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T O O L A T E

(A Morgan Stark FBI Suspense ThrillerBook 1)

R y l i e D a r k

Rylie Dark

Bestselling author Rylie Dark is author of the SADIE PRICE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising six books (and counting); the MIA NORTH FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER series, comprising six books (and counting); the CARLY SEE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER, comprising six books (and counting); and the MORGAN STARK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER, comprising three books (and counting).

An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Rylie loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.ryliedark.com to learn more and stay in touch.

Copyright © 2022 by Rylie Dark. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If youre reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright Raggedstone, used under license from Shutterstock.com.

BOOKS BY RYLIE DARK

SADIE PRICE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

ONLY MURDER (Book #1)

ONLY RAGE (Book #2)

ONLY HIS (Book #3)

ONLY ONCE (Book #4)

ONLY SPITE (Book #5)

ONLY MADNESS (Book #6)

MIA NORTH FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

SEE HER RUN (Book #1)

SEE HER HIDE (Book #2)

SEE HER SCREAM (Book #3)

SEE HER VANISH (Book #4)

SEE HER GONE (Book #5)

SEE HER DEAD (Book #6)

CARLY SEE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

NO WAY OUT (Book #1)

NO WAY BACK (Book #2)

NO WAY HOME (Book #3)

NO WAY LEFT (Book #4)

NO WAY UP (Book #5)

NO WAY TO DIE (Book #6)

MORGAN STARK FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

TOO LATE (Book #1)

TOO CLOSE (Book #2)

TOO FAR GONE (Book #3)

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

PROLOGUE

Michelle pulled her coat tighter around her neck as she left the hospital for the night and headed into the brisk D.C. fog. It had been a long shifttoo long. She couldn't sustain work hours like this, and a talk with her boss was long overdue.

Maybe she shouldn't have switched hospitals. She now had the least amount of seniority of anyone in the department, and that meant she worked nights, weekends, and holidays. She'd taken for granted being able to pick and choose. She'd been dazzled by the promise of a signing bonus, along with an increase in pay.

Michelle tried to think of other things as she walked quickly down the street. The blue light of television sets flickered behind a few drawn curtains, but most of the windows were dark. Reasonable people with reasonable bosses had already gone to bed.

The images of the day kept flashing through her mindthe endless flow of patients, the suffering, the impatient doctors, the results she knew would be bad news to be delivered to patientsand she shook her head vigorously as if she could shake the thoughts free.

No more. She'd think about all that tomorrow.

She tried to think of happier things. Of the frozen meal awaiting her at home, of a night of comedy reruns, a glass of chardonnay big enough to swim in. Separating work from her life was getting to be a harder and harder endeavor.

The noise snapped her out of it.

She looked around quickly, her skin crawling at the sudden sound, and saw only an empty street behind her. Parked cars lined the narrow avenue, but she couldn't see anything else in the darkness and fog.

Too late. It was too late to be going home this time of night. She glanced at her watchnearly 11. She chided herself. She had meant to leave at 7. Again.

Michelle increased her pace. Home was only a few blocks away now.

But then, it came again. The noise.

She stopped again. Michelle peered through the fog in the dim streetlight.

Hello? she called, her voice trembling. She was so close to home now. She didn't need this. It wasn't any of her business. She kept on walking, calmly and purposefully, as if she hadn't heard anything.

But she had.

The noise hadn't come from a car. It was too sharp. She heard it again. A sharp, short crack. It didn't sound like a gunshot, either. So what was it?

She walked faster.

It was coming from somewhere behind her. What if someone was hurt? What if they needed help? What if she switched on the news tomorrow and saw that someone she could have helped had died, right here, a few blocks from her apartment?

Michelle stopped in her tracks. She turned around.

The street seemed innocent in the light of the streetlamp. Peaceful in the silence. A little bit of fog clung to the lamppost, where it cast a web of shadows on the ground below.

She retraced her steps, her heart pounding in her chest as she proceeded.

Then it came again. The noise. Closer this time. To her left.

She stopped there, frozen, while the sound echoed against the buildings around her. A small alleyway opened off the street, snaking into the dark between two buildings. Dark and empty except for a shape huddled on the ground.

It didn't move. Probably just a pile of trash.

But what if someone was hurt?

Michelle walked quicklyalmost ranto the alley entrance, her breathing heavy. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

It wasn't a pile of trash. It was a man lying on the ground, clutching his head. His glasses had been knocked off and smashed, and his face was covered in blood.

