“Carrie Ashby?” someone called as Carrie slowly rose to her feet with her handbag, and squeezed Ryan’s hand before disappearing into the inner office.
He picked up a magazine and thumbed through it without really seeing it, pondering on whether or not he should just make an appointment for himself.
Ryan had been all for it, but ultimately decided that Carrie needed it more than he did. It didn’t mean that he didn’t care, but his wife had completely fallen apart from this.
It seemed like Carrie was gone for quite a bit when the door suddenly opened, and to his surprise they called him to come inside.
Hesitantly, Ryan followed the receptionist down a long hallway and into an office where Carrie sat on a plush sofa. He didn’t miss the mounds of used tissues littered around her, or the redness of her eyes which told him that she was pretty upset.
“Mr. Ashby, I am Dr. Cooke.” the doctor said with a soft smile, “Please come in.”
She was a middle-aged woman, handsome and all business as she made brief pleasantries with him and then started asking him questions.
How was he holding up?
Did he have trouble sleeping?
Was he suffering from anxiety?
And all kinds of things as Carrie sat quietly, holding his hand.
“Ryan....may I call you Ryan?” she asked as he nodded. “Carrie has something that she would like to say to you. I am here just as a mediator. Nothing more. This is an open forum and you are free to speak your mind here without worry. Anything you want.”
“Okay.” Ryan said, wondering where this was leading to.
“Carrie?” the doctor said, as Carrie shifted in her seat and faced him.
“Ryan. I know we’ve had a hard time with this, and I’m not blaming you, but I really wish that you had been there when I had the baby. Maybe she wouldn’t have gotten taken if you had been there to keep an eye on things. I was there all by myself...”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
He had gotten there as fast as he could and it was not his fault that Joan took forever to call him, which is something he had told the police about. When he asked, he had been told that Carrie had been in labor nearly fifteen minutes before Joan finally called him.
“I got there as fast as I could, Carrie.” He said with barely contained anger, as Carrie’s eyes filled with tears. “You know, maybe if you hadn’t gone traipsing around with your friend Joan in the first place, when you knew how I felt about it, maybe you wouldn’t have gone into early labor!”
“Ryan.....” the doctor tried to reason, but it was too late.
“So it’s my fault?” Carrie sobbed, as Ryan jumped to his feet and started pacing the room. “I had just had a baby! What was I supposed to do!?”
He was so mad right now that he couldn’t even see straight. He had to get out of here before he said something that he couldn’t take back.
“Glad to know how you really feel.” He snarled at her as her shoulders shook with sobs and she covered her eyes, “You know, since this is an open forum and all.”
Ryan could hear Carrie wail his name as he slammed out of the office and down the hall. He went straight to the car, almost tempted to leave her ass there.
He had felt the hostility exude from her the first day or so after this had happened, and he knew some part of her blamed him. But for her to actually say it out loud was something that he wasn’t prepared to deal with.
They were supposed to be in this, together, and he’d been off drinking. She hated when he drank, and she used the opportunity to blame him.
Ryan thought about this often as guilt stabbed at him.
But then she had made her own decision to go out, even after he’d told her to be careful.
How was that his fault?
Obviously, they had a deeper problem here that required more therapy.
Carrie came out a few minutes later and hesitated as she approached the car, before finally getting into the passenger seat.
They didn’t say a word to each other during the ten minute ride home and when he pulled up to the front of the house, his jaw remained set rigidly as Carrie got out of the car.
The minute she closed the door, he squealed off leaving her there staring after him sadly.
He needed a drink.
***
The woman worked quickly while she had the office to herself, casting a look over her shoulder at the empty hallway through the large glass walls. Plugging her cell phone jack into the front of the computer tower, she was able to move files from the computer and to her phone.
She had thought about this long and hard, and it was the right thing to do.
She needed to make it right.
As she looked furtively over her shoulder again, she could hear voices in the hall and she silently urged the computer to work faster as she watched the green color fill an opaque rectangular bar at a snail’s pace, from left to right on the computer’s built-in monitor as well as on her phone’s screen.
(6) files have been moved to folder ASHBY
Working quickly, she backtracked and removed all evidence of the video files being copied from the server and snatched her phone up, the universal serial bus cable jerking free from the computer’s port just as someone came into the room.
“Hi.” She said with a pretty smile, tucking the USB cable stealthily into the pocket of her jacket as the man stared at her. He was a relatively new employee and she struggled to think of his name. “Dave, right?”
The man nodded, his green eyes on her intently and then on the computer she’d been at before and then back at her again.
“What are you doing in here? This area’s off limits.” He said, but he looked nervous at being caught outside of the server room. There was usually always someone here in this room because of the amount of data stored there, to protect it. The room was always to be monitored, yet Dave had left his station. Probably for a smoke, from the smell of tobacco coming off of his uniform jacket.
There were nine computer towers, each with their own little built-in screen so that the IT techs could access or move files whenever they chose or on command from the Security Director, Charles Armbruster.
