague.”

“Of course,” the woman nodded as she turned to type something into her computer. “She is in room two-thirty-seven. There’s a police guard stationed outside her door, so you can’t miss it. I’ll send word up that you’re heading up there.”

“Thank you.” I nodded before turning away and heading further into the hospital.

The layout was simple enough, and we found the elevators just a moment later. However, the second floor was a little more confusing as the room numbers appeared to be arranged with even numbers opposite each other. Eventually, though, we spotted the officer that the receptionist had mentioned.

“Hello!” I called as we approached him.

He was staring down at his phone, and his thumbs were rapidly pressing the screen as though he was playing some kind of game. His head snapped up at us when he heard me call out.

“I’m Agent Castillo with MBLIS,” I informed him as I drew my badge out of my pocket to show him. “This is Agent Patel. We’re here to speak with Simone Montague.”

“Oh, hi,” he replied as he tucked his phone away. “Grover told me you’d be coming. I got a call from the front desk that a couple of federal agents were here and started to wonder if you got lost. I know the hallways here are a little confusing.”

“We got a little turned around,” Naomi smiled politely. “We’re here now, though.”

“Yeah, of course,” the officer responded as he stepped away from the door to let us through. “You two need me to accompany you or anything?”

“I think we’ll be fine,” I smiled at him. “Oh, but have you noticed anything odd about her behavior?”

“Not really,” the officer shrugged. “I’m not an investigator or anything like that, though. I’m just here so that she doesn’t try to flee. Never heard a peep from her. Her husband’s in there, too, but he’s not the one under suspicion, so I can’t stop him from coming or going.”

“He’s in there right now?” Naomi asked. She sounded shocked, and I wasn’t surprised. If Simone was being held under suspicion of having attacked her own children, she usually wouldn’t be allowed to have visitors unsupervised.

“Yeah,” the officer sighed. “It’s a mess. The husband was the one who called the cops on her, but then he recanted, and now he’s saying there must have been a misunderstanding and he won’t cooperate. Of course, it’s not up to him whether the prosecutor goes forward with the charges, but it’ll be a lot harder without his testimony. Right now, the police are kind of unsure how to handle this, but we still need to keep an eye on her, especially now that we know this could be part of a bigger deal.”

“Well, we might as well speak with him while we’re at it,” Naomi mumbled as she pushed the door open. I walked in behind her. Lying on the hospital bed was a gaunt-looking woman with ashen skin and sunken eyes. Standing beside her was a man with mousy brown hair wearing glasses. He was holding her hand and looking at her like she was the center of his world.

“Good morning,” Naomi greeted them curtly.

“Hi,” the man answered nervously. “Can we help you?”

“I’m Agent Patel,” Naomi answered as she pulled her badge out of her bag to show them. “And this is my partner, Agent Castillo. We’re with the Military Border Liaison Investigative Services. We need to ask your wife some questions about the night of the incident.”

“She’s exhausted,” the man responded defensively. “And she’s already explained this all to the cops.”

“It’s fine, Jeffrey,” Simone rasped out weakly. Her voice was faint, and I could hear how the effort of speaking caused her to wheeze around every word. “They’re just doing their jobs.”

“Thank you for being so understanding,” I smiled at her as I took a seat in an empty chair by her bed. Her husband was standing opposite me on the other side, watching me warily despite his wife’s okay. “Can you start by giving us a summary