Changing Fate (Book 3) (Piper Anderson Series)

by Danielle Stewart

  “I need some air,” Jules insisted as she slurped the last of her juice and reached down for another cheese stick. Piper shook her head in disbelief. Surveillance brought out the worst in Jules. She had far too much energy to sit still and watch. She was constantly crinkling a food wrapper or tapping her fingers—or having to pee every twenty minutes. “I’m going in there,” Jules said, reaching for the door handle.

  “Do you honestly have to go to the bathroom again?”

  “Nope,” Jules called behind her before closing the door. “I’m going to find out more about him. Because if I don’t I’m really going to need a doctor to revive me when I die from boredom.”

  “Didn’t you learn your lesson at the drug facility?” Piper hopped out of the driver’s seat and pulled her coat closed, as she chased after Jules.

  As the hospital doors parted in front of her she realized she was too late. Jules already had the wheels in motion.

  “Hi y’all,” she said to the three nurses behind the desk. “I’m all sorts of turned around here. Can you help a country girl out?”

  The women all looked at each other, first a bit stunned, but then their faces softened as they looked over at Jules. “What can we do for you, dear?” the heavyset blonde woman asked.

  “I’m hoping you could point me in the direction of Dr. Wheeler’s office. I’m supposed to be meeting with him about an article I’m writing for the Southern Women’s Times.”

  “Do you have a pass and an appointment?” the woman asked.

  “I didn’t realize I needed one. Back home our hospitals aren’t anything like this. We don’t have passes or nothing. That’s why I’m standing here like a buffoon,” Jules wrinkled her face a little, and let a tear form in her eye. “You see, I fought like a cornered raccoon to get this assignment. Women don’t get the same opportunities as men in my office. I’m certain they sent me up here to fail.” She let her breathing get rapid, and waved her hand like a fan to cool herself.

  “Oh,” the three women said in unison. “Don’t you worry.” They scurried around behind the large desk and quickly put together a pass, ready and waiting for her name. “My name is Scarlett Cherrywind,” Jules said, still feigning emotional distress. “This is my assistant, Skipper Jones,” she said, pointing at Piper whose face was bright red with embarrassment.

  As they stepped away from the desk with passes and directions to the correct wing of the hospital, Jules dropped her emotion and grinned victoriously. “What was that you were saying about southern charm?”

  “Yes, your magic powers are astounding, but can I ask if you have a plan? And more importantly, why the hell is my name Skipper?”

  “It suits you,” Jules teased. “You heard my plan, I’m doing an interview.”

  “We can’t walk in there under the pretense of a fake interview with no appointment,” Piper hissed, trying to keep up with Jules’s quick stride.

  “Dr. Wheeler?” Jules sang as she knocked on the open door of the office she’d been directed to.

  “Yes?” the man asked, looking a bit tired and confused. “Can I help you with something?”

  “I hope so, we have a meeting this afternoon. I’m Scarlett from the Southern Women’s Times. We are doing a piece on you for our paper and we’re scheduled to meet now. This is my assistant,” Jules said confidently, as she strode in and sat down. Dr. Wheeler’s puzzled expression as he looked over her shoulder made Jules realize Piper wasn’t coming in.

  “She must have run to the ladies room. We had a long drive here. This will only take a few minutes of your time, so I’ll get started right away. So what should people know about you that they couldn’t read on your bio? Who is the real Dr. Wheeler?” She pulled out a pen and paper from her bag and looked at him as though she were awaiting the sound bite of the century.

  “I have no idea,” the man said, still looking stunned. “I don’t recall making this appointment.” He looked down at his watch. “I have a meeting in a few minutes that I can’t miss. I’m happy to participate in your interview, but it can’t be right now. Can you leave me your number and I’ll get back to you? I’m so sorry for the confusion. You seem like a very sweet girl, and I’ll make sure to get you whatever you need for your article soon.” The doctor was up from his desk and showing Jules the door before she could open her mouth to protest. “Check in at the registration desk and they’ll help you set up another appointment with my nurse.” He shut the door to his office and left Jules standing in the hallway.

