“You and I are going to work in the hospital. He could still be hiding. Dogs and cops aren’t always perfect.”
“Tell that to Lily,” she mumbled.
I chuckled. “Come on. Ellie, you can get everyone else moving appropriately?”
She nodded. “Of course. Do you want me to call Miriam and Laxmi?”
“Not yet,” I answered. “Let’s see if we can get Ben back without them. Lily’s probably all over this anyway, and she’s running the show.”
When Wren and I walked in the door, that’s exactly what we found. Lily Haden was standing at the front desk of the hospital, barking orders and getting people to move dogs through the halls while trying to not wake up and scare the kids.
“Doctor Skillman, Mrs. Skillman,” someone called, walking over.
Lily sucked her teeth at that title.
“Have we met?” The man who approached with his hand out for a shake tripped on his feet at my clipped words. No one called Wren Mrs. Warner, and especially not around me. And to use the wrong last name…?
“Sorry, I’m Doctor Sil Gura,” he said, trying to get his balance back. “Doctor Skillman, yes? And this is your…”
“Doctor Temperance Warner, LSWAA, LSWAIC,” she growled.
Gura paled. He fucked up. Big time. There was no way this man had been in the hospital even a day and hadn’t heard Wren’s name.
“Doctor Gil started on Monday,” Lily said, walking over. “I see he hasn’t had the pleasure of meeting you yet, Wren.”
And I thought men asserted dominance? These two were just pissing all over him. I scratched my nose to keep my smirk from showing.
Alpha females. Yum.
“Where is Ben?” I asked, standing up a little straighter, trying to take control of the situation brewing.
Gura screwed the thing back up by turning to me to address the question. “We’re not sure yet.”
“What happened?” Wren asked.
He answered me, though. “The person who was supposed to do the ten p.m. checks—”
“Talk to me,” Wren growled. “If I asked the question, you answer me. Not the nearest convenient male.”
Gura gave me a questioning look and I grimaced. “Doctor. You need to address her. Stop looking to me for permission to talk to her. She’s the other half of the parenting unit here.”
“But you—”
“Ahem, Doctor Gura.” Lily’s voice cut through the words, the very stupid words he was about to utter. “Perhaps you could head up to your office and deal with some of the other issues I’m sure have cropped up related to this.”
“I feel that—”
“You’ll want to take the detective’s out, Doctor,” Glencoe said.
I liked her.
He nodded and headed off. I was sure he had no idea how he had just insulted Wren. And me and Lily and Glencoe.
The nurse sighed. “He came so highly recommended, but his manners and awareness are just so atrocious.” She looked at Wren and me. “Know anyone on the board who can fix this? The president liked him, but the president is a dude.”
“Ironically, yes,” Wren said.
“We do know someone.” I laughed. “I’ll talk to him later. Can you please tell us what is going on here? Where is Ben? How did you lose him?”
Glencoe sighed and shrank a bit. “Our second shift nurse decided to take a nap. I had the security guard wake him up at ten after ten and throw him out the front door. Checks have to be done on time for a reason, and they have to be routine for the patients.”
“Isn’t Ben sharing a room?”
“Yes.” She hesitated. “He’s missing too.”
“Where are his parents?” I asked.
“Mother and she’s working a twelve at UPenn.”
“How old?” Wren asked.
“Same age. Seven.”
“Could this be a random adventure?” I glanced at the three women standing around me. “Boys are known for their inability to sit still. At their developmental stages, the tendency to be bolder than they are safe, it’s common for them to wander off and seek adventure. As it were.”
Glencoe brightened. “You could be right. Both of those boys are incredibly bright and figuring out how to sneak through locked doors and hide in closets would make the whole thing seem like even more of an adventure.”
“Did we check to see if they took their clothes?” Lily asked.
“No,” Glencoe said.
“Let’s do that now,” Lily said. “Wren, come with us? Fischer, hang here in case they try to sneak by and haven’t actually left the building.”
I nodded and watched as the three of them nearly sprinted down the corridor. I pulled out my phone.
Fischer: We have two runaways. Ben took his roommate with him.
Lincoln: Got it. We’ll drive the neighborhood. No Tabi, it’s voice messaging.
I laughed. Tabi had yelled at him for texting and driving.
Bastian: Ellie and I are walking the neighborhood. There are a lot of abandoned buildings around here. They could be anywhere.
Fischer: Should I ask for dogs for you?
Ellie: No. I think we’ll be fine.
Ellie was getting good at being Ellie, so I trusted her. Lincoln would get yelled at by the twins a few more times. Tabi liked her rules and like to protect the people she loved.
She had definitely come to love Lincoln. She also adored that we all helped her protect her brother.
Tim. Holy—
Fischer: Linc, ask Tim what he would do if he had a chance to be a part of an adventure.
I waited a moment while the dots on the screen bounced, and finally a full two minutes later, a voice message appeared.
I lifted the phone to my ear and kept the volume low. “Hey, Fischer! Dad said you think Ben went on an adventure? That’s a lot of fun! He could escape from the building in a whole bunch of different ways, but Dad asked where I would go and I would go to the zoo. I love the animals. I think Philadelphia has a big zoo with tigers? That’s cool. I love tigers—”
The one minute time ran out, and I laughed.
Fischer: Does he know how to use the bus?
Tim’s voice came out of the speaker again. “I never used the bus, but a lot of my friends at school do. They said that the drivers are super nice to the school kids, and help them get places all the time. But they said that they’ll report them to the police at night. One time, Billy tried to take the bus to the grocery store at four in the morning—”
“Thank you, Tim,” Lincoln cut him off, and the message ended.
Fischer: Where did Billy hide when he couldn’t get to the grocery?
Lincoln: His basement.
That didn’t help us at all. Damn it.
My phone pinged for a direct message and not the group message. I glanced at the message quickly, and started when I realized it was Ellie.
Ellie: Dad, I didn’t want to ask Mom, and I don’t want to wake up Laxmi. But I feel him. Like a little tug on me.
Fischer: What direction, baby doll?
Ellie: That’s the thing…I don’t know, not for sure. With the twins it was clear, and if it was even just a little more clear with Ben, I’d flash there. But Bastian made a good point. Flashing out in the general direction could make me the next Philadelphia Experiment.