“The door to the wing was open so I thought it would be okay to just pop in and get it.”
The nurse narrowed her eyes. “Why didn’t you text it to her?”
Blanchet gave her a horrified look. “You don’t text alarm codes. Please don’t tell me you have. You don’t even say alarm codes on the phone. Those things are listening. Why do you think we’re whispering and our phones are under my butt?”
He made a big show of lifting his hip and pulled both phones out from under the blanket. Then he passed mine back to me.
“Is something wrong?” I asked. “Is the girl all right?”
“She’s fine, but we’re trying to locate a nurse who was attending. Have either of you seen a nurse in green scrubs with shoulder-length brown hair?”
We both shook our heads.
“Okay, well, I need you to leave, Ms. Redding. I have a situation here to handle, and this man needs his rest if he expects to be released.”
I gave Blanchet a nod, and he barely managed to contain his smile as I followed the nurse out. She gave me a pointed look and I headed straight for the exit door. I didn’t need an invitation. The sooner I got out of the hospital the better.
Ronald was pacing the lobby again and ran over as soon as I exited. I gave him a look that said, ‘not now,’ and he was practically bouncing by the time we got in the SUV.
“Good Lord! That was exciting! What happened?”
I backed out of the parking space so no one could see into the front windshield and finally freed my bra of the itchy wig.
“I’m afraid you’re definitely going to have to style it again,” I said as I passed him the rumpled hair.
He waved a hand in dismissal. “It was worth it. At least I assume it was. Now tell me what happened!”
I filled him in on the events as I drove, and he shook his head. “You’re a marvel. Truly. How can you think that quickly and not only come up with a plan but execute it? It’s a gift. It takes me twenty minutes just to decide on breakfast. And the execution…please, there’s flatware to choose and do I go with the daily ware, the stoneware, the collector’s stuff…and then there’s plating the food.”
“It sounds like a real problem.”
“Now you’re just making fun.”
I grinned.
“So did you get what you were going for?”
“Yes.”
He stared when I didn’t elaborate, and then his eyes widened. “You broke into that girl’s room, didn’t you?”
“Well, the door was unlocked, so no.”
“Did you steal her medical records?”
“Not exactly.”
He threw his hands in the air. “Are you going to tell me or not?”
My phone buzzed and I passed it to Ronald. “That’s Blanchet. Can you read it please?”
If I were twenty years younger… I understand why Carter settled down.
“Good Lord, the man sounds like Gertie,” Ronald said. “What exactly did you do for him?”
“Took him on as a client.”
Ronald sighed. “And now you’ll have the whole client confidentiality thing, and you won’t tell me any of the good stuff.”
My phone signaled another text.
You’re clear to share my story with your trusted circle.
Ronald clapped and then looked over at me. “Please tell me I’m in the trusted circle. I’m not asking to go investigating, because honestly, the times I’ve been involved have been a little stressful. And keeping wrinkles away is a delicate balance. Plus, I already live next door to you. I’ve had to add an extra Botox session since you arrived.”
“You’re in,” I said. “Text him back and ask him to forward me the picture. He’ll understand. Then send Ida Belle a text and tell them to meet us at my house. I’ll fill you all in there.”
Ronald sighed. “An entire car ride of anticipation. Can we at least discuss a nightly skin care routine for you? Nothing big. Maybe just a moisturizer before bed and a mask once a week?”
“You can talk about it, but it’s going to be a monologue as I have nothing to add. And I don’t make any promises on listening.”
“That will do. Now what do you clean your face with?”
“Shampoo?”
“Good. God.”
It was close to midnight by the time we gathered in my kitchen. Ida Belle, Gertie, and Harrison had beaten Ronald and me home and already had coffee brewing. Ronald took one look at the pot and went for a bottled water. He’d probably had enough of coffee to last the rest of the week. When we’d gotten our drinks and Harrison fetched a chair from the dining room, we all crowded around the kitchen table.
“First thing,” Harrison said. “How are the girl and Blanchet?”
“Blanchet seems fine,” I said. “Got a crack on his head, but he’s talking normal. They’re going to run some tests, but the nurse seems to think they’ll cut him loose in the morning, assuming everything comes back okay. The girl is stable and breathing on her own.”
Harrison nodded. “That’s good. Is she still unconscious?”
“Mostly, but I’ll get to that in a minute. Did you guys find anything?”
“Nothing,” Harrison said. “I’ll go back in the morning, and I’ve asked Ida Belle to go with me since she knows the area so well. We didn’t see any boats or signs that someone had been in the area, and no signs on the bank that people had passed there recently, but you know how hard it is to see out there in the dark, even with spotlights.”
“I don’t like it,” Ida Belle said. “There’s no easy way to walk out to that area and the nearest camp is at least half a mile away. That girl must have come from a boat. But who the hell loses a kid from a boat and isn’t out looking for her?”
“Someone who was trying to lose her?” I suggested.
“Exactly why I don’t like it.”
“I stopped off at the sheriff’s department on the way over,” Harrison said. “There’s no children reported missing who fit her description and none reported missing within the last two days in the area.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” I said. “So let me tell you what I found out. And before I start, I have to say that Blanchet is an official client, so everything is confidential. That goes for you too, Harrison, so if you’d rather leave to avoid any conflict, that’s fine.”
“What? No way. Just consider me Carter on this one. Well, except for the relationship part.”
“We never tell Carter anything,” Gertie pointed out. “He doesn’t want to know.”
Harrison shrugged. “He’s got a stricter moral code. I was CIA. I can spin it to suit me.”
“I think you and Gertie must be related,” Ida Belle said. “So what’s the case?”
I told them Blanchet’s story, and when I was done, I produced my phone and showed them the picture I took of the girl in the hospital. Then I showed them Blanchet’s picture from twenty years ago. They all stared, then looked at one another.
“Wow,” Harrison said finally, breaking the silence. “I can see why he had a reaction. They look like the same person.”