by Alison Stone
“That darn thing hasn’t worked since 1977.” A shaky but firm voice floated out to them followed by a thud, clack, thud, clack. An elderly woman with a walker made her way to the front door, navigating the piles of junk.
“Hello, my name’s Lily McAllister. I work with Talia. Is she home?”
“Well, Dr. McAllister, you, of all people, should know she’s away on a business trip. Left a couple days ago, and in a mighty fine hurry, I might add.”
Lily glanced at James, her confusion mirrored on his face. She leaned toward the screen door. A whiff of something stale reached her nose. “I must have the schedules mixed up. Did she say where she was going?”
“Nope, never said too much. A friend of hers picked her up, though.”
Lily tipped her head. “Do you know who?”
Mrs. York lifted a shaky finger to her eyes. “Can’t see like I used to. Muscular degenerating or some such. It never sounded much like a good diagnosis, so I didn’t pay no mind to its fancy name. Makes no difference to me what it’s called. Doctors told me I’d be blind before my daughter gave me grandchildren.” She huffed. “Might be dead before then because I don’t think this boy she’s bringing around is going to stick.”
“I’m sorry.”
Mrs. York waved her hand. “You didn’t give it to me, did you?” A wet popping emerged from her lungs on her mirthless laugh.
Lily glanced at James, eager to get more information out of Mrs. York, but unsure of how to proceed.
“Mrs. York, I’m Dr. James O’Reilly—”
Mrs. York jabbed her finger in his direction. “You’re the one supposed to be my Talia’s new boss. I mean, boss’s boss. Don’t mean no disrespect, Dr. McAllister.” The older woman plowed forward. “She told me about that fancy party at your grandfather’s house. Must be nice.” Her pursed lips accentuated the deep wrinkles around her mouth. “Also told me there was some excitement.”
“Did your daughter mention when she’d be back?” James’s smile had a way of disarming people, even if Mrs. York only heard it in his voice.
Mrs. York shook her head slowly, worry settling into her features. “Now you’ve got me wondering. Shouldn’t you know when my daughter will be back?”
James shifted his feet. “Any chance she has a desk, maybe in her room? Maybe she made a note. We’d like to talk to her.”
Clack, thud, clack, thud. Mrs. York moved toward the screen door. She leaned in close, her nose almost touching the dirty screen. There was a narrow slit in the corner of the screen just big enough to let mosquitoes in. “I suppose you are who you say you are.” She flicked the lock on the screen door and pushed it open for them. “I don’t see so well, so ignore the mess in here. Her bedroom is down that hall.” Mrs. York stepped aside to let them pass. “I’ll be sitting in the family room watching my programs. Let me know when you’re done.”
Lily resisted the natural tendency to crinkle her nose. The piles of newspapers continued down the long hallway. Trash littered almost every surface. Lily sent up a silent prayer for this woman. She was obviously overwhelmed.
“This is...” she whispered to James, struggling to find the words. She held her knuckles to her nose, inhaling her scented hand lotion. “How can they live like this?”
James shook his head but didn’t say anything. The compassion in his eyes made her question her own. She shouldn’t be so judgmental.
The door at the end of the hall was closed. A pink plaque with a kitten on it read TALIA in fancy script. Lily turned the handle, expecting to see a room as disheveled as the rest of the house. Instead, she found an immaculate room—sterile, almost. The bed was neatly made with a nondescript blue bedspread. Other than an alarm clock, there was absolutely nothing on the dresser surface. Lily let out the breath she’d been holding.
James brushed past her to Talia’s desk. Not one piece of paper littered its entire surface. Lily hung back while he opened the desk drawers. She tugged at the collar of her shirt. The air in the small room was a little too warm and definitely stale. “Where do you think she went?”
He seemed to consider it for a moment. “Any chance she wanted to get away with the boyfriend, but didn’t want to tell her mother?”
