room, at least he could get some work done.
_______
“THIS IS more like the scenery I expected to see in South Florida,” Sean said. They had finally left civilization behind. The four-lane highway lined with strip malls and condominiums had given way to a two-lane road slicing straight across the Everglades.
“It’s breathtakingly beautiful,” Janet said. “It looks almost prehistoric. I half expect to see a brontosaurus rise up from one of these ponds,” she added with a laugh.
They were cruising past oceans of saw grass interspersed with hummocks of pine, palm, and cypress. Exotic birds were everywhere. Some were ghostly white, others iridescent blue. Huge cumulus clouds billowed in the distance, looking whiter than usual against the intense blue sky.
The drive had done much to help calm Janet. She was glad to be leaving Miami and her patients behind. With Sean driving, she had her shoes off and her bare feet planted on the dash. She was dressed in her most comfortable pair of jeans with a simple white cotton shirt. For work she’d had her hair tied back, but she’d taken it down as soon as they’d pulled out of the Forbes lot. With all the car windows rolled down, it was blowing free.
The only problem was the sun. Since they were heading due west, bright sunlight was streaming through the windshield with a vengeance. Both Sean and Janet were wearing their sunglasses, and they had tilted the sun visors in an attempt to keep their faces shaded from the harsh rays.
“I think I’m beginning to understand Florida’s attraction,” Janet said, the sun notwithstanding.
“It makes winter in Boston seem extra cruel,” Sean said.
“How come you didn’t want to take your Isuzu?” Janet asked.
“There’s a little problem with my car,” Sean said.
“What kind of problem?” Janet asked.
“The police are interested in talking to its owner.”
Janet took her feet down from the dash. “I don’t think I like what I’m hearing,” she said. “What’s with the police?”
“The police came to the Forbes residence,” Sean said. “Gary Engels talked with them. I think someone got the tag number from my license plate after the alarm went off at the funeral home.”
“Oh, no!” Janet exclaimed. “Then the police are looking for us.”
“Correction,” Sean said. “They’re looking for me.”
“Oh, God!” Janet said. “If someone saw the license plate then they saw both of us.” She closed her eyes. This was the kind of nightmare she’d feared.
“All they have is a tag number,” Sean said. “That’s hardly evidence.”
“But they can get our fingerprints,” Janet said.
Sean shot her a look of mild disdain. “Be serious,” he said. “They’re not about to send a team of crime scene investigators out to dust the site over a broken window and a cadaver’s missing brain.”
“How do you know?” Janet shot back. “You’re no law enforcement expert. I think we should turn ourselves in to the police and explain everything.”
Sean gave a scornful laugh. “Please! We’re not giving ourselves up. Don’t be ridiculous. Remember, they’re looking for me. They want to talk with me. If worse comes to worst, I’ll take the rap. But it’s not going to come to that. I put in a call to Brian. He knows people in Miami. He’ll fix it.”
“Did you speak to Brian?” Janet asked.
“No, not yet,” Sean admitted. “But I left a message on his answering machine. When we get to the hotel, I’ll try again and leave the hotel number if he’s still not in. By the way, did you bring your credit card?”
“Of course I brought my credit card,” Janet said.
“Thank heaven for your trust fund,” Sean said. He reached over and gave Janet’s knee a playful slap. “I made a reservation at the Ritz Carlton. The Quality Inn was full.”
Janet stared out the passenger-side window, wondering what she was doing with her life. It had nothing to do with the credit card issue. She didn’t mind picking up the tab every now and again. Sean was generous with his money when he had it, and she had more than enough. What bothered her was the fact that they were wanted by the police. It was gallant of Sean to offer to take the rap alone, but Janet knew she couldn’t let him do it even if it did fly, which it probably wouldn’t. Whoever had seen that license plate had seen her too. Falling in love with Sean seemed to be bringing her nothing but grief, first emotionally and now potentially professionally. She wasn’t sure how the Forbes Center would react to having a nurse on staff who was charged with God knows what in connection with a funeral home break-in. She couldn’t think of too many employers who would view that kind of record as a plus.
Janet was on the verge of panic, yet there was Sean, as calm and cocky as ever. He really seemed to be enjoying himself. How he could be so cool and collected knowing the Miami police were searching for him was beyond her. She wondered if she would ever truly understand him.
“What’s the story with Naples, Florida?” Janet asked, deciding to change the subject. “You said you’d explain once we were on our way.”
“Very simple,” Sean said. “One of the patients from that group of thirty-three lives in Naples. His name is Malcolm Betencourt.”
“One of the medulloblastoma patients in remission?” Janet asked.
“Yup,” Sean said. “One of the first to be treated. He’s been in remission for almost two years.”
“What do you plan to do?”
“Call him up.”
“And say what?”
“I don’t know exactly,” Sean said. “I’ll have to improvise. I think it would be interesting to hear about the Forbes treatment from the patient’s point of view. I’m especially curious as to what they told him. They had to have told him something just to get the informed consent forms signed.”
“What makes you think he’ll talk to you?” Janet asked.
“How could he resist my Irish charm?” Sean said.
“Seriously,” Janet said. “People don’t like to talk about their infirmities.”
“Infirmities, perhaps,” Sean admitted. “But recovery from an otherwise terminal illness is something else. You’d be surprised. People love to talk about that kind of thing and the world-famous doctor who made it happen. Have you ever noticed how people like to think their doctor is world famous, even if he practices someplace like Malden or Revere?”
“I think you have a lot of chutzpah,” Janet said. She wasn’t convinced that Malcolm Betencourt would be receptive to Sean’s call, but she also knew she wouldn’t be able to do anything to prevent Sean from trying. Besides, except for this new worry about the Miami police, the idea of a weekend away was still delicious, even if Sean had an ulterior aim in mind. She even thought that she and Sean might finally have a moment to talk about their future. After all, aside from Malcolm Betencourt, she’d have Sean to herself without interruption.
“How did you make out with the sample of Louis Martin’s medicine?” Janet asked. She thought she’d keep the conversation light until they got to dinner. She could imagine a candlelight dinner on a terrace overlooking the sea. Then she’d talk about commitment and love.
Sean flashed Janet a look of frustration. “I was interrupted by the charming head of research,” he said. “She read me the riot act and told me I had to go back to the Forbes glycoprotein baloney. She really caught me off guard; for once words failed me. I couldn’t think of anything clever to say.”
“I’m sorry,” Janet said.
“Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later,” Sean said. “But even before the harpy showed up I wasn’t doing that great. I haven’t been able to get Helen’s medicine to react with any antigen, cellular, viral, or bacterial. But you must be right about the medicine all coming from a single batch. I ran a sample of Louis’s medicine against Helen’s tumor and it reacted just as strongly at the same dilutions as Helen’s.”
“So they use the same medicine,” Janet said. “What’s the big deal? When people are treated with an antibiotic, they all get the same drug. Labeling the drug for each patient is probably more a matter of control than anything else.”
