The Dog Who Ate The Flintlock

by Edward Coburn

  She knew what she was doing was wrong, but when Ronald raised his offer to ten thousand, she thought she could no longer refuse. She simply had to get back to school. Being a nurse had been her dream ever since she could remember. When other girls were playing with their dolls as if they were real friends, she had only been interested in curing their imaginary ills. Her mother had given her a few pill bottles that Jenny had filled with candy. She pretended to give these imaginary pills to her dolls as aspirin, painkillers, or antibiotics to help cure whatever ailed them. Once she had even broken one of the dolls legs so she could put on a splint. She also had other kids in the neighborhood bring their injured pets to her, and she did her best to help them. Instead of reading Nancy Drew or other kid’s books, she read medical journals and books even though she didn’t understand much of what she read. She kept a medical dictionary close at hand to look up the word or phrases she didn’t understand. She had to continually return to the library to check the dictionary back in and check out another one. Fortunately, her library had more than one copy. Naturally, she renewed the copy she had whenever she could, but that was not always possible. Eventually, her mother gave up buying her little girl presents for Christmas and gave her a medical dictionary and a subscription to Jenny’s favorite nursing magazine.

  Now on the street, she had become the go-to person for her friends when one of their customers got more than a bit aggressive or when they were merely sick. She thoroughly enjoyed helping them out and felt immense pleasure when their wounds healed, their headache was gone, or they stopped coughing. She got aspirin and other drugs and other supplies such as bandages wherever and whenever she could. She often visited a nearby free clinic and begged supplies from them. They gave her what they could afford to part with reasoning that whoever she took care of on the street wouldn’t end up in their clinic. Unfortunately, what they could afford to give her was generally not much.

  Even though stealing a baby went against her notions of right and wrong, the money Ronald promised would keep her off the streets for a while and help her fulfill her dream. He also promised there would be other jobs to come. Besides, he gave her five hundred dollars in addition to the ten thousand she was promised and loaned her a car so she could reconnoiter the hospital. He also lent her a cell phone so he could be in contact with her, and she could be in touch with him if the need arose. He had, however, warned her he would kill her if she ever divulged to anyone he was behind the kidnapping. He also stated it wouldn’t be healthy to refuse because she already knew about his plan. He had terrified her enough to make her believe her life was in jeopardy whether she kidnapped a baby or not. Besides, she really needed the money. Being on the streets was hard, and he made the kidnapping sound so easy when he explained the plan. Thus, she finally gave in and was now in the midst of carrying out his plan. She had enhanced his plan a bit and knew he would kill her if he found out but again, she felt she had no choice.

  She picked up a clipboard from one of the shelves. The paperwork on the clipboard was unused, but that didn’t matter for her purpose. She carefully opened the door noticing the hallway was still empty. She exited the room being careful to stare at the clipboard while holding it close to her face to again hide from the ever-present cameras. She strode confidently down the hallway to the elevator. She rode the elevator to the floor housing the hospital's nursery. She waited at the nursery window until the nurse inside left. She smiled as her ID tag opened the door as Ronald had promised her it would. Because it hadn’t been tried, there was always the possibility that it wouldn’t work even though Ronald had assured her it would. Once inside the nursery, she quickly scanned the information posted on the end of each of the cribs until she found a baby boy with black hair and no physical abnormalities. Ronald had stressed babies sold by Carlo Donati had to be perfect. She had heard Donati’s name more than a few times. His reputation was ever scarier than Ronald’s.

  Jenny carefully picked up the sleeping newborn. Fortunately, he didn’t wake up. As she passed by a nurse coming into the nursery, Jenny said, “The Nelson’s asked to see their son. Maybe they will tell me his name now.” She had noticed the baby‘s last name and the fact that no first name had been listed.

