THE QUIET NURSE WAS THE CONSTANT JOKE OF THE RURAL ER—UNTIL HER CALLSIGN CAME OVER THE RADIO AT 3 A.M.

For a few seconds, she simply stood there, listening to the hospital work around her. The old instinct to count ceiling tiles returned, but this time the numbers refused to settle her.

Teague had signed the report?

That was impossible. He was a civilian physician assigned to Pine Harbor. He had never been part of her overseas unit, and she had never heard his name during the investigation.

Unless the report wasn't the report she thought it was.

She found Teague in the staff office, scrubbing blood from his hands at the sink.

"Doctor."

He glanced at her in the mirror.

"If you're here to tell me how to run my trauma bay, save it."

"I need to ask you about a military report."

He stopped scrubbing.

It was a small pause. Almost nothing.

But Annie had learned to recognize the moment someone heard a sound they feared.

"What report?"

"The incident report for the operation that killed Daniel Morrow."

Teague turned off the faucet.

"That has nothing to do with this hospital."

"Then why is your name on a message connected to it?"

His face settled into a familiar expression of irritation.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Annie watched him carefully.

"Have you ever served with a military medical unit?"

"No."

"Have you ever signed a casualty report for a classified operation?"

"Absolutely not."

"Then you won't mind if I ask the hospital administrator to verify your credentials and employment history."

Teague dried his hands.

"You're making a serious mistake, Keller."

It was the first time he had used her surname without a sneer.

"Maybe," she said. "But I'm not making it alone."

She left him standing by the sink.

At the nurses' station, Linda was reviewing the incoming patients' charts. She looked up as Annie approached.

"That expression tells me something happened."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Any time."

"Have you ever seen Dr. Teague's personnel file?"

Linda frowned. "No. Why?"

"Do you know where he worked before Pine Harbor?"

"Some hospital in Virginia, I think. He never talks about it."

"Has he always been like this?"

Linda's eyes shifted toward the office.

"Not with everyone."

That answer troubled Annie.

"What do you mean?"

"Teague can be unpleasant, but he has been especially determined to keep you quiet. He made two complaints about your bedside manner before you had even completed your first month. He asked the administrator to transfer you off nights. Then he withdrew the request without explanation."

"Why would he withdraw it?"

"I don't know."

Linda lowered her voice.

"Three weeks ago, I overheard him on the phone. He said, 'She's still here, and she hasn't remembered anything.' When I asked who he meant, he told me it was a family matter."

Annie felt the room tilt slightly.

"Did he say anything else?"

Linda shook her head.

"Just that he couldn't keep waiting."

Across the department, Danny was helping a patient settle into a bed. He glanced toward them, then quickly looked away.

Annie noticed.

"Danny?"

He approached reluctantly.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever heard Teague mention my name when I'm not around?"

Danny's face tightened.

"Not really."

"Think carefully."

He glanced toward the staff office.

"Two weeks ago, I was restocking supplies when he took a call. He said someone had finally found the nurse. Then he asked if she still wore the chain."

Annie's hand moved instinctively to her collar.

The dog tags rested beneath her scrub top.

"Did he say who called?"

"No."

"Did he mention Daniel?"

Danny swallowed.

"I heard the name Morrow."

For a moment, Annie could not speak.

Then the hospital intercom chimed.

"Dr. Keller, please report to the administrative conference room."

She looked toward the ceiling speaker.

The voice belonged to Hospital Administrator Paul Hensley.

Linda frowned. "That's odd. Why would he call you Dr. Keller?"

Annie was not a doctor.

She was a registered nurse with military medical training and a record that, for reasons she had never fully understood, seemed to have been scrubbed clean of everything before seven months ago.

The intercom sounded again.

"Annie Keller. Administrative conference room. Immediately."

Danny stepped closer.

"Want me to come with you?"

"No."

She touched the chain beneath her collar.

"Stay with the patients."

When Annie reached the conference room, the door was open.

Hensley sat at the far end of the table. Teague stood beside him.

A third person occupied the chair nearest the window.

He wore a dark civilian coat and had no identification badge.

He looked at Annie with the calm, patient expression of someone who had expected her to arrive.