“I don’t remember,” Sadie said, scrambling to remember what floor she was on. Third! That’s right. “I thought they said the third floor, but they must have said something else. I’m afraid I’m not very familiar with this hospital, so I’m not sure what floor—”
“The fifth,” the woman said. “Did they say it was on the fifth floor?”
Sadie paused as though trying to remember, but in truth she was simply trying to calm herself down. She didn’t understand why having a volunteer on the wrong floor would be such a big deal, but it obviously was, and she was feeling frantic. She wanted to get out of there. “That’s right,” she said. “Fifth. I remember now. I don’t know why I chose the third, I’m so sorry. I better get back there before they fire me . . . Can they even fire volunteers? I’ve never done this before, and here I am making a mess of it. I better go.”
She forced a smile and began walking again. The other woman didn’t follow her this time.
“Fourth,” she said from behind Sadie. “Maternity is on the fourth floor. You’d better come with me. I’ll get my supervisor.”
Sadie’s shoulders slumped in defeat, and she turned around. The woman looked relieved and turned around herself before heading back the way they had come, expecting Sadie to follow her. It was all the opportunity Sadie needed. The nurse had no sooner turned her back than Sadie turned again and began moving as quick as she could down the hallway, trying to make as little noise as possible, but moving quickly enough to create some distance. She was around the corner before she heard the woman yell, “Hey!”
Sadie said a little prayer in her mind, and then took off in a full run.
Chapter 30
She couldn’t hear any footsteps over her own as she reached the elevator, but she knew they were there. A man stepped out and Sadie slid through the opening instead of heading for the stairs she’d been planning to use. The door caught her bad shoulder, and she winced as the contact triggered the doors to open again, but she didn’t let it slow her down. She turned and pushed the “Close Doors” button fifteen times before they finally obeyed. The man whom she’d pushed out of the way was staring at her from the outside; she offered him a smile as the doors closed. At the last possible moment, she saw the man turn to look in the direction she’d come, and she heard the voice of the nurse say, “Stop that elevator!”
It was too late for the nurse. Sadie took a breath as the door sealed shut. She lifted her hand to push the button with the glowing number one on it to take her to the first level, then hesitated and pushed the button for the second floor instead. There had been security at the front doors when she walked in, not to mention the Doberman of a receptionist who would likely take great pleasure in seeing Sadie thrown to the ground.
When the elevator door opened a moment later, she half-expected to find a security guard posted in front of it, but there wasn’t anyone there so she turned right, passed the stairwell, and headed down the hall to the elevators by the cafeteria, making an extra effort to walk normally and hold her head up while she attempted to catch her breath. There was a red fleece vest on the back of a chair in one of the waiting areas. She nonchalantly traded her brush and lotion for it, leaving both items on the chair. She tucked the vest under her arm, wrinkling her nose at the smell of stale cigarettes.
She passed a nurse who smiled at her, and she smiled back, then a doctor, who didn’t even look at her, which was just as well. The hallway was circular, but she kept following it, sure there had to be another set of stairs by the original elevators she’d taken up to the third floor. Her anxiety increased with every second. The longer it took her to get out of the building, the better her chances of getting caught.
There was a cart on one side of the hallway, and she barely glanced at it, then stopped and walked backward two steps until she reached it again. She grabbed a trial-sized bottle of talcum powder and kept walking, looking side to side to see if anyone had noticed. People passed her now and again, but no one seemed to be looking for her here. Not yet, anyway.
Finally she saw the elevators she’d used on her way up, as well as a sign for stairs, and she gratefully hurried toward them. Once secure within the stairwell, she draped the vest over the handrail. She put some talcum powder in her hands and rubbed it through her hair, leaning forward so she wouldn’t get too much on her clothes. She knew the powder wouldn’t turn her hair white, but it might gray it enough to let her get out of the building. With the way the humidity had left her hair products sticky, the talcum powder ought to adhere pretty well; hopefully it wouldn’t look like she’d just rubbed a bottle of talc through it.
She pulled the scrub top over her head and used it to wipe the powder from her face and neck before putting on the red vest, scowling again at the offensive smell. She hurried down the single flight of stairs, both hoping for and dreading the prospect of passing a mirror. When she reached the door marked “First Floor,” she took a breath and pushed through it, keeping her chin up and trying not to be too furtive as she looked around to see if a security guard was barreling toward her.
A sign on the wall outside the stairwell said the main entrance was to her left. She turned right, but avoided the cafeteria for fear it was centralized and wouldn’t have an exit. The Emergency Room would have a way out, though. Her heart was racing as she pulled her phone from her pocket and texted Monty.
Emgncy Rm Exit
She turned a corner and held her breath as she moved out of the way, allowing a heavy man in a wheelchair to pass, and then continued following the signs. A few people looked up at her as she walked through the waiting room, but no one stopped her, not even the security guard who was flirting with the receptionist at the checkin desk. Thank goodness for cute, giggly girls.
