Sloan got to his feet, dragging Brian up with him.
“Sloan, honest, I swear to you! I would never murder anyone! You have to believe me. I’d never hurt Jennie. Not on purpose. No—”
“Really? It looks like you’re pretending to be a nurse in order to see Jennie Layton. And since someone put her in a coma to get her here—”
“Yes, yes, I was trying to see Jennie. I thought—hoped—she might have recognized me,” Brian said quickly. “I never meant for anything bad to happen to her—I love her like I love my grandma!”
“What were you doing, dressing up so you could slip in that door?” Sloan demanded.
“I had to see her!” Brian answered.
“Mommy!” one of the patients cried out. “That lady is...a man!”
“It’s all right. Let’s go back to your room,” the mother said.
“Hey, man, there’s meds all over the floor!” A skinny fellow who looked like he should be in detox said happily.
Another nurse came up. “Mr. Wilson, get back in your room!” she told him.
One of the doctors approached Sloan. “You need to take this out of here, Sheriff. You’re upsetting my patients.”
Sloan spun around on him. “Well, you’re going to have to explain to me how an actor got into your hospital dressed as a nurse and was moving among your upset patients!” he snapped.
He spun Brian around, snapping plastic cuffs onto his wrists. “I will remove this man that you’ve let in,” he said, glowering as he marched down the hall. The county officer was standing in front of Jennie’s room, trying to watch Sloan and trying to watch the hallway. Both Jimmy Hough and his mother had come out of their respective rooms. Zoe Hough was standing behind her son, a protective hand on his shoulder.
“It’s okay,” Sloan told them.
“He got in here!” Zoe said with horror.
“Did you kill my father?” Jimmy demanded, scowling at Brian.
“What? No!” Brian shouted. “I didn’t kill anyone! Won’t anybody listen to me?”
Sloan pulled his phone from his pocket and called the office. Betty answered. “Betty, get Chet or Lamont down here. I need someone to pick up a prisoner. I want him held at our facility until I can get back there myself. And warn whoever’s coming not to take their eyes off him for a minute. You understand?”
“Yes, Sheriff, of course. Who’s being picked up? Did you—”
“It’s Brian Highsmith. I want this man in our lockup, and I don’t want him getting out. No mess-ups. Get someone here now!”
“Yessir, yessir!” Betty said.
He hung up his phone. Jimmy Hough, fists clenched, looked as if he was going to hit Brian with a hard right hook to the jaw. Sloan quickly stepped between them. “Jimmy, stop. We have to get to the bottom of this. Please, go back into your rooms. Everything’s under control.”
“Sheriff, you’re not leaving us, are you?” Zoe asked, her eyes wide and frightened.
“Not right now. I’m here until I can get more help in.”
“Do as he says, please, Jimmy!” Zoe told her son. Jimmy continued to stare at Brian but he moved back as his mother pushed his chest. “Jimmy, the law will take care of it.”
“He killed my father,” Jimmy said dully.
“We don’t know that yet,” Sloan said.
“I swear I just came to see Jennie!” Brian insisted. “I was, uh, fooling around in the basement when she came down and I didn’t want to get into trouble. I didn’t mean to hurt her—or that nice agent, Jane. I didn’t want them to know I was there.... I accidentally hit Jennie too hard and I need her to forgive me. I was trying to...I was trying to talk to her, to beg her forgiveness. I—I was worried about jail, but I love Jennie. I need her to forgive me.”
“Shut up for now, Brian,” Sloan said. His phone was ringing. He flipped it open; Logan was calling.
“I found the connection,” Logan said without preamble.
“Which connection?” Sloan asked.
“Jay Berman. He did some work for Caleb Hough about a decade ago. I’m pretty sure he put a few ranch workers in the hospital. He’d been out in Arizona on another so-called vacation. That was right around the time two of Hough’s workers—who’d demanded higher pay—ended up injured. So, I’m not sure who the hell killed Hough, but I’ll bet Jay Berman messed up, so Hough was the one who might’ve killed him.”
Sloan looked at Brian. “Can you get down to the hospital?”
“Right away.”
He hung up. Brian was shaking his head. “I’m not a killer, Sloan. I’m an actor! I was just going to plead with Jennie not to give me up so I didn’t go to jail or lose my job!” he said.
“Brian, people just ‘fooling around’ in the basement of the building they work in don’t render old women unconscious because they’re afraid of being caught.”
“No, you don’t understand. I could have lost my job.”