by Nick James
“You want to leave your stuff here?”
“No, she’s got some bug up her ass. If she needs to see me that bad, she can just do my damn laundry. Sorry, guess I passed out before…”
“Don’t worry about it. Take care of yourself.”
“I was wondering if, you know, maybe you could see your way to giving me a little pick me up. You know, just to get me going.”
“Tell you what, maybe get dressed, load up that backpack of yours, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“I can make it worth your while,” she said and pulled the small silk robe open to her arm’s length.
He looked for a moment, not the least bit interested. “No, let me take a rain check. We’d have to hurry and I’d much rather take my time.”
“You sure?” she said then took hold of his hand and pressed it against her breast.
“Yeah,” he said pulling his hand away. “Get over to your mom’s. Hope everything’s okay.”
“I’m sure it is, she’s probably just on one of her rants, again.”
Chapter Twenty
He watched out the window waiting for her to stroll into view. A parking ticket had been placed beneath the windshield wiper of her pickup. She eventually appeared, wrestled with the back pack, finally pulling it off and dumping it into the bed of the pickup. She climbed in behind the wheel and sat there for a long moment before she climbed back out and pulled the parking ticket off her windshield. She half crumpled it and tossed it onto the passenger seat, then started the vehicle and sped away.
Bobby took the elevator down to the parking area, climbed into the Mercedes, and sped over to City View. He took the elevator up to the sixth floor and hurried down the hallway to Denton’s room. As he approached a nurse he recognized hustled out of the room and disappeared from sight behind the nurse’s station. If she was taking care of Denton apparently Antonnini hadn’t done what he’d promised to do.
Bobby strolled into Denton’s open room and stopped. The place was empty, the bed stripped, the bank of monitors turned off, nothing blinked. The wheelchair and the walker were gone, the visitors chair had been pushed into the corner at a forty-five degree angle. The room smelled strongly of disinfectant and Pine-Sol. He hurried back out to the nurse’s station. The nurse he’d seen leaving Denton’s room just a moment ago was bent over behind the counter, focused on her computer.
“Excuse me,” he said and she literally jumped. “Oh sorry.”
“No, you just surprised me. I was focused on these reports coming in. How can I help you?”
“Noah Denton,” he asked, indicating the room behind him with a quick nod of his head. “I’m his son, adopted.”
“Yes, of course, I recognize you now. I’m so sorry, my condolences. They’ve already moved his personal effects. I believe your mother was here first thing this morning,” she said then gave him a sort of questioning look.
“Yeah, I just wanted to make sure she didn’t miss anything, it’s been a rather hectic day.”
She smiled an understanding smile. “I’m sure it has. We don’t know what to make of the situation. You’re all in our prayers.”
“Lord knows we need them.”
“Don’t we all,” she nodded. “You may just want to check in the office, down on the first floor. If anything was left, they’d have it now. And I’m sure any information would be going through them.”
“Information?”
“Well, the up dates, the doctor, and I guess they’re thinking at this point maybe a barbiturate. I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. He has a number of patients with us, very highly regarded, it’s not unusual to ask a few questions at this point. Comes with the territory. Everyone just wants to be sure.”
“Doctor Antonnini?” Bobby asked then held his breath.
“Yes, I believe that’s his name.”
“Like you said, I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding.”
“Check in the office, they’ll have everything.”
“I will, thanks for all your help.”
He hurried back to the elevator, then out the front door to his car, wanting to get as far away from the place as fast as possible. Denton was dead. That explained all the phone calls and the text messages piling up on Addison’s cellphone. Now the only important question was how safe was he? He thanked his lucky stars he hadn’t sent Antonnini the file from his computer or for that matter, from Emily’s.
He was headed home when he drove past the Target store and an idea popped into his head. Fifteen minutes later he was back in his car calling Antonnini on the new pay-as-you-go phone. After four rings, the call dumped into the message center and he quickly disconnected.
He thought about calling the firm, checking to see if Bennett Hinz may have heard anything. Upon reflection that didn’t seem like the best idea and he considered calling Denton’s wife, Cori pretending to just be checking in. That quickly sounded like an even worse idea and so he just drove home. There was nothing on the six o’clock news about Noah Denton’s death, although it would be a long shot, even on a slow news day. No mention of his passing online in the local obituaries, but again, it was a little too soon to expect anything. He decided to try Antoninni once more before he went to bed.
“Hello?”
“Doctor?” Bobby asked.
“Custer?” he whined.
“Yes.”
“Well I did it, just like I said. Hope you’re happy,” he shouted.
“Hey, calm down, it…”
“Calm down? Do you know who you’re talking to? God damn it, I put everything on the line. Did it just like you asked. And you know what?”
“Doctor Antonnini, are you okay?”
“How in the hell do you think I am? I’ve violated everything I’ve worked for over the last forty years. Forty damn years. Do you have the slightest idea what that feels like? Well, do you?”
Bobby pulled the phone away from his ear. “Hey look, it sounds like you’ve been drinking. Maybe you should call me back in the morning, you know when you’re feeling a little…”
“Call you back? Why? You think they’ll wait that long?”