She was almost to the door, unable to breathe, when she heard something crackle on the guard’s walkie-talkie behind her. She didn’t even slow down. Once outside, she cut across the ambulance bay and hurried through the parking lot. She heard the swish of the automatic doors open behind her and looked back to see the security guard step outside. She didn’t pause long enough to see if he spotted her, but kept going, scanning for Monty’s taxi. The parking lot was huge. She couldn’t wait at the entrance for him so she simply headed for the street, hoping he would recognize her.
The red vest!
She texted him quickly that she had a red vest on, and then kept moving toward the street. Finally, she caught sight of the black-and-white taxi making its way through the rows of cars on its way to the emergency entrance. She course-corrected and headed toward it, walking as fast as she could without breaking into a run.
Monty saw her as she emerged from behind two cars a few yards in front of him. He slowed down, and she unzipped the vest as she headed to intercept the car. She laid the vest on the trunk of the nearest car, hoping someone would return it to its original owner.
She was dying to turn and see if the guard was still behind her, but didn’t dare. Without slowing down, she pulled open the front door and slid into the passenger seat of the taxi, smiling thankfully at Monty. She craned her neck around to see the security guard running through the parking lot after her. Her heart jumped into her throat.
“Go!” she shouted, ducking down in the seat. The guard would have seen her take off the vest. He knew it was her.
Monty didn’t need to be told twice. He took off like a rocket, glancing in the rearview mirror to see what it was Sadie had seen.
“Maybe he wasn’t close enough to see your license plate,” Sadie said, peeking over the seat to watch the security guard head back to the hospital with long, quick steps. “I’m so sorry,” she said, turning to face front again. “I’m getting you in so much trouble.”
“Don’ worry ’bout me,” Monty said, shaking his head for emphasis. “I’m worryin’ ’bout ’ow much trouble you be in.”
Sadie let out a breath. “Honestly? I’m not sure.” She couldn’t help but peek out the back window again. The hospital was a full block
away, and there were no flashing red lights coming up behind them. A phone rang; she reached into her pocket before realizing it wasn’t her phone.
Monty fished his phone out of his own pocket and put it to his ear. “Yeah,” he said, then paused before saying it again.
Sadie tuned out Monty’s voice and took a deep breath, trying to force herself to relax. You didn’t do anything wrong, she told herself. But if that was true, why did she feel so awful right now?
“Okay, I be dere,” Monty said into his phone before shutting it off and putting it back in his pocket. “Sorry ’bout dat.”
“Don’t be sorry on my account,” Sadie said, meaning every word. She reached over the seat to pull her purse out from under the backseat where she’d stashed it.
When she sat back down in the front seat and put on her seat belt, Monty reached out and touched Sadie’s hair. He gave her an inquiring look, and Sadie raised her hands to touch her hair. Between the hair care products that never quite dried in this climate and the talcum powder she’d rubbed all over her head, her hair felt cakey and gross. Did she dare look?
“A rather lame attempt at a disguise, I’m afraid,” Sadie explained. Steeling herself for the shock, she flipped down the window visor, sighing with relief when she saw there was no mirror. She vowed to wash her hair as soon as she could.
“So, whe’s ya fella?”
He’s not my fella, Sadie wanted to say once she realized Monty was asking about Eric, but she knew that would be rude. “I don’t know,” she said with a heavy sigh. “He was going to meet us—the guy at the park and me—tonight at the Speedway, but now that I’ve found Megan—”
“Who be Megan?”
“Oh, my . . . fella’s daughter. We’ve been looking for her.” She’d forgotten that she hadn’t given Monty many details when she’d given him the overview back at the park.
Monty nodded. “She been lost?”
Sadie considered that. Had Megan been lost? She thought back to what Joe had said about Megan being kept and not taken. “Not really,” she said. “At least, that’s not what seems to have happened, but her father thought she was.” It was impossible to boil the story down to make any sense, mostly because there were still so many holes. Why would Megan leave in the first place? Where had she been? Sadie knew why she was in Miami right now—she needed the surgery to save her babies—but why was she alone? She said she had other boys, but they couldn’t be hers. And who was Joe, and why did he want Megan found, but didn’t want to be the one who found her?
“An’ de man from de park?” Monty said. “’E be helpin’ your fella?”
“Kind of,” Sadie said, trying to figure out the right words. “He wanted money for what he knew. My friend was having a hard time getting it together.”
“But you found de’ girl, right? You don’ need de money now.”
“Yes,” Sadie said, but there was uncertainty in her voice. “But Joe—the man in the park—probably had more information. He could have helped make sense of why things happened the way they did. Without him, I’m just not sure how things fit together. I’m not sure what to do next.”
Monty was quiet as he made a right-hand turn. Sadie wondered where they were going, but was mostly glad to be far away from the hospital. What she needed now was a new plan. No matter how much Monty insisted on driving her around, she couldn’t justify allowing him to continue helping her. Sadie didn’t know much about taxi drivers, but she knew that most cities only allowed a certain number of people to carry taxi licenses. She imagined that once a license was lost, it was lost for good. This was his career, his livelihood, and she was putting that all on the line for him, knowing it likely wouldn’t end well.
