Five minutes later it was just Lou and me, with the door closed.
“Catch me up,” I said, “starting with last night.”
“You mean—”
“Yeah, I mean the last night I can remember. The night Tara got shot.”
Lou took a deep breath. “Okay. Look, I’ll try to keep everything in chronological order, but I might miss a detail here and there.”
“Just do your best. We can fill in later.”
“Okay.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Before you start, tell me this: is Kathleen okay?”
“She is.”
“Addie?”
“Yes, she’s fine. She’s winding up second grade.”
“Shit. I can’t believe I’ve missed her formative years. She and Kathleen must be devastated. What about Kimberly?”
“Let me save you some time,” he said. “Kimberly, Janet, Callie, Quinn—they’re all alive and well. You want me to go into detail about them now, or you want to hear about that night?”
“Both. But let’s start with Afaya. Did Darwin get him?”
“No, he never showed.”
“Alison?”
“I never thought to ask,” Lou said, “but I’ll find out and let you know.”
“Okay, so tell me about that night. I need to know if my life is in danger.”
Lou said, “I’m the one Callie called when you had the heart thing that night. She told me she’d just shot Tara, and you were having a heart attack.”
“She tell you the details about shooting Tara?”
“Later on, yes, but at that moment she was in a panic. She thought you were dying, but she couldn’t call 911 because there was no time to hide Tara’s body or clean up the crime scene. Blood spatter was everywhere, including your clothes.”
“Makes sense. The EMS guys find blood, they’d have to call the cops.”
“Exactly. Plus, all this happened in your hotel room, a room filled with your fingerprints, and—well, you get the picture.”
“She had to move fast.”
He nodded. “We were lucky this happened in Boston, where we’re thick with support. I called two cleaning crews and caught one of our doctors at home. At the time, I didn’t know about your psychosomatic thing, you’d never shared that with me. So we thought you were in the middle of a full-fledged heart attack. Since we didn’t have time to get our doctors to your hotel room, I told Callie to go up one floor and check for cameras in the hallway. If she didn’t find any, she was to set off a fire alarm.” That’s what she did. Then I told her to get the midget Victor sent to help you—”
“Curly.”
“You remember that?”
“Like it was minutes ago,” I said. “I’m still not convinced it wasn’t.”
“Let’s stay on track. Okay, so Callie stood watch in the hall, waiting until someone exited the room next to you on the far side. When the guy ran out to join the re drill evacuees, Curly broke in, dragged you into that room and called 911. While waiting for EMS, he got your clothes and luggage and put them in the new room. We were lucky, turns out the guy next door to you was alone, a businessman.”
I could see where this was going and didn’t like it.
“What happened to the businessman?”
“Callie needed his ID and other information for the preliminary report. So she followed him down the steps. When they got outside she struck up a conversation with him.”
Lou paused to make sure I caught the implication.
“When was his body found?”
“Sometime the next day.”
I shifted my body in the bed and thought about the way I plow through life, the wake of bodies I leave behind. I instinctively touched my hand to my chest.
“You okay?” Lou said.
“Surprisingly, yes.”
Lou continued: “EMS got to the hotel about the same time as the firemen, and put you on a gurney. By then, Callie was back in the room and she followed along and climbed into the ambulance with you. Curly was in his car by then, following you. Callie let them drive a few minutes, pulled a gun on the EMS guy in the back and made them stop the truck. Curly pulled up, got out of his car, put a gun on the driver, and Callie made the EMS guys load you into Curly’s car. He drove you to the air ambulance while Callie shot the EMS guys. She ditched their bodies and drove their vehicle to the airport, where she was met by the second cleaning crew. They did their magic on the EMS truck, drove Callie to the FBO, where she boarded our jet to fly here. She beat you here by half an hour, but you were in the medical chopper getting the best care possible. The Chopper landed, and you’ve been here ever since.”
I said, “I assume the first cleaning crew did a good job on the hotel?”
“By the time they finished, you couldn’t prove humans had ever entered it.”
“Where did Darwin fit in all this?”
“See, that’s the thing. Callie called me because she was afraid Darwin would blame you for Tara’s death. She wanted me to arrange a meeting so she could tell Darwin what really happened, and why.”
“And you said?”
“I told her she and Curly were never there.”
“So Darwin thinks I killed Tara?”
Lou nodded. “He thought you killed her and then got the heart thing because you’d been close to her in the past. Remorse, or whatever.”
“So why didn’t Darwin have me killed?”
“See, Darwin was getting ready to kill Tara anyway.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He had already approached me about having you do it.”
All this could have been avoided, I thought.
“What stopped him from giving me the hit?” I said.
“He thought you might be too close to her. He wanted to try someone else.”
“There was no one else capable of killing Tara.”
“That’s what he found out.”
“Who’d he send?”
“A couple of mafia guys. After that didn’t work, I told him I’d talk to you about doing it.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I was about to, but that whole thing came up with Afaya, and he told me to wait until you got back from Dallas. Then you wanted to spend a few days with Kathleen and Addie, so I put it off .”
