by JJ Lamb
“How long has this been going on?” Gina‘s hands were shaking when she took a sip of her coffee. “You never said a word about it the last time I saw you.”
“Yeah, well, it’s been about a year. Give or take. It wasn’t long after I last saw you.”
“Will you do me a favor, please? Keep me in the loop. I know we don’t see each other often, but next to Harry, you’re my favorite guy.”
“I know you—that’s just talk. There is no next to Harry. Lucky dog!”
“Who are you going to see tomorrow?”
“I’ve got the guy’s name on the appointment card in my jacket pocket. The doc I was recommended to didn’t have any openings. I would have had to wait two more weeks to get in. They’re all alike to me. I got in almost right away with his partner.”
Gina’s eye started twitching and she was getting a weird feeling in the bottom of her stomach.
“Hey, Mulzini. I hate turning nurse on you, but would you mind getting that appointment card? I’d like to know who you’re going to see.”
“I swear you’re a bad as my wife. Marcia also has to know every single damn detail. Hang on a minute.” She could tell he was breathing heavily when he returned to the phone.
“Work a man to death. It’s a guy named Morton Tallent.”
* * *
Gina hit Harry’s cell phone number and waited impatiently while it rang. She knew it was about to go to message mode when he finally picked up.
“Hey, doll, what’s going on? I’m kind of in the middle of something, got only a minute or two to talk.”
“I spoke to Mulzini.”
“Yeah, I called him, too,” Harry said. “What a bear. He practically tore my head off.”
“He wasn’t too pleasant to me, either. The poor guy is scared.”
“He told me about his atrial fib,” Harry said. “My bet is that they’ll do an ablation.”
“I’m really worried about him. You’ll never guess who he has an appointment with tomorrow.”
“I didn’t get that far with him,” Harry said. “Probably a cardiologist.”
“Yeah, but it’s with Mort Tallent.”
“Oh, shit!”
Chapter 17
The night light in the office was dim, but it felt like the brightest spotlight Gina had ever been under. They were both huddled together and Gina could feel her friend trembling when the whistling watchman’s light flashed briefly into Mort Tallent’s office before moving on.
The Beatle’s We All Live In A Yellow Submarine bounced off the walls of the hallway for another few minutes before everything was silent again. The two of them collapsed into each other’s arms before they stood.
“Okay,” Gina whispered. “Do you have any idea what his password might be?”
“Not a clue.”
“Let’s take a look in his desk drawer. Sometimes people will write it down on something in case they forget.” Gina pulled open the middle drawer while Lolly opened one on the left-hand side. “Look for accounting books, too.”
Gina picked up a red chip. Etched boldly in the middle were the words, Do it!
“I wonder what this is from.” She showed to Lolly, who only shrugged.
In the back of the drawer was a gold membership card to Time Out, a posh health club Gina vaguely remembered hearing about. Otherwise, the drawer was filled with an assortment of paper clips and Post-its. Tallent seem to be compulsive from the looks of this drawer and the top of the desk, where everything was stacked in several neat piles.
Lolly found a pad with columns of hand written numbers, but they looked like private accounting numbers—the long list didn’t look right for a pass word.
The rest of the drawers had neither accounting books nor much of anything else.
Gina tossed the health club membership card back into the drawer; it flipped over to reveal a small, pencil-written notation. She found a magnifying glass, with Zelint’s Pharmaceuticals molded into the plastic handle, and read:
ANNIE’S DOWN
“I wonder who Annie is.” Gina said. “Do you know?”
Lolly shrugged.
“I say we try it once. If that doesn’t work—that’s it. We need to get out of here. Security could come back at any time.”
Gina put a fingertip on the computer’s touch screen. There was an immediately request for a password. She tapped the keyboard with ANNIES DOWN, all caps. A menu of files jumped onto the screen.
They stared at each other, Lolly’s eyes bugged out.
Gina used the mouse to a link labeled: Caths. A spread sheet of numbers appeared. It looked confusing until she realized she was looking at a listing of various types of catherizations. Then she could see that the five-digit numbers following the procedures were all in the neighborhood of ten-thousand dollars.
“How many Caths does Tallent do on an average day?” she asked Lolly.
“Two to four, or at least that’s they way it’s been since I started working here.”
“Wow! With only two days of procedures per week, that’s close to a hundred and fifty grand a month.”
They heard the whistling again. This time it was the Beatle’s Yesterday getting louder and louder. From the way the light bounced, Gina could tell it was coming from the other direction this time.
“Damn!” Gina closed the files and a caduceus popped back on the screen.
They dropped to their knees and huddled together again.
The computer monitor was still glowing brightly—it had yet to go into sleep mode. With the whistling almost on top of Tallent’s office, Gina quickly stood and pushed the button to turn off the monitor screen, then dropped back down a second or two before the watchman’s flashlight beam went from wall to wall in the office.
Gina was ready to throw up from the bile burning the back of her throat. Lolly was squeezing her arm as though she was trying to strangle it.
The guard continued on his way, but he stopped whistling for a long moment, and then continued on. Yesterday came trilling out.