  “That’s nice. He’s a cute boy,” the nurse, Mary Harris, said, noticing Jenny’s ID. Mary didn’t know a June Henderson. No matter. New nurses were always coming and going in the nursery as well as all other parts of the hospital. She would have to get to know June Henderson.

  “Aren’t all babies cute?” Jenny asked as she hurried out the door effectively stopping all further chit-chat. She rode the elevator down to the first floor and nobody questioned her as she exited the hospital. In her car, she positioned the baby in the blankets on the back seat making sure he was as secure as an egg in a bird’s nest. She settled into the front seat and pulled off the wig and gown. These she threw on the passenger-side floor. She took the small button-like device out of the glove compartment and pinned it on the inside of the baby’s shirt as she’d been instructed to do.

  Pulling out of the hospital parking lot Jenny headed south and only stopped when she pulled into the hotel parking lot near LAX.

  Chapter 17

  Roger Nelson kissed his wife. “I’m going to go look at our baby,” he said with a big smile.

  “Okay. I’ll be right here,” Tami said knowing she wouldn’t be going anywhere for a couple of days. Hers had been a difficult birth, but the doctors had convinced her the baby was just fine and she would recover quickly. She, however, needed to stay in the hospital for a few days where they could watch her and make sure she got plenty of rest. “Are you going to tell the nurses what we decided?” She and Roger had still been discussing names, arguing was more like it, when she went into labor, and they continued to argue while Roger drove her to the hospital. Now they had finally decided on Ozzie as in Ozzie Nelson from that old TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

  “I’ll tell them.” Roger was glad Tami had finally let him have his way with the name. He’d wanted the baby to be named Ozzie right from the start. He thought it would set their son apart from all the Harrys, Bobbys, and Mikes in the world. Tami had finally, albeit reluctantly, seen it his way.

  He walked down the hall to the nursery window and stopped in front of the huge window overlooking the room. There was a nurse in the room, but he ignored her as he gazed at each baby before glancing at the chart hanging on the end of the bassinets. There were several empty bassinets, but he read their charts anyway. Suddenly he noticed one of the empty bassinets had the last name Nelson with no first name. It listed the baby as having black hair. That must be Ozzie’s bassinet, he mused. It must be. But where was his baby? He again read the name tags on every bassinet, but none of them listed the baby’s name as Nelson except the empty one. His gaze went back to the empty bassinet where his son should be. Maybe Ozzie was out to have some kind of test performed. But, if that was the case, shouldn’t he and Tami have been informed. With a growing sense of foreboding, he tapped on the window to get the nurses attention.

  Mary Harris was arranging the swaddling blanket around one of the babies when she heard someone knocking on the window. Parents were always leaving their fingerprints on the window while they pointed out their baby to someone else and occasionally they tapped on the window thinking it would attract the baby’s attention. This didn’t seem to be the case this time. When she glanced up the man waved at her like he wanted her attention. When he had it, he pointed at one of the bassinets. People often pointed out their babies because they wanted her to acknowledge just how beautiful the baby was. She always obliged them. She walked over to the bassinet he seemed to be pointing at, but it was empty. She continued to the end of the bassinet and read the name off the chart. The Nelson baby. Mary knew June Henderson had taken the baby to the mother’s room. She would have to find out what the man wanted. Perhaps he was a visitor and didn’t know the baby was with the mother. She went through the door into the hall
way and over to the man.

  “You wanted to talk to me, sir?”

  “Yes,” Roger said. “Where’s my baby?”

  “Are you Mr. Nelson?”

  Roger nodded. “Yes, where’s my baby?”

  “Another nurse just took him to your wife’s room.”

  “But I was just in Tami’s room, and nobody came in with our baby,” Roger said excitedly.

  “You must have missed the nurse going to your room as you came down the hallway. I’m sure there’s no need to be concerned,” Mary said soothingly, trying to calm him down. “I’ll go with you to your room, and you’ll see the baby cuddled in your wife’s arms.” At least she hoped that was the case.