  She looked both ways, hoping to find Piper, but she’d disappeared. Jules decided to walk toward the hospital entrance, but when a man in a black jacket with a rat-like face bumped into her she stumbled backward. She caught herself on the hallway railing, astonished the man didn’t even spare her a glance.

  “Jackass,” she murmured, as she steadied herself. Without even knocking, the man stepped into the office she had just left. Jules saw this as an opportunity to learn more about the doctor, and who he might be meeting. She looked around once more for Piper and finally saw her head poking out around a corner. “Get over here,” Jules whispered urgently, waving Piper over. “There’s some other guy in there and I want to try to hear what they are talking about.” She tugged Piper by the arm and pulled her into the empty conference room next to Dr. Wheeler’s office.

  “I’ll watch the door, you try to hear what they are saying.” Jules stood in the doorway of the conference room, and kept looking in either direction to make sure no one was coming. “What are they saying?” she mouthed over her shoulder.

  “It’s hard to say, I can’t hear that well.” Piper pressed her ear to the wall. “They don’t sound very happy with each other. Something about money and a deal.” Piper moved suddenly, yanked Jules back and closed the conference room door. “He’s leaving,” she said, squatting down behind the door and pulling Jules down to do the same. They watched the man’s shadow pass by the conference room window through the closed blinds.

  “Let’s go,” Jules whispered, and they cautiously opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Despite keeping a quick pace, the man had slipped away before they could catch up with him.

  They made their way back to the front desk and jumped as they heard someone addressing them. “How did it go, Miss Cherrywind?” the blonde nurse asked.

  “He was very busy,” Jules said, seeing another opportunity to gain more information. “I’m sure that is pretty normal for a heart surgeon, very terse.” She pouted, looking a little pathetic.

  “Oh no, Dr. Wheeler is a favorite here. All the staff love him, and he gives each of his patients his full attention. I can assure you if he was rude to you today, it would have been completely out of character.”

  “That is good to hear. He sounded like he had a very important meeting after mine. Can you tell me when that is supposed to be over? He told me to check back with him today.”

  “We don’t really have schedules for the doctors. A cardiac surgeon is usually either in surgery or making his rounds. The fact that you caught him in his office at all was lucky. I thought you’d only get a minute with him in the hallways. Oh wait,” The nurse looked down at her monitor. “We have a check-in system here at the hospital for doctors to let us know if they are on site or not. It looks like he just left for the day.”

  “That’s no problem. You all were so helpful, bless your hearts.” Jules smiled and waved, as she and Piper backed away from the desk and headed for the door.

  “Well that was a lot of unnecessary risk,” Piper snapped as they settled back into the car and watched the doctor’s car to see if he’d be leaving soon.

  “Actually we learned quite a bit. People here really like him; he’s a nice guy. He had an angry meeting with some guy and then cleared his schedule for the rest of the day. I’d say that was worth it. Can we finally follow him home tonight? Your way isn’t working. We hadn’t learned anything up until now. ”

  “Yes,” Piper said resignedly. She had told Jules it wa
s important to take things slowly for the sake of being clandestine, but, in reality, she was just trying to work up the courage it would take to meet this man. Every step they took would move her closer to that moment.

  “And we learned plenty doing things my way. He drives to work rather than taking public transportation, which means he’s been working at the hospital long enough to have one of the very coveted parking spots. His SUV is a limited edition, which mean he has money.”

  “Cracker Jack detective work,” Jules mocked. “Now we know he isn’t the one and only poor cardiac surgeon in the world. Oh, there he is, he’s getting in his car,” Jules chirped, pointing feverishly.

  “What did I tell you about pointing at someone you’re trying to follow? It’s kind of a dead giveaway.”

  “Just drive,” Jules ordered, crossing her arms, tired of making rookie mistakes. There were so many rules: rules of the city, rules of spying. It was all a lot of work.