“I was looking for Charles. He said he wanted to talk to me about something with one of the servers. Is he around?” she asked.
“Oh.” He said, seeming as if he recognized her now. “I think he’s downstairs somewhere.”
“Okay, I’ll come back later.” She said quickly, leaving as she felt the man’s suspicious stare burn into her back.
She only hoped he hadn’t seen her unplug her phone from the computer. She knew that there were no cameras in the office, but there was one out in the hall that may have picked something up. She kicked herself for not remembering to disable it.
She couldn’t worry about it now.
Back in her office, the woman connected her cell phone to the computer and then printed out the pictures to her local printer, not wanting to take a chance doing it on the network printer and IT tracing the print job back to her. She put the newly printed cell phone photos she’d taken on the sly, added a flash-drive containing the videos and packed them into a large envelope, along with documentation showing this person’s information, or at least what she’d been told.
She had already uploaded the files to the safety of one of her many online hard-drives, for insurance reasons in case they tried to set her up to take the fall. The shit was going to hit the fan, and soon. The hospital was on heightened alert and new security protocol had already been implemented.
It wasn’t going to be easy, but again it would be easier than living with the guilt she had for the past month.
Before she could change her mind, the tall red-head took the envelope and her purse, leaving her office and heading to the post office kiosk in the main lobby.
***
Detective Sandford Chandler was looking over the papers he’d received at the station, addressed directly to him with no
return address. They were photos of a woman, whose face was hidden by her dark hair, but the baby tucked in her arms was clear as day.
It was the Ashby baby.
It had to be.
There was also a timestamp on the bottom corner of the photo, dated approximately at the time of the abduction.
Sandy got up and walked towards the doorway of his office and stuck his head out. He saw his partner sitting on the edge of her desk, her well-toned legs crossed as she spoke on her cell phone. She had been with him for about six months, and although they didn’t look it, they got on very well. If he had ever had a daughter, he would want her to be like Millie.
Twenty-three year old Millicent Harvey had graduated from the police academy practically right after her twenty-first birthday. She had been an auxiliary officer in her Manhasset neighborhood in her teens and had come from a family of cops.
Father, both brothers and two uncles had been or were still in some sort of law enforcement. A cousin of hers had died during 9/11 and it had hit her hard, since the two had been the same age and had grown up on the same block.
But nothing was going to stop her.
Millie lived to be a cop and it was obvious she loved her job.
She had risen up through the ranks quickly, promoted to detective only a year ago and then sent here.
She had plenty of letters of commendation in her file and the kid was sharp.
He was nuts about her.
“Millie, can you come in here for a second?” he asked, as the young blonde woman gave him a quick nod as she finished up her phone call.
A moment later she was at his desk.
“What’s up, Dee?” she asked, as he shook his head and handed her the photos.
“Looks like someone is trying to tell us something.”
Millie nodded as she looked over the close-up shots that appeared to have been taken with a mobile phone and then set them down on the desk.
“Interesting.” Millie said, hands on her narrow hips as Sandy spread out the rest of the documentation hastily written on hospital stationery. “Hospital?”
“Hospital.” Sandy answered, as they both grabbed their jackets and headed out the door.
chapter five
Joan paced back and forth in front of the Applebee’s that she’d been waiting in front of for over twenty minutes. Just as she was about to give up and go back to the hotel, a black SUV rolled to a stop in front of her. Joan quickly got into the car with its black tinted windows and they drove off.
“What took you so long?” she demanded as the man in the driver’s seat kept quiet and didn’t answer.
“Relax, Joan.” He sighed, fed up with her already and she hadn’t even been in his car for thirty seconds. He didn’t say anything else as he eased the car out onto Veteran’s, heading towards the Long Island Expressway.
“You’re taking the L.I.E.?” Joan practically shouted with barely masked annoyance, looking at the traffic that was building up on the highway as they neared the expressway.
“We won’t be on it long.” The man replied and then sneered a moment later as his eyes rolled over her. “You just can’t wait, can you?”
Joan didn’t say anything as they continued on in silence. She didn’t like this asshole, or the fact that he was getting too deep into her business. She also didn’t trust him, or the fact that he’d brought a fourth person into this deal.
But she was definitely going to say something about it when they got there.
***
Carrie sighed and rolled over to tuck her head against Ryan’s chest like she always did but she startled fully awake as she realized that he was not lying next to her.
Then she remembered.
He had been sleeping on the couch ever since they’d gone to the therapist three days ago. She got out of bed and headed towards the living room to see if he was up yet.
“Ry....”
Carrie stopped short as she saw that he was already gone, and she let her shoulders droop in despair.
She hated this.
She hated fighting with him.
She made herself a bowl of oatmeal, which remained untouched as she scrolled through the contact list on her cell phone.
