“Sure! But back to Eddie St.George. Did you say she was going out with that hunk?”
That’s what Megan Ann told me.”
“He’d be enough for me to call in sick. Anytime. Who wouldn’t want to share their body fluids with him? I’d put out, too.” She clicked her pen again. “You’re not thinking she’s gone missing, too?”
“Back up a minute,” Gina said. “You just accused her of being a slut, right?”
“You have such a Bronx way of expressing yourself.”
“I’m not the one who claimed she’s an easy lay.”
“Hey, it’s all hearsay,” Helen said.
“Well, tell me what you’ve heard.”
Helen clicked the pen in and out again, made herself stop, then started picking at a cuticle on a colorless fingernail.
“Some of the nurses have seen her with a variety of lowlifes. They’ve also caught her drinking in the locker room.”
“Uh-huh,” Gina said. “And who was this observant informer?”
“Diane ‘Big Mouth’ Utterback. The float in med/surg.”
“Oh, my God! You’ve gotta be kidding,” Gina said. “That broad has something rotten to say about everyone. Catty little bitch. She’d backstab her own mother.”
“You wanted to know who, didn’t you?”
“Do you believe her?” Gina said.
“Actually, I do. There’ve been several instances when Megan Ann stayed away from work for two, three days at a time. When she showed up again, not a word as to why she was out – not even a feeble stab at trying to make it right. Believe me, if we didn’t need her butt slaving away like the rest of us, she’d be toast.”
“No explanations at all?” Gina said.
“She keeps her mouth zipped,” Helen said, “which makes what everyone says and suspects that much more believable.”
“We both know lots of people who sleep around, but they still manage to come to work,” Gina said.
“There’s more to it than that. Face it: Megan Ann has a drinking problem, maybe a drug problem, too. Put that together with a bad case of hot panties and you’ve got a helluva situation.”
“Demons,” Gina said. It was obvious Helen knew nothing about Megan Ann’s past, about her lost family. “Those demons plague all of us.”
“Sorry!” Helen looked into Gina’s eyes. “You asked and I’m only telling you what I know.”
“No problem. You’ve been a great help. You don’t need to apologize about anything.” She glanced around the nurses station. “Do you have Megan Ann’s telephone number? She’s not listed.”
Helen walked to the employee data file and twirled the Rolodex to Megan Ann’s card. She wrote the details down and gave the paper to Gina.
“Thank God not everything around here is computerized,” Gina said. “You wouldn’t happen to have the same kind of information for Eddie St. George, would. you?”
“Are you kidding?” Helen spun the Rolodex to “S.”
Gina was surprised, no, amazed at the availability of all data on the drug reps that called on Ridgewood. They could be reached at every imaginable place, at a moment’s notice. Eddie St. George was no exception. He even listed his gym and dentist office numbers.
“Thanks for all the info,” Gina said. She tucked the note into her coat pocket. “You’re a real buddy, and there’re damn few of those around anymore.”
“Don’t I know it," Helen said.
Gina checked her watch again. “Better get back before Tina sends Alexandros to ream my ass.”
Helen giggled. “Spoken like a true thug.”
Gina threw her a kiss with one hand and flipped her birdie with the other, then scooted down the corridor toward the elevator.
₪ CHAPTER 33
Where the hell is Megan Ann?
Maybe Helen was right: that redhead was in hyper drive – drinking, drugging, getting laid.
She still ought to be able to answer her goddam phone.
It was the end of the shift, the end of what had been one truly stinking day. Gina was close to losing it. A gnawing feeling of fear and isolation was closing in on her. She had no one. No one to talk to about the missing nurses, no one to talk to about the frightening caller, and no one to talk to about the turmoil at work.
The Advice Center was a hotbed of discontent – Chelsea was silent and staying clear of all departmental tension, Tina was her usual sarcastic and bitchy self, and Lexie was scrutinizing her every move as though she had a couple of loose screws and might suddenly turn into a screaming banshee.
And just to add to the confusion, there were four messages on her voice mail from Harry. He was only going to want to talk about marriage, not talk about the things she needed to talk about.
On an impulse, she called St. George’s office just before she left the Advice Center to see if he might know where Megan Ann was.
“Mr. Edward St. George isn’t in the office at this time.”
“Is there any way I can reach him?”
“Ma’am, I don’t have that information. I suggest you call back tomorrow and ask for the sales department.”
Disappointed, Gina ended the call.
Outside, she eased into her car, closing her eyes for an instant before punching in Megan Ann’s phone number again. As with earlier attempts, the phone rang, rang, rang. Not even a pick-up by a message machine. It had to be the right number, she knew that – it had come straight from the employee database.
She fidgeted in the car in the dark, watched the flurry of employee activity as everyone zoomed out to freedom. Yet, there she sat, going nowhere.
“Who doesn’t have a message machine in the twenty-first century?” she muttered. Her nails scratched at the slip of paper where she’d written down bits of collected information.
Fear and anger had morphed into inertia. She rubbed at the back of her neck and was at a loss as to how to deal with all her suspicions, unhappiness, and…
She jumped when her cell belted out “New York, New York.” Caller ID flashed Harry’s name.
