wondered how would she manage to care for three young children by herself in the aftermath of her own major surgery.
It was clear that Teresa’s mother was more than willing to help out, but Ali could see that Maria Delgado’s physical condition severely limited what she could realistically do. Ali was willing to help out, too, but not indefinitely. She wanted to be back in Sedona soon so she could participate in the garden planting project. She for sure had to be home by the following Sunday. That was when the two new Askins scholarship winners were due to come to their individually scheduled sessions of tea.
That was when it hit her. Two of her previous Askins winners, the ones from three years ago, were here in Tucson going to school. Haley Marsh, who had finished high school as the single mother of a two-year-old, was a junior honors student in the University of Arizona’s nursing program. A five-year-old of her own qualified her as experienced in looking after little kids. Maybe she’d be willing to pick up some pocket money by helping Teresa. Before Ali could call and ask, however, her phone sent an alert that she had received a text message.
Ali herded the girls and their grandmother into the maternity waiting room, then stepped back into the hallway to check her phone. By then there were several messages, all of them from Stuart Ramey, all of them featuring photographs of the man the hospital receptionist had described to Sister Anselm—red sweatshirt, baseball cap, carrying the potted plant. Even in the tiny image on Ali’s iPhone, the guy looked furtive, like he was deliberately concealing his face from the security cameras.
Ali was looking at the last photo when her phone rang with a voice call. This time Stuart was on the phone. “I think you and Sister Anselm could be on to something,” he said. “Your guy looks suspicious as hell to me. He did a pretty good job of keeping his face from showing. He sure could be up to no good.”
“The images you sent me are the best ones?”
“Yes.”
Ali was discouraged. She had hoped that the photos would be a lot clearer. “Other than the clothing which could easily be changed, the photos don’t give us much to go on.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Stuart said. “I’m working another angle.”
“What’s that?”
“I probably shouldn’t do it and for sure shouldn’t talk about it on the phone,” Stuart replied. “If it works, I’ll let you know.”
With that, he hung up. Ali went back to the waiting room. With Maria worried about Teresa, Ali decided to take the girls with her to Jose’s waiting room. “I have an idea,” she told them. “Why don’t we go see if anybody has told your daddy about your brother?”
As the girls dashed ahead, Ali pulled out her phone. “Hey,” she said when Haley Marsh answered. “How would you like to earn a few extra bucks doing some fill-in babysitting?” While Ali was talking to Haley, Lucy and Carinda disappeared into the ICU waiting room. They immediately bounded right back out.
“He’s gone,” Lucy wailed. “He’s not there anymore. They took him away. Daddy’s bed’s gone, too.”
Worried, Ali quickly ended the call. Fortunately, the charge nurse came hurrying out on the girls’ heels.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “We moved your daddy to a different room, one where you can go see him. And I’m sure he’d like to see you, too. He was awake the last I saw, and he can talk, but he’s still very sick. You have to promise to use hand sanitizer before you go into his room. Okay?”
“Okay,” Lucy said. “Can Carrie come, too?”
“Both of you,” the charge nurse said. “One other thing. You have to be very gentle around your daddy. You can’t get on his bed, and he won’t be able to hold you. He has a big owie on his tummy. Do you think you can remember all that?”
Lucy nodded. “Can we go right now? Should we bring a Band-Aid for his owie?”
The charge nurse shook her head. “I’m not sure a Band-Aid will do the trick.”
Lucy was already on her way out the door, but Ali caught her and dragged her back. “Just a minute,” Ali said. “I need to see Sister Anselm for a moment. You two wait right here.”
Ali went as far as the doorway to Jane Doe’s room and tapped on the frame. Both patient and attendant seemed to be sleeping. Sister Anselm came to attention and hurried over to the door. She might not have been as spry as usual, but considering she had just done an all-nighter, Ali was impressed.
“What’s up?” Sister Anselm asked.
“Jose’s been moved out of ICU. The girls and I are on our way to tell him that the baby is fine.”
“How about Teresa?”
“In recovery,” Ali said, “and the less said about that, the better. But here’s something you should take a look at.” She cued up Stuart’s photos and passed her iPhone to Sister Anselm.
Sister Anselm studied the photos. “It looks like he’s deliberately concealing his features.”
“That’s what I thought,” Ali agreed.
“Can we go now?” Lucy insisted. “Please! And I need to go potty.”
Taking the phone back and hoisting Carinda onto her hip, Ali set off toward reception. The hospital was laid out with wings spreading out from a central hub. After a stop at the first available restroom, they went to admitting, where they were given directions to Jose’s new room.
Jose greeted them with a wan smile. “Hey,” he croaked. “How are my girls?”
“Daddy, Daddy!” Lucy exclaimed. “We’ve got a brother. He’s real little. And he’s all red.”
Jose looked to Ali for confirmation. “Isn’t this too early?”
“Evidently not,” Ali said. “We just came from the nursery. He’s fine.”
“And Teresa?”
“She’s in recovery. She had to have a C-section.”
“What’s a C-section?” Lucy asked again. Ali hadn’t answered the question the first time, and she didn’t this time, either.
“Is she all right?” Jose asked.
“As far as we know,” Ali said. “Your mother-in-law is with her. I’ve called a friend in Tucson to come help out with the girls.” Whoever had transported Jose from the ICU had been kind enough to collect the stash of kids’ stuff from the waiting room. Ali parked both girls in a chair, handed them a sticker book, and turned her attention to Jose.
“I can’t believe it’s Sunday,” he said. “How can I have lost two whole days?”
“It’s easy,” Ali said.
“But what are you doing here?”
“I came to help when Donnatelle had to leave.”
“Donnatelle? From the academy? From Yuma? She was here, too? Did I see her?”
“No. Teresa was the only visitor allowed in the ICU.”
“How did Donnatelle find out about it?”
“A Blue Alert went out on Saturday morning. She came as soon as she got off her shift.”
“It’s like you all thought I was gonna die.”
“You came very close,” Ali said. “So who did this? Do you have any idea?”
He frowned. “It’s fuzzy. I was at work. I was making a traffic stop, and then
“Tummy,” Lucy corrected from the chair. “‘Gut’ isn’t a nice word. Can we see your owie?”
“Did they catch her?” Jose asked.
Ali shook her head. “Do you know who it was?”
“Not a clue,” Jose said. “That’s all I remember: an older woman with cataract glasses. And a scarf, I think. Yes. She was definitely wearing a scarf.”
Ali took out her phone and dialed Juanita Cisco’s number. “One of your clients is awake at the moment,” Ali said when the attorney answered. “For someone who’s been out of it for a day and a half, he’s making pretty good sense. You’d better come talk to him before Lattimore gets a crack at him.”
Jose was frowning when Ali got off the phone. “Who was that on the phone? And who is Lattimore?”
“Lattimore is the DPS agent investigating your shooting. The woman on the phone is Juanita Cisco, your attorney.”
“Why would I need an attorney? I’m the one who got shot. The woman who shot me is the one who needs an attorney.”
