HARMED_Seconds From Revenge 2

by Dr L. Jan Eira

  “Probably not,” said Susan. “I’ll talk to him. He may help us unofficially and behind the scenes.”

  Claire nodded her head. “Kate, find out if Lagrange is a patient with the Evansville Heart Associates. If he is, get an address, phone number, car plates, and the day of his next visit. Anything you can think of that might be useful.” Kate nodded. “I will go around to all the pharmacies here in town with Lagrange’s picture and see if they have any patients on antirejection medications for heart transplantation.”

  The three women got up, resolve all over their faces.

  “Susan, your job is to go have a beautiful, healthy baby.” Claire flung a smirk at Susan and touched her pregnant belly.

  “I can do more than that, Claire.” Susan smiled. “Don’t make me out to be an invalid.”

  “Continue to open doors for us with your police and FBI contacts. You can be the point person for all of us. We’ll report our findings to you, and you keep Jack in the loop.”

  “I’ll also get them to delay Jack’s departure from the local jail. It’ll be easier for us if he stays here in town rather than be transferred to the state prison,” said Susan, invigorated.

  “When are you due?” said Kate.

  “Last week,” said Susan and Claire, almost in unison. They laughed, got up, and walked out of the courthouse building.

  Claire beamed, full of determination. “Now, let’s go find us a criminal.”

  CHAPTER 44

  Claire researched first where the pharmacies were located. Next, her attention turned to antirejection medications. Patients undergoing cardiac transplantation require treatment for some time with drugs that suppress the immune system to avoid rejecting the donor’s heart. Prograf, Claire discovered, is the most crucial agent used for this application. Since the number of patients undergoing heart transplantation in a relatively small city like Evansville was limited, or so she hoped, the plan was to use this information to narrow the field of search for the assassin.

  Claire then called the pharmacies and asked if they had the immunosuppressant Prograf in stock under the pretext that she was a heart transplant recipient and was looking to purchase the drug. She heard repeatedly that this agent was exceptionally rarely used and that it would take a special order to obtain it. She surmised that the pharmacy presently supplying Prograf to Lagrange would have the drug in stock.

  From a list of over a hundred pharmacies, she narrowed the directory down to twelve. The next step was to narrow those twelve establishments down to the actual pharmacy providing Lagrange with the immunosuppressant.

  She purchased a map of the city and painstakingly placed a red mark corresponding to each of these pharmacies. She began with the ones closest to the hospital.

  “My name is Dr. Claire Norris. I’m a doctor at Newton Memorial. I’m looking for this man. He’s a patient of mine. Have you ever seen him?” She placed the large photograph of Lagrange at eye level, facing the pharmacy employee. She repeated this process again and again. She tried to avoid the actual pharmacist who, she reasoned, might hit her with the HIPAA violation thing. She rationalized that the hourly employees behind the counter would be less likely to be aware of the strict patient privacy regulation imposed nowadays by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Was this really against the HIPAA regulations? She wasn’t sure, but it would be better not to find out. She pressed on, asking as many people as she could find to look at the picture.

  No takers. After several hours of canvassing, no one had admitted to ever having seen the man in the picture. Claire was exhausted, having been at this for over six hours. She took a break and called her parents, who were babysitting Nick and Trinity. All was well on the home front. She entered another pharmacy.

  CHAPTER 45

  Kate took a deep breath and prepared mentally to make the call.

  “Joy, how are you? It’s Kate. Kate Fanning,” she said into the phone.

  “How are you, Kate? Long time no see. Or hear.”

  “I know, I know. Listen, I need a huge favor. Can I buy you lunch?”

  “Always game for a free lunch. When and where?”

  “Today. I want to bring lunch for the entire staff. I’ll be there at noon.”

  “Wow, you’re very generous, Kate. What’s going on?”

  “I’ll explain everything later. How about pizza?”

  “Pizza’s fine.”