“I’m not sure what it is you’re talking about. Look if you don’t stop shouting I’m going to hang up. I…”
“Shouting,” he shouted. “I’m not shouting. Don’t you understand? They saw me, they reported me. I’m ruined.”
“Who? What? Who saw you?”
“The nurse on that damn floor, he walked in, and saw me administer the muscle relaxant. The bastard called their on-staff doctor, I had to get out of there.”
“Where are you now?” he asked remembering his conversation with the nurse at City View.”
“Where am I? Don’t you listen? I’m screwed, I tell you, I’m done.”
“I think you have the wrong number,” Bobby said, then quickly disconnected. He thought for a moment, then hurried down to his car and headed toward downtown. Just as he turned onto Kellogg Boulevard, the pay-as-you-go phone rang. He recognized Antonnini’s number and didn’t answer. He turned right onto the Wabasha Bridge then lowered the window on the passenger side. As he drove across the river, the phone started ringing again and he pitched it out the window, watching it spin end over end before it disappeared from sight.
Once back home he deleted Emily’s file of Antonnini’s images from his computer. Then he deleted all Antonnini contact information from his cell phone. HIs phone woke him the following morning after a fitful night’s sleep.
“Bobby Custer,” he answered grabbing the phone off his night stand as a bolt of fear charged up his spine and exploded in the base of his skull. Don’t let it be Antonnini.
“Hello, Custer, Bennett Hinz. I hope I’m not disturbing you. I wonder if you’d have time to meet.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Hello Mr. Custer,” Marci said as he stepped off the elevator. “I’ll let Mr. Hinz know you’re here.” Then she flashed her shark smile and focused on her keyboard. She was one of the t
hings he hadn’t missed over the last forty-eight hours.
The lights in Bobby’s office were off and the door was closed, he wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign. Bennett greeted him out in the hall, oozing charm and smiling. “Come in, come in, thank you for making the time, Custer. I hope you know, you’ve been sorely missed.”
Bobby nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“So, anyway, it seems Sawyer had a long chat with Mr. Montcreff and we’ve all decided to meet your request. It appears to be the most reasonable approach.”
In other words, Montcreff probably told Sawyer in no uncertain terms that he’d pull everything if they didn’t get Bobby back. “I’m very pleased to hear that, Bennett.” Bobby said, deciding to dispense with calling him, or any of the other partners, sir from this point forward.
“How soon do you think before you can return?”
“I’ll start organizing the new office in about five minutes.”
That brought a smile to Bennett’s face, which then immediately disappeared. “I wonder if you might consider taking on another task before you begin? I’m afraid we’ve received some awful news.”
“Noah Denton’s passing? Tragic, absolutely tragic.”
Bennett stared wide eyed for a long moment. “How did you know?”
“I was at City View yesterday. What’s the latest?”
“You’re aware of the,” he seemed to search for the right term, “the questions surrounding this unfortunate situation?”
“I probably know about as much as anyone, which doesn’t seem to be a lot. There’s apparently a question regarding the proper administration of a drug, maybe unfortunate timing, something like that.”
“That about sums it up. Our understanding is now the police are involved and appear to be having trouble locating this fellow.”
“Doctor Antonnini,” Bobby volunteered.
“That sounds about right. I was thinking, might it make sense for you to stop in and see his wife? I guess now she’s his widow. She apparently wasn’t in the mood to chat when I phoned. Perfectly understandable, but still I was thinking, since you seem to somehow get along with her, perhaps you wouldn’t mind paying a visit. On behalf of all of us here at the firm of course.”
Bobby picked up a bouquet of lilies on his way over to the Denton home. He laid them in the back seat of the Mercedes then kept the windows rolled up all the way over, inhaling the lovely fragrance. There were a total of four vehicles in the driveway when he arrived, Addison’s pickup and three others. The large backpack had been removed from the truck and he wondered if her mother had done the laundry or just burned everything and decided it would be easier to start over.
He rang the doorbell three times before someone finally answered. Far from being in a solemn mood, the woman answering the door held an empty stemmed glass with two olives rolling around in the bottom. “Oh my, flowers. It’s been a long time, but then, I presume they probably aren’t for me now, are they?”
“Actually, I was wondering if I could see Cori.”
“Well now, you just get your handsome self in here, young man and let’s see if she can fit you on her dance card. Oh, I’m Betty by the way, an old friend of Cori’s,” she said as she turned around and held her hand over her shoulder to shake.
“Bobby Custer,” he said lightly shaking her hand. She grabbed his hand, hung on tightly and led him into the den.
Cori was seated on a cream colored couch, laughing. One woman sat next to her and another in a chair on the opposite side of the coffee table. Three stemmed glasses with olives and a little drink remaining were scattered across the coffee table. Music throbbed from a set of speakers, some seventies number Bobby thought, vaguely familiar with the tune although he couldn’t place the band. Fortunately, Addison wasn’t in the room.
“Look who I found, Cori. What did you say your name was again, darling?”