He groaned, the noise cutting through the foggy silence.

She rushed over to him, her adrenaline kicking in, back in work mode.

Are you OK? she asked. Can you breathe? Talk to me!

She frantically checked his pulse.

It was weak, but there.

But there was so much blood.

She pulled out her phone, dialed 9-1-1.

911. What is your emergency?

There's a man down here. He's hurt. He's bleeding. I think he's been mugged. That must be it. She didnt see any other reason for him to be in injured like this in the alley.

Can you give me your location?

Michelle stood and ran to the end of the alley to be sure she had the right cross streets. Im near the intersection of Roxboro Place and 8th Street Northwest.

Ive got police and an ambulance on their way to you, maam. Do you want to stay on the line with me? Is there any chance youre in danger?

Michelle looked around. The street was deserted. Whoever had hurt this man was long gone. No. Im fine. Ill wait for the emergency personnel. She hung up and hurried back to the man.

I've called 911. They'll be here soon. Just hold on. Her voice shook.

His brown eyes stared up at her, pleading for help. He beckoned for her to come closer. She'd done what she could. She'd called the authorities. She listened hard for the sound of sirens.

The man's eyes continued to stare up at her, imploring her to do something to help.

Michelle had to do something, anything to relieve his pain even if it was only for a moment. She slipped off her coat and folded it, easing it under his head to use as a pillow. She shivered in the cold.

What happened? she asked. Were you attacked? Mugged?

She glanced around again. What if she was wrong? What if whoever had done this was still here? But there was no other movement in the alley and the only sound was the man's ragged breathing and the pounding of her own heart.

She looked a little closer to see if she could find the source of the blood on his face. In the dim light, she couldn't make out any cut or abrasion. She brushed his hair back from his forehead as much to comfort him as to look for his injury.

But then, suddenly, Michelle felt it. An icy cold hand on her wrist. A strong grip. Too strong.

He was squeezing her. Hurting her.

Sitting up. Smiling.

Her mind raced, trying to make it all make sense. Had he not actually been hurt? Had he been faking it?

He pulled out a knife.

NO! she cried out, trying to wrench her hand away from him. But she couldn't. His grasp was too strong. She started to panic.

I wanted you to see me, he said. I wanted you to know who I am.

She gasped and pulled harder at her hand.

You should've kept walking, he said.

He started to pull Michelle towards him by the arm, deeper into the shadows. She was fighting, but it was no use.

Please, she pleaded. Just leave me alone. Take my purse. Whatever.

He laughed. I don't want your money.

Who was this man? Why would he want her to know who he was? It made no sense. None of it made sense.

She tried to yell out. To scream. To warn someone. Anyone.

But he was on top of her. He was too strong.

She felt something hard, cold, and metallic against her throat.

She closed her eyes.

And then all was darkness.

CHAPTER ONE

Morgan Stark, MD, strode down the corridor toward the Neurology ward at Georgetown Hospital, white coat flapping behind him. Hed called the nurses desk twice and gotten no reply.

Heads would roll about that. Later.

Right now, he needed to make sure no one took Vincenzo Rohr into surgery and apparently the only way to do that was to do it himself. Typical. What do you know about fibromuscular dysplasia, Dr. Windham?

Fibro what? Lexa Windham, his resident, had broken into a trot to keep up with him.

Fibromuscular dysplasia, he repeated. It wasnt a fair question and he knew it. The disorder was rare, not something a resident would have seen this early in her rotation.

Most people didnt know about it even if they had it.

Vincenzo certainly didnt know. Nor had any of his other doctors figured it out, but it was almost certainly the cause of the aneurysm in his brain that was threatening to burst and of the two previous aneurysms hed survived.

Morgan wasnt so sure that Vincenzo would survive this surgery if he was correct in his diagnosis. It was somewhat of a miracle that hed survived the first two. Each subsequent insult to his body made the danger grow. The last thing they needed was for the third time to be the charm that killed him.

Lexa tapped the term into her phone while still keeping pace with Morgan. Fibromuscular dysplasia is a genetic condition that can both enlarge and narrow the arteries causing weakness in arterial walls that can lead to aneurysms, stroke, or dissected arteries. Her steps faltered.

Morgan banged open the door to the stairs and held it for Lexa. He wasnt waiting for an elevator. And what could that mean for Mr. Rohr?

