“Okay. I’ll call him and give him the message. I have a feeling he’s not going to take no for an answer,” Laurel said.
She looked at Laurel, puzzled. “And why do you think that?” she asked.
“Because I’ve been here for one hour and he’s already called six times,” Laurel sighed. “He’s almost as pushy as Mrs. Jones.”
Krista put her hand out and said, “Maybe I should call him myself.”
Laurel shrugged and handed her the paper. “I have a feeling you’re going to be meeting with him whether you like it or not.”
I hope you’re wrong.
When she got into her office, she closed the door and picked up the phone receiver. She punched in the numbers and waited while it rang.
“This is Darrell, how can I help you?”
“Hi, Darrell. This is Dr. Chinto. My receptionist said you’ve been trying to reach me. What did you want to talk about?” Krista did not want to waste either of their time, but she did want to know why he was calling.
“It’s about your visit to New York.”
“I was there attending a conference. Very cut and dried. Is there anything else?” she asked.
“I’m not calling about the conference. I’m talking about the baby. You know, the one you helped deliver. Do you have any comments?” Darrell asked.
More like a question. How the hell do you know about that?
So many things went running through her mind. Are the woman and the baby okay? Am I about to be sued? Also, how did they find me? No one there knew her. And she didn’t know any of them. There was only one thing to say, since she had no information whatsoever. “No comment.”
“Are you trying to tell me you did not deliver that baby?” Darrell asked.
“I’m telling you I have no comment. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have patients waiting. Have a good day.” Krista hung up the phone without waiting for Darrell to ask anything further. This was not something she was willing to discuss over the phone. She doubted Darrell would drop the matter after one phone call. She hoped he wouldn’t show up here in Montpelier and start asking a lot of questions. Maybe she’d been wrong that day. Maybe she should’ve gone along in the ambulance, spoken to the doctors, and put it all down for the record. But at the time, she felt she was leaving the woman and child in capable hands and all she wanted to do was go home.
As her day went on, she was surprised to find that Darrell did not call back. Could it really be that simple? Time will tell.
Chapter 3
Even though Connor had told himself he didn’t want to know what was out there on social media, he knew he had to find out. There is no excuse for ignorance. It would only lead him to be blindsided later. That wasn’t something he was going to allow to happen.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect. With Bennett stone out of the country, Connor had a little bit more freedom to do some digging. At first he thought his time would be used looking closer into the Hendersons. Now, he needed to look into his own life even more. Something told him that this was not over. But he was grateful, in some fashion, that Roland had reached out to harass him a few days ago. And Connor had spent the remainder of his weekend, debating what to do next.
It wasn’t just about having access, it was about trusting the person he was going to ask for help. Roger wasn’t someone he could go to because he was too closely entwined with the Hendersons. It was another one of those odd relationships. Roger didn’t work for the Henderson family, yet he also seemed to be heavily involved when it came to protecting them. Connor could not trust where Roger’s loyalty would lie if he asked for assistance. Even though they had both been DEA agents, those days were in the past. They say they always would be there for each other, but Connor didn’t want to test those waters.
There was one person he knew he could always turn to, when he needed help. Salvatore Marciano is a person of honor. Even though he would be loyal to the Lawson family, like Connor, Sal was loyal to the law first.
But snapping pictures and posting them on social media wasn’t really a major crime. It was just information Connor preferred people not know. And it was also misleading. He just wished he was a little bit more text savvy and maybe he could find the person who posted it. Because there’s a big difference between being a damn good undercover agent and a computer geek.
Connor was getting out of the elevator when a young man pushing a cart bumped into him. Quickly he began apologizing, but then his face totally changed when he got a look at Connor
“It’s you. I can’t believe it. It’s really you,” he said, his voice filled with excitement.
“I’m not sure who you think I am. I do work here. I assume you do as well. Are you new?” Connor hadn’t met everyone at Henderson Corporation, but he was pretty good at recalling faces. This young man wasn’t someone he had come across before.
The guy smiled and said, “Today’s my first day. But I really can’t believe it’s you.”
Connor couldn’t figure out why the guy kept saying that. “I’m not a Henderson.” he clarified.
“I know that. But you are the guy. I can’t wait to get home and tell Patty. She’s never gonna believe it. Like this is just amazing that we moved to Boston and here you are.”
Connor was very confused so he asked, “You seem to know who I am. How is that?”
The guy shrugged, and admitted, “I don’t know who you are, but we all wanted to. What is your name?”
Connor read the guys name badge. Mikie. “Do you have a last name Mikie?”
Mikie chuckled. “Yeah. Only famous people can run around with one name. My last name is Bishop. Just moved here over the weekend from Vermont. We’re staying with some friends until we can get our own place.”
“It can be expensive living in Boston. But I’m sure you’ll find some place appropriate.”
“I hope so. We’re going to have twins. So we’re gonna have to find a place big enough for all four of us. Right now we’re staying on the southside,” Mikie said.
Connor raised a brow. “Twins? You must be excited.” Or scared shitless.
Mikie grinned. “We are but it wasn’t easy making the decision to move. Patty’s OB/GYN in Vermont would have been the person we wanted to deliver the babies. But there’s no way she’s going to travel to Boston to do that. Maybe you could get her to do it.”
“I don’t know any OB/GYNs. Maybe you should talk to her yourself,” Connor suggested. He wasn’t about to get involved in anybody’s personal life like that. Especially people he didn’t know. Which actually made him question why Mikie would even think he would.
Mikie looked puzzled. “You looked like you knew each other. I mean why else would you have helped her?”
“Who exactly are we talking about?” Connor asked.
“Dr. Chinto,” Mikie replied.
“I’m sorry Mikie, but I have no idea who that person is. You must have me confused with someone else.” Connor was about to continue on his way when Mikie grabbed hold of his forearm and said, “look, I’ll show you.”
Connor looked down at Mikie’s hand and gave him a warning look to remove it. Connor did not like anyone grabbing hold of him. Instantly it put up his defenses and heightened him to alert. In his old job it usually came followed by a fight, a threat, or someone about to reveal they know your identity. None of that should be the case here.