The Common Thread Page 8

  Just as she anticipated, she found even more chaos in the ER than in the lobby and hoped that could work to her advantage. She was counting on noise and action to help distract people from the fact that she was kidnapping two small children currently in the custody of the police.

  Hospital personnel of all ranks hurried about, family members wandered to and fro, and stretchers lined the walls displaying a tragic parade of diseases. Monitors beeped. Phones rang. Human beings cursed and wailed and moaned. It was perfect.

  Walking slowly, Katie reoriented herself to the layout of the emergency department. It was the closest one to her home, and with two small children she’d had occasion to visit half a dozen times for such issues as croup and vomiting and one small broken wrist. The nursing station was centrally located in the large rectangular space, and those rooms closest to that hub were in the direct line of sight of anyone who happened to be looking. They were equipped with monitors for a constant assessment of vital signs in the sickest patients. Beyond the nucleus, patient rooms were positioned every ten feet, and here a variety of workers skated about trying to provide care for the many patients seeking treatment on a busy Tuesday night. The ER was huge, with hallways leading to x-ray suites and supply areas and other departments jutting off the main area at irregular intervals. In spite of the fact that she’d been here before, if she took a wrong turn she feared she’d be lost.

  No one noticed her presence as they scurried about in every direction, and Katie took advantage. The guard had given her a room number where she’d find Nan, but instead of heading directly there, she began a discreet reconnaissance mission. After all, she wasn’t here to see Nan but to find Chloe and Andre.

  The decision to wear scrubs had been wise. The majority of employees she noticed were similarly clothed so she blended in easily. Her ID badge indicated she was from the lab, and although it wouldn’t unlock any doors to give her access, it helped create the shield of invisibility she needed to move about unencumbered.

  Passing Nan’s room, she paused outside the door to listen as Nan relayed the story she’d rehearsed. Once again, she was a convincing actress, and Katie smiled as she heard the nurse’s sarcastic reply. “So this pain started at dinnertime and you waited until midnight to come in here? Don’t you watch television? You’re supposed to come right away.”

  Katie didn’t linger long enough to hear Nan’s retort. Rounding a corner, she walked the length of the hall quickly and then turned again. She was moving in a counter-clockwise direction and covered the entire perimeter in just a few minutes. She didn’t find her children. She’d expected to find a nosy police officer loitering in the hall, but that hadn’t been the case. Unless she went to the desk and inquired, she’d have to knock on every door to find them.

  She began the task. A sign on the first door read Caution: respiratory isolation. Masks required. Katie picked up a mask and tied it around her neck. It would help hide her face, and the disguise might buy her time if she needed it. She didn’t enter the room but proceeded to the next room. There were thirty in all, and she planned to check every one of them if she needed to, but at the moment she didn’t go into the quarantined room. Even in a crowded ER she knew they wouldn’t house two small children and a police escort in a room with a contagious patient.

  Pulling the mask over her face, she entered the next room. An elderly man was sleeping and didn’t stir as the door opened and an arc of light filled the room, heralding Katie’s presence. The next several rooms were the same. As she turned the corner and entered yet another closed door, Katie was startled to find a nurse seated at the bedside. When she looked up and saw Katie, she smiled.

  “Thank God! I’ve stuck this poor woman three times and haven’t gotten a drop of blood.” Standing, she smiled at the patient, who looked as relieved as she did. Seeing the fear on Katie’s face, the nurse smiled and whispered to her, “First night for you?”

  Katie nodded.

  “You’ve done this before, though, right?”

  That Katie had. Thousands of times. Drawing blood was one of her many duties at the clinic. She nodded again.

  “Well, get to it then. I need a rainbow,” the nurse informed her, indicating one tube of every color.

  Seeing no way out of this dilemma, Katie pulled gloves out of the basket at the bedside and applied a tourniquet to the woman’s forearm. She draped the woman’s arm from the bedside, allowing gravity to pool the blood in her extremity. Then, tapping the back of her hand, she watched as the vein there dilated. She easily drew four tubes of blood and handed them to the watching nurse, who applied identification stickers. “Good job,” she said. “And thanks. By the way, I’m Liz. What’s your name?”

