Angel on Fire by Jacquie Johnson

he played the role of her lover.  “She looks nervous.”
     
    “Where’s she going?” she gasped, his touch lighting a fire deep within her.
     
    “She’s coming toward us at a pretty fast pace.  I think she recognizes you,” he warned.  “When she catches up, I want you to walk with her while you talk.  It’s harder to hit a moving target.” 
     
    “Why are you so worried?” Angela wondered.   “It’s not like anyone knows we’re here.”
     
    “It’s my job to worry.  Here she comes.”  Chase nodded at the young mother as she passed and Angela stepped alongside the stroller, cooing at the baby, acting as if she were just an admiring pedestrian. 
     
    “Hi,” the woman greeted Angela in an almost whisper.  “I’m Jaida, and this is my baby, Patrice.”
     
    “I’m Angela, Nick McKenzie’s daughter,” Angela answered as the baby grasped her finger.
     
    “Look, I don’t want to get in any trouble,” Jaida’s voice wobbled.  “But I heard something you should know ‘bout your dad.”  The woman’s hands clenched the stroller handle.
     
    “What?”  Angela kept her voice soft since it was obvious the young woman was frightened.
     
    “Dr. Richards?  He’s a good doc but not a real good man, if you know what I mean?”  Jaida turned toward Angela who nodded in response.
     
    “About two weeks ago, some medicine turned up missing when the head nurse checked the inventory.  Doc Richards said he’d dropped a few vials, and they’d broken.  I saw him take them and put them in his pocket.”  Jaida frowned.  “He knows I saw him.  He told me to keep my mouth shut so I did.  Your dad died on Tuesday, right?” 
     
    Angela nodded again and the two women walked in silence for a few minutes before Jaida spoke.  “You can’t tell anyone what I’m going to tell you.  Please.  I’m afraid they might hurt my little girl.”
     
    “I won’t, Jaida.  I just want to find out what happened to my father.” 
     
    “Promise,” Jaida begged, her eyes imploring Angela to cooperate.
     
    “I promise,” Angela agreed. 
     
    “Doc Richards got a call that day, after hours.  I’d stayed late to finish up a few things.  The head nurse had been givin ’ me a hard time.”  She shrugged.  “If I get fired, I can’t take care of my baby.  Anyway, that night Doc got a call, and I heard him talkin ’.  He said the needle mark would be noticed during an autopsy.  I didn’t know what he was talkin ’ ‘bout but then he said he’d take care of it.”  She looked over her shoulder before lowering her voice eve more.  “When he came out of his office, he looked surprised to see me.  He got a funny look on his face and then asked me to make a duplicate file for a patient.  He said he’d taken it home and accidentally left it there.  Files are never supposed to leave the office.  Doc said he’d help me sometime if I helped him.  So I made the file, but I felt kinda weird about it so before I left I checked the computer system.  Doc had me make a file for your dad, Nicholas McKenzie, but no such patient existed in the system.  The patient’s always entered into the system before a file is opened.  I’m pretty sure your dad was never a patient at our office.” 
     
    “Did you say anything to anyone about this?”  Angela clenched her fists tightly as she realized her suspicions had been confirmed.  Her father’s death was no accident.
     
    “No, of course not!”   The young woman’s eyes widened with fear.  “I’d lose my job.  I’m a single mom.  I need this job.  You promised you wouldn’t tell!”
     
    “I won’t,” Angela promised, trying to sound reassuring while her mind processed what she had just learned.  “Was there anything else?” 
     
    “No, well, maybe.”  Jaida pushed the stroller a little faster, and Angela worried that she planned to run away without answering.  “The next day, your dad’s name had been added