Below Zero

“I’m sorry,” McDougal said, finally, “so you’re not related or friends with Janie Doe in any way?”

Joe and Marybeth shook their heads, but Marybeth said, “We want to be here for her, though.”

“Even though you say you don’t know her?” McDougal said gently, trying to tamp down the doubt and suspicion that lurked beneath her question.

“That’s correct,” Marybeth said.

“Well, that’s interesting.”

Joe said, “Yup.”

McDougal made a point of reading the document on her clipboard studiously, although it was apparent she was really trying to figure out which way she wanted to go with the discussion. She said, “I hate to ask you at a time like this, especially given your, um, lack of a relationship with Janie Doe, but do you know who is responsible for paying for her medical care? Does she have insurance?”

“We have no idea,” Marybeth said flatly.

“Is she a resident of the county?”

Marybeth said, “I doubt it. We heard a rumor she might be from Chicago, but we’ve got no proof of that.”

“Does she qualify for Medicare? Medicaid? Does the State of Illinois have some kind of insurance for its residents?”

“I don’t know,” Marybeth said, steel in her voice.

“How are we going to resolve this?” McDougal asked. “Someone’s got to be responsible.”

“I’m losing my patience with you,” Marybeth said to her. “I know you have a form to fill out, but this is a very difficult situation without easy answers. We’ll work something out, I’m sure.”

After McDougal walked away, her heels clicking down the hallway, Joe asked Marybeth, “Work it out how? This is going to cost thousands of dollars. And if she requires long-term care . . . how can we help her?”

He was surprised when Marybeth responded with a slight conspiratorial smile. “I’ve got an idea,” she said.

Before she could explain, Coon stormed down the hallway. “Joe, there you are. Stenko and Robert’s trail has gone cold and we need to talk. Do you have a minute?”

“Slow down,” Joe said to Coon. “Let me introduce my wife, Marybeth. Marybeth, this is Special Agent Chuck Coon of the FBI.”

Coon took a breath and said to her, “I’m sorry I was rude. I have better manners than that.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “Thank you for what you did to rescue the . . . girl in here.”

Joe could tell she struggled through the last few words.

Coon was confused and looked to Joe for an explanation.

“It’s not April Keeley,” Joe said. “We don’t know who she is and we won’t know unless she comes out of her coma.”

“What?” Coon cried, and bent forward at the waist with his palms out, as if someone had delivered a blow to the back of his neck. “I was hoping she could help us find Stenko. She’s the only one who knows what they’re up to or what they might do next.”

“She can’t talk,” Joe said.

“She may never talk,” Marybeth added softly. “She has very little brain activity. They don’t know if they can bring her back.”

He turned and walked away, cupping the top of his head with his hand, saying, “Jesus, help us.”

Joe said to Marybeth, “I’ll just be a minute.”

“Take your time,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

JOE FOLLOWED COON down the stairs and out through a heavy door marked EMERGENCY EXIT—DO NOT OPEN into a side parking lot of the hospital. The night was crisp and cool, the stars beaming through light cloud cover.

Coon fished a pack of cigarettes out of his sport coat and tapped one out.

“I didn’t know you smoked,” Joe said.

“Officially, I don’t,” Coon said, lighting up. “I haven’t for the past year. Want one?”

“No thanks.”

“So did she say anything at all before she went under?” Coon asked. “Anything at all?”

Joe shook his head.

“Man, this is terrible. Portenson sent me here to question her. We need to know what she knows.”

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, me too. Like I said, Stenko’s trail has gone cold. Portenson’s pulled out all the stops to find him as fast as we can. His name and photo is out nationwide, and he’s doing press conferences and interviews one after the other. We’ve got the national cable news networks interested, and they’re lining up.”

Joe said, “I saw it on the news. I was surprised you guys went so high-profile so fast.”

Coon nodded and sucked on his cigarette. “Yeah, me too. We’ve really got our necks out there this time. With all the stuff that’s been happening with the Bureau in general and our incident this morning in particular, we can’t afford to screw this up worse than it’s already been screwed up. And my boss is nearly crazed. He knows if he