  Katie hesitated. What was her name? Then she remembered. “Mary.”

  “Well, Mary, welcome to night shift. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again before it’s over.”

  She had to take a few deep breaths before she found the courage to leave the room. She hadn’t counted on getting that close to any actual staff members. If Liz had paid closer attention to Katie’s ID badge, her cover would have been blown. Finally, knowing she was racing the clock, Katie emerged from the room and continued her search. She was nearly back at Nan’s room and losing hope when she saw a police officer, straddling the doorway and watching the commotion as a belligerent patient gave the nursing staff a hard time. He stood ready, hands on his hips, the left one dangerously close to the gun holstered there. Yet he didn’t seem inclined to help the staff as they wrestled with the intoxicated man. Instead, he watched, smiling and shaking his head. No doubt he’d seen the same show many times before.

  Her head down, Katie walked past him, moving quickly, with no opportunity to see inside the room and check if her children were hidden behind his large frame. Behind him, the door was open only a hair. But they had to be in there, unless Nan’s intelligence was wrong and they’d been transported to another hospital. She had to find out, but how?

  With a glance over her shoulder, Katie pulled back the curtain and disappeared into Nan’s room. Their eyes met, and for the first time all evening, Nan had a concerned expression. “Any luck?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure. I need your help.”

  Standing at the bedside, Katie explained the dilemma, and wordlessly, Nan sat up in the bed and began to disconnect the various wires attached to her body. Immediately, a monitor began beeping in protest, and Katie furiously pushed buttons to quiet them. She didn’t relax until the last fell silent. When Nan was ready, Katie went to the edge of the curtain and pulled it back, checking the hallway for any problems. All was well.

  “Remember to wait until I’m in position, okay?” Katie asked. “I just need one minute.” Nan nodded in understanding.

  Katie exited the room with her head down, walking purposefully to the right, Georgia’s little blue suitcase in her hand. To her left, the scuffle with the belligerent patient was drawing to a close and the crowd was thinning. Perfect. She circled the corridor and, to her relief, the guard she’d noticed earlier was still at his post. Katie needed him there, for the moment.

  Slipping into a restroom, Katie slipped the suitcase behind the trash can and was back in the hallway a few seconds later. A full minute had passed, but she still didn’t see Nan. The officer was still at his post.

  She hesitated outside a patient’s room, bent her head, and pretended to read something she pulled from the pocket of her coat. Next, she stooped and tied her shoe, waiting. C’mon, Nan, she said to herself, counting the seconds by the pulse beating in her ear. Just when she thought she’d faint, Nan appeared. Always thinking, she’d had taken time to change out of her hospital gown and back into her clothing. After this, things might move fast.

  Nan scanned the hallway, and after noting Katie in position, she embarked on her mission. Turning left, she took the route opposite of the one Katie had, approaching the police officer from the other direction. They now had him surrounded—two women, one old and one wanted by
police. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do. Katie didn’t have any other options.

  Holding on to the wall, Nan made slow progress, and Katie winced as she watched, keeping one eye on Nan and the other on her target. If he disappeared into that room again, Katie would have to resort to plan B. But luck was with them. Apparently he’d grown bored in the room and was enjoying the scenery in the hall, because he seemed planted now, watching the activity. When she reached a spot about twenty feet from him, Nan began to sway. Her knees started to buckle and she leaned into the wall for support.

  The policeman might have stood and watched as the nurses suffered broken ribs in a scuffle with a drunken patient, but apparently he wouldn’t allow an octogenarian to fall and break a hip. As soon as the officer saw Nan tottering on those old legs, he was off to the rescue. Before he even reached the woman’s side, Katie slipped through the door he’d been guarding and into the semi-darkness of the room.