Lily scratched her head. “I guess. I don’t know her well enough. But why not use vacation time? She never struck me as irresponsible.”
He pressed a finger to his lips. “We don’t want to cause any trouble between Talia and her mother. Let’s discuss this outside when we’re done.” His gaze drifted to the open bedroom door. The familiar notes of the Eyewitness News theme song drifted into the room.
James strode to the double doors of a closet occupying an entire wall. He slid them open. The clothes were hung according to color and were neatly pressed. Two pairs of shoes were lined up on the floor next to a cardboard box.
The extreme order in Talia’s bedroom contrasted sharply with the disorder in the rest of the small ranch. Talia’s apparent OCD tendencies would leap out even in a tidy home. Lily flattened her hand against her chest. “What do you make of this?”
“I don’t know.”
A scratching sounded from the box in the bottom of the closet. James glanced at Lily then crouched down. He flipped over one flap, then another. A large gray rat scrabbled up the side of the box, fighting for purchase on the smooth, corrugated walls. James glanced over his shoulder at Lily, one eyebrow arched.
“Did you find what you needed?”
Lily spun around, surprised the older woman’s walker hadn’t given them advance notice of her arrival.
Lily stammered before James scooped up the box. Rising to his feet, he slipped his hand around the crook of Lily’s elbow. “Yes. Talia was supposed to drop off this box. Mind if I take it?” James guided Lily and Mrs. York from the room and pulled Talia’s bedroom door shut.
Mrs. York stretched to see into the box, but James kept the flaps closed. “What do you have there?”
“Work property. You don’t mind, do you?” James layered on his bedside charm.
“Oh—” Mrs. York’s knuckles whitened on her walker, seemingly uncertain “—I suppose not.”
“Did Talia mention going to visit any friends or family after her business trip?”
Mrs. York’s face grew serious. “I’m all the family she’s got. And Talia’s always had her nose in a book.” Her pale eyes darted around the narrow hall lined with magazines and plastic bags. She lowered her voice. “Not too long ago she brought a boy home. He didn’t stay long. Didn’t seem much her type, though.” Her mouth quirked, and for the first time, her confident expression slipped a bit before she caught herself. “I suppose this wasn’t much of a home to bring friends. I did the best I could. Her no-good dad wasn’t good for nothing but drinking and smoking. Better off when he made himself scarce...better off.” A faraway look drifted into her eyes.
“Mrs. York, do you have enough food in the house?” Lily asked.
The older woman’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You saying I can’t take care of myself?”
“Not at all. I imagine with Talia away, you aren’t able to get to the store. Can we get you anything?”
Mrs. York’s face smoothed. “I got plenty of canned goods to hold me over till my baby girl gets home.” The older woman hiked her chin, revealing the loose, wrinkled skin of her neck. “She’s going to take care of everything.” The woman seemed to go someplace far away just then. “Do you know she wants to be a doctor? She’ll be the first doctor in the family.”
Lily swallowed hard, then forced a smile.
James pulled out a business card. “Please call me if you need anything.”
Mrs. York waved her hand. “I’m fine. Just fine. We Yorks take care of our own.”
Lily took out one of her business cards, too, and set it on the hall table.
Jam
es and Lily headed down the hallway. Lily froze in the family room. On the television was a sketch of the man who had attacked her at the clinic. A news camera was stationed in front of Medlink. “Oh, no! I thought you told Chief Farley not to tie Medlink into this.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I did, but the reporters must have done some digging.” He gently touched her arm. “Let’s go.”
Once inside the car, Lily ran her hands down the thighs of her khaki pants. “Is this negative publicity going to hurt Medlink?”
“There’s nothing we can do about that now. Maybe they’ll finally catch this guy and you’ll be able to put this all behind you.”
“I hope.” Her gaze drifted to the overgrown yard. “I had no idea Talia lived like this. She never told her mother she didn’t get into the Ph.D. program.”
“She could apply somewhere else. There’s more than one Ph.D. program in the U.S.”