Timing is a funny thing. But this explained why Tara wanted to kill me. She thought I’d been sent to finish the job the mafia guys botched.
“So Darwin thinks you told me to kill Tara, and I did. So he’s happy?”
“In general,” Lou said, turning to open the door.
“What does that mean?”
Lou turned back to face me.
“He didn’t like the part about you being out of commission all these years.”
No surprise there.
“What does Darwin know about my heart issue?”
“He backtracked. He found the doctor that treated you after the Camptown incident…”
“Dr. Hedgepeth.”
“Right. And Hedgepeth led Darwin to the psychiatrist…”
“Nadine Crouch.”
“Right, and, if you’ll raise up and look over my shoulder…”
“That’s not necessary,” Dr. Nadine Crouch said, entering the room. “I’ll come closer.”
Chapter 41
“What are you doing here?” I said.
“This might come as a surprise to you, Donovan, but I’ve worked for Homeland Security longer than you have.”
“What?”
“I was on the payroll before the helicopter brought you from Camptown.”
“Dr. Hedgepeth personally recommended you. Are you saying he’s with Homeland too?”
“No. When you arrived at the hospital, Darwin was in close contact with Dr. Hedgepeth. He got the results of your tests before you did. When Hedgepeth decided you might require psychiatric evaluation, Darwin told him to recommend me. He felt it was best to use an in-house psychiatrist.”
“Your pra
ctice just happened to be in Newark?”
“Philadelphia. We had to move my practice to Newark to accommodate you. We worked a deal with Agnes Battle, the child psychologist, to sublease her back office.
My mind was swimming, but I’m a great detail guy. “The antique coat rack in the office seemed out of place. Was that yours?”
Dr. Crouch laughed. “Funny you should notice that. Homeland gave the office a complete makeover. When Agnes realized the coat rack didn’t go with it, she gave it to me as a present. I felt obligated to keep it.”
“So you’ve known all along what I did for Homeland?”
“Not specifically. Darwin told me almost nothing at first. He wanted me to report your comments to him. But he filled me in just before your last visit.”
“I remember thinking at the time that you were awfully astute, for having known me such a short time.”
“I’m still astute. For example, I can see that you’re handling your current situation with an amazing degree of calm.”
“How did you know I’d be conscious today?”
“I didn’t. I’ve been waiting a long time for you to wake up.”
“How long have you been here?”
“I arrived a month after you did.”
I laughed. “They paid you all this time to wait for me to wake up? That’s hard to believe.”
“I’m stationed here because of you, but remember, I work for Homeland, so I’ve got other duties and responsibilities. Of course, you’re quite an asset to them, and now that you’re awake, you’re my main concern.”
“How much have they told you?”
She looked at Lou. “As far as I know, everything.”
Lou said, “She knows most of what you’ve done for us. She’s got a general understanding about your work with Sal. She has specific knowledge about the contracts you fulfilled for Victor, and the thing with Tara.”
“Well, that’s all in the past,” I said.
“Is it?” Nadine said.
“According to you guys, I’ve just lost three years of my life. Three years I could’ve been with Kathleen and Addie. Three years I could’ve spent building my relationship with Kimberly. Yeah, I’m done. I’m done with all this bullshit. I’m going to get out of this nuthouse, marry Kathleen, and be a proper father to Addie.”
Dr. Crouch looked at Lou. “Should I leave?” she said.
Lou frowned. “I’m going all in. You definitely need to stay.”
“Lou?” I said. “What do you mean, ‘all in?’ Talk to me.”
Lou asked Nadine if she had a mirror in her purse. She produced a compact and gave it to him.
“Lou…” I said, warily.
“Donovan, you may want to brace yourself,” Lou said. He handed me Nadine’s compact. I looked at both of them carefully before opening it, but none of us said anything. I closed my eyes a second, shook my head.
“This sucks,” I said.
Lou nodded.
“I’m so very sorry,” Dr. Crouch said.
I opened the compact and looked into the mirror.
Chapter 42
They’d given me a new face.
Not a normal face, like I’d had before, but a Hollywood, movie star-type face.
Without the scar.
I closed the compact and handed it back to Nadine.
“I need a drink,” I said.
Lou hesitated. “That’s probably a bad idea.”
“Bottom left-hand drawer of my desk,” I said.
“I can ask the doctor, if you want,” Lou said.
“Next to the bourbon you’ll find four Glencairn glasses. Feel free to join me.”
“Twenty-year Pappy?”
“It was when I bought it.”
“I’ll join you,” he said.
We looked at Nadine.
“I’ll pass,” she said.
Lou called his assistant and placed the order.
While waiting, I touched my fingers to my face. Nadine handed me back the compact. I snuck up on the mirror this time, peering at myself from different angles. In every case it was like I was looking at someone else.
“Nice work,” I said. “But it’s too nice.”