“I need to talk to you.” She whispered into the iPhone a moment later, her voice quivering as she spoke. “Please call me back when you get this message. I don’t want to fight anymore.”
Carrie ended the call, hoping for the best with her simple message, threw out the oatmeal and then took a shower before getting dressed.
She would pack a bag, just in case she had to leave.
Whatever happened, things could not stay as they were.
That much was certain.
***
Sandy walked up to the nurse’s station in the maternity ward, showing his badge as he asked to speak to Nurse Hallowell. She was the head nurse they had spoken to when they’d first picked up the case from Detective Anson.
“I’m sorry, but Nurse Hallowell is not in today.”
“When will she be available?” Millie asked, making a notation on her notepad. “It’s important.”
“We’re not sure.” The young nurse apologized, “I think she had a family emergency or something.”
“Thank you for your time.” Sandy said, giving Millie a look as they turned and headed back towards the elevators.
“Pretty convenient don’t you think, Dee?” Millie said as Sandy nodded.
Something was off here.
They managed to cover some more ground in regards to the whereabouts of Nurse Hallowell, but basically no one seemed to know what was going on with the woman.
“Let’s try her place.” Sandy said as they headed towards the Human Resources Department. “I don’t like this. If she’s in charge of the ward, she’s gotta know something.”
“Well let’s get to it, then.” Millie said as she opened the glass door leading into the Human Resources Department, pulling out her badge and presenting it as she asked for the office manager.
In a matter of moments, they were comfortably seated in a plush office with windows overlooking the inner courtyard, the sea of white and teal blue as doctors, nurses, interns and other hospital personnel sat outside having coffee or lunch. Although it was officially fall, the weather still had a summertime feel to it and Sandy felt his armpits getting moist as they sat in the stuffy office.
“Ellen is such a devoted worker, and has been with us for years...” the manager began as they waited for the assistant to return, obviously very uncomfortable with having two police detectives in her office. “She’s not in any kind of serious trouble, is she?”
“We can’t divulge that information, ma’am.” Millie said as Sandy leaned forward in his chair.
“We just have some questions for her since she was the head nurse in charge during the Ashby abduction.
“Those poor people.” The manager, Addie, said sadly as she shook her head. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard that something like this had happened here. Has there been any news of the baby?”
“We’re trying to get to the bottom of it.” Sandy replied as the assistant scurried in with a manila folder and set it on the desk.
“Thank you, Ann.” Addie said as she opened it and pulled up the first sheet lying there. “Here’s her address, phone number....”
“Thank you.” Sandy said, taking down the information, relieved that she hadn’t given them a hard time about it. Most people asked to see a warrant, which would usually hold things up for hours, days even. “We’ll be in touch.”
“If I can do anything else to help...”
“Thank you again.” Sandy said, with a quick nod as he and Millie left.
They headed outside and to their car, with Millie looking at the information and then back at the hospital.
“That was nice and easy, wasn’t it?”
“I guess.” Millie mused, as she shook her head while she looked in the folder and rifled through the information there.
“I don’t know, Dee. That was a bit too easy. Something still doesn’t feel right.”
“Well, all we can do is check out this address and see what we come up with.” Sandy said as they got to the car and Millie got into the driver’s seat of the black Ford Crown Victoria as he sat on the passenger side.
“Do we really have to drive all the way out to Ronkonkoma?” he grumbled as Millie slipped her designer sunglasses on, smiling as she started the engine.
“All part of the job.”
***
Ryan was using the electric saw on site when his boss called out to him.
“Ashby!” he bellowed over the noise, “Get over here!”
Ryan nodded, and stopped the saw, flipping the safety switch before he left it and took off his goggles.
He had gotten there super early and had hit the liquor store on his way in. It wasn’t a big deal, but he needed a little something just to get him through after a long, hard workday.
“What’s up, boss?” he asked as Roberto, the other man on the crew, joined them.
“We’ve been called off the job for now. Financing fell through.”
“Fuck!” Roberto swore as Ryan let out a heavy sigh.
“Sorry, fellas, but that’s just the way it is sometimes. They can’t pay so we can’t finish the job right now. Pack up and go home.”
“Marc.” Ryan said as Roberto stormed off, angrily shaking his head. He had four kids and one on the way. His wife was a stay-at-home mother because they couldn’t afford child-care. He had needed this job. “Is there anything else at all? I’m scuffling, man.”
The slightly older man nodded, clapping a meaty hand on his broad shoulder. “I know this fucks up everything for us all, but there’s really nothing I can do. They don’t got it, they don’t got it. As it is, I am going to have to fight to get what they still owe us for what we’ve done already this week. I’ll be sure and get it to you and Robbie. Hopefully something will come up between now and then.”
“Thanks, boss.” Ryan said as Marc slapped him heartily on the back and walked away, already on his cell phone to chew someone out over what had happened.
“Shit.” Ryan hissed as he gave a nearby crate a savage kick, glad that he had that bottle of Smirnoff in the car.
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