“Yeah, but then she’d have to move away from her mother.” She shook her head. “I don’t think Talia would do that.” She glanced over her shoulder at the box in the backseat. “What do you make of the rat in the closet?” She reached between the seats and pulled back a box flap. The rat was still enthusiastically trying to make its escape.
James rested his elbow on the console between them. His arm brushed against hers. His clean scent stretched across the small space. “What are you thinking?”
A million thoughts. None of them made sense. “Sarah told me today Talia didn’t get into the Ph.D. program. Since her grades are great, she alluded to the fact that maybe my recommendation was lacking. And maybe that was the reason she didn’t get into the Ph.D. program.” She jerked her thumb toward the backseat. “She had a rat in her closet. Maybe she left the dead rat for me because she’s mad. Maybe it has nothing to do with the guy trying to get into the clinic.”
James ran his palm across his jaw. “So obviously, Talia never read the letter of recommendation you wrote?”
Lily shook her head. “No, the letter had to be sealed. I dropped it in the mail room at work to be sent directly to the college, sealed. But I wrote her a glowing recommendation. I’m sure I still have a copy of it on my computer files.” Lily slumped into the passenger seat.
“We need to give this information to Medlink security and Chief Farley. We can’t let Talia back on Medlink property until we get answers.” James turned the key in the ignition. Lily glanced at the house. The sheers in the front window fluttered closed as if someone had been standing there staring at them.
* * *
“Maybe Stephanie’s right,” Lily said to James when they reached O’Reilly Manor. “I shouldn’t be in the carriage house. That thug’s gunning for me. He’ll track me down no matter where I am. I can’t bring my problems to your grandparents’ home...not again.”
“You’re not going home alone.” James opened his car door and turned to face her. “And that’s the last I want to hear about it. You’re safer here.” He doubted she’d agree to leave Orchard Gardens, and James was beginning to wonder if that would make a difference. This whole situation had him lying awake at night.
He tried another tactic. “My grandmother is very fond of you. She’ll insist you stay, too.”
“Thank you.” A smile brightened her face despite the uncertainty in her eyes. He smiled in response, resisting the urge to reach out and run the backs of his fingers across her smooth cheek. It was good to see her smile.
She climbed out of her side of the car and met him around front. “Thanks for running by the lab. It’s amazing we were able to avoid the news trucks.” They had dropped the rat off. Lily had made sure it had a clean cage, food and water. At first glance, it seemed to have been shipped from the same source as the other rats used in the labs, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. There were only so many suppliers of lab rats in the Northeast. It could have been a coincidence.
An unlikely coincidence.
James held out his free hand to direct Lily to the front door. Stopping, she looked at the large double doors. “I can’t stop thinking about something.” She looked up at him with those eyes, those beautiful, worried eyes.
“What?” A soft breeze lifted the wisps of hair from her forehead.
“If Talia stole rats from the lab or did anything else she wasn’t supposed to, all the work she’s done for me is going to be suspect.” Briefly, she closed her eyes. “It could jeopardize the future of Regen.” She pressed a palm to her forehead. “All our work.”
“I know.” The thought had crossed his mind the minute he found the rat in the bottom of Talia’s closet. “But let’s not go there just yet.”
Lily swatted at a mosquito flying around her head. Shoulders sagging, she seemed lost in thought. “I suppose you’re right. One step at a time.” She shook her head. “Besides, I can’t imagine what that would mean for my niece if going to market with Regen is delayed.” Neither acknowledged it, but the results of Emily’s blood work were still out there, like a ticking time bomb.
“We’ll get this straightened out.” He entered the alarm code, then opened the large door. Strident clacking sounded across the marble entryway. His cousin, Stephanie, met them at the door, her long fingers wrapped around a television remote. “It’s all over the news.”
James and Lily locked gazes. He knew what was coming.