Lexa took the stairs two at a time, a sense of urgency hurrying her steps. The added pressure on the arterial walls during a surgical procedure could cause multiple arteries to simply shred. They wouldnt be able to keep him from bleeding out right there on the table.

Good girl. She was quick, mentally and physically. With her dark hair pulled back into a low ponytail and her bright blue eyes, she reminded him of Fiona. Fiona had been on her way to being a star resident, too. How many lives might his little sister have saved if she'd been able to go forward?

There was no time to reminisce or speculate now, though, about what might have been. Morgan hurried to keep up with Lexa's quick ascension of the stairs, their foot strikes echoing on the concrete.

You told them they shouldn't open him up, Lexa said, hitting the top of the stairs and hurrying into the corridor.Not until you had some time to go over his files.

I did, Morgan agreed. So, let's make sure they don't.

So what are you thinking? she panted with exertion. Without the surgery, that aneurysm is likely to rupture. Then there's risk of stroke and brain damage.

I'm thinking an angiogram. That will show us how the blood is flowing so we can find the weak spots. The contrast dye theyd inject into Rohr would light up and they could see places where his arteries were already leaking. Morgan stopped at the unattended nurse's desk and cursed. Where was everyone?

He glanced up at the board. Vincenzo was in Room 32C. Just around the corner. He took off again, Lexa at his heels. Together, they burst into the room.

It was empty.

Where the hell was Vincenzo Rohr?

Was he too late?

What had been a bright, sunny morning had turned into a dark and gloomy afternoon. Rain lashed at the windows, making the empty hospital room feel almost sub-aquatic. The rain drumming on the roof sounded like loud, cheap bamboo sticks.

Morgan turned in a circle as if his patient might suddenly appear from one of the corners. A dark-haired, dark-skinned nurse wearing maroon scrubs came into the room with an armful of linens. Dr. Stark, she said, brown eyes going a little wide. Her name tag read Isabella.

Where's my patient, Isabella? There was no time to waste with pleasantries.

Dr. Ayres took him to surgery. He said they couldn't wait any longer. They needed to deal with the aneurysm before it burst. Isabella set the linens down and took a step backward.

Morgan shut his eyes for a moment, trying to contain his rage. Damn Ayres, freaking scalpel jockey. Which room?

Isabella's mouth gaped a little farther open and she twisted her hands together in front of herself. I d-d-on't understand. Which room what?

Which operating room? Where is my patient? He knew it wasn't this young woman's fault, but damn it, a man's life hung in the balance.

Three, Isabella blurted out. What should I?

Morgan didn't hear the rest of her words because he was already running down the hall, his heart pounding in his ears and Lexa right behind him. Down the hall with its yellow linoleum tile and buzzing fluorescent lights, Morgan thundered, a bull searching for the red cape.

He waved his ID badge over the RFID reader and the double doors into the operating room suites clicked and swung forward in a slow arc. He shoved them aside. He had to get into that room before Ayres sunk a knife into Rohr and set off a reaction they wouldn't be able to stop.

Morgan flung open the door to OR Three's anteroom. One of the scrub nurses was still by the sinks. Hey, the man called. You can't go in there.

Ignoring him, Morgan grabbed a surgical mask off a pile by the door and covered his face as he shoved open the doors. Behind him, he heard Lexa running interference for him with the scrub nurse. Trust me, Ayres is going to want to hear what Dr. Stark has to say, she said.

You sure about that? the man said.

Morgan almost snorted. That was a scrub nurse who knew his surgeon. Ayres rarely wanted to hear want anyone had to say except himself.

Morgan rushed to the table, relieved to see that Vincenzo was under, but the procedure hadnt yet started, although Ayres had a scalpel in his hand and was getting ready to make the first cut, clearly intending to clip the aneurysm in an open craniotomy. Thank heavens. Hed made it in time.

Stop! Morgan yelled. You cut him, you kill him.

CHAPTER TWO

Ayres whirled around. What the hell are you doing in my OR, Stark?

Morgan skidded to a stop. Ayres wasnt a big man, but he carried himself like he was. Plus, he held a very sharp scalpel in his hand. Trying to save your patient, Jason. Maybe a personal plea would help his case.

Ayress eyes narrowed at him over his mask. Explain yourself.