  They hung up. Kate got busy with the necessary arrangements. After ordering the food, she drove to the parking lot of the office where her friend worked. Scheming, Kate sat in her car. What would be the best tactic? Should she be sneaky? Should she come up with a story to try to get results? He’s a psych-heart patient who disappeared, and we need to find him! Kate strategized. She shook her head. He’s a drug seeker, and I’m here to warn you to be aware of it in case he comes to see you at this office. She wrinkled her nose. He’s a damned mass murderer who put my doctor in jail for a crime he himself committed.

  At noon, a van from a local pizzeria pulled up to the front of the Evansville Heart Associates office and delivered several pizzas and soft drinks to the lunchroom. Kate was already in the waiting room. The receptionist promised she would alert Joy of Kate’s arrival and returned with a message that she should wait a few minutes. A long moment later, Joy peeked through the window looking out to the waiting room. She smiled ear to ear and pointed to the entrance door. The door opened, and the women hugged. Joy escorted Kate to the lunchroom, where the stacked boxes liberated an appetizing aroma, making stomachs churn in anticipation.

  “This is Kate Fanning. I must warn you, she’s our competition. But she’s one of my best friends ever,” said Joy, looking at several employees entering the break area.

  “I need your help,” said Kate. “All of you.”

  With smiles on hand, the nursing staff got their food and drink and sat down.

  When everyone was settled, Kate said, “A terrible thing has happened over At Newton Memorial Outpatient Clinic.” She looked those present in the eye, her gaze floating from one to the other. “Do you remember the Rat Poison incident three years ago? Well, the one bad guy who escaped is back for revenge. And he’s winning. He has my doctor, Dr. Jack Norris, in prison. It’s a long story, but we think that the bad guy may be a patient here. I have his picture.” Kate produced a photograph from her purse. “Will you all please look at it and see if you recognize him?”

  She passed the picture around. Several of the nurses put their pizza down and got up to gather around the one holding the picture.

  “I don’t know him,” said one of the nurses.

  “I’ve never seen him before,” said another.

  “He’s a master of disguise. He may have had a moustache or beard. Notice his eyes are a little yellowish.” Kate felt a growing sense of discouragement.

  “I’ve never seen this man in here,” said another nurse, who passed the picture to someone else.

  “Will you keep the picture and show it around? Maybe your doctors would take a look?” asked Kate, her forlorn gaze on Joy.

  Joy took the picture. “I’ll let you know if anybody remembers seeing this guy.”

  Business out of the way, Kate got some food and a glass of water and sat down with her old nursing-school roommate. They talked and remembered good and bad times spent together in years past. The nurses thanked Kate for lunch and returned to work.

  Kate left the office feeling empty and deflated. She had been optimistic that this trip would give her a momentous push into the resolution of this mess. She fished her mobile phone from her purse and dialed.

  “Susan, no luck from the Evansville Heart Associates office,” she said.

  “I just heard from Claire, Kate. She had no luck with the Evansville pharmacies, either. Next step is Indy.”

  CHAPTER 46

  Kate and Frank’s drive to Indiana
polis was uneventful and provided ample time to rehearse the plan of action.

  “Thank you for setting up this interview so quickly,” said Dr. Frank Hanes, shaking Patti Uma’s hand. “This is my fiancée, Kate.”

  As the recruiter responsible to bring in new medical personnel to be interviewed by the group, Patti wore a perpetual happy face and portrayed the social butterfly. She was plump and red faced with a cute button nose and freckles. She wore a light-blue pantsuit and jacket over a white frilly shirt.

  “We’ve become very busy here over the last year or so and are interviewing both cardiologists and nurses. When you told me your fiancée is a cardiac nurse, I couldn’t wait another second to bring you on in.”

  Kate and Frank nodded.

  Patti looked at Frank. “I’ll have you meet several of our key cardiologists.” She smiled as she helped prop open a door leading into the back office. The couple followed her as she walked toward a woman sitting at a desk in a small office. Patti’s gaze found Kate’s. “This is Gretchen. She’s our chief of nursing. I’m going to leave you with her, Kate. She’ll show you what we do here.” Patti’s eyes drifted to Frank’s. “Dr. Hanes, I’m going to take you to meet some of our doctors.”

