Hold Tight (2008)

by Harlan Coben

  There had been a knife.

  Had he been stabbed?

  He didn't think so. He turned the other way. Another patient. A black man with his eyes closed. Mike looked for his family, but there was no one here for him. That shouldn't surprise him--he might have only been out for a short time. They would have to contact Tia. She was in Boston. It would take time for her to arrive. Jill was at the Novaks' house. And Adam... ?

  In the movies, when a patient wakes up like this, it's in a private room and the doctor and nurse are already there, as though they'd been waiting all night, smiling down with lots of answers. There was no health professional in sight. Mike knew the routine. He searched for his call button, found it wrapped around the bed railings, and pressed for the nurse.

  It took some time. Hard to say how much. Time crawled by. The praying woman's voice faded into silence. She stood up and wiped her eyes. Mike could see the man in the bed now. Considerably younger than the woman. Mother-son, he figured. He wondered what brought them here.

  He looked out the windows behind her. The shades were open and there was sunlight.

  Daytime.

  He had lost consciousness at night. Hours ago. Or maybe days. Who knew? He started pressing the call button even though he knew that it did no good. Panic began to take hold. The pain in his head steadily grew--someone was taking a jackhammer to his right temple.

  "Well, well."

  He turned toward the doorway. The nurse, a heavy woman with reading glasses perched upon her huge bosom, strolled in. Her name tag read BERTHA BONDY. She looked down at him and frowned.

  "Welcome to the free world, sleepyhead. How are you feeling?"

  It took Mike a second or two to find his voice. "Like I kissed a Mac truck."

  "Probably be more sanitary than what you were doing. Are you thirsty?"

  "Parched."

  Bertha nodded, picked up a cup of ice. She tilted it to his lips. The ice tasted medicinal, but man it felt good in his mouth.

  "You're at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital," Bertha said. "Do you remember what happened?"

  "Someone jumped me. Bunch of guys, I guess."

  "Hmm hmm. What's your name?"

  "Mike Baye."

  "Can you spell the last name for me?"

  He did, figuring this was a cognitive test, so he volunteered some information. "I'm a physician," he said. "I do transplant surgery out of NewYork-Presbyterian."

  She frowned some more, as though he'd given her the wrong answer. "For real?"

  "Yes."

  More frowning.

  "Do I pass?" he asked.

  "Pass?"

  "The cognitive test."

  "I'm not the doctor. He'll be by in a little while. I asked your name because we don't know who you are. You came in with no wallet, no cell phone, no keys, nothing. Whoever rolled you took it all."

  Mike was about to say something else but a stab of pain ripped across his skull. He rode it out, bit down, counted in his head to ten. When it passed, he spoke again.

  "How long have I been out?"

  "All night. Six, seven hours."

  "What time is it?"

  "Eight in the morning."

  "So no one notified my family?"

  "I just told you. We didn't know who you were."

  "I need a phone. I need to call my wife."

  "Your wife? You sure?"

  Mike's head felt fuzzy. He was probably on some kind of medication, so maybe that was why he couldn't figure out why she'd asked something so asinine.

  "Of course I'm sure."

  Bertha shrugged. "The phone's next to your bed, but I'll have to ask them to hook it up. You'll probably need help dialing, right?"

  "I guess."

  "Oh, do you have medical insurance? We have some forms that need to be filled out."

  Mike wanted to smile. First things first. "I do."

  "I'll send someone from admissions up to get your information. Your doctor should be by soon to talk about your injuries."

  "How bad are they?"

  "You took a pretty solid beating and since you were out that long, there was obviously a concussion and head trauma. But I'd rather let the doctor give you the details, if that's okay. I'll see if I can hurry him along."

  He understood. Floor nurses should not be giving him the diagnosis.

  "How's the pain?" Bertha asked.

  "Medium."

  "You're on some pain meds now, so it'll be getting worse before it gets better. I'll hook up a morphine pump for you."

  "Thanks."

  "Back soon."

  She started for the door. Mike thought of something else.

  "Nurse?"

