Tracking Shadows (Shadows of Justice 4) by Regan Black

and drugs left obvious, outward damage. Especially not if the user was new to the process.
    Her own career was such proof of how dark secrets didn't leave visible marks. Trina was swamped for a moment with the faces of her many kills. It stole her breath before she identified the rare, bewildering assault as guilt. With a shiver, she put it behind her, breathing slow and deep as she straightened her shoulders.
    Clearly, Ben and Darlene would die before giving up Slick Micky. She wondered if the reverse was true. Did Slick Micky earn that loyalty because he'd die for any of the people on his team?
    The cold logic that kept her at the top of her profession said there was only one way to find out.

Chapter Nine
     
    Micky came awake in an instant. One moment eyes closed, the next wide open, with a clear view of a stark white ceiling. Not his own bedroom. Finally he remembered he was in the infirmary.
    Well he'd certainly put in top of the line equipment, judging by the comfortable bed beneath him.
    Relieved by the absence of sensors and oxygen hoods, he started fiddling with buttons on the bed rail.
    His first attempt tilted his feet higher than his head. Dizzy, he gave up, rolling to his side in an effort to escape the automated contraption.
    A nurse came bustling in from the other side of the room. "Sir, you shouldn't be up yet."
    He studied her face, but her name escaped him. "I'm fine."
    With impressive speed, she had the bed positioned like a recliner and she nudged him back into place. "I have orders."
    "I'm usually the one giving them," he grumbled.
    "Well that's a bonus."
    "What?"
    "Your memory is intact."
    "There was doubt?"
    "Based on the blood work and that odd substance you chose to inhale, the doctor told me to expect anything."
    "We have a doctor?"
    The nurse ignored him, measuring vital signs with equipment that scared him. A sweep of his brow popped a light on the monitor near his head. He reached over to angle it so he could see better and the nurse deftly angled it back.
    "You don't know what any of it means anyway."
    "I would if you told me." He instantly regretted the challenge as she explained in graphic detail about the normal ranges of blood pressure and pulse rates. "Boring," he said when she finished.
    "That brings us to core body temperature," she intoned as if she were lecturing first year med students at Harvard.
    "You don't scare me."
    "Whatever you sniffed at should scare you."
    "Did Chloe come in for treatment?"
    The nurse gave him a chiding look. "Patient privacy."
    "But I'm her boss."
    "In that case, she appears to be fine sir."
    "Thank you." He didn't want to consider losing someone else. Sis had been a buffer between him and the mules, but he did care about every individual on his team. "So when will you cut me loose?"
    "As soon as the doctor clears you." She pressed a remote into his hand and smiled.
    Micky grumbled, but the nurse ignored him as she left the room. Looking at the remote, he pressed a few buttons and the entertainment display slid up from the foot of the bed. He was more than a little annoyed to find the news channels were offline. The machine monitoring his vital signs beeped and scolded him, making him wonder if the theory about denying a news junkie his fix really was better for the patient's overall health.
    Well, he couldn't change it, so he tried to find something amusing or informative. Pausing at a documentary on Bio-dome research, he tried to learn something. But the narrator focused on the personality conflicts of the researchers rather than the advances and discoveries they were making in their plastic bubble.
    He made a mental note to check with Lorine. She and her young son had been with him awhile now and she possessed the unique combination of amazing intelligence and the ability to communicate with the average person. She'd be a better narrator for something like this. Maybe he should make a call.
    Micky sighed. Why the hell did he care about the Bio-dome show? He