Deadly Dosage (48 page)

“Okay. I’ll have
Shantel give me a heads up.”

 “Hey, is Friday
night still on?”

“No. But Sam
doesn’t know yet. Something better has come up. Friday night Lloyd is
performing a song for me at The Tracks. I can’t wait! Can you and Chuck make
it?”

“Gosh, that’s
romantic. I wouldn’t miss it. If Chuck wants to hang with Peacock, I’ll come
alone. Any cute, available band members?”

“Only met Fred,
and he’s married.”

“Too bad” She
glanced at her wristwatch. “It Shantel’s lunchtime. You better go before she
gets irritated.”

“I’m out the door.
I’ll get you when it’s time!” I would too. If The Hawk wanted to fire me, fine.
I’d sit home reading books, collecting unemployment.

Chapter
55

At twelve-fifteen, Lloyd walked through the front
entrance in his long woolen overcoat. It hung open, exposing his white,
pinstriped shirt and dark gray slacks. His taunt face and tense posture told me
he was about to embark on a distasteful mission. He walked over to the
receptionist window, his hands loaded with a filled drink tray and two bags of
fast food.

“Hi! You’re a bit early. Shantel’s not back yet, so I
can’t leave my post. If you want, I can take that stuff and you can visit with
Alan.”

“Is the bitch in?” he asked with a trace of anger.

I raised my eyebrows. “The Hawk? Ah, yeah, until one,
when she leaves for lunch.”

“Okay. Take this,” he said handing the tray of drinks,
followed by bags of food through the opened window. “I’m going to talk to her.”

Before I had a chance to object, he was rounding the
corner. I kept my fingers crossed that he came across as an angry family
member, not an angry boyfriend. The Hawk would make my life miserable if she
thought I was vulnerable to her ridicule.

At twelve, twenty-five, Phyllis called me at the front
desk. She told me to put the phone on night ring and come into her office. I
felt hypertension coming on, and I broke out into a sweat. Surely I was about
to be fired.

On shaky legs, I walked into her office. Lloyd was
sitting across from her, one leg casually crossed over the other, ankle resting
on knee. He acknowledged me with a nod and a slight smile that played at the
corners of his mouth.

“Summer,” she said, the word coated in sugar, “Mr.
Harper has told me how you’ve assisted his father with his concern over his
roommate, Mr. Schroeder. I wanted to personally thank you for going above and
beyond your duty as a bookkeeper to secure the happiness of one of our
residents.”

I stood there in shock. Before I could say anything,
Lloyd stood and covered my hand with both of his.

     “My sincere thanks, Miss Kramer. Your
thorough investigative work and the special attention to this matter were
appreciated. I know this was an added inconvenience to your already busy
schedule.”

I had a hard act to follow. With a hint of a smile I
said, “My pleasure, Mr. Harper. Peace of mind is an important factor in
improving a resident’s health.”

“Well, thank you for your time.” He released my hand
and turned toward Phyllis. “I’d like to visit my father now. Thank you for
seeing me.”

“Anytime, Mr. Harper. Thank you, Summer. You may leave
now.”

“Thanks again,” I said and slipped out into the hall.
I waited at the end of the hallway for Lloyd.

He strutted out of her office, with a cocky smile on
his face. When he reached me, he kissed my forehead. “Lunch?”

“You deserve an Acadamy Award for best actor! Hell, I
might even get a raise. Amazing what your good looks and charisma can do! Bet
you’re a wiz at sales.”

“I am. However, I attribute that to my product
knowledge. The majority of my clients are male. I’m hoping they’re not buying from
me because they think I’m cute.”

“Ah, but you have to get past the women secretaries to
speak with them, right?”

He shrugged. “You have a point, but most of my sales
are orders from established clients. I rarely do cold calling. Let me give Alan
his lunch and I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” We walked back to the receptionist desk. No
Shantel. I went through the office door to her desk and handed Lloyd the lunch
bags through the window.

He looked in both bags and handed one back. “This one
is ours.”

I handed him one of the soft drinks. “Did you want to
eat in my car or my office?”

“Your office is fine. Be right back.” He turned and
left for the Medicare wing.

Ten minutes later, while I was filing some Medicaid
forms in my office, Lloyd came walking through my door. He closed the door
behind him and walked over to where I was standing. He wrapped his arms around
me and hugged me from behind, and I wrapped my arms around his, leaning into
him. He placed a soft kiss on my cheek. “Alan says hi. Mmm, you smell nice.
Like chocolate.”

 “I was eating our dessert. Raisinets.” I pointed to
my desk. “Help yourself.”

He released me and picked up the box. He walked back
shaking some out of the package and popping them into his mouth.

“I thought we could share the computer table. Have a
seat.” I walked to my desk, picked up the bag and tray of drinks, and brought
them over. “Any news?” I asked, unfolding the napkins into placements. The
aroma of the food made my mouth water as I distributed it.

“No. Alan must be accustomed to waiting around. He’s
playing gin rummy with my dad. You were right about the lunch. Guy was starving
after watching my dad eat.”

“Really? The smell of the food here turns me off. What
about Mr. Schroeder?”

“Sleeping. Alan had the nurse give him some sleeping
pills. He doesn’t want him awake when the arrest occurs.”

“Probably better for him, though he’s doing so much
better now.”

“Is there any ketchup in that bag?”

I looked. “Nope. Just two straws,” I said pulling them
out and handing one to Lloyd. “If you want, I have some packets in my upper
right desk drawer from going out to eat with Donna.”

“Yeah, I do. I asked them for extra ketchup.”

I started to rise from my seat and he pushed me back
down as he walked over to my desk. He opened the drawer. “Messy.”