  A forty-watt bulb above the bed provided the only light Katie needed. There, nesting in its glow, were the two loves of her life. Andre was snuggled in the arms of his big sister Chloe, sleeping. Just as the police officer had been guarding their doorway, so his big sister was guarding him. Tears of relief filled her eyes, but she immediately wiped them and steadied herself as she pushed forward into the room. She still had a job to do.

  Chloe’s eyes flew open and she sat up as she saw Katie. “Mommy!” She squealed in delight, a huge smile lighting her face. Her arms opened for a hug.

  Katie brought her pointer finger to her lips to instruct Chloe to remain quiet. The shift in Chloe’s position awakened her brother, but it took him a moment to come around fully. Katie took advantage of the delay and crawled next to them on the bed, pulling them both tight into her arms. “I’m here, now. Everything’s fine,” she said. Then she pulled back and looked at them.

  “We’re going to play a little game now. I want you to listen carefully while I tell you the rules.”

  Chapter Nine

  Timing Is Everything

  Simon circled the perimeter of the hospital, again driving Angelica’s Ford sedan. He owned another car—bigger and flashier—but was forced to leave it parked all too often. Big, flashy cars drew the attention of the police, and he didn’t want or need that. He’d been able to operate his business right under their noses for years by blending in with the crowd instead of standing out among his peers.

  Pulling his car to a halt in front of the large, brightly lit sign, he scanned the area. All was quiet, with the exception of a few people huddled in the smoking hut. At the moment, two ambulances were parked at the emergency entrance, their rear doors left open but lights and engines turned off. Not surprisingly, he couldn’t find a vacant parking spot. He pulled his car next to the coroner’s and sat, watching for a moment.

  Katie would have to make her entrance here, through the emergency room. All other entrances were locked at this hour. Her escape route, though, was entirely unpredictable. She could easily slip through one of the dozens of emergency exits and be long gone before someone came to investigate the alarm her departure had triggered. His best shot of finding her was just as Angelica had suggested—to find the kids.

  Katie was beyond his ability to comprehend. She was a beautiful girl, and smart. She could have had a decent life with Billy if she hadn’t chosen to have those damn kids. Abortions were easy to arrange, but instead of opting for the simple solution, she’d gone and gotten a job and rented an apartment and played mommy to not one, but two little brats. And all his sources said she was happy. She never dated, just worked and took care of her kids.

  Simon knew she’d been trying to make a better life for them, but where had it got her? The kids she loved so much were baiting the trap. In the end she was still going to die by the bullets she’d vowed to avoid. Coming clean hadn’t done her or Billy any good, and Simon was willing to bet the kids would one day meet the same fate as their parents. There weren’t many people who could climb their way from the bottom. Sure, he’d done it, but he was the exception, not the rule.

  He’d made it out, and made a great life for himself—and he planned to keep it. He needed to silence Katie. Only a handful of people in the world could identify him, but he wasn’t concerned about that. If he was ever arrested, he was prepared to leave the country on a moment’s notice. A murder charge would be harder to dodge, though, and his avenues of escape could be cut off. Katie was the only witness who could link him to Billy’s murder, and she had to be eliminated. Soon.

  It was time to put this miserable night to an end. It’d been a disaster from the beginning. If it wasn’t for the money, Simon would have had one of his associates do the shooting. But he couldn’t trust any of them with the kind of money Billy was talking about, so he’d gone to the house himself. And of course, as soon as Simon demanded the cash, Billy had told him he didn’t have the money yet. Simon had no choice but to silence Billy, which was relatively easy. He’d never seen it coming. Katie, though, continued to be a thorn in his side. First he’d had to jump off the roof, then shoot up the neighborhood, and the police had nearly stopped him as he was driving away. He’d be so happy when she was dead.

  Dressed in a suit and shiny black shoes, Simon thought he looked like an official from Children and Youth Services. After showering and shaving, he could have been a teacher or a lawyer or even a social worker. He certainly didn’t look the part of a gangster, unless he went back in time a century to the age of Dillinger and Capone. Those boys knew how to dress. The punks these days had no style.

