“Why is that, do you suppose?”
“We’re wondering if we’ll ever talk to each other again.”
“Yes.”
“You think we will?” I say.
“No.”
II
The phone number belonged to a lady who had twin boys. She put them on the line.
“Hi Dr. Box!” Carlos said.
“Hi handsome!” Charlie said.
“Hi guys. You’ve got something for me? A garage door opener?”
They did.
Turns out Willow swung by their place after killing Cameron. The twins don’t know that, but I do. She gave them five grand for their gun and their promise to keep the garage door opener safe until she called to tell them what to do with it.
So I took a quick trip to Dayton, intending to get the evidence and catch the next plane back to NYC. But the return trip was delayed when the twins made me take them out to dinner at a fancy restaurant with white linen tablecloths and candles.
I didn’t mind. After all, how often do I get to go out with friends?
Our dinners were prepared tableside, and Charlie fairly swooned watching the waiter fuss over us. The wine flowed freely, and when I ordered the boys a flaming desert, Charlie cried.
They gave me the door opener and never asked the first question about it.
I liked that about them.
III
Rose and Melba assisted me on the Addie Gray surgery, which went perfectly. Afterward, Kathleen found me in my office and asked if there was anything she could possibly do to repay me. I asked for a blow job and she obliged, right on the spot.
I’m kidding.
Kathleen did ask what she could do, and I said nothing, it was all part of the job. But she insisted on taking me to lunch, so I let her, thinking this could lead to something.
“How is it a beautiful, young woman like you is still single?” I asked.
And wished I hadn’t.
She droned on and on about some CIA guy she loved.
“Donovan Creed,” she said, wistfully.
They were planning to get married and raise the little girl she adopted, the one who was burned so badly in a house fire years ago.
Addie.
“What happened with you and this Creed character?”
“The agency claimed he was killed.”
“You sound like you don’t believe them.”
“I don’t.”
“Maybe you’re in denial.”
“He’s living in Las Vegas,” she says.
“You’re sure?”
“I Googled him. He recently purchased property there.”
“Have you called him?”
“Of course not!”
“Why?”
“He abandoned us.”
“He’s an asshole,” I said.
She smiled. “You’re right. He’s a complete and utter asshole.”
“But you love him?”
“Hopelessly,” she said. “And I always will.”
“You never dated again? Never fell in love?”
“I actually married a guy. But it didn’t work out.”
“Why not?”
“My heart wasn’t in it.”
“Before or after you Googled Creed?”
“After.”
When the waiter brought the check Kathleen leaned over to reach for it and I caught a down-blouse. The view was nice enough to give me the confidence to see if I could exploit a possible opening.
“Here’s a coincidence,” I said. “Every woman I’ve ever dated told me I was the world’s biggest asshole.”
She shook her head and said, “Nice try.”
IV
My time with Rose is winding down. She’s determined to leave, and no amount of money will convince her to stay. I have no idea what she plans to do in five months and hope whatever it is, she’ll tell me, because maybe I’ll be able to do it, too. With her capable help I’ve saved seven boys and four girls the other doctors gave up on, and I’ve been forced against my will to grace several magazine covers. Money’s flowing into the hospital, and I’m back to working only the hopeless cases, which of course, makes me crazy. I take some comfort from the giant velvet Elvis painting that hangs on the wall of my living room where my shoe photos used to be, but there’s only so much art can do to calm me down, you know?
I keep asking Security Joe how he’s feeling, and tell him he doesn’t look so good. He thinks I’m busting his balls, so he ignores me, which is his way of busting mine. He thinks we’re friends because I got him this job as head of hospital security. I doubt he remembers beating me up and pissing on me all those years ago. I continue to bide my time, waiting for him to get ill so he can take advantage of his free hospital health care.
The pressure’s building up inside me like a volcano.
I’m going to do something bad soon.
Something really risky, to get my head straight.
I’m going to Dublin Devereaux’s house party in a few weeks. Only I’m not going to leave. I’m going to sneak into their basement and camp out a few days if I can, and spy on them, eat their food, drink their liquor, and maybe try to steal something of value. It’ll be tricky because they have all sorts of security and alarms and such. So I’m studying up on home security systems. I called five companies before finding the one who installed their system. Told them I wanted a system identical to the Devereaux’s. Asked them what a burglar could possibly do to defeat it. Got all sorts of information.
But it’s still exceedingly dangerous.
Just the way I like it.
But like I said, that’s weeks from now, and I need a quick fix. I was about to do something really stupid this
