Almost a Family

by Roxanne Rustand

  Yet a pattern was emerging, one independent of Dr. Hadley’s presence. Seemingly random, yet…not.

  Erin scooped up the folders and hurried to her car. The miles flew by on her way back to town as she considered and discarded a dozen different scenarios…until one fell into place. A few hours. Just a few more hours, and I think I’ll have it.

  On the way through town she stopped briefly at the Adams house to check on Lily and Drew, who’d already gone to bed, then she drove to the hospital.

  She dropped off the files and her purse in her office and locked the door, then hurried over to the east wing to ask at the nurses’ station about Tyler.

  The nurse at the desk flipped through papers on a clipboard. “I just came on, but at report they were saying that he’s stable. He still has crackles in both lower lobes, but his white count is going down. I was just in to see him a few minutes ago. He’s been restless and he keeps asking about you.”

  Chagrined, Erin smiled at her. “Thanks so much. I’ll go down and stay with him the rest of the night. My work will hold until tomorrow.”

  Long after the hallway lights were dimmed and the hospital noises faded to a soft hush, she fingered her cell phone and debated making a call so late at night. She finally went to the front entrance of the building, stepped outside and speed-dialed Connor’s home number. After four interminable rings the answering machine kicked in.

  “Connor—I need to talk to you, soon. Can you stop by and see me sometime tomorrow? I think I’ve got the answer.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  THE NEXT MORNING, Erin left Tyler’s room early and drove to the Adams house.

  “I missed you!” Lily wrapped her arms around Erin’s neck in a fierce hug. “This just isn’t the same.”

  “I know, sweetheart. I’m guessing that Tyler will be gone one more night, and then we can all get back to normal.” Erin hugged her back and stretched a hand out to Drew, but he stood apart at the edge of the porch, too far away to reach. “I came to drive you to school today, though. And this weekend we can all go out for pizza if Tyler is feeling well enough, or I’ll get take-out pizza and rent a stack of movies. Deal?”

  Lily’s lower lip trembled. “Why can’t we go home with you now?”

  “You have Drew and Haley to be with, and her mom. But Tyler’s been kind of scared of some of the nurses at the hospital during his first two nights, so I’ve needed to be there,” Erin said gently.

  Tyler’s strange story about a witch in the hallway had been especially disturbing, but Lily didn’t need to hear that. He’d been sure that he’d seen such a creature, yet the nurse had been adamant about not seeing anyone come down the hall dressed in a Halloween costume. She’d suggested that perhaps he’d hallucinated or had a vivid dream, given the powerful antibiotics he was receiving.

  A possibility, but he’d seemed truly frightened, and had clung to Erin’s hand even in his sleep.

  Erin gave Lily an encouraging smile. “Tell me the best part about staying with Haley and her mom.”

  “That Connor came after school yesterday,” Drew said. “He even stayed for supper.”

  Jane had mentioned that he’d stopped by, and she’d rhapsodized about what a nice, nice man he was. But Erin hadn’t realized that he’d stayed so long. She tried to hide her surprise as she shepherded the kids to her car. “Really.”

  “He helped me with my homework, and watched TV with us for a while, and talked to Mrs. Adams,” Lily added. “He’s nice.”

  “I’m glad you like him, honey.” Erin waited until they were buckled in, then slowly drove toward the school as her thoughts spun through what the future might bring.

  Whatever hopes and dreams she might have had about Connor before, the cold glint in his eyes yesterday had made their relationship very clear. And now the years ahead stretched out like a minefield of awkward situations, because they would be forever bound together through Lily.

  Erin’s heart wrenched at the thought of seeing him with another woman and starting a family of his own. How on earth would she handle that?

  She dredged up a smile. “Did he, um, say he’d come back to see you again soon?”

  “He just said that we’d get to see him a lot, and he promised.” At school, Lily hopped out of the car with her backpack, then stood at Erin’s window. “Haley said the D…DN-something…is going to shoot some wolves, because people say they’re killing dogs.”

