Elmo didn’t even look up at her. “Yes?”
“Grandma wants me to drive up to Jefferson and spend a few days with her.”
“That’s good.”
“So, you don’t mind if I go?”
“Sure.”
“Elmo! Are you even listening to me?”
He stopped reading and looked up at her.
“I’m sorry, Baby. What were you saying?”
“Grandma wants me to go stay with her for a few days.”
“Well, that’s fine. You should go. At least I wouldn’t feel so guilty about ignoring you.”
“Yeah. You’ve dealing with enough guilt already. I don’t want to add to it.”
“Then go to your grandmother’s house. Stay a few days. Maybe it’ll make us both feel better.”
“Okay.”
Elmo stood and took Carsie in his arms. “I love you, Baby. You know that.”
“I love you too.”
After a quick kiss, Carsie went to her bedroom to back a bag.
**********
On his way to the hospital, Greg called Cynthia’s cell phone.
“Hello?”
“Who do you love, Baby? said Greg.
There was a slight pause before Cynthia responded.
Had it all been dream? Had she changed her mind? Was she wishing she had not told him she loved him? How many doubts can the human mind conjure in a mere second?
“I’ll give you a call about it a little later.”
Why was she being so cold to him? Then it hit him. “Are you in a meeting?”
“That’s correct.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Yeah, call me later.”
Greg parked his car and walked into the hospital, to the surgery waiting room. He recognized the wife, sitting with another woman and a young boy.
“How long has he been in surgery?” said Greg.
“Just a few minutes,” said the wife.
She introduced Greg to her sister and nephew.
“How did Jeff hurt his back?” said Greg.
“He was carrying a big bag of cement. I told him he needed help, but he just wouldn’t listen.”
“They never do,” said the sister.
Greg had already run out of things to say. So, he picked up a magazine and began to read as the two women chatted.
“Jacob’s nose is running,” said the wife.
“Jacob, come here, Honey,” said the sister to her son.
She pulled a tissue out of her purse and wiped his nose.
“You think he’s getting a cold?” said the wife.
“Could be. He’s got a doctor’s appointment this afternoon.”
“That’s good.”
“But when I called they said Dr. Elmo has taken a leave of absence. So we’ll have to see some new doctor.”
“Wonder why Elmo’s taking a leave?”
“Hope it’s not AIDS,” said the sister.
That statement jolted Greg from his magazine article. And he noticed that the nurse standing in the Nurses Station perked up too.
“What? Why would you think that?” said the wife.
“Well, he’s in his 50s and he’s never been married…”
“But I heard he wasgetting married,” said the wife.
“He backed out.”
“No. Really?”
Greg butted in. “Actually, he postponedthe wedding.”
“Yeah. Indefinitely, I’ll bet,” said the sister.
The wife looked at Greg. “Do you know why he postponed it?”
“He just found out that his mother has Alzheimer’s disease.”
“That awful,” said the wife. “My aunt had that. And there wasn’t anything the doctor could do for her. All we could do was watch her go downhill until she finally died. She suffered with it for years.”
Greg noticed that the nurse seemed to be straining to hear the conversation. But when she saw Greg looking at her, she quickly went back to work at the computer. He got up and walked over to her. Her name badge identified her as Mary Magdely.
Greg spoke to her in a confidential manner that could not be heard by the wife and sister. “Do you know the Mobleys, Mrs. Magdely?”
She didn’t look up from the computer. “Uh…yes. Sort of.”
“Well, I just want to apologize. I don’t usually participate in gossip. But I had to speak up and set the record straight.”
Greg figured her to be about 60. She was attractive, and looked very professional.
“I understand. Don’t worry about it.”
She had kind eyes, and a caring face. Just what you’d want from a nurse, thought Greg. But there was something else in her facial expression.
Something she wasn’tsaying.
Chapter13
“Our clever deception is working like a charm,” said Mallie Mae.
“I can’t believe he fell for it. You’re such a good actor—it’s scary,” said Macy.
“I do what I have to do.”
“But they’ve only postponedthe wedding. They didn’t cancelit.”
“Give it time, my dear.”
“When I went down for a glass of milk last night, Elmo was still in his study. It was after midnight.”
“That’s good. The more time he spends on the computer, the less time he spends with her.”
“Well, I just feel sorry for him. He’s doing all that work to help you because he thinks you’re sick.”
“Don’t feel sorry for him. He brought this on himself. He should have had the good sense to steer clear of that money grubber.”
They both heard the car driving alongside the house. Somebody was leaving. Macy rushed to the window.
“It’s Carsie. Looks like she’s alone.”
“Good. Now we just need to lose the sister.”
“Oh, I’m sure she’s coming back,” said Macy.
“Not necessarily…”
“I’ll find out what’s going on.”
Macy went down to the kitchen and poured coffee into one of Elmo’s favorite cups. Then she put a few of Hadley’s chewy chocolate chip cookies on a plate. They were still warm.
She peeked into the study. “How about a little snack.”
