Робин Кук - Genesis

“No, I wouldn’t be able to recognize him,” Evelyn said finally. “I never saw his face.”

“Okay, Evelyn. That’s it. If I have any more questions, I’ll come back.”

Aria walked away, back toward the elevator although she contemplated taking the stairs. Behind her she heard Evelyn’s door close with a resounding thud. Even though talking with the woman had brought back unpleasant memories of patients she had been forced to deal with as a medical student, she was glad she had made the effort. It had been a rewarding labor. Aria was now convinced of what she had already suspected, namely that Kera Jacobsen was having an affair, presumably with someone she met over the holidays, and for some reason, it was a clandestine affair, making Aria question why. Having watched her share of soap operas as a tween in the Greenwich mansion, she guessed it was because lover boy was married. And if Aria had learned anything from those hours of schmaltzy story lines, lover boy had probably told Kera he was getting divorced but needed to wait for some questionably plausible reason to drop the bomb on wifey. Then came the inconvenient pregnancy, forcing the issue and resulting in Kera Jacobsen’s untimely death.

“The fucking bastard,” she said through clenched teeth as she pounded the elevator doors with the palm of her hand. “I’m going to find out who you are, come what may!”

Seemingly in response to her mini-tantrum, the elevator arrived. Aria pulled open the door and boarded. As the inner door closed and she remembered how the damn thing sounded earlier, she hoped to hell the antique wasn’t going to suddenly break loose and plunge down the four stories with her trapped inside. She’d had nightmares of that scenario ever since her nanny, Fabiola, had told her that it happened in small elevators. Until Aria had heard that fact, she’d liked to ride the elevator they had in the Greenwich house for the sheer pleasure of going up and down to thwart Fabiola’s control over her.

May 8th

9:48 P.M.

Soon Aria was back heading north. This time it was on Eighth Avenue and the traffic was light, and they were moving faster. Partially mesmerized by the phantasmagoria of the city lights as they passed by in a blur, Aria let her mind wander. Just as she had felt pleased with having made the effort to meet with Madison Bryant at the chaotic restaurant scene, she was glad she’d made the equivalent effort to talk with weird Evelyn Mabry at her depressing tenement. Both conversations had contributed to giving Aria a contented sense of purpose. She’d been bored silly with her month’s rotation at the OCME up until that afternoon and the surprise discovery of the gravid uterus. Now she was excited and turned on with the possibility of achieving a modicum of gender retribution. There was zero doubt in her mind that somewhere out there in the pulsating city was an overly entitled man, like all males she’d known, who had the mistaken idea that he could have his fun with Kera Jacobsen, could mislead her to accept the need for secrecy, could irresponsibly help to create a pregnancy, and then possibly contribute to snuffing out a young woman so that he could go on with his sham life. Aria was intent on proving him wrong, but there was a big problem. She didn’t have any idea about how to do it. The boyfriend’s apparent emphasis on secrecy was going to make finding him difficult, if not impossible. Of course, she could interview more of the residents of the 23rd Street building, but realistically she thought that Evelyn Mabry was the best lead she’d find. The only other course of action would be to talk the police into starting a real, professional investigation. Yet from what David Goldberg had said that seemed highly unlikely.

Although prior to meeting with Dr. Henderson she had turned off the ringer on her phone to avoid any interruptions, she could feel it vibrate against her buttock, indicating she was getting a call. Its normal resting place was in the back pocket of her jeans. Leaning to the side and with a bit of a struggle, Aria managed to get it out. Knowing it was almost ten P.M., she fully expected it to be a robocall. Except for when she was on call at the hospital, she rarely got calls at night. Yet with the uniqueness of the circumstances, and especially after getting the text from Dr. Henderson earlier, she wanted to check. She was surprised to see it was Madison Bryant.

“Is this a butt-dial from putting my number in your contacts or a real call?” Aria said in lieu of a hello. She could hear Madison briefly laugh. It was a nervous laugh.

“It’s a real call,” Madison said. “I hope I’m not bothering you, but I wanted to apologize for being short with you at Cipriani.”

“You didn’t seem short to me,” Aria said.

“Well, I was,” Madison insisted. “It’s been the worst day of my life. Something like this has never happened to me. I’d never even seen a dead person, much less someone I’d grown to care for. I was trying to recover, and you showed up wanting to talk about it. It freaked me out. I’m sorry.”

“One of life’s burdens,” Aria said. There was no way she was going to apologize, if that’s what Madison wanted.

“And then when you essentially told me she was pregnant it totally freaked me out. It made me feel terrible, like I let her down by not having been a better friend. I really got upset.”

“Well, I’m sure your current companion, Richard the lawyer, will come up with a way of cheering you up.”

“I’m not with Richard any longer. I got up and walked out of the restaurant. When I tried to talk to him about my feelings and started crying, he was less than empathetic in what I interpreted as an irritatingly misogynistic way, and I saw red.”

“I’m not surprised,” Aria said. “He struck me as a dick, and a conceited one at that. From my perspective, you’re better off recovering without him.”

“Actually, I think you burst his bubble by ignoring him. He started acting weird when you left. But I don’t want to talk about him. Where are you right now?” Madison asked.

Surprised by the question, she looked out of the car’s window and saw the sign for 43rd Street flash by. “I’m in an Uber heading home.”

“Me, too,” Madison said. “Where’s home?”

“Upper West Side,” Aria said. She was surprised Madison asked and equally surprised she’d answered.

“That’s a coincidence,” Madison said. “Same with me. Listen, I’d like to talk to you about locating this unknown boyfriend and finding out his role in Kera’s death. The more I think about it, the more I agree with you. I mean, Kera never took drugs. Never! She hated drugs, especially because, as a social worker, she’d seen firsthand what they can do to people.”

“It’s late,” Aria said. “Maybe tomorrow we can get together. I haven’t eaten yet tonight, and at the moment that takes precedence.”

“I’ve got patients all day tomorrow,” Madison said. “And I was gone for half a day today. Getting together tomorrow is not going to work. Where exactly are you right now?”

Aria looked out the window to catch the next cross street sign. “I’m just passing through Forty-Fifth Street and Eighth Avenue.”

“I’m on Eighth as well,” Madison said. “Just a few blocks behind you. That’s convenient, and it gives me an idea. How about we meet somewhere where you can get a bite, I can get another drink, and we can talk. The reason I’m excited to talk with you right away is that I think I have a great idea of how to find this unknown boyfriend.”

“Come again?” Aria said. Madison’s words seemed like pennies from heaven after Aria’s recent lament that she might have been at an early dead-end.