They waited five minutes, according to Gina’s illuminated watch dial, before retracing the steps they’d taken up to the office. Gina crossed her fingers as they stepped silently down the stairs to the first floor, then hurried out the front door.
When Lolly pulled out her car keys, a frantic look crossed her face.
“My ID tag is gone. It must have fallen out of my pocket.”
“Oh, shit!”
* * *
When Gina walked into the apartment, Harry was sitting on the sofa, facing the door. “Where have you been? I tried calling you but it went to message.”
She sat down next to him, rested her head on his shoulder. “Don’t be angry. I went with Lolly to Tallent’s office.”
“Gina!” Harry clutched her arm.
“Lolly was going to go alone. I couldn’t let her do that. I was afraid for her.”
“And now I’m afraid for you.”
Chapter 18
Gina and Harry were right on time the next morning, moving smoothly through traffic on their way to Ridgewood Hospital. The Fiat was behaving the way she was supposed to—no hiccups, no coughs, no indigestion. She sounded like she was in perfect health.
“You know, Harry, I feel so guilty for not telling Mulzini about my suspicions. You know, about Mort Tallent. But I can’t help it—it just goes against the grain to erode someone’s confidence in their doctor.”
“What could you say, doll? Hey Mulzini, don’t see that doc—he might be behind a couple of murders.”
“That man can be such a pain in the ass sometimes. He had an A-1 referral to Robert Cantor, but no, he would have had to wait to get an appointment.”
“Yeah,” Harry said, “waiting’s not exactly Mulzini’s style. Guess he wanted to get it over as soon as possible.”
“I can understand that. But, he’s going to Tallent! The man might be a crook, or a killer. I should have said something, or at least hinted at it.”
“Sti
ll time to call him.”
Gina found a parking place two blocks from the hospital.
“Well, how did I luck out like that?”
“Stick with me, babe—everything is coming up roses.” Harry licked the tip of her fingers, then looked up and smiled at her.
Gina leaned over and kissed him on the nose, pulled out her phone, and tapped in Mulzini’s home number. Marcia picked up on the first ring.
“Hi, Marcia. It’s Gina Mazzio. You remember me?”
“Who can forget the bombshell nurse from the Bronx?” She laughed. “How are you?”
“I’m good. I wonder if I could speak to your husband?”
“Sure,” Marcia said. “But he has a doctor’s appointment at ten and the man’s a nervous wreck.”
Gina shifted in her seat. “Well, it’s not important. Please tell him I was thinking of him and I expect a full report.”
“You know Mulzini.” Marcia laughed. “He’ll tell you what he wants you to know—that’s about the best you can hope for.”
And then she was gone.
Gina dropped the cell back into her purse. Harry’s eyes searched hers.
“I’m too late.”
* * *
Mort Tallent sauntered into his office, as he did every work day—then stopped. There was an unfamiliar scent in the room; his dark plush carpet had a double trail of fresh footprints crossing over to his desk. He followed the impressions to his computer. Whoever had been here had come after the cleaning crew vacuumed at 10 p.m.
He sat down and stared at the monitor. His secret recorder showed no unauthorized security breaches.
He opened the desk drawer. Everything was as he’d left it, except for his Time Out health club membership card—it was turned over to reveal his password, ANNIE’S DOWN. Someone had been here, used his password, and gone through his computer files.
He picked up the phone for his receptionist. “Maya, please come into my office.”
It was barely a moment before she stood at his doorway. “Yes, Doctor?”
“Get hold of the head of building security. Tell him I need to see him in my office.
Right now!”
“Yes, Doctor.”
While she was gone, he searched every drawer and found nothing suspicious. Of course, there really wasn’t anything in his desk to be worried about. That wasn’t the problem—it was his computer.
He felt sick.
I take care of one problem and another one pops up like a noxious weed.
Maria was out of the picture—who could have been here poking around?
He forced himself back into his routine and brought up his schedule for today’s patients. They were all consults except for a four p.m. surgery—someone too important and too busy to fit into Tallent’s normal scheduling.
Someone who doesn’t realize how weak and fragile the human body is. Someone who thinks he’s still in control even when he’s decked out, drugged out, and on a surgical table. Someone very stupid.
He was putting on a fresh white coat when Maya brought a bouncer-type person to the door of his office—tall, muscled, rough-looking, but neatly dressed in a business suit.
“This is Jerry, Doctor Tallent.” Maya said.
“Come in, Jerry. Just a few questions.”
“Good morning, sir.”
“What time did the janitors leave the building last night?”
Jerry looked at an eight-and-a-half by eleven clipboard, turned over a couple of pages, and said, “That would be twelve a.m., sir, according to the time clock. ”
“Did any of your security guards report anything unusual.”
Jerry checked his notes again. “No, sir. Well, except for a lost identification card—one of employees in your department. I was going to return it to her today.”
“No need,” Tallent said, holding out his hand. “I’ll do it for you. Thanks.”
The head of security removed the ID card from his clipboard and gave it to Tallent.
“Before you go, Jerry, do you have the security tapes from last night?”
