Stuart Woods - Santa Fe Edge

She kissed him on the cheek. “You are so smart.”

“Well, I’m a little smarter than Todd Bacon,” Teddy said. “And I’ll try to keep it that way.”

THE THREE OF THEM had breakfast at the table in Todd’s room, notwithstanding the look on the room-service waiter’s face. Nobody was embarrassed, but everybody was pretty much wrung out, Todd thought.

“You were wonderful last night,” Dolly said to him.

“We were all wonderful,” Barbara said.

“We must do it again sometime,” Todd offered.

“I’m going to be tied up for a few days,” Barbara said, “but you kids enjoy yourselves.”

“What’s in that?” Dolly asked, pointing to a sturdy-looking aluminum case on the bench at the end of the bed.

“Spy stuff,” Todd replied, popping a piece of sausage into his mouth.

“Todd,” Dolly said to Barbara, “is sticking with the old pickup line about being a CIA agent.”

“Why do you think it’s a line?” Barbara asked. “I mean, there are people who are CIA agents, and some of them must get to Santa Fe from time to time. Wouldn’t it amuse you to believe him?”

Todd laughed. “What do you do, Ellie, and what brings you to Santa Fe?”

“I’m a rich widow for a living, and I go where I please. At the moment, I’m pleased to be in Santa Fe.”

“Where were you most recently?” he asked.

“In San Francisco,” she replied. “And before that, in a Mexican prison.”

Todd laughed. “You see, Dolly, Ellie has an even better story than mine.”

“Perhaps we all have noncredible backgrounds,” Dolly said. “I’m an embezzler on the run!”

“Then let’s all stick with our stories,” Barbara said.

Susannah arrived at the hospital with a cake tin filled with Ed’s favorite cookies, only to have a nurse stop her on the way to his room.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Eagle,” the woman said, “but your husband has picked up an infection. We’ve got him on IV antibiotics, but he’s going to have to stay a few more days, until his temperature is normal and he’s strong enough to walk by himself.”

“Is there anything that can be done that isn’t already being done?” Susannah asked.

“No, ma’am,” the woman replied. “He’s getting everything he needs except, maybe, a cookie.”

Susannah smiled wanly and continued to Ed’s room. She greeted the cop at the door, then went into the room. “Good morning!” she said brightly.

Ed’s bed was in the sitting-up position, and he turned to greet her with a wan smile of his own. “Hey, baby,” he said wearily. “Seems I’ve got an infection and a fever. You’re going to have to wait awhile to take me home.”

She sat on the bed and brushed the hair from his forehead. “That’s all right, sweetie,” she said. “You just rest.” She set the cake tin down on his belly. “I brought you some cookies,” she said.

Eagle lifted the tin. “Pretty weighty for just cookies,” he replied.

“Well, there’s a little pre-Christmas gift in there, too.”

“I hope it’s bourbon,” he said.

“Let’s just say it’s good for what ails you.”

“Yesterday this time I thought I’d be going home this morning.”

She kissed him high on the cheek, a place he liked. “Don’t you worry about a thing,” she said. “Every little thing is under control.”

DOWN THE ROAD a couple of hundred yards, one of the little things that was not under control was taking the cellophane wrapping off a box of very expensive chocolates. Barbara checked herself in the mirror. She had spent the earlier part of the morning at a copy and computer shop, making herself an ID that said she worked for the state Department of Health. She had copied a state seal off the department’s website, photographed herself in scrubs, printed the photo, added her typeset name and printed the badge, then laminated it. It wasn’t perfect, but it would pass. She also made a state sticker for her windshield and downloaded a full-size copy of a New Mexico State employee license plate, which she printed out on a plastic material with a sticky side. She tucked the box of candy under an arm and left the hotel for the hospital. She applied the phony license plate over the real one and stuck the state sticker on the inside of her windshield, on the driver’s side.

She parked in the employees’ lot and walked past the fat cop, who was outside, smoking again. “Morning,” she said with a wave. He hardly noticed her. She walked down the hallway and saw the relief cop at Eagle’s door, marking it very nicely.

“Good morning,” she said cheerfully to the man. “Have one of these delicious chocolates. They were a gift, but if I eat them all I’ll gain twenty pounds.” She thrust the box at him.

He picked out one and popped it into his mouth. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

Now both the cops knew her by sight. She walked on down the hallway to the nurses’ station, where three women were at work. “Good morning, ladies,” she said. “I’m Ruth Barrow from the state. I’ll be here for a few days, doing safety checks.”

“What kind of safety checks?” one of the nurses asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing to worry you ladies about. You obviously run a very tight ship here.” She opened the chocolate box. “Help me out here, will you? This was a gift, and if I eat them all I’ll explode,” she said, laughing at her own joke.

The women gathered around and fished candy out of the box. “Take two,” Barbara said, “and save me from myself. I see you’ve got a prisoner down the hall. Is that a common thing here? Isn’t there a lockup ward?”

“Oh, no, it’s not a prisoner. That’s Ed Eagle’s room. He’s a local lawyer who got attacked by a madman last week.”

“My God,” Barbara said. “I hope they caught the guy.”

“Not yet,” the nurse replied. “That’s why the cop is on the door. There are two of them; they take turns.”

“That’s good,” Barbara replied. “I mean, everybody’s got to pee sometime.”

“Smoke is more like it,” the nurse said. “They’re both junkies, have to light up every few minutes.”

“I’ve heard of Ed Eagle,” Barbara said. “How’s he doing?”

The nurse shook her head. “Not well. He was doing all right until last night, when he contracted an infection. It’s going to take a few more days before he’ll be strong enough to go home.”

“Well, I certainly hope he recovers quickly,” Barbara said. She was going to be able to take her time and get this right.

VITTORIO GOT INTO the passenger seat of his SUV, and Cupie got behind the wheel.

“You sure you’re up to this?” he asked Vittorio.

“I’m feeling just great. Now get this crate moving.”

“Where are we going?”

“I think the best thing we can do, given our lack of information, is to look for that Mercedes station wagon,” Vittorio said. “She doesn’t know we know about it, and if we find it, all we have to do is sit on it until she shows up.”

“Where do you want to start?”

“Well, right now the hospital is ground zero, because Eagle’s there. I want to visit him anyway and see how he’s doing, so let’s start there.”

Cupie put the car into gear and drove off toward Santa Fe. They passed through some beautiful high desert before reaching the urbanized outskirts.

“You know,” Cupie said, “I wouldn’t mind retiring here one of these days. I love the climate.”

“You’d enjoy it,” Vittorio replied, “but I can’t ever see you either retiring or leaving L.A. You’ve still got a daughter there in the D.A.’s office, haven’t you?”