  She followed him down the hall and into his wife’s room. When they went in there was no baby and the nurse Mary had seen taking the baby out of the nursery was not there either. She didn’t understand. She turned to Roger and said, “I’ll be right back.”

  “Where are you going and where’s my baby?” Roger asked alarm creasing his face.

  “Perhaps the nurse got confused and took the baby to the wrong room. Not to worry. I’ll check with the desk and find out where your son was taken. Try to remain calm, or you might upset your wife.”

  “We have a right to be upset. Our baby’s missing.”

  “I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. As I said, I’ll be right back.” She hurried from the room and straight to the nurse's station with a growing sense of dread.

  “What’s wrong Mary?” Stacy, the nurse at the desk, said when she saw Mary’s face.

  “Is there an order to take the Nelson baby somewhere for a test? He’s not in the nursery, and he’s not in the mother’s room.” Mary didn’t mention the fact she saw June Henderson taking the baby out of the nursery.

  “Not that I know of, but let me check.” She punched a few keys, shook her head, and then turned to the stack of metal folders containing doctor’s orders. She shuffled through them and again shook her head.

  She turned to Mary. “No, I don’t see anything. Is there something wrong?”

  “I honestly don’t know. But I don’t know where the baby is and his father’s becoming concerned. June Henderson said she was taking the baby to his mother’s room.”

  “Who?” Stacy asked.

  “June Henderson.” Mary was starting to panic. She didn’t like the questioning look on Stacy’s face.

  “There isn’t a June Henderson on the nursery staff. Let me check the hospital staff roster.” She turned back to the computer, punched a few keys, and then shook her head at Mary with her own growing sense of dread. “There’s no June Henderson on staff.”

  “Perhaps she’s listed by another name in the roster but prefers people call her June.”

  “I thought of that, but there’s no Henderson on staff anywhere in the hospital under any first name.”

  “Oh, God. What am I going to do?”

  “I don’t know,” Stacy was now panicked as well. “But I suppose we’d better call Dr. Rich.” Dr. Rich was chief of staff of the hospital.

  “Is he here today?”

  “I don’t know. But he should be. We should call his office regardless.” She turned to the phone dialing Dr. Rich’s office.

  Just then Roger came up behind Mary. “Have you…found… my baby…yet?” he stuttered in obvious distress.

  Mary turned to face him knowing he would probably go through the ceiling. She couldn’t blame him. Losing a baby was unacceptable. Worse, losing a baby from a hospital. People came into a hospital with the expectation of being cared for by people who knew what they were doing in terms of health care. But there was also the reasonable expectation of their safety which would, of course, include the safety of their children. But she had allowed someone to waltz into the nursey and walk out with the Nelson’s baby. Even though she didn’t know that was what was happening, it was still unacceptable. She couldn’t accept it, and she knew for a certainty that Mr. Nelson wouldn’t accept it. But she was at a loss as to what she should say to him. What could she possibly say to him? She knew she should wait for Dr. Rich and let him explain things to Mr. Nelson, but she couldn’t simply leave him hanging. She had to say something, so she blurted out the first words that came to mind. “I’m so sorry. We don’t know where your baby is.”

  He exploded. “What do you mean you don’t know where my baby is? I thought you said a nurse was taking him to Tami’s room? Where is that nurse?”

  “I know that is what I said. But…,” she turned to Stacy as if Stacy could help her, “But apparently the nurse I saw isn’t actually a nurse in the hospital.”

  “What do you mean she’s not a nurse in the hospital. Who is she? And what has she done with my baby?” Roger shouted frantically. An orderly taking a tray to one of the rooms turned to see what was going on. He started toward them but stopped when Mary shook her head at him.

  “I’m afraid I don’t know who she is or where your baby is. She said she was taking your baby to your room.”

  “And you just let her take my baby. What kind of people are you? How could you just let her take my baby?” Roger balled up his fists and had to force himself not to hit this stupid nurse who had apparently let someone steal his baby.