“Sure. We always keep them for at least forty-eight hours.”
Tallent nodded. “Great! How long will it take for you to make a copy and bring it to me?
Jerry smiled. “I’ll have it for you in fifteen minutes.”
“Perfect.”
* * *
Tallent plugged in the flash drive Jerry had delivered to Maya for him. He sat back in his chair and watched. He’d never seen the tapes that the single camera took through out the day.
He sped through the video. He could see himself coming and going, Maya popping into his office on and off throughout the day. Every patient he saw had ended up as part of this digitized record. There was also a lot of back-and-forth of personnel, as well as Cantor and Brichett popping in to talk. Later the janitors with their cleaning gear entered his office—then the motion-sensitive surveillance camera went into sleep mode.
He was bored and about to extract the flash drive when the camera awakened and went back into action. He sat upright in his chair. At first there were only shadows, then Lolly Stenz was walking down the hall in front of someone. Lolly looked scared to death. In a moment another face that he knew from the Ridgewood CCU entered the frame.
“Gotcha! Gotcha both!”
Chapter 19
Mulzini was sitting on the end of the bed in his underwear, trying hard to push himself up to finish dressing. He had a ten a.m. appointment with Dr. Morton Tallent.
Man, I don’t want to go.
The thought no sooner disappeared than his neck started hurting and with that came shortness of breath.
I gotta go, gotta find out what’s going on with this damn aging body of mine. Life has turned me into a broken-down, fifty-year-old. When did that happen?
He stood, pulled slacks and a sport shirt out of the closet, threw them on a chair. Marcia stuck her head in the doorway. “Not ready, yet?”
“No, I’m just trying to get myself into gear. I’m getting there.”
“Okay, but we don’t want to be late.”
“There is no we,” Mulzini growled at her. “You’re not going with me.”
“Oh, yeah? Think again, big guy. I’ll be right there with you—and I think you already knew that.”
He smiled. “Yeah, yeah.”
“Oh, by the way, Gina called.”
“What’s up?”
“She just wanted to wish you well.”
“Does the whole world know about my appointment? Oh, yeah—wait a minute; I guess I told her about it.”
“Get with it, man.” Then Marcia was gone.
He’d barely got one arm into his shirt sleeve when Dirk walked into the room. Without a word he walked up to Mulzini and threw his arms around him and hugged him, then held onto his arm. He wouldn’t let go. “You’re going to be fine, Pops.”
Mulzini looked at the earnest face so full of life and hope—so unlike the kid he’d found homeless in Golden Gate Park a year ago. Marcia fell in love with Dirk instantly and so did Mulzini. He’d never regretted bringing the boy home and into their lives.
“Yeah, yeah.” Mulzini had to turn his head away when tears started filling his eyes.
“I know you’re scared,” Dirk said.
“Hey, bite your tongue you little brat.”
“A brat, maybe, but I’m turning seventeen in a few months—not so little anymore.” He pulled Mulzini back into his arms and they both spontaneously started crying on each other’s shoulder.
Mulzini stepped back. “You better not ever tell Marcia about this.”
“About what?” Dirk pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, gave it to Mulzini then took it back and mopped his own face. “Good luck today. I’ll see you later.”
“Need some bucks?” Mulzini said pulling a twenty out of his wallet.
“Naw. Hauling furniture on weekends keeps me rolling in the stuff.”
They both laughed and Dirk was out the door.
After checking in with the receptionist, Mulzini and Marcia sat down in the waiting area of cardiologists. Mulzini reached over and squeezed her hand. “If anything happens to me, you need to know most of my important papers are in the top right-hand drawer of my desk.”
“Will you stop that?” she said. “It’s only an office visit. We’re here to get information. Hell, you’re a cop, you should know what that’s all about.”
“Marcia, I know something bad is going to happen. I just feel it.” His heart was racing and he could barely sit still.
“Now you stop it, right now, Stephano Mulzini.”
“You know better than to call me that name.”
“Oh, I know you hate it. But it’s my way of throwing cold water in your face.” She leaned across the arms of the two leather chairs and kissed him on the lips. “You’re here for help—not to die. Try to remember that, please.”
The door to the office area opened. A slender woman came into the room and looked around. The other four people sitting in the room looked up from whatever they were doing. Mulzini assumed, from their expressions, that not one of them wanted to be next. He knew he didn’t.
“Mr. and Mrs. Mulzini?”
Only the first of many unwanted questions.
They both nodded.
“My name is Maya. Allow me to take you in to see the doctor.”
They stood and followed the chic woman down the hallway. She paused at one of the doors, opened it, led them inside, and showed them to a pair of matching walnut and leather chairs placed in front of a large desk.
“The doctor will be with you in a moment or two,” Maya said and left the room.
Mulzini barely had time to give the office a quick once-over when a tall, fiftyish man came in and stood before them.
“Mr. and Ms. Mulzini, I’m Dr. Tallent.” He reached out and shook both their hands.
Mulzini could tell just from his handshake that this man didn’t like to touch people. His whole body language didn’t inspire any sort of confidence. There was something off about him. Tallent sat down behind his desk.