It was time to part ways; it was the best option. She opened her purse and grabbed her wallet. When she opened it, however, she frowned. She only had eighty dollars in cash. Surely she owed Monty more than that. She’d spent most of her travel cash at the hospital. She fingered through the bills to make sure that was all she had, but although she did find the buy-one-get-one-free KFC meal coupon, she didn’t find any spare hundred dollar bills.
“I’ve only got eighty in cash,” she said, embarrassed to be making excuses after all he’d done for her today. “How much do I owe you?”
He tapped the fare machine: $112.50. “Sorry. It be the com’ny car, and dey track de fares so I can’t give a discount.”
Sadie wondered how on earth people survived in big cities if they took taxies everywhere. Then again, they likely didn’t spend two hours driving all over town.
“Oh, I understand,” Sadie said. “Can you take me to an ATM?” She was tempted to ask Monty to find the nearest Globe Bank so she wouldn’t have to pay the two-dollar ATM fee, but there was no point in getting cheap now. She’d just spent twenty-four dollars on a scrub top she’d worn for eight minutes, not to mention the fact that she had left the brush and lotion behind as well.
“Sho’,” Monty said, and took another right. Sadie couldn’t be sure but she thought they were moving toward the interstate. That reminded her that she still hadn’t called Eric, and another thrill rushed through her. Complicated or not—and it most certainly would be complicated—she’d found Eric’s daughter.
She took a deep breath and picked up her phone, staring at it for a moment before dialing Eric’s number. It amazed her how much could happen in an hour.
Chapter 31
Sadie?”
She wondered if the frantic tone in Eric’s voice was fueled by relief to hear from her or fear that her calling him was a bad sign. “Where are you? What’s happened? He let you call?”
“Eric,” she said very slow and even, making a calming motion with her hand, even though only Monty could see it. “I have something to tell you, and I need you to listen very carefully.”
“Did he hurt you? Are you okay?”
“Are you listening?” Sadie said, frustrated that he wasn’t paying attention.
“I’m listening,” he finally said, but the words were obviously difficult for him to say.
“I found Megan.”
The other end of the line went completely silent.
“You what?” Eric asked after a few seconds.
Sadie took a breath, both excited and scared to death about what this news meant to him. “She’s at the University of Miami Hospital,” she said. “In the Labor and Delivery unit.”
Silence again. “What?”
Sadie recounted everything about her meeting with Megan, stopping only to breathe when she absolutely had to. When she finished, Eric was, once again, silent.
“I can’t believe this,” Eric said. “I . . . what about that guy?”
“Um, don’t worry about him,” Sadie said as lightly as possible. “I got that all wrapped up, but I think you should get to the hospital as quickly as you can. I had a little trouble getting out of there after I talked to Megan, and I’m worried they might try moving her to a different room or something.” Immediately she realized that there was one person who might be able to stop all that from happening. “You need to call Mathews.”
Eric let out a breath. “I can’t believe this,” he said again. “I just . . . I don’t know what to do.”
“Go to the University hospital!” Sadie said loudly. “Go now! But call Mathews on your way, okay? I think you’ll need him to get into her room. Tell him everything I told you.”
“Okay, I’ll call him, and I’ll head to the hospital. Where are you? Are you okay? I can pick you up on my way.”
“I’m fine,” Sadie said. She paused before continuing, part of her waffling on her goal. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll tell you all about it later.”
“But, that guy—”
“Go to your daughter,” Sadie interrupted. “She needs you right now.”
Without giving him a chance to voice any more arguments, she clicked the end button on her phone and stared at it as she returned to her internal ponderings. She hoped that after she gave her statement to t
he police she would be able to see Megan and Eric together—a visual closing on all that had happened today.
Had this really all happened in a single day? She thought back and realized she hadn’t caught her flight to Miami until five o’clock last night. A quick glance at the dashboard clock told her it had been just over twenty-four hours since she’d decided to come to Florida. It seemed impossible for so much to have happened in such a short period of time.
She startled when her phone rang. She took a breath, feeling unprepared to talk to anyone right now. She didn’t know the number, but it was a Florida area code, and her phone recognized it, which she quickly worked out to mean that it had to be Mathews again. She’d liked the idea of Eric being the one to break the news to the sergeant, but realized he’d have had to call her for verification. She pushed the talk button and accepted that she couldn’t simply avoid the things she didn’t want to do.
Mostly Sadie listened to Mathews explain to her that she needed to go to the police station right that minute and make a full report; Eric had called him and apparently told him everything he knew.
“Do you understand what I’m saying, Mrs. Hoffmiller? We need a full statement from you before you leave town.”
“I understand,” Sadie said, letting out a breath that seemed to hold all her hope of getting herself untangled from all of this. She wanted to ask about Joe, but not yet. Not until Monty was safely out of the picture. “I won’t leave until I’ve been told I can. I’m on my way right now. Are you at the police station?”
“Yes,” Mathews said, sounding relieved—as though he’d expected her to argue.
“Okay,” Sadie said. She looked around the freeway for a sign that would tell her how far she was from Homestead, but there weren’t any signs close by so all she could do was gauge the time. “I think I’m about forty minutes away.”
“I’ll be waiting for you,” he said before hanging up.
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