“Oh, Bobby,” Cori cried rising to her feet and giving him a hug. “Well,” she said taking the lilies in both hands and inhaling. “They are absolutely gorgeous, thank you so much. How very kind. Oh, pardon my manners. This is my friend, Molly,” the woman with trimmed red hair nodded, smiled and remained seated in her chair.
“How do you do.”
“And Mary Alice.” The woman on the couch flashed a brief smile. She wore a light blue skirt, with knees held firmly together. Her salt and pepper hair was pulled back tightly behind her head in a bun.
“Nice to meet you.”
“And you’ve already met, Betty.”
“I saw him first,” Betty said.
They all laughed, then Cori said, “Oh don’t mind her. Please, join us for a moment. Bobby has taken over Noah’s position in the law firm. The only one with any personality at that dreadful place,” she said, half under her breath. “I had a brief phone message from your Bennett Hinz yesterday. That man’s a piece of work. Bobby was the only one from the firm who bothered to take the time to visit Noah these last months,” Cori said, neglecting to mention that she hadn’t bothered to visit him at all.
“I just wanted to drop the flowers off and give you my condolences.”
“Oh, please, join us.” Cori said although the invitation sounded less than genuine.
“Thanks, but I’d better be heading back to work, kind of a crazy day.”
“Aren’t they all?” Cori said and sat back down.
“Come on, darling I’ll show you to the door,” Betty said, then linked arms with Bobby and headed toward the front hall. “Don’t wait up for us, girls,” she called. They all laughed, then apparently resumed whatever conversation they were having before he’d arrived.
“She seems to be doing okay,” he said as Betty opened the door.
“Are you kidding? Poor woman’s been living under a black cloud for at least the past thirty years. Noah Denton was one miserable old man. We could never figure out what she saw in him,” she said almost to herself.
“People change.”
“Right,” she said. “And then there are those who never do. It’s going to take a long time before that smile comes off of Cori’s face. Now if she could just do something with that daughter of hers.”
“Addison?” Bobby asked hoping he sounded like he wasn’t all that familiar with her.
“Talk about a nut case. Cori was up most of the night trying to reach her. God only knows where she was and what she was up to. Whatever it was, I’m sure it was no good.”
“Is she here now, the daughter? I know they’d had a bit of a falling out.”
“To be honest, their relationship has been like that since the child could roll over. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she was dropped on her head at some point. Yes, to answer your question, she’s here. Somewhere. Arrived home with a month’s worth of dirty laundry and a major hangover. Probably the main attraction at some fool’s stag party last night.”
“I take it you don’t approve.”
“She can do what she wants with her life. But I’ve seen the love and dedication Cori has put into raising that insufferable, ungrateful, spoiled little…oh here listen to me go on. It was a pleasure meeting you, Bobby. I hope we’ll be seeing more of you over the next few days.”
“I’m sure you will.”
“Mind if I ask you something?” Betty said glancing over her shoulder.
“Sure.”
“What have you heard about his death, the circumstances?”
“Not much, really. I know there was a question about a medication. I don’t know what it was for, don’t even know what the question might be. I do know the doctor involved is highly regarded and that’s about all I know. Have you heard anything else?”
“No, all rather vague. Regardless of the details, I’m going to sound like a real witch here, but at least Cori’s ordeal is over. Now, as I said, if we could just do something about the daughter.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
On the drive back to the office the car still held a bit of the lily scent a
nd he kept the windows up. He was thankful to have made it out of Cori Denton’s without running into Addison. He wondered exactly what sort of stunt she’d pull over the next few days to draw attention to herself.
The newscast came over the radio. “Police today are describing as suspicious, the circumstances surrounding the death of St. Paul attorney, Noah Denton. Denton, recovering from surgery, was found unresponsive yesterday morning at the City View Transitional Care facility. In a statement released last night City View director, Norman Briggs stated they were cooperating fully with the investigation. In other news, the…
Bobby felt something run up his spine and explode in the back of his head. That fool Antonnini. Had it been a good idea to get rid of the phone? Maybe he should have taken that last phone call. He sure as hell wasn’t going to be sending him any files now. Then he wondered if he should somehow warn Emily?
He took a quick detour and stopped at home before returning to the office. He deleted everything related to Antonnini on his computer, then double checked his cellphone while he was at it. Odd that Antonnini hadn’t tried to call him back on his regular cell. He could only hope that the man had lost his number. He had a flashback, and remembered handing Antonnini his business card. They had been sitting in his car, in that parking ramp. Bobby was telling him they were both being blackmailed. How easy was it to lose a business card? That couple that drove past and looked at them, would they recognize Bobby? Be able to identify him? Maybe give his name to the police?
He was still obsessing three hours later. It was late for a work night and he was the only one left in the office. He’d been moving into Noah Denton’s old office remembering the first time he’d been in here. Denton telling him if it was up to him, he’d have Bobby locked up and throw away the key. Denton taking the high road, just out there defending the rights of poor, misunderstood, Morris Montcreff. One of the slimiest characters to come out of the saintly city in the last century.