His tone was imperious. It made Morgan grind his teeth. He got it. Really, he did. Surgeons have to be cocky. They have to have courage of their convictions. They make a lot of tough calls and everything they do carries a certain amount of risk.

He didnt have to like them, though, and he often didnt. He took a deep breath and blew it out, willing himself to remain calm. For a few seconds, the only sound in the room was the beeping of the monitors tracking Vincenzos heart and respiration.

The scrub nurse had made it around Lexa. Im sorry, Dr. Ayres. He got past me.

Ayres held up the hand that wasnt holding the scalpel. Its okay, Malik. Lets hear what Dr. Stark has to say for himself. He turned back toward Morgan. Well?

Vincenzo Rohr has a relatively rare genetic disorder. Fibromuscular dysplasia. Its likely what caused the aneurysm and the ones before it. Morgan finished tying the surgical mask around his face with practiced fingers and walked a few more steps toward the table where Vincenzo lay motionless.

Shaking his head before Morgan could get any closer, Ayres said, No. That doesnt make any sense. Hes had two prior successful aneurysm clippings. If he had fibromuscular dysplasia he would have bled out during one of those.

Not necessarily, Morgan took another step in. Hed pull the damn scalpel out of Ayress hand if he had to. With each subsequent insult to those arterial walls, his chances of a good outcome go down. Hes been lucky so far, but theres no guarantee hell be lucky a third time. Look at the numbers. The time between his second and third aneurysms is about half the time between the first and the second. His condition is getting worse. The arterial walls are getting weaker.

Ayres lowered the hand that held the scalpel with an irritating slowness. How sure are you about this? Because Im pretty sure that aneurysm is going to blow soon.

Im very sure. Morgan glanced over his shoulder to check on Lexa. Her ponytail was a little askew, but she seemed otherwise unharmed by her skirmish with Malik even if he was easily four inches taller and forty pounds heavier. Sure enough that I was going to let my resident tackle your scrub nurse so I could get in here to stop you from doing this procedure.

The anesthesiologist snorted. Ayres threw her a look and the woman turned her attention to her instruments. Ayres never had much of a sense of humor. He put the scalpel back on the tray, though. That was all Morgan really wanted, to get that knife away from Vincenzos head so there was a chance he could watch his two-year-old daughter grow up.

Ayres gestured at his team. Get Rohr into recovery. Then he turned back to Morgan. Lets go figure out how to save this mans life, then.

Ive got some ideas about that, Morgan said, tensing as he waited to see how cooperative Ayres was going to be.

Ayres snorted and waved for Morgan to follow him out of the room. Why am I not surprised to hear that? Lets hear it.

We put him on beta blockers to lessen the pressure on those arterial walls and then we do an angiogram. Well be able to keep an eye on any place a leak is even threatening and pull back if necessary. If we work together on it, we can be in and out before we do any more harm. Then we can get Vincenzo over to vascular services and let them take over long term treatment of his condition. It took Morgan a second to realize they were heading into the waiting room.

The second they walked in, a young woman sitting on the couch stood up. She was a sweet-faced woman in her late twenties who had nearly been enveloped by the threadbare sprung sofa in the waiting room. The surgery is done already? She looked up at the clock on the waiting room wall and then back at Ayres.

No. Were going to postpone the surgery for at least another day or two. Dr. Stark here will explain why. Ayres gestured at Morgan.

Morgan dragged a straight back chair from the corner closer to where Rohrs wife stood. He sat and motioned for her to sit back down as well. Ms. Rohr, he began.

Sofia, please. she interrupted.

Sofia, then. Your husband has a rare condition called fibromuscular dysplasia. It causes a weakening of the arterial walls.

Sofia frowned.

He cast about in his mind for a way to simplify the explanation. Its why Vincenzo is developing these aneurysms. We need to be extra careful in how we fix this aneurysm and then we can treat Vincenzo for the underlying condition so he doesnt get another one.

Sofia looked up at Morgan, big brown eyes both hopeful and worried. So Vincenzo will be all right? The couples daughter sat at her feet, stacking blocks on the coffee table.

Ayres cut in before Morgan could answer. Hed been standing near the doorway, checking his phone while Morgan explained Vincenzos diagnosis and how they planned to go forward. We think so. Vincenzo is stable for the moment. Well start him on beta blockers. We should be able to go in with an angiogram to fix the aneurysm once all the dust settles. Meanwhile, we've sent him for a CTA to confirm the diagnosis.

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