by Raye Morgan
“Well, I’ve only been working here for a few weeks, but…”
The glasses dropped in place again and she shrugged. “That explains it.” Turning, she headed for the exit. “Thanks, but no thanks,” she called back. “Another time maybe.”
Abby watched her go, shaking her head. Maybe she just didn’t have the knack. She would have to talk to Dr. Richie about it.
Carrie Martin seemed troubled, but she was quite an attractive woman who carried herself as though she were aware, educated and bright. So why did she seem to be in another world? Hard to say.
Abby turned back toward her office, planning to pick up a few papers and go on over to see Dr. Richie. As she turned, she caught sight of herself in the glass and she had to stop and stare in astonishment. Her skirt was downright loose! That formula of the doctor’s really did work.
She shrugged, made a face at herself in the glass.
“He’s a genius,” she reminded herself. “And I’m glad I work for him.”
And she didn’t care what Daniel had to say about the matter. Though she had to admit, his cynicism was beginning to bother her a bit. He saw the clinic and the doctor from a very different perspective. He didn’t understand that working with this institution was a life saver for her. Dr. Richie was giving her a chance. She would be forever grateful to him for that alone. Daniel just didn’t understand.
Well then, it was her duty to bring him to the truth of the situation. Good thing she was going to have a chance when they went to the opera.
The opera! What did one wear to the opera? Something fabulous, of course. She did a quick mental inventory of her closet and knew there wasn’t one thing fabulous in it. No problem. The mall was only blocks away. She could easily take an hour off and do some quick shopping.
Something long and slinky, she thought, half dreaming. Something with lots of glittery stuff on it. Something completely different from anything she’d ever owned before. After all, she was skinny enough now. And after only a few days. Of course, she’d only had a few pounds to lose. She might as well quit using it. She’d lost enough weight and she hated letting anything artificial affect her in any way. So the experiment was over, as far as she was concerned.
“Test successful,” she jotted down on her calendar, making a mental note to check just how much she had lost on her scale that evening.
And now to drop in to see Dr. Richie—and then, to the mall!
Daniel was back in his grandmother’s room later in the afternoon. He’d had another talk with her doctor and he was worried. There seemed to be evidence of blood clotting in the veins of her legs, something that had put her in the hospital earlier in the summer.
“We’ve got her on a strong anticoagulant,” the doctor told him. “But she’s got to be carefully watched. Blood thinners can be dangerous. I’m afraid we were right and it will be a few more days before we dare let her go home.”
The news hit him harder than he expected. His grandmother had always been so healthy until the last few months. The fall had been tough to take, but it was a normal occurrence. Blood clots were something else again, something he didn’t know how to detect or deal with. In his line of work he knew very well that the unknown was usually much scarier than the known. And yet he was scared. He couldn’t help it. She was the only parent figure he’d known for years and he didn’t want to lose her. Not yet.
Looking at her gray hair against the light-blue pillow, he felt a wave of affection for her and his eyes stung a little. It took a moment for him to realize the sting just might be a threat of tears. He fought that back quickly. No way was he going to start bawling.
“Hey,” he said to her, trying to be cheerful. “What’s up?”
“Oh.” She opened her eyes and beamed at him. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve got things to tell you.” She looked behind him. “Check the door. Is there anyone in the hall?”
She made him smile; she was having so much fun with this. So, despite the fact that he didn’t expect to get much out of it, he did as she ordered, checking to make sure no one could overhear them. Then he came back and sat in the chair beside her bed.
“Okay. Here goes.” She settled back against the pillows, getting comfortable. “Arline—that’s the little redheaded nurse—”
“Yes, I know Arline.”
“She stopped in and I got her talking about the clinic.”
“Did you?”
“Yes. I asked her what it used to be like before Dr. Richie came and she really opened up. I got a whole load of gossip.”
Gossip. Relationships. He said, she said.
He groaned silently. This could go on for hours. He only hoped there would be some real information to be gleaned from it. You never did know.
“I’ll skip most of the feuds and the indiscretions and the baby found in the clothes hamper. Oh, and the alligator races. Save all that stuff for another day. I want to give you the relevant info in a nutshell.”
“Alligator races?”
She patted his hand. “It’s a long story. Anyway, the crux of the matter is that Dr. Richie was hired against the wishes of some of the most senior members of the hospital board.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “You don’t say.”
“It seems that a certain Faye Lassen had been groomed for the role.”
Daniel nodded. “I know Faye. She helps out at the seminars.”
“Well, she was working her little fingers to the bone with high expectations, and when Dr. Richie came barreling into town, sweeping all before him with a media frenzy, poor Faye was left gaping like a fish out of water. The position she expected, the one she’d been laying all the groundwork for, went to the new guy with the TV-friendly smile.”
“Poor Faye indeed.”
“Yes.” Phoebe looked thoughtful. “I think I knew her mother. Nice woman. Large teeth. Tended to snort when she laughed, but otherwise—”
“Gram, you’re straying from the subject.”