  “That’s the DNR—Department of Natural Resources, Lily.”

  Her face filled with sadness. “I miss Scout, but I don’t want anyone shooting the wolves, either, do you?”

  Erin reached out and cupped Lily’s cheek with her hand. “No, honey, I don’t like to think about shooting anything. Now, you have a good day, okay?”

  Lily nodded somberly as she turned and started up the sidewalk to the door.

  Drew slumped in the backseat and didn’t move.

  “Drew?” Erin eyed him in the rearview mirror. “Is something wrong?”

  He scowled. “Nothing that matters.”

  “It does, if it upsets you. When we get home, you and I can have a good long talk—”

  But he jerked on the handle, stepped out and slammed the door, following Lily into the building. And he never looked back.

  DISHEARTENED, Erin sped through her morning shower and change of clothes at home, pausing in the kitchen just long enough to grab a piece of peanut butter toast.

  She bumped the stack of yesterday’s mail as she wiped the crumbs from the counter. The return address edge of a business envelope shifted from between the pages of a sales flyer. The Green Bay Courier. How had she missed seeing it last night?

  With trembling fingers she ripped it open and spread the photocopies across the counter, then drew in a sharp breath. Three articles. Three small headlines that had probably appeared on inner pages of the paper.

  Landers Death Investigated

  Hospital Reviews Peterson Case

  Local Hospital Cases Mount

  She skimmed each story rapidly, then numbly sank into a kitchen chair and read every word. In all three articles, Dr. Connor Reynolds was listed as the physician in question.

  She shook the envelope and shuffled through the pages for follow-up stories, but only the initial articles were included.

  What had happened later? Had he been reprimanded? Charged? It wasn’t possible. Surely the accusations had been proved false. Groaning in frustration, Erin stuffed the pages back into the envelope, grabbed her cell phone and tried Patty one more time.

  A sleepy voice answered on the second ring. “’Lo?”

  “Oh, Patty—I’m so glad I got you. This is Erin Lang, and I’ve been trying to reach you since Monday!”

  The voice yawned. “Just got home…late last night. Flight delay. Whatsup?”

  Erin gripped the phone tighter. “You still work as a nurse in Green Bay, right? At General?”

  “Um…yeah. Part-time, anyway…” Her voice faded to a mumble.

  “Patty! This is important. I work at a small-town hospital now, and I’m trying to follow up on a phone call I received. The caller said that a Dr. Connor Reynolds was repeatedly brought before the hospital review board while practicing there.”

  “That’s true.”

  “And now I’ve been sent some newspaper articles on him—but they don’t give the results. I’m calling the hospital and newspaper again today, but I really want to hear the inside story first.”

  Apparently that woke her up, because Patty snorted in obvious disgust. “Reynolds was never found guilty of any negligence. He was the victim of unrelenting harassment from the hospital review board. Case after case—reviewed, dismissed. The papers never picked up that part of the story.”

  “Why?”

  “Guess it wasn’t such intriguing news. Maybe it hit some little two-inch column somewhere, but I never saw it. I always thought Reynolds should have sued for harassment.”

  “Did you work with him at all?”
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  Patty gave another deep yawn. “Sorry. I remember seeing him in the hallways a few times, and he seemed like a nice guy. A friend of mine works on the medical floor. She said the patients liked him a lot and that he seemed to be a very intelligent, caring man. The nurses all admired him because he treated them with respect.”

  “So why was he singled out, then?”

  “Politics, I s’pose.” Patty gave a short laugh. “I heard rumors that the chief of staff had it in for him. And the weird thing is, the guy left the hospital within weeks of Reynolds’s moving away. We all wondered if maybe Ralston was quietly fired by the board for unprofessional conduct or something.”

  Shock slammed through Erin like a speeding train. “Ralston? Victor Ralston?”

