“Unfortunately, her father died almost three years ago, and judging from what Maggie told me, he pretty much ruled the family, so I’m sure he’s the one who made the arrangements. Her mother is still alive, and she might know something of use, but getting to it is a different story. She’s in a nursing facility suffering from severe dementia. According to Maggie, she doesn’t even recognize her when she visits. She thinks she’s an old playmate from school back in Ireland.”
“Fuckin’ wunnerful,” he huffed. “We might have to give it a go anyway. So, any other line on where we could get some info?”
“Well, Maggie’s mom didn’t really end up completely losing it until about a year ago. According to her, they still have a lot of her stuff in storage, and she hasn’t been through all of the paperwork her father had squirreled away quite yet. She’s hoping there might be something in all of that.”
“She’s hopin’? So she’s willin’ to cooperate?”
“She is, but I don’t know what Shamus’s reaction is going to be.”
“Well, ya’know I’m gonna have ta’ take this to the lead investigator with the MCS since I’m not assigned. They might decide to jump on a warrant if they even think there’s gonna be a problem with cooperation.”
“Yeah, I know. Just try to make sure my wife’s name isn’t on it this time.”
“Ouch. You ever gonna get off my ass about that, white man?”
“Eventually, Kemosabe. But not just yet. Maybe after this is all over. Just view it as an incentive.”
“Yeah, fuckin’ great. Just what I need, the Rowan Gant incentive program.”
“Well, you know I’m not going to apologize. Right now I’m still feeling a bit desperate, and I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Yeah, I understand, Row. Don’t worry, we’re gonna find ‘er. I just don’t know how yet.”
“Do you think Constance could help? The FBI might have some more pull.”
“Yeah, well she’s already on ‘er way here. We were gonna see what we could scrounge up since dinner got cancelled. Prob’ly gonna hit the Chinese place down on the corner. They never close.”
“Sorry. I will apologize for screwing up your holiday.”
“Don’t worry about it. Helen’s dressin’ is always too dry anyway. But, don’t tell ‘er I said that.”
“I’ll keep it between us.”
“So listen, I’ll fill Constance in on everything and see what she says. But, if it’s a convent, who the fuck knows? Might make it even harder gettin’ what we need by havin’ the feebs in the middle of it.”
“Well, I’ll leave that up to you.”
“‘Bout time. I been tryin’ to get ya’ ta’ let us handle the shit for a while now.”
“Well, you’re in luck this time because I’ve got something else to take care of at this point.”
“Yeah, your wife.”
“Her too.”
He was quiet for a moment as he digested my answer then finally said, “Row, what are you plannin’?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Row…”
“Trust me, Ben,” I said. “You worry about this side of the veil, I’ll deal with the other.”
“Jeezus…” he mumbled. “This got somethin’ ta’ do with that Voodoo stuff?”
“Like I said, you don’t want to know.”
“Dammit, Row, you also said ‘trust me’, and I learned a long time ago that when that’s the first thing outta someone’s mouth, then don’t.”
“Yeah, well I think you’re going to have to make an exception to that rule this go around.”
“Don’t go doin’ anything stupid, white man.”
“You know me better than that.”
“Yeah, I do, and that’s ‘zactly why I said it.”
Tuesday, November 29
11:17 A.M.
Saint Louis, Missouri
CHAPTER 32:
“Good morning, Judy,” I called out as I came through the doors and started across the lobby toward the main desk at the hospital. I was trying to remain pleasant, which was a struggle considering where I was and why I was here.
“Good morning,” she answered, giving me a wave.
Helen had quashed my original plan of more or less camping out and working from the hospital before it had even been put into action. I wasn’t happy about it and had even argued with her for the better part of a day. In the end, however, she had convinced me that it would be in my wife’s best interest if she could concentrate on herself and not fret about me worrying myself sick. After a bit of negotiation, we finally settled on a visiting schedule that worked out to one hour in the morning and two in the evening, each day.
The staff had quickly become accustomed to my face since I was in and out, twice daily, like clockwork, so it didn’t take long before I was on a first name basis with most of them. Of course, I had my own ulterior motives for getting to know everyone here that I could. They were the people responsible for the care and well being of my wife during her stay. I needed to be sure that I trusted them with that task, so studying their faces, shaking their hands, and learning their names was just my way of convincing myself it would be all right.
I’m sure I was simply being paranoid, but I’d had plenty of things happen over the past month that had endeavored to make me that way.
“So, how was your evening?” I asked, drawing up to the desk and picking up an ink pen from the countertop. “Did you manage to get out of here on time for a change?”
I was just preparing to sign in on the visitor log when she reached out and put her hand over mine, stopping me from scrawling my name on the page.
“Just a second, Mister Gant,” she said. “Doctor Storm asked to see you as soon as you arrived.”
I was instantly alarmed. “Is something wrong?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. She just left a message with the desk to call her as soon as you arrived and have you wait in the lobby for her.”
I could tell she was lying, but making that accusation wasn’t going to get me anywhere. However, she didn’t seem to be trying to hide any excessive concern, so I struggled to swallow my sudden rush of panic and dropped the pen back onto the counter.
“Yeah, okay,” I replied. “I guess you’d better let her know I’m here then.”
“If you’d like to take a seat,” she offered with a somewhat forced smile, pointing to the side of the lobby.
I nodded and trudged over to the waiting area, but I didn’t sit. My initial reaction had been that something was wrong with Felicity, but I started trying to discount that because if it were true I would certainly have received a call. I quickly managed to talk myself into believing that rationalization then the next thing reached out and slapped me on the back of the head. It was entirely possible that Helen was going to try to convince me to lessen the frequency of my visits. She had grudgingly given in to the twice per day schedule as it was.
If that ended up being the case, I immediately decided that she was going to need an overabundance of evidence that could prove to me why I should listen. Of course, this entire line of thought easily replaced any lingering sense of trepidation with annoyance, not that trading one anxious emotion for another was any better. However, it didn’t get a chance to grow much beyond that, as I only had to pace for a few moments before a ruffled looking Helen Storm rounded the corner, already shrugging into her coat.
“Let’s talk outside if you don’t mind, Rowan,” she said, not even bothering to slow down as she strode past.
The first thing that struck me wasn’t what she said, but how she said it. While her tone didn’t seem completely off-key, it was harried. However, even more glaring was her choice of words. Helen was very exacting and deliberate in her speech. I had never known her to use two contractions in the same sentence if she could help it, so I instantly knew something had her rattled. Of course, that realization only served to shift me back to my original fear.
I hurried to follow, lagging several steps behind as she bolted out the automatic sliding doors and made a quick right onto the sidewalk. I didn’t manage to catch up to her until she finally came to a halt beneath the tinted Plexiglas smokers’ canopy forty or so yards from the entrance.