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  Autumn’s Rage

  Autumn Trent Series: Book Four

  Mary Stone

  Copyright © 2021 by Mary Stone

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  To my husband.

  Thank you for taking care of our home and its many inhabitants while I follow this dream of mine.

  Contents

  Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Autumn Trent Series

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Description

  Revenge has no deadline...and endless rage.

  Dr. Autumn Trent returns to Virginia after successfully assisting the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit yet again. Part of her heart remains in Florida with her long-lost sister whose trail has evaporated, but she moves forward to focus on her work as a forensic and criminal psychologist.

  Intent on doing just that, she heads to Virginia State Hospital, where the prodigy of The Preacher awaits her return. Justin Black becomes the least of her worries when a new case practically falls in Autumn’s lap.

  Murder has its grip on the mental institution, and all signs point toward one suspect. Even though the case appears to solve itself, Autumn thinks the team is being led astray. Uncovering the truth is only half of Autumn’s battle. She must first catch the killer before the killer catches her.

  Autumn’s Rage, the fourth book in Mary Stone’s Autumn Trent Series, is a topsy-turvy ride through twisted criminal minds that will take your breath away.

  1

  “Good morning.” Evelyn Walker smiled warmly at the man sitting on the sterile looking steel-framed bed. She picked up Gerard Helmsey’s tray from her cart and approached his side, keeping a close eye on his every move. “Are you ready to take your meds for me?”

  The epitome of compassion, care, and tidiness, Evelyn’s dark curly hair was neatly tucked behind her ears. Cheerful brown eyes graced a plump, pink-cheeked face that many labeled as cherubic. It was fitting. The nurse made great efforts to spread positive energy to each and every patient under her charge.

  “Don’t look at me,” Gerard mumbled, turning his face to the wall.

  Evelyn had expected the reply. This particular patient usually offered her and everyone else only two comments. “Don’t look at me,” and “Screw a goat.”

  She greatly preferred the former.

  As a nurse at Virginia State Hospital—Virginia’s only Adult Maximum Security Treatment Program—Evelyn wasn’t fazed in the slightest by Gerard’s response. She was familiar with each of the patients and their habits, as well as their reasons for being in the establishment.

  Gerard’s backstory moved her deeply, and no matter his response, Evelyn treated the graying, lanky-limbed forty-six-year-old with kindness. Despite being a mentally disturbed criminal, he was also a victim and a human being who deserved the chance at recovery just like any other diseased individual.

  Evelyn struggled to push the images the crimes this particular patient committed before he first arrived at the facility from her mind. Certain patients came to her hospital with lives full of details that were more difficult to digest than others.

  Could she ever forget that Gerard Helmsey had forced three women to have sexual intercourse with a goat before throwing their bodies into a meat grinder?

  No.

  At the same time, Evelyn also couldn’t forget that his own uncle had forced—on a daily basis—an eight-year-old Gerard to perform this same act of beastiality with numerous farm animals for seven years straight.

  Young Gerard’s abuse and horror had only ended when his uncle passed from a sudden heart attack, leaving him under the sole care of his unaffectionate aunt. She refused to acknowledge the maltreatment ever occurred.

  Evelyn was convinced that Gerard hadn’t ever had a friend in his entire life. Furthermore, she held a firm belief that friendship was the first building block to any mental patient’s recovery.

  Humans needed to know that someone genuinely cared before the motivation to get well could ever begin to blossom…or exist at all.

  Gerard Helmsey was still a person, regardless of the atrocities he’d committed.

  “Here, Gerard. Take these and wash them down.” She placed a small cup containing three pills in one of his hands and a paper cup of fresh water in the other.

  He complied, his movements trained and robotic, first dumping the pills in his mouth and then chugging the water. Not waiting to be asked, Gerard opened his mouth wide and stuck his tongue out.

  “Good, Gerard. Very good. Thank you for being so cooperative today. I appreciate it very much.” Evelyn addressed her patients by their first name every chance she could. A reminder that she thought of them as a real person. She searched his eyes for signs of comprehension.

  Gerard stared back at her blankly. “Screw a goat.”

  “You have a wonderful day, Gerard. The sun is shining, see?” She pointed at his barred window. “That always makes me a bit happier.”

  “Don’t look at me.” Gerard turned to stare at the wall behind him once again.

  “I’ll be back to check on you soon.” Evelyn returned her tray to the cart, pushed the aluminum contraption with its annoying squeaky wheel through the doorway, and shut the door with a soft tug.

  The automatic lock clicked loudly into place, but she saw through the rectangular observation window that Gerard didn’t stir at all.

