Lisa Scottoline - Think Twice

“Sorry, but I show no listing for a Bennie Rosato, and in any event I couldn’t ring a patient’s room at this hour. We don’t permit calls after ten.”

“But she just called me.”

“I show no one by that name, and as I say, we do not permit patients to receive calls after ten. Call tomorrow morning after eight o’clock.”

Mary felt confounded. “But she said it’s an emergency. That I should call her back.”

“Please call back in the morning. Those are the rules.”

“Thank you,” Mary said, and hung up, worried. If Bennie said it was an emergency, it had to be an atomic bomb. She felt honored that Bennie would call her for help. They really had turned a corner in their relationship.

Partners!

Bennie left a message for DiNunzio, then hung up the bedside phone. Her head was clear, and so was her mission. She had to get Alice. It wouldn’t be easy to find her, now that she had such a head start, but it was all Bennie could think about. Being in that box had changed her, she could feel it. Something had happened to her. She felt different, inside.

Her right hand was in a splint wrapped with an Ace bandage, and her left was bandaged in gauze, but she wrestled with the thick guardrail to put it down and threw off the cotton coverlet. Cuts and bruises covered her legs, her feet were swollen, and two toes on each one had been bandaged together. She swung her legs out of bed, leaned on the IV stalk, and was standing up, painfully, when a nurse entered the room and rushed over.

“No! Please, don’t get up.” The nurse looked about fifty years old, and had concerned brown eyes, a graying braid, and white scrubs with dancing kittens. “You’re not ready to walk around yet and you’ll disturb the IV.”

“I need to get to the police. I can’t wait any longer.” Bennie knew she sounded abrupt, but it was as if she couldn’t help it. She wasn’t herself.

“We called them, twice. We called in triage, and so did my supervisor. Please, sit down.” The nurse pressed on her shoulder, firmly, and Bennie sat back on the bed, for the moment.

“What did the cops say? Why aren’t they here?”

“They said they’d come and take your statement as soon as they could. We have only a small force, not like a big city.” The nurse checked the IV and rolled the metal stalk back into place. “Right now, you must be still. I’m surprised you’re even awake.”

“Will you call them again, or ask the supervisor to?”

“I will, and if they arrive in the meantime, I’ll show them right in. Do you remember the last time you ate or drank anything?” The nurse reached into a metal basket on the wall and retrieved a blood pressure cuff.

“Friday night, at dinner with my sister. She gave me a drug, then she tried to kill me. She buried me alive in a box, in a field-”

“I saw something like that in your file. You told that to triage, in the ER.” The nurse wrapped the cuff around Bennie’s arm. “How did you injure your hand? You have a small break.”

“I had to get out of the box, then there was a wolf. It attacked me and I had to fight it off.”

The nurse lifted an eyebrow, pumping the black rubber bulb. “You were under the influence when you arrived. Do remember what you had to drink?”

“Whiskey. The man who picked me up gave it to me.”

“I see.” The nurse cocked her head, eyeing her watch and listening for the telltale tick, then she released the bulb and the cuff deflated. “Your blood pressure is quite high. Did you use any drugs of any kind, whether prescription or street?”

“As I said, my sister drugged my wine, without my knowledge. I don’t know what she gave me, but it knocked me out. She’s my twin and she’s jealous and resentful of me.” Bennie could see the nurse didn’t believe her, but was too polite to say so. “When can I get out of here? I need to see the police. I really am a crime victim. This was attempted murder. She stole my car and my wallet, too.”

“You will not be released tonight. Doctor’s orders. You’re under observation until we have your vitals back to normal and you’re stabilized.” The nurse tried to press her down toward the pillow, but Bennie stayed sitting up.

“I want to leave. I can discharge myself.”

“Please, if you try to get out of bed again, I’ll have to call security.” The nurse pursed her lips. “Please, cooperate. We already called the police. They’ll be here as soon as possible.”

“I have a better idea.” Bennie picked up the telephone receiver, but there was no dial tone and she hung up. “What’s the matter with the phone?”

“Calls are not permitted after ten o’clock.”

“But I just called one of my associates.”

“Then you got your call in under the wire. Now, please, if you would cooperate, you’ll be discharged a lot sooner. We have you scheduled in the morning with a social worker, for an evaluation.”

“I don’t need an evaluation!” Bennie couldn’t help but raise her voice. “I need the police!”

“An evaluation is routine in a case like yours.”

“There is no case like mine!” Bennie tried to get up, but the IV stalk started to fall over and while she went to catch it, the nurse was taking the plastic top off a syringe and inserting its needle into the IV tube.

“Please, remain calm. I’ll speak to my supervisor and I’ll make sure she calls the authorities again. Now you just get some rest, you hear?”

“No, stop! What are you doing? What is that?” Bennie got the answer in a minute. She felt as if snow were suddenly falling on her brain.

“It’s a light sedative to help you sleep. It was ordered by your doctor in case you became agitated. Please, try to rest.”

“I didn’t see a doctor! I have to get Alice!” Bennie tried to remember a doctor, but her thoughts were adrift. Her body relaxed, and the nurse was already lifting her legs back into bed, tucking her in, and putting up the guardrail.

“We’ll get that all taken care of for you, you’ll see,” she said, turning away and leaving the room.

Alice was sitting in bed with Grady, clothed and fake-reading the Rexco Complaint. It was time to put boyfriend to sleep, so she set down the correspondence file. “You know, I could really use a drink. How about a nightcap?”

“What would you like?” He looked over the top of the Sunday newspaper. “I’ll get it for you.”

“No, I’ll go.” Alice rose, stretching her arms. “It’ll do me some good to get up. What can I get you?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

No, you’re not. “Join me. I’m having wine.”

“Okay, wine, if you can find it. Water, if not. You sure you don’t want me to go?”

“No, thanks. Let me. You were so great today.”

“You, too. You’re the trouper.”

“Thanks.” Alice flashed him a smile, left the bedroom, and padded downstairs. She searched the cabinets until she found a bottle of merlot and went digging for a corkscrew. She found one, opened the bottle, grabbed two glasses, and poured the wine about halfway.

She checked behind her to make sure she was alone, then took the roofie from her pocket, broke the pill into two halves, and dropped them into the glass on the right. She grabbed a spoon, stirred the wine to dissolve the roofie, then took both glasses upstairs. She would wait until Grady had passed out to go back for a knife. She didn’t want to risk being caught with a knife on her, if something went wrong.

“That was fast,” Grady said, looking up with a smile.

“The brownies called to me but I resisted.” Alice handed him his glass, and they raised it in a toast.