David Bell - Never Come Back

Edgar snapped his fingers. “I know.”

“What?” Beth asked.

“I got called up to the second floor for about an hour this morning,” Edgar said. “There was a disturbance. Somebody stuffed a load of paper in the sink and the toilet and left the water running. Big flood. I had to help get it all cleaned up.”

“Oh, yeah,” the nurse said. “I heard about that.”

“That’s rotten,” I said.

“Or really convenient,” Beth said. “If you’re going with this where I think you’re going.”

I turned back to the nurse. “Okay, I need you to do us another favor.”

“Another one?”

“I need you to tell us what medicines my brother was taking.”

“No, I can’t do that,” she said. “That’s private information. I can’t give that out. I could lose my job.”

“We won’t tell,” I said.

“I just started. I have student loans to pay off.” She looked up and down the hallway, then turned back to me. “I can tell you the police already came tonight and took all of your brother’s medical records.”

“Okay. So give them to me too.”

“They’re the police.”

“Do you know I’m not a cop?” I asked.

The nurse gave me a knowing look. “Edgar just said you’re related to Ronnie. You’re probably his sister.”

“And I’m a cop,” I said. “I forgot my uniform.”

“Wait a minute,” Edgar said. He held up his hand in an authoritarian manner. “What is it you’re trying to find out?”

“I need to know if my brother was taking a certain drug.”

“The one he OD’d on?” Edgar asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Edgar said. He leaned over the counter toward the nurse. “Tanya, why don’t you just let them ask you if their brother was taking a certain medication. You can just answer yes or no. Then you’re not handing over all the records. And then they know what they want to know.”

Tanya studied Edgar a long time. “I don’t know,” she said. “I could still get in trouble.”

“Come on, girl,” Edgar said. “It will be fine.”

Tanya looked back at me. “Okay. What are you looking for?”

“I need to know if Ronnie was on a heart medication. Something called digitoxin or dioxin or something like that.”

“Digoxin?” Tanya asked.

“Sure,” I said. “I guess.”

She turned and started typing on the computer.

Beth looked at Edgar. “Nice job. You’re pretty smart.”

“I try. I’m taking the exam next week to get into the police academy.”

“Too bad,” Beth said. “I hate cops.”

“Me too,” Edgar said. “If I get in, they’re going to make me shave my goatee.”

Tanya leaned in close to the computer screen and clicked the mouse a few times.

“Well?” I asked.

She shook her head but didn’t say anything.

“You’re not going to tell me?” I asked.

Tanya shook her head again.

“I think that’s your answer about the drug,” Beth said.

“Okay,” I said. “Is there anything that would deal with the same problems digoxin deals with? Maybe it’s under a generic name.”

“Digoxin is primarily used for irregular heartbeats and atrial fib,” Tanya said. “Did your brother have a heart problem like that?”

“Not that I know of.”

Tanya clicked the mouse a few times again, and the screen went blank. “That’s all I can help you with, okay?”

Edgar said, “Are you telling me someone tried to kill Ronnie with some pills? After someone already killed your mother?”

“It looks that way,” I said. “And the good news is the police might have finally figured it out as well.”

“Damn,” Edgar said. “Who would do such a thing?”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t have to.

Beth said, “Unfortunately, it looks like it was my father who did it.”

I slept a long time in Dan’s bed. Beth and I went there after we left Dover Community, figuring that it was a safe place to spend the night. It was too late for her to drive back to Reston Point anyway, and once Dan got over his initial shock at learning that I suddenly had a half sister, he was willing to accommodate us. Beth slept on the couch, curled up with one of Dan’s old blankets pulled up to her chin. We made sure the door was double-locked.

The only thing I could think about before falling asleep was Ronnie. I hadn’t been back to St. Vincent’s. I hadn’t checked in with Paul. Dan reassured me, telling me that when he’d left the hospital Ronnie was content and resting. He already looked healthier.

“I need to see him tomorrow,” I said.

And then I faded out.

I don’t even think I got out of bed to go to the bathroom during the night. I was deep under, dreaming of Neal Nelson being chased by someone I couldn’t see, when the phone started ringing. It took me a long time to surface. Even though the dream scared me, I didn’t want to come out of it. I feared that the ringing phone was going to bring me something worse.

Then Dan gently shook me awake. He held the phone in his hand.

“You need to take this,” he said. “It’s the police. That detective, the one from your mom’s case.”

I shook the tattered remnants of the dream away and wiped my eyes. I was in Dan’s bed. I was safe.

I took the phone, hoping for Post but instead hearing Richland. I had called them the night before and left a message telling them what I had learned at Dover Community.

“Ms. Hampton?”

“Yes?”

“We’ve been trying to locate you,” he said.

“You just did.”

“We went by your apartment and you weren’t there.”

“That’s because a fat man with a knife wants to kill me.”

“Can you tell us where you are?” he asked. “We need to give you an update on the investigation.”

“Did something happen?”

“We’d rather not get into it over the phone.”

I sighed. Would the day ever come when I’d be done with the police? “I’m at a friend’s house.” I gave them the address. “Can you give me half an hour? And then after I talk to you, I need to go see my brother.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” he said. And hung up.

That comment didn’t make me nervous. Not at all.

Beth sat up on the couch when I emerged from the bedroom. Her hair was tangled and ragged, her face puffy. Dan must have made coffee, because she held a mug in her hand. She lifted it to her mouth and blew on it gently.

“Did you sleep okay?” I asked.

“Not really.”

“It’s not a great couch for sleeping, I guess.”

“It’s not that,” she said. “I had a lot on my mind.”

“I did too. But that didn’t stop me.”

Dan disappeared into the kitchen. I heard water running and dishes clanking. He meant to give us our space to talk.

“The police are coming to talk to me,” I said. “They have something else to tell me.”

“They want to come here?” Beth asked.

“Yes.”

“Hmm,” she said.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s probably nothing, but usually when they have to tell you some bad news, they come to your house and do it in person.”

“At this point, I don’t know what to expect,” I said. “But you’re welcome to stay if you want. I’m going to shower since I haven’t done that in two days. But if you want to wait…”

Beth shook her head. “I have to get back. My granddaughter has a soccer game. I know it’s not a big deal, but I agreed to take her. I could call my daughter and arrange something else, but…”

“But what?”

“I feel that you might be better off doing this on your own,” she said. “I feel like I brought all of this down on you. Maybe you need to be away from me.”