“So I am. Well, it seems this Faye does have a few partisans, but on the whole, everyone has become so infatuated with the glittering celebrity of Dr. Richie, there seems to be little hope that Faye will ever be recognized for all her hard work and good deeds. Arline thinks resentment is smoldering.” Phoebe gave him a wise look. “Motivation for mischief?” she suggested significantly.
Daniel looked innocent. “What mischief?”
“Well, I don’t know,” she said indignantly. “But I’m sure if you’re on a case involving the clinic, then there’s mischief afoot. As night follows day.”
Daniel laughed. “If everyone had a grandmother as crafty as you, the world would be in total chaos,” he said.
“You’re avoiding my question.”
“Sorry, Gram. I’m going to have to plead the fifth on that one.”
“Oh!” She wrinkled her nose in frustration. “You can trust me.”
“You have no need to know.”
“Then tell me about you and Abby. What’s going on?”
His frown was meant to stop this line of questioning in its tracks. “There is nothing going on between me and Abby.”
Her skeptical look gave that statement just what it deserved.
“Does she know you’re a cop?”
He hesitated, wincing a little. “No. At least, I haven’t told her.”
Phoebe nodded. “It’s time you told her.”
He knew that. But right now it wouldn’t be helpful.
“I’ll tell her just as soon as I can. Once I have this investigation under control.”
“That’ll be too late,” Phoebe told him wisely. “Tell her now. And to heck with your investigation.”
Easy for you to say, he thought to himself as he made his way down the hall. To heck with his investigation, huh? Might as well say to heck with his job, his life, his self-worth. He couldn’t join his grandmother. A man didn’t throw away everything that mattered to him just because a woman under some bogus love spell was making eyes at him.
Dr. Richie didn’t spare him a glance. He passed without acknowledging Daniel’s existence, but Abby gave him a wink and a secret smile that somehow managed to convey the sense of having a private joke that was understood by just the two of them and no one else.
Suddenly she wheeled and turned back, hurrying up to Daniel and whispering near his ear.
“I found out about the atomizers.”
“You did?”
“Yes, I did. I’ll call you later and I’ll tell you all about it.”
A quick, mischievous grin and she was off, catching up with the doctor before he even noticed she’d been gone.
Daniel turned and watched as they disappeared around the corner and found himself grinning like a loon for no reason whatsoever. Quickly he doused it. What was wrong with him anyway? She managed to get to him somehow, every time.
He was going to go home and have a beer and watch some baseball and forget all about Abby Edwards and her pretty face and nicely rounded body. If he could.
Rain. Steady, depressing rain.
So what else was new? Rain in Portland? What a surprise.
Daniel turned up the collar on his windbreaker and walked quickly from the parking lot to the hospital. The puddle by the entryway was as large as a lake. Something was leaking somewhere. He edged his way around the water, centered and wiped his feet on the length of mat that had been laid down for that purpose, grumbling all the way. Looking up, he saw Wilbur Mason coming out of Ella Crown’s shop.
“Here,” Ella said, following him out and slapping a box of candy in his hands. “I don’t want your presents. I don’t want your poems. I don’t want your love letters. I don’t want you hanging around like a lovesick goat. Just stay away from me! Do you understand?”
Daniel looked at Wilbur, expecting to see a hangdog to be pitied. Instead, the man seemed to be responding strangely to Ella’s rejection.
“Ella, Ella, Ella,” he was saying, a goofy smirk on his face. “You’re so cute when you’re mad.” His face changed. “I know what’ll get ya,” he said, looking as though he’d just discovered the secret of life. “A serenade.” He snapped his fingers, seeming to be talking to himself. “A Spanish song. A rose between my teeth. That’ll do it.”
Turning on his heel, he almost ran into Daniel.
“’Scuse me, I’ve got to go learn how to play the guitar,” he told him pleasantly, moving along like a much younger man.
Ella watched him go, her hands on her hips. She looked as though she was about to emit steam from her ears.
“Did you hear that old coot?” she demanded of Daniel. “All these years I thought he was a decent sort. He’s a Portland archivist, you know. He once interviewed me about my family. Pioneers, city founders and all that. I kind of liked him. Didn’t know he was crazy.” She shook her head and looked earnestly into Daniel’s eyes. “There’s something weird going on in this place. Watch yourself. Don’t let them get you, too.”
She started to go back into her shop but Daniel stopped her.
“What do you mean?” he asked her. “Who do you think is out to ‘get’ us?”
She shook her head. “You got me. It’s driving me nuts. I may have to go to one of that cutie-pie Dr. Richie’s seminars to learn how to relieve my stress.” She made a sound that indicated what she thought of that nonsense. “I’m just warning you, because you seem to be one of the few who are still sane.” She gave him a pointed look. “You remember that movie, with the pods changing people into aliens?”
“Oh, yes. One of my favorites.”
She nodded. “Don’t go into any basements, okay?”
“Okay.” He grinned at her, but she didn’t smile back. Snorting, she went inside her flower shop.
Daniel’s cell phone rang at the same time. He flipped it open and barked, “O’Callahan here.”