No! She didn’t want to talk to Harry right now; she wasn’t sure if she would ever again want to talk to him. After several choruses, the phone went silent. She let out a long, deep sigh.
Before she could relish the silence, the phone did its thing again.
Damn it, Harry, I’m not answering.
But the tiny screen said: SFPD Yee.
Maybe she finally has something to report. Anything would be a relief.
“Hello.”
“Ms. Mazzio, Pepper Yee, SFPD.”
“Detective Yee. Good! You’re alive and apparently well. I’d almost forgotten about you. Or is it that you’ve forgotten about me? And you even have my cell number.”
“You gave it to me.”
There was a long pause, as though the detective was waiting for Gina to spill her guts – complain like she usually did during their encounters.
“What can I do for you, Detective?”
Heavy breathing. Was Pepper Yee nervous?
“Look, I really called to apologize. I know you think I’ve been ignoring you, but my investigation has been on-going … and going on to nowhere.”
“I don’t believe this,” Gina said. “Two women, Arina Diaz and Shelly Wilton, are missing. Someone, somewhere, must know something.”
“Face facts – there are no suspects or evidence of any kind,” Yee said. “Employee photos of the women were passed around at The Hideaway, a bar Wilton and possibly Diaz were known to frequent.”
“I’ve been there,” Gina said. “Had anyone seen them?”
“A couple of people recognized Wilton, but not Diaz. That was it.”
“That doesn’t mean much,” Gina said. “That’s a busy place.”
“True, but that’s all I have to go on.”
“It’s also true those women are still missing.”
“Missing doesn’t mean murdered, Ms. Mazzio.” The detective sounded miffed.
“What abou
t the telephone calls? That crazy man calling the advice line, then my home? You don’t find that disturbing?”
“I do find it disturbing. But I think we’re dealing more with a stalker than anything else.”
“And that’s not dangerous?” Gina said.
“It bears watching, and I will be watching, Ms. Mazzio. Trust me! Other than that, I’m sorry there’s nothing more to report.”
“So you called to say you have nothing to say other than to apologize? Well, if that’s it, I accept your apology. Now what?”
“I’ll keep digging. That’s all I can do.”
“And while you’re doing that,” Gina said, “maybe another nurse will go missing. Maybe another nurse has already gone missing.”
“What does that mean? Are you keeping something from me?”
Gina looked out toward the hospital, debated whether to end the call. She couldn’t bring herself to accept that Megan Ann might be a victim of the caller. “It’s an internal affair,” she finally said. “We have this nurse who goes on benders and shacks up with guys for two, three days at a time.”
“And why don’t you think she’s another Wilton or Diaz?”
“The circumstances are different.”
Gina heard a rustling of paper, as if Yee were going through her notes.
“According to what I have here, that pretty much coincides with what people had to say about Wilton.”
“Possibly, but certainly not Diaz.”
Yee snorted. “What makes you think morals have anything to do with it? No, don’t answer that. Just tell me how long this one’s been missing.”
“One or two days. I don’t know if she was supposed to work yesterday. Today, no one’s heard from her.”
“So this bothers you, Ms. Mazzio, but not enough to let me know? Where’s all that worry and concern for your fellow nurses that you’ve been laying on me?” There was a pause for a sharp intake of breath. “Further, who the hell are you to decide what deserves or doesn’t deserve my attention in an on-going investigation?”
Gina blurted, “Telling you anything has been mostly counter-productive.”
“Give me the details,” Yee demanded, “or I’m going to have you picked up and brought down here and see what you have to say in one of our interrogation rooms.”
Gina filled her in on Megan Ann’s description, address, phone number, and background.
“Hmm. Interesting.”
“What’s interesting?”
It was a couple of beats before Yee responded. “From the information I’ve collected, all three of the Ridgewood nurses are redheads, or at least they were when they disappeared.”
Gina thought about that for a moment. “You’re right. The only difference is that Shelly and Megan Ann were … are natural redheads. I’m pretty sure Arina’s color came out of bottle. Do you find that significant?”
“Maybe, maybe not. You got anything else I should know about?”
“The only other thing I can think of is that Megan Ann was supposed to have had a date Monday night with a drug rep from CHEMwest, Eddie St. George.”
“Do you know Mr. St. George?”
“Yes.”
“What’s your take on the dude?”
“Seems like a nice guy, works for a reputable company. Went out with him once myself.”
“And?”
“Just wasn’t my type.”
“Do you know if he dated Wilton or Diaz?”
“No. But every nurse I know thinks he’s a hot number, and probably wouldn’t say no if he asked.”
“And still you’re not suspicious of this guy? You’re something else, Mazzio.” There was a pause. “I’ll send a couple people to check on this St. George guy as soon as I can. Work, home, whatever.”
Gina took a deep breath, prodded again: “And you’re going to keep looking into what’s happened to Shelly Wilton and Arina Diaz, right?”
“I think our time for mutual cooperation is over, Mazzio. Unless I say otherwise, don’t call me, I’ll call you.” With that, she hung up.