“Junk drawer. Look around. They’re in there. I usually
slam the drawer shut so nothing stays where I put it.”

 “Likely excuse. What is all this crap?” He said
rummaging around. “Oh wait, found ‘em along with a bunch of dust bunnies.”

“I promise they’re no older than a week. How long the
restaurant had them is another thing.”

He walked back and tossed a bunch of packets on the
table. I noticed something still in his hand when he sat down.

“Whatcha got there?” I asked stuffing a bunch of fries
in my mouth.

He turned the framed photograph around for me to see.
It was a picture of Sam and I in the park. He stood behind me with his arms
around my waist, as Lloyd had done a minute ago. He was hugging me tight,
resting his head on my shoulder. We both wore wide grins. I always liked that
picture of us. It looked natural, not posed.

“Cute picture of you. You look really happy.”

I shrugged. “Who isn’t when they’re twenty-one?”

His brow knitted as he swallowed a bite of
cheeseburger. “Twenty-one? I thought you’ve only been seeing Sam for a few
years.

“I have. I met Sam at college. He needed a statistics
course to graduate. MSOE wasn’t offering the class he needed, so he showed up a
week into my class at UWM. Since my classmates thought I had Tourette syndrome,
because I swore so much, the only seat available was next to me.”

He laughed and stood the picture up next to my
computer. “I hated that course too.”

“After a couple of classes, Sam offered to tutor me.
He said my complaining was making it difficult to concentrate. He was getting
an “A” in the course so I took him up on it. I don’t know exactly when we
became a couple. Actually surprising, since we argued all the time. Somehow
though it happened.”

“And then you broke up?”

 “When the class ended he stopped calling. The
following weekend I spotted him at a popular bar, making out with some slutty
looking chick.” I finished my cheeseburger. “Maybe he dumped me so he didn’t
have to buy a Christmas present. I don’t know. Anyway, I managed to get a “B+”
in the class.”           

“Nice guy.” He twisted his straw in his cup hesitating
before he looked up at me. “He was your first, wasn’t he?”

I wasn’t surprised by the question. “First and last.
Until you, that is.”

He looked genuinely surprised. “I’m flattered.”

“You should be,” I said sincerely.

“So whatever made you go out with the loser again?”

I siphoned some soda into my dry mouth. I twisted my
lips thinking about my answer. “Well, years had passed. I ran into him in line
at the UWM admissions office. I was picking up my degree—I never went to the
ceremony, and he was picking up a copy of his transcripts. We started talking,
he was going on an interview for Rockwell International the next day, I agreed
to help him practice for the interview, and that started of it.”

I ate some salty fries, staring at the photograph.

Lloyd flipped a strand of my hair over my shoulder.
“So why did you break up with him?”

“He wouldn’t share his breakfast with me?” Every time
I thought of it, I got angry again.

Lloyd cracked a smile. “Yeah, right. So tell me?”

“I did! He wouldn’t share his bacon and eggs with me
and it pissed me off.”

“Seriously?” He pushed his leftover fries next to me.
“In case you were eyeing them.”

“Smart man. Actually, that was the proverbial straw
that broke the camel’s back. My Sam tolerance level maxed out that morning.”

“And now you’re dating him again?” he asked, raising
his eyebrow.

I shrugged and stole one of his fries. “Third time’s
the charm, or so they say.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Sir Winston Churchill said, ‘Those
who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’ Or if you prefer,
there’s another saying that goes something like ‘fool me once shame on you,
fool me twice, shame on me.’ What do you think?”

“I think those are probably more apropos.” I took the
picture in my hands. “You know, Lloyd, you make me feel like this girl. Happy.
Carefree. Loved. Perhaps it’s time for a new photograph.”

“I can fix that.” He took a pad of Post It notes from
the table and with a pen; he drew a smiley face and added wavy hair.
“Scissors?” he requested like a surgeon.

I reached behind me and opened a drawer. I pulled out
my scissors and handed it to him.

     He cut out the drawing and stuck it over Sam’s
face. Then he wrote his name on another sheet with an arrow and placed it so it
pointed to Sam’s body.

     I admired his work. “Cute. I like it.” I brought
my arms up around his neck and held his head in my hands. I leaned in and
kissed him. He pulled me into his lap, and returned my kiss.

     Just when I started to get hot and bothered,
Shantel called my name over the phone intercom. Amy Foster had arrived.

     “Showtime,” Lloyd said. I got up and he hugged
me. “See you when it’s over.” He opened the door, checked for The Hawk, and
left out the front.

     I picked up my phone and dialed Donna’s office.
When she picked up, I said, “Let’s roll.” I quickly picked up the food wrappers
and empty cups and tossed them in the garbage can. Grabbing a few files, a
notebook and pen, I left my office.

     I stopped to get Donna, and together we went to
the Medicare wing. As we walked passed Mr. Schroeder’s room, I caught a glimpse
of Lloyd joining in on the card game. Amy Foster was pulling the orange juice
from her tote bag.

     The nurses’ station was close by and vacant. The
nurse aides were busy assisting the residents with lunch. Carol, the RN, was
either in a meeting or out to lunch. I pulled a medical chart of a newer admit
and we stood by, waiting for the action to begin.

     Nothing for ten minutes. Donna and I were getting
antsy. Every time an aide waltzed by, I started asking Donna questions about
the validity of the facesheet.

     Then it happened. We broke into wide grins as we
listened.

     “Dad, wake up. It’s me. You need to drink your
juice. Wake up!” she hollered.

     Alan’s voice. “Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask
you to put down the juice.”

     “Who the hell are you? This is my father. Don’t
tell me to put this down. How dare you!”

     Alan again. “Ma’am, I’m Detective Leif with the
Milwaukee police. I’m going ask you again to put that down and step away.”