Without looking away from the monitor, Elmo said, “Not right now, Macy. I’m very busy.” Then he caught a whiff of the coffee and the freshly baked Hadley’s. He smiled at her. “On second thought, sure, that would be great.”
Elmo took a big bite of a cookie. “Mmm. Nobody makes them like Hadley.” He washed it down with a sip of coffee.
“Yeah, they’re irresistible,” said Macy. “By the way, uh, I just saw Carsie leaving in her car.”
“She’s going to Jefferson. Gonna spend a few days with her grandmother.”
“Oh.”
“It’ll be good for her. I just can’t spend any time with her right now, and I know she’s feeling neglected.”
“I see. Any idea how long she’s staying?”
“Not really. Probably a week or two. Why?”
“Just wondering. Well, if you need anything, you know I’m always here for you.”
“I know. Thanks, Macy.”
As she spun around to walk out of the study, her flowered skirt twirled to catch up with her body. She pictured Elmo watching her, admiring her perfectly shaped calves, waiting for her skirt to settle back down across her cute little butt.
Macy knew she could make Elmo forget about his fiancée. She only wished she had pursued him before Carsie came along. She had wasted years of opportunity, spending all those nights alone with him watching movies. She should have grabbed him one night and seduced him with a mind-blowing kiss. A kiss that encompassed all the pent-up lust hidden deep in her heart. She had done it in her mind a thousand times. But instead, she just kept waiting for him to make the first move. And he never did.
Carsie had said that when she accidentally bumped into Elmo in the supermarket she had finally found the man of her dreams. Or had she found the moneyof her dreams? That�
��s what Mallie Mae thought. Macy actually believed Carsie’s feelings were real.
But that didn’t change the fact that Macy wanted Elmo for herself. And she had been feeling pretty desperate until the wedding was postponed. Maybe there was still hope for her and Elmo. She promised herself that if she didget another chance, she would not be so timid.
**********
“Thanks for helping tonight. But I hate that you’re missing choir rehearsal,” said Cynthia.
“It’s okay. Henry didn’t mind filling in for me,” said Greg.
They rode along in silence for a few minutes. Beverly had offered to make dinner, since they would get to her house by 6:00. Then they would pack more of her things. Greg had reserved a U-Haul for Saturday.
“I had another one of my crazy dreams this morning,” said Greg.
“What happened thistime?
“Well, we were lying in bed and—“
“—in bed? I guess our morals aren’t as good in your dreams.”
“No, no. We were married.”
“Oh. Is that where you think we’re headed?”
“Uh, I don’t know. It was just a dream.”
“Okay. Go on.”
“Anyway…we were making love and—“
“—you had a sex dream about me?”
“But we were married.”
“In your dreams.”
“I see,” said Greg.
“No—I didn’t mean it thatway. I wasn’t saying we’d never get married,” she said.
“So, you’re saying we willget married? Can I take that as a yes?”
She grinned at him and blushed.
He went on. “So, there we were, in the middle of it, and your mother just walked right into our bedroom and announced that breakfast was ready.”
Cynthia started laughing.
“She was standing there staring at us. And I was on top of you!”
Cynthia laughed even harder.
Greg laughed too. He was thrilled that Cynthia was not at all shocked by the talk of marriage. But he would have felt better if she had reassured him that Beverly would notbe living with them if they ever got married.
“I love you, no matter how goofy you are,” she said.
“Gee, thanks.”
“In fact, your goofiness is one of the reasons I love you. So, don’t stop being goofy.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t think I can.”
They laughed.
“What about my bald head? Is thatone of the reasons you love me?”
“Well…”
“And how about this spare tire? Is thatone of the reasons you love me? Are you gonna tell me that you likea man with some meat on his bones?”
“Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that,” she said.
“Uh-oh. I finally found the deal breaker. You’re dumping me because I’m overweight, right?”
Cynthia chuckled. “No, no.”
“What then?”
“You should go with me when I jog every morning.”
“Ah-ha! I should have known! If I want to keep you, I’ll have to get into shape.”
“Well, let’s just say that if you really want to catchme, you’ll have to be able to catch me.”
“Very funny. Okay. Where do I sign up?”
“There’s no sign-up sheet, soldier. Just report to my quarters at o-six-hundred.”
“Sir! Yes Sir! I will be there, Sir!” Greg saluted her.
“Really, it’ll be fun, Greg.”
“Yes, Sir!”
Cynthia punched him in the arm and he smiled.
**********
Carnie had finished her dinner and gone down into the sub-basement for further investigation. She looked through one of the notebooks, trying once more to make sense of the formulas, but soon decided it was a waste of time. She went through the bathroom and into the four-bed hospital ward. Yes, this would work just fine, she thought.
She walked into one of the two small rooms off the ward and studied it more carefully than before. There were only two metal cabinets in the room, and they were empty. But something about the floor seemed familiar. It was like the floor in her bedroom. She got down on hands and knees. No, it couldn’t be, she thought. She knocked on the floor in several places.
Carnie ran out through the lab and up the stairs and retrieved her Bowie knife. She rushed back to the room and began to search for the edges of a secret door. It didn’t take her long to find them.