  She turned back toward him.

  "Isn't there a police officer who wants to talk to me or something?"

  "Excuse me?"

  "I was assaulted and, from what you're saying, robbed. Wouldn't a cop be interested?"

  She folded her arms across her chest. "And you think, what, they'd just sit here and wait for you to wake up?"

  She had a point--like the doctor waiting on TV.

  Then Bertha added: "Most people don't bother to report this kind of thing anyway."

  "What kind of thing?"

  She frowned again. "You want me to call the police for you too?"

  "I better call my wife first."

  "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I think that's probably best."

  He reached for the bed's control button. Pain tore across his rib cage. His lungs stopped. He fumbled for the control and pushed the top button. His body curled up with the bed. He tried to squiggle more upright. He slowly reached now for the phone. He got it to his ear. It wasn't hooked up yet.

  Tia must be in a panic.

  Was Adam home by now?

  Who the hell had jumped him?

  "Mr. Baye?"

  It was Nurse Bertha reappearing at the door.

  "Dr. Baye," he corrected.

  "Oh, silly me, I forgot."

  He hadn't said it to be obnoxious, but letting a hospital know that you were a fellow physician had to be a good idea. If a cop is pulled over for speeding, he always lets the other cop know what he does for a living. File it under "Can't Hurt."

  "I found an officer here for another matter," she said. "Do you want to talk to him?"

  "Yes, thanks, but could you also hook up the phone?"

  "Should be ready for you any minute now."

  The uniformed officer entered the room. He was a small man, Latino with a thin mustache. Mike placed him in his mid-thirties. He introduced himself as Officer Guttierez.

  "Do you really want to file a report?" he asked.

  "Of course."

  He frowned too.

  "What?"

  "I'm the officer who brought you in."

  "Thank you."

  "You're welcome. Do you know where we found you?"

  Mike thought a second. "Probably in that alley by that club. I forget the street."

  "Exactly."

  He looked at Mike and waited. And Mike finally saw it.

  "It's not what you think," Mike said.

  "What do I think?"

  "That I was rolled by a hooker."

  "Rolled?"

  Mike tried to shrug. "I watch a lot of TV."

  "Well, I'm not big on jumping to conclusions, but here's what I do know: You were found in an alley frequented by prostitutes. You're a solid twenty or thirty years older than the average club goer in that area. You're married. You got jumped and robbed and beaten in a way I've seen before, when a john gets"--he made quote marks with his fingers--" 'rolled by a hooker or her pimp.' "

  "I wasn't there to solicit," Mike said.

  "Uh-huh, no, no, I'm sure you were in that alley for the view. It's pretty special. And don't get me started on the delights of the aroma. Man, you don't have to explain to me. I totally get the allure."

  "I was looking for my son."

  "In that alley?"

  "Yes. I saw a friend of his..." The pain returned. H
e could see how this would go. It would take some time to explain. And then what? What would this cop find anyway?

  He needed to reach Tia.

  "I'm in a lot of pain right now," Mike said.

  Guttierez nodded. "I understand. Look, here's my card. Call if you want to talk some more or fill out a complaint, okay?"

  Guttierez put his card on the night table and left the room. Mike ignored it. He fought through the pain, reached for the phone, and dialed Tia's cell phone.

  Chapter 18.

  LOREN Muse watched the street surveillance tape from near where her Jane Doe's body was dumped. Nothing jumped out at her, but then again, what had she expected? Several dozen vehicles drove past that lot at that hour. You couldn't really eliminate any. The body could be in the trunk of even the smallest car.

  Still she kept watching and hoping and when the tape rolled to the end, she had gotten a big fat goose egg for her trouble.

  Clarence knocked and stuck his head in again. "You're not going to believe this, Chief."

  "I'm listening."

  "First off, forget that missing man. The Baye guy. Guess where he was?"

  "Where?"

  "A Bronx hospital. His wife goes away on business and he goes out and gets mugged by a hooker."

  Muse made a face. "A Livingston guy going for a hooker in that area?"