  They followed Dr. Wheeler’s black SUV through the city and dealt with stop-and-go traffic, pedestrians darting out, and bike messengers swerving between them. Then suddenly, it was like crossing into Oz: the colors were brighter, the streets wider, the traffic all gone. They were heading into the suburbs. They passed a sign for Westchester County and Piper realized they were on their way to an affluent area she’d always dreamed about as a child.

  As the doctor pulled into his driveway, Piper wanted to soak in every detail of the house. Instead, she forced herself to drive past it in hopes of remaining inconspicuous. She caught only a glimpse of Christmas lights twinkling as twilight set in, and a beautiful festive wreath hanging on the front door.

  Carefully, Piper turned the car around and parked across the street. Dr. Wheeler had already gotten out of his car and entered the house. She wondered if someone had been waiting at the door for him. Had they hugged right there on the porch, kissed like they did every night when he came home? The house not only had a look of wealth, but it clearly belonged to people who cared about it and spent their time making it something special. The porch railings were wrapped in ribbon and garland for the holiday. Their porch furniture had cheerful cushions, and the windows were all lit with small decorative holiday candles.

  Piper was ready to call it quits after sitting for over half an hour. Jules had announced she had to pee again, after finishing the fifteenth juice box. There was no point staring at a house where nothing was happening. No good could come of Piper’s losing herself in the thought of what it would have been like to grow up here instead of where she had. Would she have built a snowman here, have been called in to warm up? How many marshmallows would have been floating in her hot chocolate, and how many warm hugs would she have received?

  As she turned the key in the ignition, Piper heard a commotion. It sounded like shouting. She rolled her window down slightly so she could hear the situation better.

  Piper and Jules slouched down in their seats as the door to Martin’s home swung open, and out stepped a blonde in her late teens. She had a backpack over her shoulder, and she stomped so heavily down the front stairs Piper thought she might fall through them.

  “You guys really think I’m the worst kid in the world, don’t you? You have no idea what it’s like to be my age. You have no idea how bad I could be.”

  “Jennipher Anne, stop right there. Don’t you dare get in that car,” a woman called, following her closely down the stairs. “Marty, Marty stop her.”

  Dr. Wheeler stepped out onto the porch and folded his arms across his chest. He said something low, something they couldn’t hear from across the street. The woman stopped in her tracks and abandoned the act of following her daughter. She looked back at her husband, completely exasperated as the young girl backed out of the driveway, squealing the tires as she sped off. Martin walked slowly down the stairs and wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her in close. Piper could see her shaking with tears as her husband continued to talk softly into her ear.

  “Follow her,” Jules hollered. By her tone, Piper realized she’d probably been saying it for a minute now, but this was the first time it registered with her. She put the car in gear and hit the gas. She wasn’t sure why she was following this girl and what that might tell her, if anything.

  Piper began tailing the tiny two-door car as it sped out of the beautiful neighborhood and, eventually, onto the highway leading back to the city. The sun was setting now and the lights of the city were beginning to come to life. The low glow seemed to paint the place better than it was. It looked a little glamorous here at night, even though the darkness brought more danger.

  The girl’s car was weaving slightly, and Piper and Jules could hear the thumping of the bass every time they stopped at a traffic light. They’d catch her occasionally looking up in the rearview mirror, and when they thought for sure they’d been spotted, they’d see she was just wiping at her dark mascara streaking down her cheeks with her tears.

  “What do you think is wrong with her?” Jules asked, as they crossed into an area that didn’t seem fit for a girl her age this time of night. “She seems really upset.”

  “I don’t know. She’s just driving around I think. She’s going in circles.” Piper couldn’t figure out what the girl was looking for. An address of a friend maybe? “This isn’t a great area, I wish she’d head back to her house. She’s going to get herself in trouble here.”

  “Maybe that’s what she wants,” Jules said, shaking her leg anxiously.

  “Do you seriously have to pee again?” Piper asked, as Jules fidgeted in her seat.

  “It is not my fault, the baby book Sister Benine gave me says it’s normal, something to do with hormones and kidneys.” She pulled the book from her bag and flipped through the pages. “It’s supposed to tell me what to expect. I must have really needed this book, because, let me tell you, I was not expecting any of it.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Piper grumbled.