When she finally got the door open and leaned it up against the wall, she was disappointed to see nothing but dirt. She started to put the door back in place, but changed her mind. Kneeling down, she stabbed her knife into the dirt several times. On the third try she hit something. It was hard, but not rock. It felt like wood. She dug with her knife and her bare hands, throwing dirt to the side of the hole she was making—like a dog digging up a prized bone.
By the time she stopped, some of her fingers were bleeding. It was a door or some type of cover, she decided. She pried it open and was shocked by what she saw. And Carnie Slitherstone was not easily shocked.
“Oh, Elmo, what dirty secrets you have,” she said out loud.
Now she knew her scheme would work. Elmo would be forced to play along. It had been a wild idea, and she had already realized that Elmo would turn her down flat. But that was before she found this.
Her cell rang.
“Hello?”
“What’s happening there?”
“Elmo’s going blind at the computer. Mallie Mae and Macy are upstairs. I’m in the secret basement.”
“What are you doing down there?”
“Just looking around, working out some details.”
“You still think you can talk Elmo into holding secret clinical trials down there?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“He’ll never buy it, Carnie.”
“Oh, yes he will.” She looked down at her discovery. “He’ll have no choice.”
Chapter14
“It’s 8:55, and we will be closing in five minutes. Thank you for shopping at your Coreyville Pharmacy,” said the assistant manager over the sound system. Then he walked to the entrance and locked the door. If somebody had waited that late to get their prescription, it was just too bad. They could come back tomorrow. His stomach was screaming for an order of Wendy’s biggie fries.
There was only one customer in the store—a long-haired man in granny glasses with a beard, wearing bell-bottom jeans and an oversized jacket. The old guy was straight out of a history book—San Francisco hippies, 1967. The only thing that spoiled the look was the more modern-looking jacket.
The man had been browsing the aisles for ten minutes or so, hands always in his pockets. “Sir, could I please get your help for a minute?” he said.
“Yes, Sir. What do you need?” said the assistant manager.
“I wanted to buy the large container of liquid Cheer, but it’s on the bottom shelf, and I just can’t get down that low to pick it up. Bad knees.”
Poor old guy, thought the assistant manager. “Okay, I’ll be happy to get it for you.”
The man led him to the aisle and the assistant manager squatted down to pick up the large plastic bottle. “This one?” He turned his head to look at the old man. But all he saw was something black flying toward his face.
The old man examined the assistant manager lying on the floor. He appeared to be out cold. He returned the gun to the holster underneath his jacket and pulled out a roll of duct tape. He wound it around the wrists and ankles very slowly to avoid making the familiar screeching sound. Then one last piece for the mouth.
Now he would deal with the pharmacist.
“Ma’am? Could I ask you a question?”
“Yes, Sir,” said the young female pharmacist. “How can I help you?”
“I need something for my back. An over-the-counter cream. The strongest thing you’ve got.”
“Okay. That would be capsaicin—the extra strength version
. It’s on that aisle right there.” She pointed to it.
“Okay. Thanks.”
He walked to the aisle and looked for it. After a minute or so, he went back to the pharmacy counter. “Ma’am, I can’t seem to find it.”
“Okay. Just a second and I will help you,” she said as she counted out pills and poured them into a bottle.” She glanced at the weird old man walking back to the pain reliever aisle. He walks like a girl, she thought.
When the pharmacist met him on the aisle, he stepped back to give her room to locate the cream.
She wondered why he hadn’t been able to find it—right there in front of him. She picked up the box and turned to him. “Here it is.”
But her polite smile vanished when she saw the gun pointed at her chest. She automatically raised her hands.
“Put them down! Now turn around and put your hands behind you.”
The old man holstered his weapon, taped her wrists, and told her to lie on the floor, face down.
He taped her ankles and then he flipped up her skirt, revealing her pink panties. “You’re a sexy thing, aren’t you?” But there was no time for pleasure. He had a job to do. He rolled her to her side, ripped off a piece of tape and stretched it tightly across her quivering mouth and around her head.
He whispered into her ear, “Lie still—if you want to live.” Then he jammed ear plugs into her ears.
The old man quickly moved behind the counter, found a stool and sat down at one of the computers, slumped down so he could not be seen from the street. He keyed in a search for every customer who had filled a prescription for Viagra in the past 60 days. Then he did a similar search on Prozac, Namenda and several other drugs. He printed out the results of each search. When he was finished, he grabbed the printouts and slipped out the back door.
The assistant manager and pharmacist would be found in the morning. They would give their statements to the police, describing the scary old man. But the police would never find that old man. Because he had worn latex gloves. And because he had disguised his appearance and his voice.
And because he was nota man.
**********
“Hello?”
“Hi, Baby. I miss you already,” said Carsie.
“Hi, Sweetie. Me too. How’s it going there?” said Elmo.
“Okay, I guess. Grandma is about to show me how to make cherry divinity.”
Hideaway Hospital Murders Page 7