“I know it’s quite a shock,” Nadine said, “But you’re gorgeous—not that I place a lot of value on a person’s exterior.”
“Lou? This is crazy. I mean, I know our guys are good, but I’ve seen their work before, lots of times. No one comes out of surgery looking better than they started.”
“You did.”
“How’s that possible?”
“Our guys never had this much time before, or such a perfect environment for healing. We knew our surgeons were exceptional, but none of us knew they were this good. You know who you look like?” Lou said, getting into it.
I held up a hand. “Please. Don’t tell me.”
Lou nodded. His assistant showed up with a bottle of Pappy and two glasses.
“Mr. Creed!” she yelped. “I thought we’d never see you again. You look great!”
“Thanks, Linda. Nice to see you, too. Want a drink?”
She looked at Lou hopefully. He shook his head. “Another time, perhaps,” Linda said.
Nadine moved some things off the end table to accommodate the glasses. As Linda placed them on the table, she said, “What’s it like, waking up after all this time?”
“Surreal. For you it’s been years. But in my mind, I saw you less than two weeks ago.”
“That is so weird,” she said.
Linda left the room, Lou poured the drinks.
“You sure you don’t want a pull, Nadine?”
She gave me a world-class frown. “I think it’s a dreadful idea. As for you, Mr. Kelly…”
Nadine abandoned the rest of the sentence, but shook her head with disgust, leaving no doubt where she stood on the subject of Lou’s behavior.
I held up my glass as if making a toast. “Bourbon,” I said, “Is cheaper than therapy.”
Lou grinned. We clinked glasses and began sipping.
“Like heaven in a bottle,” I said.
We were quiet awhile before I broke the silence.
“Why’d they do it, Lou?”
He sipped again, took a deep breath, let it out very slowly. He bit the side of his lip before speaking.
“A lot of decisions had to be made in a short period of time.”
I wasn’t going to second-guess at this point. These decisions had been made years ago, so there was nothing I could do about the time I’d lost or the new face. There was only one thing that mattered.
“Has Kathleen seen me…like this?”
They looked at each other, silently trying to decide who should do the talking. Lou took the lead.
“There’s a lot I need to tell you. But before I say anything, keep in mind, I’m the messenger. I was involved in the discussions, but I didn’t make the decisions.”
“Noted. So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying everything that happened was done because it made the most sense at the time.”
I passed my glass to Nadine. Two sips of whiskey had left my head swimming.
“Serves you right,” she sniffed.
Like all the rooms at Sensory Resources, the one that held me was windowless. It could have been noon outside, or midnight, I’d have never known the difference. A person could be wide awake in here for two weeks and not be able to give a proper accounting of the time he’d spent, so it made sense there would be a period of disorientation. But I was more than disoriented, I was in shock. Based on my timeline, in a handful of minutes I’d lost the face I was born with, and more than three years of my life! There were no instruction books to tell me how I was supposed to react.
But it’s not what I’d seen and heard that led me to the bourbon. Bad as it was, I knew things were about to get much worse. Th e proof was in Nadine’s eyes and Lou Kelly’s voice. And the fact that Darwin kept Nadine working here at Sensory all these years just to prepare me fo
r what Lou was about to say.
Chapter 43
“You died,” Lou said.
I paused a moment. “You mean I died on the table and they brought me back to life?”
He shook his head. “No, I mean we killed Harry.”
Harry Weathers had been my body double.
“We didn’t have a choice,” Lou said.
I said nothing.
He continued, “You were here, completely unresponsive, barely alive. Days went by. The doctors hoped you’d be okay, but stopped believing it.”
A thousand thoughts raced through my brain, competing to make sense.
Lou continued: “Tara Siegel had a lot of friends who heard you came to Boston looking for her. A few hours later she went missing, and no one ever heard from her again.”
I shouldn’t have had the drink. Or maybe I should have had more. I had to force my mind not to get too far ahead of his words. Otherwise it would take longer to find out what I needed to know about Kathleen and Addie, and where things stood in the present.
“Go on,” I finally heard myself say.
“Well, there were two problems. First, Tara’s friends—picture what Callie and Quinn would do if Tara showed up and you’d gone missing. Anyway, her friends demanded answers from Darwin, said if he didn’t tell them, they’d beat the truth out of Kathleen.”
I set my new jaw, clenched my fists, but said nothing.
“The second problem, quite frankly, was Kathleen.”
“How so?”
“When she didn’t hear from you, didn’t get her calls returned, she went into a panic. She knew just enough to be dangerous.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “She knows—knew nothing.”
“She knew Sal Bonadello,” Lou said, “and Victor.”
“So?”
“She also knew—or thought she knew—that you worked for Homeland Security.”
“She started making calls?”
“She did.”
“And?”
“She got stonewalled. And didn’t like it.”
I let a small, proud smile play around the corners of my mouth.
Lou saw it, said, “Yeah, I know. But she contacted the press, started demanding an inquiry.”