  He’s becoming so much more unresponsive. That medication has taken him past zombieland and straight into the vegetable garden.

  Evelyn shook her head. She understood, of course, the need for sedation…especially when considering the heinous acts that any given patient in this building had carried out. But how could someone like Gerard Helmsey move toward the light when he was forever shadowed by such heavy, dark curtains of pharmaceuticals?

  She forced herself to focus on the next patient, who deserved her full attention every bit as much as the last. And even though she was in perpetual trouble for treating the disturbed individuals like human beings in the first place, Evelyn fully intended to continue spreading warmth and compassion.

  Dr. Philip Baldwin had expressed a deep disapproval of Evelyn’s friendliness with the patients, but the relatively new medical director’s viewpoint hadn’t derailed her in the least. Evelyn knew she hadn’t crossed any ethical or legal lines. In her eyes, adopting the cold demeanor that Dr. Baldwin wanted the entire staff to exude would be morally wrong.

  These patients weren’t numbers. They were people. Many of them, like Gerard, would forever remain too medicated to eve
r grasp the true experience of a life lived in its fullness.

  This building was their life. Their only reality. The least she could do for the aging man was give him a smile and a kind word to anticipate each day.

  Beep beep!

  Evelyn grabbed her pager, then glared at the message as well as the name of the messenger. Speak of the devil and the devil presented himself. Dr. Baldwin wanted her in his office.

  How fun.

  Evelyn knocked, then waited a full thirty seconds for Dr. Baldwin’s permission before entering his office. “You wanted to speak with me?” She clasped her hands together and forced her face to retain a polite, respectful air.

  “I would ask you to sit, Evelyn, but this won’t take that long.” Dr. Baldwin’s foreboding dark green eyes nearly pinned her to the floor. Despite refraining from having her sit, he maintained a position of obvious comfort in his luxury leather desk chair.

  Evelyn continued to appear pleasant, even though she knew what was coming.

  “I believe I have made my viewpoint on the subject of interaction with patients incredibly clear in the time that I have been this hospital’s director.” His voice had taken on a lecturing tone she loathed. His unabashed sternness smothered his words in severity.

  Dr. Philip Baldwin hadn’t been the medical director of Virginia State Hospital for an entire year yet, but the majority of the staff disliked him to his core. To the contrary, Evelyn had been on staff for five years and counting. She was a favorite of the patients and her co-workers alike.

  “The troubled minds we deal with here, Evelyn, require a much more formal code of conduct than you persist to display. Your ‘Susie Sunshine’ act is going to stop. I will tolerate it no longer.”

  Dr. Baldwin waited, as though Evelyn might need a few seconds to absorb the gravity of his words. She didn’t need even one.

  “I don’t find anything wrong with bringing a cheerful attitude into the hospital’s environment. This place is depressing enough as it is.” She held his gaze direct and steady, her posture as tight as a bow. Her firm refusal to show her distinct discomfort powered her unwavering stance, even as she watched his face transform into an angry glower.

  “Those people—”

  “Those people in those rooms are thinking, feeling individuals. Not just specimens for us to observe and study.” She lifted her chin. “And since we’re on the subject, how do you expect to observe and study patients who are so drugged they can barely remember their first name let alone the crimes they committed and why.”

  She was so getting fired.

  The clock on the wall seemed to be counting down the seconds until her termination while the doctor stared at her with disbelieving eyes filled with a rage that made her wonder if he should be the one locked behind bars.

  “They are sick criminals, Evelyn,” Dr. Baldwin countered with increased volume. “And you know that. Deranged. Murderers. Rapists.”

  Well…if he was going to fire her, she might as well say everything she wanted to say.

  “They’re still human beings…not science experiments. They deserve a chance at getting better.” Evelyn stamped a foot, immediately regretting the show of anger. The asshole behind the desk would assess the act more closely to a toddler throwing a temper tantrum than an adult expressing her disapproval of his actions.

  Dr. Baldwin ran a hand through his dark, wavy hair in frustration. “Those human beings are not going to magically get better by being buddies with Evelyn Walker. You are a nurse. You are not their friend. I want you to do your job, make your rounds, and absolutely nothing more. Understood?”

  Her chin lifted even higher. “I understand what you’re saying, yes.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You understand, and you will follow my protocol, Evelyn. Be honest with yourself. These patients aren’t leaving anytime soon, and there are damn good reasons for that fact.”

  “All the more reason to show them kindness and attempt to keep their humanity alive. We’re all they have now.”

  How could he not discern that truth? How could he not care?