  “Yeah. You know him? Wait—” After a moment’s pause, Patty came back on the line. “The baby’s awake, and I’ve got to go. Let me know if you need anything else. Good to hear from you!”

  Reeling numb, Erin stood at the kitchen counter as the enormity of the situation hit her.

  The review committee had been headed up by the one man who should have given Connor the benefit of the doubt. Instead, he’d apparently used his power to avenge his daughter’s death.

  And for that injustice, Stephanie’s father deserved to pay.

  THE MOMENT ERIN UNLOCKED the door and stepped into her office at the hospital, the devastation blindsided her.

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered.

  Cabinet drawers were pulled out, files and loose papers strewn on the floor. Books had been yanked from the shelves and thrown. Desk drawers hung askew. One window was open, its miniblinds rustling in the chilly, fitful breeze.

  She swallowed hard as she flipped on the lights and scanned the room before stepping inside. Nauseated by the violation of her personal territory, she gingerly stepped through the mess to her desk.

  The stack of patient charts on her desk was gone.

  Erin spun around and searched the floor, the far corners of the room, the wastebasket. Not so much as a single folder was left. And her briefcase—tossed under her desk—had been emptied, as well.

  She closed her eyes tightly to ward off the images of whoever may have done this. Of what might have happened if she’d been here last night when the perpetrator broke in.

  Her fingers shaking, she dialed Security, then sank into her chair.

  Joe Barker appeared at her door seconds later. She’d seen the security guard, burly, dark and in his midforties, calmly sauntering through the parking lots and down the halls at all hours of the day. His unruffled demeanor faded as he walked in to stand in the center of the room.

  “When were you in here last?”

  “Between ten and ten-thirty last night. I locked the door like always. The window was closed. And believe me, it didn’t look like this.”

  “When you came in this morning, was the door locked?”

  “Yes…yes, it was.”

  “Maintenance and housekeeping would have a key,” Joe said. “Anyone else?”

  Erin chewed her lower lip for a moment, considering all of the staff at the hospital—people she’d met and wanted to trust. “I haven’t given a copy to anyone, and no one should have been in here last night, anyway. I worked very late, and it isn’t cleaned on Tuesday and Thursday nights.”

  He knelt at the lock on the door and studied it without touching anything, then he straightened. “Do you have a list of what’s missing?”

  “I don’t even know where to begin. My computer and printer are here. My radio.” She turned around slowly, cataloging the wreckage, then peered into the open top drawer of her desk without touching it. “I think a digital camera is missing, and maybe some cash. My Coach briefcase would have been worth a lot to someone on eBay, but it was left behind. Unless they’re hidden under all the rubble, I believe some documents are gone, though. Patient files. Employee records and schedules. They have no monetary value, but given the federal laws on privacy, those missing medical files are extremely serious business.” She leveled a weary look at him. “I want the police called.”

  He nodded curtly. “My thought exactly.”

  Erin moved to the window to close it against the cold—then caught herself, and used a piece of paper to shove it down. She leaned her forehead against the cold glass while Joe speed-dialed the local police department on his cell phone.

  So much work…so much time. And now, every bit of the evidence she’d gathered was gone—and some of it was irreplaceable. At the rising sound of people gathering at her door, she turned and saw five or six administrative employees and nurses staring openmouthed at the destruction.

  “Please—just go on back to work. It’s nothing,” she urged.

  Madge, the office manager, bustled forward and shooed them all down the hall, then stepped in herself. “Do you need some help in here?”

  Joe nodded. “The police will be here any minute. We’ll need to know who worked last night, and who came in for first shift. They’ll want to question anyone who might have seen or heard anything suspicious. Surely this couldn’t have happened without quite a bit of noise.”

  “Got it.” Madge walked in and gave Erin a quick hug. “Don’t worry, dear. We’ll have this place back in shape in no time.”

  “It’s not the mess. It’s who would have done this, and why. It’s as much vandalism as it is theft. Who could be so angry?”