  "What can I tell you--some people like slumming. But that's not the big news." Clarence sat down without being asked, which was out of character. His shirtsleeves were rolled up, and there was a hint of a smile breaking through the fleshy face.

  "The Cordovas' Acura MDX is still in the hotel lot," he said. "The local cops knocked on some doors. She's not there. So I went backward."

  "Backward?"

  "The last place we knew where she was. The Palisades Mall. It's a huge mall and they got a pretty extensive security setup. So I called them."

  "The security office?"

  "Right, and here's the thing: Yesterday, around five P.M., some guy came in to say he saw a woman in a green Acura MDX walk to her car, load some stuff in, and then walk to a man's white van parked next to her. He says she gets in the van, not forced or anything, but then the door closes. The guy figures, no big deal except another woman comes along and gets in the woman's Acura. Then both cars drove out together."

  Muse sat back. "The van and the Acura?"

  "Right."

  "And another woman is driving the Acura?"

  "Right. So anyway, this guy reports it to the security office and the guards are like, uh, so? They don't pay any attention--I mean, what are they going to do? So they just file it. But when I call, they remember and pull the report. First off, this all took place right outside the Target. The guy came in to make the report at five fifteen P.M. We know that Reba Cordova made her purchase at Target at four fifty- two P.M. The receipt is date-stamped."

  Bells started clanging, but Muse wasn't sure where they were coming from.

  "Call Target," she said. "I bet they have surveillance cameras."

  "We're coordinating with Target's home office as we speak. Probably take a couple of hours, no more. Something else. Maybe important, maybe not. We were able to figure out what she bought at Target. Some kid DVDs, some kid underwear, clothes--all stuff for kids."

  "Not what you buy if you plan on running away with a paramour."

  "Exactly, unless you're taking the kids, which she didn't. And more than that, we opened her Acura in the hotel lot, and there is no Target bag inside. The husband checked the house, in case she stopped home. No Target stuff there either."

  A cold shiver started up near the base of Muse's neck.

  "What?" he asked.

  "I want that report from the security office. Get the guy's phone number--the one who reported seeing her get in a van. See what else he remembers--vehicles, descriptions of the passengers, anything. I'm sure the security guard didn't go over all that with him. I want to know everything."

  "Okay."

  They talked another minute or two, but her mind whirred and her pulse raced. When Clarence left, Muse picked up her phone and hit the cell phone for her boss, Paul Copeland.

  "Hello?"

  "Where are you?" Muse asked.

  "I just dropped Cara off."

  "I need to bounce something off you, Cope."

  "When?"

  "Soon as possible."

  "I'm supposed to meet my bride-to-be at some restaurant to final- ize the seating chart."

  "The seating chart?"

  "Yeah, Muse. The seating chart. It's this thing that tells people where to sit."

  "And you care about this?"

  "Not even a little."

  "Let Lucy do it, then."

  "Right, like she doesn't already. She drags me to all these things, but I'm not allowed to speak. She says I'm just eye candy."

  "You are, Cope."

  "Yes, true, but I have a brain too."

  "That's the part of you I need," she said.

  "Why, what's up?"

  "I'm having one of my crazier hunches, and I need you to tell me if I'm on to something or going off the deep end."

  "Is it more important than who sits at the same table as Aunt Carol and Uncle Jerry?"

  "No, this is just a homicide."

  "I'll make the sacrifice. On my way."

  THE sound of the phone woke Jill up.

  She was in Yasmin's bedroom. Yasmin was trying too hard to fit in with the other girls by pretending to be extra boy-crazy. There was a poster of Zac Efron, the hottie from the High School Musical movies on one wall, and another of the Sprouse twins from The Suite Life . There was one of Miley Cyrus from Hannah Montana --okay, a girl, not a hottie, but still. It all seemed so desperate.