“Come here.” Stephanie spun around without waiting for a response, demanding James and Lily follow her into the great room, where a large-screen TV was tuned into the news station. A well-coiffed newswoman appeared on the screen standing in front of the Medlink Pharmaceutical sign. His cousin pointed the remote at the screen and turned up the volume.
“...We have reached out to Dr. And Mrs. O’Reilly, but they have refused our request for an interview. According to witnesses at a gathering at their exclusive home on the escarpment of Orchard Gardens, an unknown intruder threatened one of their top researchers, Dr. Lily McAllister. This is the latest composite of the intruder.” An image flashed on the screen. “We will update you as more information becomes available. This is Candace Snow...”
Stephanie pointed the remote at the screen again and it went blank. “Do neither of you understand the meaning of discretion?” She narrowed her gaze at James. “I thought you were going to handle this? Keep it under the radar so any potential investors don’t get spooked.”
James gritted his teeth. “Enough. We only gave the police the go-ahead to release the composite photo and offer a reward. We emphasized the attack at the clinic. The news established the tie-in to Medlink.” He smoothed his hair. “It was bound to come out sooner or later.”
“Later would have been better.” Stephanie flicked a glance toward Lily, then back at him. “I want to talk to you. In private.”
Lily took a step back. “I know my way to the carriage house.”
James whispered in her ear. “You don’t have to go.”
“I do.” Lily blinked slowly. “I’m tired and you have to talk business.”
Stephanie waited until Lily left through the French doors before whirling around on him. “We’ve got to do damage control.”
“Damage control?”
Both Stephanie and James turned to find their grandfather standing at the bottom of the stairs.
Grandfather lifted a shaky finger, his skin an ashen gray. “What are you hiding from me?”
“Declan—” Grandmother descended the stairs behind her husband “—you are supposed to be resting.”
Using his cane, he limped into the dining room and pulled out a chair at the head of the table.
“We didn’t want to worry you.” Stephanie rushed over and patted her grandfather’s shoulder. “We know you haven’t been feeling well.”
His grandfather jerked his shoulder and Stephanie’s hand fell to her side. “I’m perfectly fine.” He swung u
p his hand. The chandelier light caught the gold on his ring finger. “Don’t patronize me.”
James stepped forward. “The thug, the one that crashed your party and tried to get into the clinic, has continued to harass Lily. Today the news is broadcasting a sketch of his face. We need the public’s help to get this loser off the street.”
His grandmother wrapped her fingers around the back of another chair. Her large diamond ring hung loosely on her finger. She hiked up her chin. “That settles it.”
James pulled his head back. “Settles what?”
“You’re going to return full-time to Medlink. Now. No more clinic. It’s too dangerous. These people are never going to stop.” His grandmother pulled out the chair and folded herself into it. She placed her hands in her lap as if the matter had been settled simply because she had decreed it.
After a moment, his grandmother looked up. “You’ve done a lot of good. You remind me so much of your father.” She slipped a tissue out of her sleeve and dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “I can’t lose you, too. Please. It’s time to leave the clinic.”
James sat in the chair next to his grandmother’s and took her hands into his. “Please, don’t worry. It’s no way to live.” Perhaps her denial had made her forget his plans to reenlist. Tonight didn’t seem like the best opportunity to remind his grandparents of his plans. In good conscience, he couldn’t leave until things had settled down here.
He thought of Lily. He couldn’t leave her. Not now. He’d have to have faith. Faith.
His grandfather made a sniffing sound at the end of the table. When James met his eyes, his grandfather stiffened his back. He carefully schooled his expression. “When is Edna going to serve dinner?”
“She has some groceries for Lily, who’s staying in the carriage house,” Stephanie said, standing over them with the remote in her hand.
“I’m glad Lily’s here,” his grandmother said. “It will be nice to have her around. I’m just sorry it’s under these circumstances.” Her gaze drifted to James. “It seems like you two are still spending a lot of time together. Are my hopes you’ll settle down realistic?”