  Dr. Rich slipped up behind them. “What’s going on here?” he asked smiling, trying to disarm the situation.

  Roger turned to him. “This…this…nurse…,” he said nurse with intense sarcasm as he pointed at Mary, “is telling me she doesn’t know where my son is. Do you know where he is?”

  “I don’t,” Dr. Rich said, “but let’s get out of the hallway and go where we can discuss this calmly and rationally.” He pointed behind the nurse's station to a small break room with a table and several chairs. He walked into the room and closed the door after Mary and Roger came in. Nobody sat. ”Now,” he turned to Mary, “explain to me what’s happened.”

  Roger started to yell again, but Dr. Rich held up his hand. Roger grew silent, but Dr. Rich could tell he wouldn’t be quiet for long. It was obvious he was about to blow like an overheated tea kettle.

  Mary told Dr. Rich what had transpired and introduced him to Roger Nelson.

  “Did you recognize this June Henderson?” Dr. Rich asked.

  Mary shook head in embarrassment. “I’ve never seen her before, but you know how it is. Nurses come and go all the time. I don’t personally know all the nurses who work on this floor much less all over the hospital.” Mary said that last even though she knew June Henderson had had an ID that got her into the nursery.

  “And you just let this nurse you didn’t know take my baby.” Roger blurted.

  Dr. Rich held up his hand again. “Please, Mr. Nelson calm down so we can figure this out.”

  “What’s to figure out? This…this…nurse...” again Roger emphasized nurse with sarcasm, “let some strange woman she didn’t recognize take my baby.”

  “I’m sorry your baby is missing, Mr. Nelson, but Nurse Harris is right. Our staff turnover is high, and there are always new faces in every department.” Dr. Rich held up his hand again when it seemed as if Roger was going to explode again. “Please,” he said pleadingly. “I know that’s not a reasonable explanation, but it is a reality. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll call security to put the hospital on lockdown. Maybe we can stop this woman before she gets out of the hospital.”

  “Please do what you can,” Roger said more calmly. “You need to find my baby. Please…” Roger put his hands together as if he were praying.

  “Of course, sir. I’ll be right back.” Dr. Rich walked out of the room and over to the nurse's desk where he picked up the phone and ordered the hospital lockdown knowing there was little chance that whoever took the baby was still in the hospital. He quickly explained the situation, directed the security man to have his people scour the hospital for a nurse calling herself June Henderson, and call him immediately if she was found. He would give the search no more than ten minutes before calling in the police.<
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  Jenny picked up the infant from the back seat and climbed the outside staircase to the second floor. She knocked on the door to room 205, and the door was immediately opened by Ronald Wilkerson who twenty years earlier had been known as Harold Morgan. His name wasn’t the only thing that had changed. He’d moved to LA ten years ago, and as soon as he got to California, he’d cut his hair and learned how to use makeup to cover the birthmark and scar so prominent on his cheek. Now he religiously protected his new identity and had become quite proficient at covering his deformities with makeup.

  “He’s healthy I presume?” Ronald asked.

  “Of course,” Jenny answered with a frown. “I checked his chart.”

  Ronald held him up. “Black hair. He’ll do.” He walked over to the bassinet on the bed and laid the infant gently inside. He picked up a pair of scissors lying next to the bassinet and snipped off the hospital bracelet from around his wrist. He read Nelson with no first name. He turned to Jenny. “Not that it matters, but what’s his name.” He knew that whatever the parents had named their son wouldn’t matter because whoever was paying Donati would give the boy the name of their choosing.

  “His last name is, or was Nelson, but the parents hadn’t given him a first name yet.”

  “No matter,” Ronald picked up an envelope from the other bed which he handed to Jenny. “Ten thousand as agreed.”

  “I still don’t think it’s enough. After all, I took all the risks.” She didn’t think it would work but figured she should at least try.