  “No, seriously, did you know I could grow a beard? Well not like a wolf man or anything, but it’s completely normal to have an increase in facial hair during pregnancy.” Jules showed the page to Piper who, judging by the look on her face, was obviously not listening to her. “What’s the matter?”

  “I think I know what she’s doing out here.” The car stopped at the edge of an alley, and Piper realized exactly what the girl was doing, what she was searching for. She brought the car to a stop across the street and watched as the girl stepped out with an air of contrived confidence.

  “What is she doing?” Jules asked, her voice laced with fear.

  “I think she’s planning to buy drugs.” Piper’s disappointment was impossible to hide. They watched as the girl made contact with a man leaning against a wall, his hands stuffed in his coat pockets. There was chatter, no words that they could decipher from a distance, but Piper knew the lingo of a drug deal well enough to fill in any blanks.

  “Maybe she knows him?” Jules suggested, trying to sound hopeful.

  “Maybe,” Piper said distractedly, once again rolling her window down to try to hear better. If she was here to buy drugs then this usually fast transaction seemed to be taking longer than normal. The man was hesitating, making far too much conversation. Something wasn’t right. Then, in a flash, he grabbed the girl, and spun her quickly so she was the one against the wall, his hand covering her mouth. Piper clicked off her seatbelt and pushed open her door, and Jules immediately followed suit.

  “No, you stay here, get your cell phone and call the police. You have more than just yourself to worry about now.” Piper opened her trunk and grabbed the tire iron. She walked with purpose across the street and to the alley, her heart thudding.

  “Wait, I have to tell you something first,” Jules called, as Piper slammed the door, cutting her words short.

  “Hey jackass, you want me to split your head open?” she shouted. The man jumped and turned toward her but didn’t release the girl he had pressed against the wall.

  “
Mind your own business,” he growled, tightening his grip on the girl’s mouth. Piper was confident her weapon and quick reflexes could give her the upper hand, at least until the police arrived.

  She took two steps toward him, lifting the tire iron to her shoulder like a baseball bat. “I wonder if what’s left of your teeth in that junkie mouth of yours will come out with one hit or two.”

  “I don’t know, why don’t you ask my buddy what he thinks,” the man sneered, smiling wildly as another man came up behind Piper and quickly yanked her weapon away. He pulled her arms back behind her and held her impossibly tight as she kicked at his legs. At least Jules was calling the police; there was still hope. The second man walked her forward and pressed her face against the cold brick wall, scraping her cheek on its rough edge. She felt some of her skin pull away. She locked eyes with the terrified girl and winked, not sure where that confidence or attempted act of comfort came from. The girl looked back, confusion in her eyes. Perhaps it was the strange gesture, or maybe she was wondering why this stranger had her father’s eyes. Piper wasn’t sure.

  “Take their money, any jewelry they have,” the man holding Piper called to the other. She continued to fight against his grip, even though every tug caused a harder shove into the wall. She heard a hard thud and felt the man’s arms go limp, his body falling against hers. When his hands released her arms she immediately took the opportunity to shake him off and turn. She didn’t care what had caused it, she was just happy to be free. Then she saw him, a pipe in his hand, moving toward the second man who was readying himself for the fight. It was Bobby. The sight of him was so startling that when the younger girl ran toward her, shoving past and hiding behind her, Piper didn’t flinch. Bobby swung the pipe in the direction of the man who ducked and instead struck Bobby in the stomach hard enough to steal his breath. He bent and the man took the opportunity to shove him to the ground.

  Piper, her mind and body joining back together now, picked up her tire iron and moved toward the man, who was now getting the upper hand on Bobby. But she realized it wasn’t necessary. As she approached she heard the cocking of a gun. Bobby, though he was on the ground, had just changed the dynamic of this tussle, and the man knew it instantly. Bobby’s hand was steady, his eyes locked on the man who stepped backward out of the alley and ran, leaving his friend behind, still unconscious on the ground.