  Dr. Baldwin took a deep, dramatic breath through his nose and released the air from his mouth in an overly long and equally dramatic exhale. “You will get in step with my program, Evelyn, or you will face disciplinary measures. That is all. You may go.”

  Dismissed, Evelyn turned on her heel and exited the asshole’s office.

  She still had her job…for now.

  Finishing out the day proved difficult, though she was determined not to let her mood be brought low by that heartless man and his overwhelming arrogance. She still couldn’t believe how shortsighted he was. How coldhearted. How obnoxiously arrogant in his belief that his way of taking care of patients was the only way.

  He only sat in a chair and talked about their feelings or flicked a wrist and wrote out new prescriptions by the dozens.

  That egotistical bastard didn’t have to walk into a criminally insane man’s room by himself, get close enough to give the hands that had committed atrocious acts the medicines they were told to take. He didn’t need to wade into the middle of a fight or find a way to administer a sedative when a patient went berserk.

  No…Dr. Philip Baldwin didn’t have to get his hands dirty with patient care, yet the unbelievably insensitive man thought he had the right to tell those who did how to do their jobs.

  Well…screw him.

  Evelyn smiled even brighter for the rest of her shift. Spoke in an even more pleasant manner to every single person she met.

  But it was all a façade that weighed heavy on her shoulders as the day went on. One person could only handle so much, and between the standoff with Dr. Baldwin and the routine care of numerous mentally unwell individuals, Evelyn’s energy drained to a severe level of low.

  She, apparently, looked even worse than she felt.

  “You okay, hon?” Brenda Daly leaned over the scarred surface of the nurses’ station, her brow furrowed in concern. Brenda was a fellow nurse who also harbored an immense disdain for Dr. Baldwin. She’d worked at Virginia State Hospital for ten years and was only thirty-four, but her graying blonde hair, added to the numerous wrinkles lining her face, proved the physical toll the job extracted.

  “I’m sure you’ve been informed about my glorious little meeting with Baldwin?” Evelyn stacked her patient charts together in a methodical manner despite her troubled thoughts. It was one of the things that made her such a good nurse. She could physically do her job no matter the worry swirling through her mind.

  “News travels fast.” Brenda’s sheepish reply bordered on the apologetic.

  “That man is not fit for his position. He shouldn’t be allowed to deal with anyone or anything with a pulse. He’s cold…heartless. Philip Baldwin would be better off conducting research in a sterile lab by himself.” Evelyn released her pent-up vexation by slapping the charts down on the desk.

  It didn’t help.

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Brenda gave an affectionate pat to Evelyn’s shoulder as the latter prepared to leave the station for her final rounds. “Hang in there, Ev. The patients love you. You’re an amazing nurse. That’s what matters.”

  Evelyn fought the urge to cry.

  You still have patients who need you right now. Hold it together.

  “Thanks, Brenda. I’m going to finish up.” She gave a small wave and pushed off with her cart and its damn squeaky wheel.

  Three steps later, she slipped on the freshly mopped tiled floor, her legs scissoring into a split that her thigh muscles were no longer toned enough to handle. Caught by her cart with a rough thud, Evelyn made a sound that was half groan and half chuckle.

  This just isn’t my day.

  “So sorry, Evelyn.” The nearby custodian’s apology was immediate and sincere as he wrung his hands together before helping her to her feet. “Meant to put up the wet floor sign.”

  She took inventory of her legs, hoping to God almighty and the baby Jesus that she hadn’t split her
pants in the process. “I’m fine. No worries. Par for the course.”

  As she began pushing the cart again, this time limping a little, she held her head up high.

  I will finish out this day just like every other. No slippery floor or asshole medical director will bring me down.

  Evelyn headed for her next patient’s room. Justin Black.

  She liked Justin. He was one of the very few residents who she believed had a chance at full rehabilitation. Of course, he would still have to stand trial for his crimes even if the doctors were able to heal his mind.

  That was a hard truth. But Evelyn had empathy for the young man. He had, after all, been raised by The Preacher—Douglas Kilroy. And worse yet, he was Kilroy’s biological relative. DNA was inescapable.

  Nature…

  Nurture…

  The poor child had been born into a world where the firm and unforgiving cards were stacked against him to towering heights.

  After a polite knock, she opened the door to Justin’s room and entered with only her clipboard. No meds needed this evening. Justin received all his doses during the morning rounds, and he always dutifully swallowed the pills without a hint of fight.

  “How has your day been?” Her naturally warm smile returned, firmly in place regardless of the day’s upset.