“Hey, Danny boy. I got the results of those tests you wanted run.”
Daniel straightened. “Great. That was fast work. Let’s have it.”
“Okay. The lab tech gave me all kinds of gob-bledy-gook but the bottom line is, you ain’t got squat.”
“Nothing?”
“Nope. Zero, zip, nada.”
Daniel shook his head in disgust. “Even on the nutrition bar?”
“It’s a nutrition bar. What can I say?”
“With nothing strange in it?” He was begging for a tiny piece of something, anything, just to help him know which way to turn.
But Jimmy couldn’t bail him out.
“Nope,” he said. “What were you expecting anyway?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.”
Daniel hesitated, then grinned. “An aphrodisiac. How do you like that?”
Jimmy brightened. “I don’t know. I haven’t tried it yet.”
“And you never will. I’m trying to protect people from it, not promote it.”
“What a killjoy,” Jimmy muttered kiddingly. Then he sobered. “Hey, I’ll send over the complete analysis. There are sheets and sheets of it.”
“Okay.” Daniel sighed heavily. He’d hoped to wrap this up quickly but obviously it was going to take more research and investigation than he’d thought. “Thanks, Jimmy. I owe you one.”
“You don’t owe me nothin’.” Jimmy’s voice changed a bit. He cleared his throat. It was a pretty good bet he was going to launch into a topic that was not completely comfortable for him. “So what’s the latest you hear from the inquiry?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Ah, come on, they’re gonna clear you. You know that.”
“No, I don’t know that.”
There was certainly a possibility that the inquiry might give someone the excuse they needed to have him kicked off the force. Some powerful political movers and shakers had it in for him now. He knew very well that a fair hearing would exonerate him completely. But whether or not the hearing would be fair—that was the question.
Still, he didn’t like to waste mental energy worrying about something he couldn’t do anything about. If it happened, it happened. There was no use losing sleep over it.
Back to the dopey love epidemic. Keeping his mind busy on that kept it off the inquiry.
He rang off from Jimmy and dropped in to see his grandmother. She was feeling better and looking very perky. They exchanged a few jokes and anecdotes until a slender dark-haired woman appeared in the doorway.
“Ah, here’s the physical therapist,” his grandmother said with a grimace. “Time for my daily torture.”
Daniel nodded at the pleasant-looking young woman. “Gram, do you want me to stay and—”
“Oh, get on with you. You must have something better to do. And I don’t really want you to see me in my hour of distress.”
He gave her a kiss and left, promising to be back in the afternoon. As he turned out of the room, he almost collided with Abby coming toward him from the elevators. She smiled.
“Going my way?” she asked.
Seven
Daniel took a quick breath to steady himself. The last thing he wanted was to let Abby know how strongly she affected the way his body worked.
“That depends. Which way are you going?”
She motioned with her head. “I’m heading to the cafeteria to get something to eat.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Something to eat. Hmm.”
“I know, I know. You think it’s a little early for lunch.”
“And a little late for breakfast.”
“So let’s call it brunch.”
He snapped his fingers. “The woman has the gift.”
She looked pleased, tucking her hand into the crook of his arm as though he’d already agreed to go with her. “Yes. I’m just glad you’re smart enough to recognize it.” She sighed.
“Actually, I’m ravenous. I spent the morning organizing a session of exercise therapy.”
“Ah. The exercises.” He raised an eyebrow. “I hope you weren’t doing the old Giaza with someone other than me. That’s our special exercise, you know.”
She laughed and seemed to pull him closer.
He supposed he’d been recruited for brunch, but he couldn’t conjure up any reason not to join her. And he wasn’t sure he would have used any of those reasons if he could have thought of them. Her hand felt too good on his arm. In fact, just being with her was making him happy.
Happy wasn’t one of his usual emotions. He was a cop, for God’s sake. Happy had nothing to do with the life he’d led and expected to lead in the future. Getting the job done. Satisfaction in his role in protecting society against the bad guys. Making the world safe for little kids to grow up without pain and horror. That was what he was all about. Not being happy.
Forget happy and get back to work.
“You were going to tell me about the atomizer.”
He’d just about decided the atomizer was his last hope in finding the culprit, but somehow the concept wasn’t striking much excitement in his mind. If it were the guilty element, it would seem more people would have heard of it. But he was ready to take any information she was ready to give, just to add it in to the brew.
“Ah, the atomizer. Yes.” She smiled at him sideways. “You know that Dr. Richie had a long history of therapeutic counseling and wellness instruction before he came here. Well, the atomizer was something he was working with a few years ago when he came through Portland doing his workshops. From what he says, it was more related to aromatherapy than weight control.”
She frowned, thinking of something. “It may have been the first permutation of the NoWait oil, though, come to think of it. Anyway, he abandoned it a long time ago. Anyone who has an atomizer must have been at those original workshops.”
Daniel nodded. He’d had a feeling it was something like that. Still, it didn’t help break through this dead end he seemed to be facing.
“Maybe it’s time I got an interview with the great man himself,” he murmured, almost as much to himself as to her.