“May I help you?” she said as I sat down.
“I certainly hope so.” I smiled, putting all the charm I had into it. I leaned forward so that she would know it was important. “You are the one I’ve been looking for. I’m gonna make you a star.”
She put her hand across her ample chest and blinked her eyes shyly as if to say, Who me? Heavens no.
“You ever done TV before?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Never,” she said. Then she thought some more. “Well, once I was on the evening news. They interviewed me about the CTA bus fare hike. Does that count?”
I shook my head. “It’s a start.”
She looked around to make sure no one was listening. When she was satisfied, she leaned forward and said, “My mother always told me I had a face for TV. For some reason I just never thought to pursue it.”
“I know a couple of agents,” I said. “There’s a lot of TV work here with all the shows like Chicago Fire and Empire shooting in the city.”
“I’ve always wondered if there was extra work,” she said, leaning forward even more. Her voice quivered with excitement.
I looked around the office. “What time they let you out of this place?”
She turned and looked back at the clock. “In about an hour when all of the examination rooms are empty.”
“Perfect,” I said. “My name is Dwayne McHenry. We can grab a coffee or something if you have time.” I extended my hand.
“Regina,” she said, taking my hand. “Regina Dalrymple.”
“I think I saw a celebrity just leaving your office,” I said, lowering my voice. “She was getting on the elevator as I was getting off.”
Regina’s eyes lit up. “Who was it?” she said.
“I’m not certain, but I think it was the daughter of one of the richest men in the city.” I closed my eyes as if deep in thought. “His name is Randolph Gerrigan, I think. Lives somewhere up there on the North Shore with the rest of the billionaires.”
Regina’s eyes widened. She looked around to make sure no one was paying us any attention and said, “Oh my God, Dwayne! You saw Tinsley Gerrigan.” She put her hand on top of mine. “I shouldn’t be saying anything, because I could get in big trouble for it. Patient confidentiality is really important, especially in our office. But you must be used to dealing with celebrities and their privacy.”
“A big part of my job,” I said. “I just wasn’t expecting someone like her to be leaving your office.”
“You’d be surprised,” Regina said. “We get them all. Wives and secret girlfriends of professional athletes, actresses from Second City, news anchors. If you want the best baby doctors in Chicago, you come to us.”
“Is this Gerrigan woman nice?” I asked.
Regina hummed her approval. “Couldn’t be sweeter,” she said.
“Well, at least she can afford these expensive medical bills,” I said. “I’ve heard that having a baby can set you back a little.”
She leaned closer to me. “Last time she came in, she paid her bill in cash. Just pulled out a stack of hundreds and paid the entire thing.”
I shook my head. “How could a girl from such a rich family not have medical insurance?”
“Oh, that wasn’t the problem,” Regina said. “She definitely has insurance. But she wants to remain anonymous. The girlfriends of the married athletes do the same thing. They come in with Gucci bags stuffed with cash.”
“How expensive are these appointments?”
“Really expensive. Good baby doctors aren’t cheap.”
“A few hundred a visit?”
“More than that. And if they have something like an ultrasound, forget it.”
“Try me.”
Regina ran her fingers across her keyboard. I moved slightly so that I could get a better look at the screen. She had typed in Tinsley’s name. The screen showed her alias to be Jennifer Bronson. I quickly scanned down the screen and found her emergency contact information. No name had been listed, just a phone number. I committed it to memory.
“Could be as much as twenty-seven hundred for one visit,” Regina said. “It gets pricey when you have a level two exam.”
I decided to stick with a soft approach. “The doctors here must be really good,” I said.
“They are,” she said. “But what makes you say that?”
I leaned forward a little and looked furtively around to signify what I was about to say was important.
“I just got to thinking about how special a place it must be if such high-profile clients trust you guys with something so important as their babies. That’s a reflection of you too. You’re around celebrities and socialites all the time. They have the money to go anywhere, and they choose your office. That’s saying something.”
“And for the most part, they are very respectful.” She leaned in. “But you know how some of them can be, especially the ones from the North Side. But the Gerrigan woman is a North Sider, and she doesn’t have her nose all turned up. Very down to earth.”
“Her baby will be lucky to have her as a mother,” I said.
“Babies,” Regina whispered.
“Twins?”
“Identical boys.”
“Wow, she’s gonna be busy.”
“Very,” Regina said. “She’s a little different.”
“How?”
Regina leaned closer. “Just like with paying cash and not using her real name,” she said. “Everything is such a secret. Dr. Calderone, the mother, is very protective of her. Won’t let anyone else in the practice see her, not even her daughter. She rarely does that. One of the nurses said it was something the patient insisted on.”
“Must be tough,” I said. “At a time when you should be the happiest and sharing the news of your pregnancy with the world, and you have to go it alone for fear someone is going to recognize you. And everyone thinks it’s so easy being rich and famous.”
“Oh, she’s not alone,” Regina said. “She has good support from what I’ve seen. One time the father of the baby came with her. He was very affectionate. Holding her hand and talking to her nicely. And he’s . . .” She
