Payne nodded. “Then the answer to my question is, you don’t know.”
The door opened and a heavyset, middle-aged nurse stepped in, pushing a stainless steel cart that was supporting an electrocardiograph. “That’s right, son. I don’t.” With that, Noble walked out of the room.
“Go on and lie back,” the nurse said with all the enthusiasm of a patient about to receive a tetanus shot.
Arthur Noble sat down in his private office and poked out a phone number with his index finger. He leaned back in his leather chair and rubbed at his eyes with his left hand while the call connected.
“Douglas, this is Arthur. I’ve taken a look at that package you sent over.” He slipped his reading glasses on, leaned forward, and opened Payne’s medical file. “We need to talk.”
39
The chill was still in the morning air when Lauren walked outside her motel room to take a breath and clear her mind.
Bradley was standing out there, too, sucking a See’s chocolate lollipop. “A little raw, but a beautiful morning.”
Lauren had a sweater on, but still felt the need to wrap her hands across her chest. “Sitting in a cabin in the Sierra wearing pajamas is raw. This is refreshing.”
Bradley pulled the pop out of his mouth. “Guess it’s all a matter of perspective.”
Lauren had spent the night trying to decide whether she could continue to trust him. She told herself she had not had any reason to distrust him until the message from Cablecast had upended his credibility. But he did have a reasonable explanation for the discrepancy. And Carla Mae, who had known him for almost two years, more than personally vouched for him — she damn near raved about the man.
Lauren had hoped that with a good night’s rest would come a fresh perspective. After lying in bed for an hour and a half, she had finally fallen asleep. Her thoughts had quickly turned to her father, and in a dream she recalled a long-forgotten conversation she had once had with him.
The roses were in full bloom, and their garden was awash with a full bouquet of sweet scents. Her father sat in his wheelchair at the edge of the concrete path that wound through the garden. He watched over Lauren’s shoulder as she carefully troweled the dirt around the plants.
“Every living thing needs someone to care for it,” he said. Lauren continued to work with the dirt, gently patting it around the base of a rosebush, seemingly oblivious to what her father was saying.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a bush or a tree or a dog or a person,” he said. “We all need someone to care about us.”
Lauren looked over at her father, the dirt-encrusted tool in her hand. “I know, Dad. You’ve got me and Mom.”
He leaned forward, trying to let the seriousness of what he was telling her penetrate her gaze. “When you get older, and I’m no longer around, you’ll have to choose who cares for you. It’s important you make a good choice.”
She turned back to her garden and moved to the next row of plants. “Do you think these need watering? The soil looks a little dry.”
“I think a little water would be good.” He wheeled a few feet forward as Lauren moved to her right. “Do you know how to choose? A companion has to be someone you can always trust to do the right thing for you. Someone who’d help you no matter what, even if it meant doing something that could hurt him.” He stopped, looked at her, and waited for an indication she was paying attention. “Lauren Rose, are you listening to me?”
“I always listen to you, Daddy.” She dug the trowel into the hard ground. “Definitely needs water. This spot is even worse.”
Her father sighed and wheeled backward to grab the nozzle end of the garden hose. “I just want to make sure you’re taken care of, that’s all.”
She let the water run into the irrigation canal she had made between the aisles of roses. She patted down the moistened dirt around each bush, her head tilted in thought. Finally, while still fiddling with the soil, she said, “You’ll take care of me, like you always do.”
Her father shook his head. “I may not always be around, pumpkin. But you’ll learn to trust your heart. That’s how I’ll be there for you. I’ll be there in your heart.”
When Lauren had awoken, she remembered the dream instantly. Her mind had fallen back on what it trusted — her father’s wisdom — for a solution to her current predicament.
In the morning, as she had pulled on her sweater, she realized that, in view of the cold send-off she had given Bradley the night before, he might already have returned to Sacramento. But now, when she walked out of the room, he was standing there sucking on his See’s lollipop as if nothing had happened. And, she had to admit, seeing him standing there made her feel secure, comfortable in that she was not alone. Her father’s advice echoed in her head: you’ll learn to trust your heart.
She decided to listen to her father… to go with her instincts and let last night’s incident pass without further discussion.
“I wonder how far away he is,” Lauren said. She swallowed a lungful of cool air and thought of Michael. This was the longest she had been away from him since he took the job at Cablecast. She tried to think of it as his having gone on vacation, but she could not get past its being nothing like that. When someone goes on vacation, they are expected back on a certain date. Though Michael could physically be somewhere nearby, she had to acknowledge the reality of the situation: he was actually further away from her now than he had ever been since they had first met.
“So are we all right?”
Bradley’s voice yanked her from her thoughts. She kept her gaze straight ahead and shrugged. “I guess so.”
“Good, because we’ve got some work to do.”
Lauren took one last look at the brightening sky, and then walked back into the motel room. Bradley followed her in, picked up the phone, and dialed a number.
He turned to Lauren and cupped the phone. “They have some coffee and Danish in the lobby for breakfast if you want. Coffee’s like mud, but—” He quickly removed his hand and brought the handset to his mouth. “Yes, you sure can. Can you connect me to your emergency-room administrator, please?”
While Bradley waited on hold, Lauren sat down on the edge of the bed, removed Michael’s photo from her wallet, and stared at it for a few moments. Where are you?… Who are you?… I’m trying to find you. She touched his lips with her fingertips. “I’m trying,” she said aloud.
“Trying what?” Bradley asked, hanging up the phone.
“Nothing. What did you find out?”
“We have an appointment with the Virginia Presbyterian ER administrator in half an hour. She was out sick till yesterday. I convinced her we needed to see her this morning.”
“Then what?”
“I figured you’d return to the mall and I’d continue to beat a path around town, showing Michael’s photo, talking to law enforcement. Someone’s bound to have seen him.”
Lauren shoved the snapshot of Michael back into her purse and nodded. “I guess.” She rose from the bed and slung her purse over a shoulder. “I walk around malls and you ask strangers if they’ve seen my husband.”
“Exactly.”
“Well,” she said, heading for the door, “we’ve got to do something. Let’s go.”
40
Harper Payne slammed his fist down on the desk. “Damn it.” He stared at the screen, which defiantly displayed an error message: “Internet Explorer cannot locate a networking device. Check your settings and try logging on again. If unsuccessful, contact your network administrator or try restarting your computer.”