  Frank’s hand touched Kate’s as the two were about to separate. Kate gave his silent look a nod.

  “I’ll come back for both of you at noon to go to lunch with our chief executive officer and some of the medical directors,” said Patti as she and Frank disappeared from sight, leaving Kate and Gretchen in the office alone.

  The plan was working beautifully. Kate needed to find a way to establish whether Lagrange was a patient in this cardiology practice and if so, thieve his demographic information. As these thoughts went through her head, Kate lightly patted her purse containing Lagrange’s picture. At some point she envisioned showing the photograph around, hoping to get a name to go with the face. When and how to do it was still up in the air.

  Gretchen made Kate feel especially welcomed. She explained her procedures in the back office and often asked Kate how they did similar tasks in Evansville.

  “Having a nurse who’s already trained in this position is a huge bonus. I hope you and your fiancé decide to come work with us,” said Gretchen.

  The nurses spoke for about an hour as Kate followed Gretchen around, observing her routine. Kate watched the old pro at her post. She worked the different computer stations with ease, moving from program to program, dealing with problem after problem. She described how each program helped solve the different issues at hand.

  “This patient needs a prescription refilled,” said Gretchen. “This program allows me to search for the patient’s name and ID number. It also gives me the patient’s pharmacy phone number.” She paused. “Ah, here he is. This embedded program allows me to verify his prescriptions and dosages. He is on Coreg CR at eighty milligrams daily. No annotations about any problems or changes. So it’s a go.” She pointed her mouse at a button on the screen and clicked it. “That easy.”

  Her computer ID, Kate noticed, was always the same—Gretchen—as was her password, gretchenrn123. She committed the information to memory.

  Kate remained unsure as to what to do and how to approach the situation. How should she ask the question she drove to Indianapolis to ask? Would a wall of HIPAA concerns be immediately raised and stop her progress? I’m not allowed to divulge patient information to you, she was sure her host would declare. Her options ricocheted wildly in her head. Should she be upfront and honest or beat around the bush? Unlike in Evansville with her nursing-school roommate and close friend, Kate knew here in Indy with a group of nurses she had never met, the candid methodology would probably fail. It might even get her in trouble. How would she herself feel and act if she was in Gretchen’s place? She would invoke HIPPA. As time progressed, Kate mentally opted for the underhanded approach.

  “I’m particularly interested in cardiac transplantation nursing. I know you have a transplant department here, don’t you?”

  “Yes, a very active one. I’ll introduce you to Serena later. She’s rooming office patients right now.”

  “Great. I’d love that.” Kate eyed the big clock on the wall. It was approaching lunchtime.

  “Gretchen, now tell me the really important stuff. What’s the routine about lunchtime around here? I hold my stomach in very high regard,” said Kate, a sly smile forming as she rubbed her tummy.

  “Do you know any nurse who doesn’t hold lunch as a sacred time of day?” Gretchen tossed the smile back at her. “Between noon and one, we just about close back here. There are several places to get food, but the pharmaceutical companies bring the doctors lunch most days. The nurses and office personnel are invited. I’ll show you to the break room downstairs in a few minutes. It’s almost that time, isn’t it? My stomach says yes.”

  “I’m having lunch with my fiancé and some of the medical directors as part of his interview. But believe me, I’d rather hang out with you guys.” A pause. “Maybe soon, if things work out.”

  About fifteen minutes later, Patti reappeared, and soon Kate smiled as she spied Frank, who was conversing with one of the cardiologists. More chitchat. Kate was introduced. The couple was led to a beautifully decorated meeting room. In the middle of the room, as its showpiece, was a flamboyant table surrounded by a dozen chairs, each just as ornate. To one side, a long counter displayed several trays of food, which delighted the senses with many aromas, a candle warmer underneath most of them. On another counter were various types of breads, cheeses, fruits, and desserts. Next to this, the beverage area contained just about every type of nonalcoholic drink there was.