  His plan was twofold. He’d watch for Katie and shoot her on sight. The hospital had so many corridors and exits, he’d easily escape into the night. If she didn’t show up, he’d monitor the children’s movements and learn the address of the foster home where the children would be placed. It would be too risky to try to abduct them from the ER, with hospital security and the Philadelphia PD both a threat. He might be able to get out alone, but not with two little brats in tow. No, he’d let them get to the foster home, and once they were there, abducting them wouldn’t be hard. When they were in his custody, Simon would put out the word on the street that he had them and force Katie out of hiding.

  The waiting area was crowded with patients and family members, and Simon ignored them all as he walked past, trying to look professional and important. Too late, he realized he should have brought a briefcase or some papers. Weren’t social workers always filling out paperwork?

  The receptionist behind bulletproof glass was talking on the phone. He tried to appear nonchalant as he waited, staring at the clock. The longer he was there, he figured, the more likely the hospital staff would think he belonged. He wouldn’t rush the woman, even though he’d just watched two minutes tick by on the clock on the wall over her head.

  *

  Glancing from her kids’ room into the hallway, Katie saw her opportunity and seized it. Nan was still on the floor, and in addition to the police officer, a nurse was now offering assistance. She slipped out of the room and walked briskly in the opposite direction. After looking around to confirm that no one was watching, she slipped back into the bathroom she’d reconnoitered earlier.

  After locking the door, Katie retrieved the suitcase. Only a few minutes had passed since she deposited it there, but she was relieved to find it where she’d left it. Plans A, B, & C were in the suitcase. If someone had come along and stolen it, she’d have been forced to resort to plan D, which she hadn’t written yet.

  Stripping off her scrubs, she pulled Nan’s old dress from the suitcase. It had weathered the journey well, with no wrinkles, and Katie easily slipped into it and raised the zipper in back. The dress was white and covered with large, colorful blossoms. A flower adorned the wide fuchsia belt attached at the waist, and blooms of all colors peeked out from flared pleats at the calf-length hem. Next, she pulled up her hair and fastened it with several pins, then placed the matching hat on her head. It was covered with flowers, a perfect
match for the dress. A layer of bright-red lipstick, large, bold earrings, and tortoise-shell eyeglasses completed the picture.

  Stepping back to inspect herself in the mirror, Katie was pleased with what she saw. The image that greeted her was so obnoxious and loud it was hard to see beyond the clothing to the woman who wore it. Even a close friend wouldn’t have recognized her in this costume.

  It had been Nan’s idea.

  Hide right in front of them! Get in their face and make them notice your loud voice and what you’re wearing, so they don’t notice you. The police won’t expect that and you’ll catch them off guard.

  With her briefcase in one hand, Mary Weeks, MSW, used the other to open the door.

  Both Nan and the police officer were now gone from the hallway, and Katie strode purposefully toward the door of the room where her children awaited, wondering what would happen, knowing it was too late to turn back. Would they jump up and call out to her, blowing her cover? Would the real social worker show up and expose her? Would the police officer recognize her? It was possible a photo of her had already been circulated. It would be an old photo, but she hadn’t changed enough since her last mug shot to make her unrecognizable. Katie shook off the doubts; she just had to keep moving.

  Feigning confidence and making as much noise as possible, Katie made her entrance. “Anybody here?” she demanded as she walked into the room. Her children were awake, expecting her. As she’d instructed them, they remained silent, and Katie was relieved.

  The dim light was still the only light in the room, and that would work in her favor. The police officer, sitting in a corner chair, was less likely to recognize her in the shadows it cast.

  He rose to meet her, and Katie made a conscious effort not to recoil. Police had been her enemy for so long, and every time an officer came into the clinic she nearly panicked. This night was no better. This one towered above her and outweighed her by a hundred pounds. On his left hip a long gun hung in a black plastic holster. A variety of weapons draped from his duty belt—pepper spray, a baton, a heavy flashlight—and for a fraction of a second Katie wondered which he’d use on her.