Gina lowered her cell and stared at it. The silence closed in around her. She decided to try St. George’s home number. No one answered, but at least he had a message machine.
Everything was out of whack – Megan Ann, the missing nurses, St. George, Yee, Dominick, Harry – and no one seemed to really care all that much.
* * *
Gina found a parking place two blocks from her apartment. As she walked toward the building’s entrance she saw something that made her slow down – Harry was leaning against the brick wall next to the entrance.
Her first reaction was anger, which was quickly displaced by a sense of relief … and a momentary sense of safety. She hated herself for that feeling of dependence. Was she really that needy? She wanted to hold onto her anger. But was he any different than Yee, Alexandros, Tina, or anyone else she’d tried to get involved in the missing-nurse situation? Seeing Harry only confused her more – one minute she was angry with him and never wanted to see him again, the next minute, she was doing a complete turn around and wanting desperately to be safe in his arms.
“Hi, doll.”
She walked up to him, looked into his eyes, and wondered if he knew just how much she had missed him. “Hi, Harry.”
He held out his arms and moved toward her. She curled against his chest without a word.
“Things are bad, huh?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Okay if I come up?”
She nodded, took his hand, and held it until they were upstairs. Silently, they worked side by side to fix a pot of tea, and when it was ready, they settled down on the couch with a box of Wheat Thins.
“I’m here to listen,” Harry said. ‘And I’ll do my best to suppress any negative thoughts.”
“Okay, but when I’m through, please tell me what you really think, no matter what.”
Gina started at the beginning, telling Harry once again about the original phone call on the advice line, and went on from there about everything that had happened up to the moment she’d come home now to find him outside.
He held her close, fed her a cracker now and then, and avoided any comment until she finally looked at him with questioning eyes.
“Vasquez – of all people – is the only person who agrees with your theory?” Harry said. “That’s wild.”
“And if his niece wasn’t involved, I know I wouldn’t even have his support.”
“Do you think this cop, Yee, is really doing anything?”
“Yeah, she’s looking into it, by the book and in her own sweet time. Just how diligently, I’m not sure.”
“What if there are nurses missing other than Wilton and Diaz, I mean over a period of time, and from places in the Bay Area other than Ridgewood”
“I think that’s a very strong possibility. It would get too risky for someone to keep taking victims from the same facility.”
“A lot of my cop friends tell me they usually don’t put in a lot of time on missing person cases unless there’s actual evidence of foul play. Sometimes people just sort of disappear themselves – start over somewhere else because they want to run away from their lives.”
Gina sipped her tea. “Right now, I feel like doing that myself.”
Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “That wouldn’t solve anything. Besides, think how lonely I’d be without you?”
She turned, kissed his cheek, and gave him a small smile. “What you said about other missing nurses did start me thinking. “
“Yeah? You mean I may be good for something after all?”
“You’re good for lots of things, Harry.”
“Just not marriage.”
“Please, Harry, let’s not go there right now.” She gave him another quick kiss.
He nodded, but his eyes lost their sparkle.
“The police must have missing persons data computerized,” Gina said. “Maybe they could develop a list of missing nurses by a
ge groups, similar physical characteristics, that sort of thing?”
“That makes sense, and certainly something you should put to Detective Yee.”
“If she’ll talk to me again.”
* * *
Yee had finally gotten her desk in some kind of order so she could feel as though she was somewhat on top of her game. She looked at Warren’s picture on the corner of her desk and instead of feeling angry or hopeless, she felt nothing. She reached out and moved it to the bottom drawer, closing her husband inside with the tip of her boot.
“Pick up, Yee,” the desk sergeant said in a loud voice that made everyone look in her direction.
“Yee here.”
“Detective Yee, this is—“
“Yeah, I know who it is, Ms Mazzio. I thought I made it clear that any communication between us would originate with me.”
“Well, I wanted to ask you a question. “
“Listen, I’ve had more than enough of your questions and your innuendos implying I’m not doing my job.”
“I just want to know if it’s possible to bring up the stats on missing women who might have the same profile as Shelly Wilton and Arina Diaz?”
“And Megan Ann Hendricks?”
“Yes, and Megan Ann. The point is, maybe this whole business of missing nurses has been going on for a lot longer than we think, than I think.”
“Still trying to do our job for us, I see.”
“No, I–”
“I’ve tried to be nice about all of this, Ms. Mazzio. But now I’m giving it to you straight: butt out.”
Yee slammed the phone down into its cradle. “Everyone wants to be a cop; they all think they can do our job better than we can. But none of them ever wants to take a bullet.”
She’d complained loud enough that other cops in the room looked over at her. She waved them off with an impatient flick of her hand. She started to get up to go fight with the vending machines, instead, she leaned back in her chair and gave a second thought to something Mazzio had said. She reached out and pulled up the master Missing Persons file.
₪ CHAPTER 34
Robert Merz glared at his assistant, who’d pulled him out of a CHEMwest national marketing meeting to take a telephone call. He rubbed hard at the back of his neck, every muscle and tendon a taut rope of steel.
Sin & Bone: A Medical Thriller (The Gina Mazzio Series Book 2) Page 19