  Introductions were made, and the group headed to the buffet. As soon as all sat down, Kate excused herself, claiming she needed to use the facilities.

  “I know exactly where to go,” she exclaimed to the group, a twinkle in her eye appreciated only by Frank.

  Kate tracked back to her previous location. The secret, she recognized, was to appear as if she knew exactly where she was going. If she did, she would not appear out of place. New faces must walk these halls every day. If you look as if you belong, everybody leaves you alone. True to Gretchen’s word, the enormous file room was just about empty. Above a few of the many cubicles, she could see the tops of two nurses’ heads. Soft voices explained medical data to patients on the other side of the line.

  She walked into a moderate-sized, out-of-the-way room with a computer. She used the knowledge she acquired from observing her host earlier in the day to enter a website that allowed inquiries about patients. Under Diagnosis, she entered Cardiomyopathy. A list of a gazillion names popped up in seconds. She then prespecified Caucasian, Male, and Age: 40–60. Several hundred patients popped up. Need more specifics, she mused, raking her fingers through her hair. She typed Evansville. The return was blank. OK. No Evansville addresses. You must have an Indy address. You wouldn’t live far from this office when you come up here. Kate searched her brain for specific metrics that would point to the monster.

  She made a call to the Newton Memorial Hospital. “Operator, will you connect me with Lance Lantz in the lab?” As she was placed on hold, Kate’s eyes wandered around the cubicle. “Lance, it’s Kate Fanning. How would you like to do me a huge favor?” she said softly. “I need Lagrange’s blood type. I need to know right away.”

  “I’ll text you that information in a few minutes.”

  Kate placed her cell in her purse and stood up, nervously looking around, side to side. She heard footsteps coming closer to her location and held her breath. It’s the police. Security. I’ve been found out. Her blood ran cold through her veins.

  “Hello,” said a young man. He looked to be in his early twenties. He had pepper hair and dark-brown eyes. “I’m looking for Fay. Have you seen her around?” he asked.

  “No. She’s probably at lunch. Try the break room downstairs,” said Kate,
faking it.

  “Thanks,” said the young man as he disappeared out of sight, leaving her alone again. Kate let out a loud sigh of relief as the butterflies began to exit from her stomach.

  AB negative, vibrated her cell phone. She entered the blood type into the search engine, and twenty-three names appeared. A more manageable list. But I need it to be even smaller, Kate pondered. She smiled after a long pause. She typed Transplant Date and entered a period starting three months earlier. Eight names. She searched for the print icon and clicked on it. The printer spat out the names with their ID numbers, addresses, birth dates, phone numbers, and so forth. She clicked off the program and brought up another labeled Appointments. She looked up each of the names and then wrote the last and next appointments for each of the people on the list. Satisfied, she returned to the meeting room. When she arrived, she winked at Frank. With that, he smiled. Mission accomplished.

  CHAPTER 47

  “She had her baby!” exclaimed Claire as soon as she saw Jack. “Susan had her baby! A boy. At three this morning.” Jack hugged her, and both sat down as the escorts, two large prison guards, exited the visitation room.

  “That’s great news. What did she name him?”

  “Sean Edward.” Claire’s face was illuminated, displaying a gregarious, infectious smile. “I, uh, we bought a little outfit. Look, it has a soccer ball in the front.” Claire pushed a few buttons on her smartphone and showed a picture to Jack. “I thought you’d appreciate it.” She placed the cell in her pocket. “I’ll go visit her at the hospital when I leave here.”

  Jack’s mood was somber. Staying locked up for days, especially for a crime you didn’t commit, does that to a man. Claire understood. She could also see that her attempts to improve his mood were hopeless. Silence reigned for a long moment.

  “Where’s Kate?” asked Jack. “Last I heard, a few days ago, she and Frank came back from Indy with a short list of possible names. Have you heard from her?”