  Yasmin's bed was near the door while Jill slept by the window. Both beds were blanketed with stuffed animals. Yasmin once told Jill that the best part about divorce was the competitive spoiling--both parents go out of their way with the gifts. Yasmin only saw her mom maybe four, five times a year, but she sent stuff constantly. There were at least two dozen Build-A-Bears, including one dressed like a cheerleader and another, perched next to Jill's pillow, that was done up like a pop star with rhinestone shorts, a halter top, and a wire microphone wrapped around her furry face. A ton of Webkinz animals, including three hippos alone, spilled onto the floor. Back issues of J-14and Teen People and Popstar!magazines littered the nightstand. The carpet was deep shag, something her parents told her had gone out in the 1970s but seemed to be making an odd comeback in teen bedrooms. There was a brand-new iMac on the desk.

  Yasmin was good with computers. So was Jill.

  Jill sat up. Yasmin blinked and looked over at her. In the distance, Jill could hear a rumbling voice on the phone. Mr. Novak. There was a Homer Simpson clock on the nightstand between them. It read seven fifteen A.M.

  Early for a call, Jill knew, especially on a weekend.

  The girls had stayed up late last night. First they went out for dinner and ice cream with Mr. Novak and his annoying new girlfriend, Beth. Beth was probably forty years old and laughed at everything Mr. Novak said like, well, like the annoying boy-crazy girls at their school did to make a boy like them. Jill thought you outgrew that at some stage. Maybe not.

  Yasmin had a plasma TV in her room. Her father let them watch as many movies as they wanted. "It's the weekend," Guy Novak said with a big smile. "Have at it." So they microwaved some popcorn and watched PG-13 and even one R-rated film that would probably have freaked out Jill's parents.

  Jill got out of bed. She had to pee, but right now she wondered about last night, what had happened, if her father had tracked Adam down. She was worried. She had called Adam's phone herself. If he was keeping away from Mom and Dad, okay, that made sense. But she had never considered the possibility that he wouldn't respond to calls and texts from his little sister. Adam always responded to her.

  But not this time.

  And that made Jill worry even more.

  She checked
her cell phone.

  "What are you doing?" Yasmin asked.

  "Checking to see if Adam called me back."

  "Did he?"

  "No. Nothing."

  Yasmin fell silent.

  There was a light rap on the door and then it opened. Mr. Novak popped his head in and whispered, "Hey, why are you guys awake?"

  "The phone woke us," Yasmin said.

  "Who was it?" Jill asked.

  Mr. Novak looked at her. "That was your mommy."

  Jill's body stiffened. "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing's wrong, sweetheart," Mr. Novak said, and Jill could see it was a great big lie. "She just asked if we could keep you today. I figured we'd go to the mall later or maybe a movie. How does that sound?"

  "Why does she want me to stay?" Jill asked.

  "I don't know, honey. She just said something's come up and asked the favor. But she said to tell you that she loves you and everything is fine."

  Jill said nothing. He was lying. She knew it. Yasmin knew it. She looked over at Yasmin. It wouldn't do to press the issue. He wouldn't tell them. He was protecting them because their eleven-year-old minds couldn't handle the truth or whatever nonsense adults use to excuse lying.

  "I'm going to run out for a while," Mr. Novak said.

  "Where?" Yasmin asked.

  "The office. I need to pick up some stuff. But Beth just stopped by. She's downstairs watching TV, if you need anything."

  Yasmin smirked. "Just stopped by?"

  "Yes."

  "Like she didn't sleep here? Right, Dad. How old do you think we are?"

  He frowned. "That's enough, young lady."

  "Whatever."

  He closed the door. Jill sat on the bed. Yasmin moved closer to her.

  "What do you think happened?" Yasmin asked.

  Jill didn't reply, but she didn't like where her thoughts were taking her.

  COPE came into Muse's office. He was, Muse thought, looking rather natty in his new blue suit.

  "Press conference today?" Muse asked.

  "How did you guess?"

  "Your suit is natty."

  "Do people still say natty?"

  "They should."

  "Agreed. I am the picture of nattiness. I am nattatious. The Natt Man. The Nattster."

  Loren Muse held up a sheet of paper. "Look what just came in to my office."

  "Tell me."

  "Frank Tremont's letter of resignation. He is putting in for retirement."