  Madge patted her arm. “The police do fingerprints. Right?”

  “It only helps if they match prints on file.”

  Disconcerted, Madge faltered. “Well. I’m sure they’ll figure it out.”

  She hurried back into the hallway. Minutes later a deputy rapped on the door and stepped inside. Tall, lean and sandy haired, he looked more like the boy next door than a man with a badge and a revolver, but he swiftly assessed the scene and then ushered Erin to one of the chairs. He wrote copious notes as she repeated everything she’d said to Joe.

  “My biggest concern is the missing patient files. There were a good two-dozen closed files in here, and they’re gone—along with a lot of employee records,” she said in summary. “Given the risk of identity theft, plus privacy issues, I am very concerned.”

  The deputy looked at her, his pen poised above his report form. “Can you think of anyone who might have had an interest in these particular files? Who might have known they were in here?”

  At a movement by the door, she looked over the man’s shoulder and saw Connor standing in the doorway, his face etched with worry.

  Remembering her phone message to him last night, she felt his gaze burn into hers. The air crackled between them. Expectant. Tense. As if the weight of the universe balanced on the next breath she took. His expression hardened, but she had no doubts about him—she knew in her heart he was innocent.

  She turned back to the deputy. “I can think of reasons someone might want them, but no—I can’t think of a single person who would have done it. No one at all.”

  But by the time she spoke the words, Connor had disappeared.

  THE MORNING PASSED in a blur. Employees were called in and trooped past her office to the conference room, where they were questioned by the deputy. Another officer came in and dusted for prints, though she could tell from his expression that he figured it wouldn’t come to much. Remembering some thefts from her garage back in Wausau that were never solved, she knew he was probably right.

  By noon, most of the commotion was over, and Madge had helped Erin put the room back in order. “What else can I do for you, dear? You still look awfully pale.”

  The office looked neat as it ever had. The table-tops shone. The gray carpeting was spotless. There might never have been an intruder, except for the unease that crawled down Erin’s spine whenever she glanced at the window that had been opened, or at the empty briefcase by the desk.

  “I guess I’m all set,” she said reluctantly. “I haven’t had a break yet, so I think I’ll go try to catch Jill while she’s doing her noon rounds
, and visit Tyler for a few minutes, then I’ll get back to work. Just one thing—”

  Madge laughed. “A week’s vacation somewhere else?”

  “Actually, a couple of things. I haven’t heard how the final push for signatures is coming, have you? Today is the last day.”

  “They’ve got until 5:00 p.m. to file at the courthouse. Last I heard, they still had volunteers canvassing the outlying areas, with just a half-dozen signatures to go.”

  “Good.” Erin bit her lower lip. “On another note, I want every lock in this building changed—starting with important areas. The pharmacy. The surgical departments. Every administrative office. Let Maintenance know that these need to be done immediately. Heaven knows how many copies of our current keys are floating around here.”

  “Got it.”

  “Also, I need more information now that those employee records and shift schedules have disappeared. I want a hard copy of any such records from our computer files. A list of employee names, hire and fire dates, master scheduling forms, payroll records…anything.”

  Madge pursed her lips. “I’ll see what I can find.”

  “Did the deputy say anything to you when he left? He walked by a few minutes ago while I was on the phone.”

  “Just that he’d get back to us. He didn’t look very enthused, though.” She snorted in disgust. “He probably would have been more interested if there’d been a corpse on your floor. But files? Not high on his list.”

  The irony of her words sent an uneasy shiver down Erin’s spine. If there’d been a series of randomly spaced murders within the hospital, those files might have held proof…evidence that would be much harder to gather a second time.

  And if the perpetrator now knew of her interest in the case, he might have a chance to disappear.

  TYLER GLUMLY WATCHED the Halloween cartoon special on TV, then rolled his head toward the IV stand next to his bed. Dr. Jill had said he could go home tomorrow morning.