Return to Sender (23 page)

When Chelsea saw the nurses could no longer see her, she ran back to the elevator and headed for the main floor. She took her cell phone from her bag and dialed Herbert. For once the old guy picked up on the first ring.

“I need to go home.” She closed the phone and stepped outside just as Herbert pulled up to the ambulance lane. Chelsea smiled.

She’d bet her last nickel the old man thought his employer had just died.

Soon,
Chelsea thought.
Very soon.

Nick barely opened his eyes. He heard a continuous bleeping sound, followed by excited, yet hushed tones. He was in a strange room. As though he were looking through gauze, the images were fuzzy, undefined. He tried to speak but couldn’t seem to remember how.

The voices around him continued. Someone raised his eyelids wide and shined a thin beam of light into his eyes. He felt his eyes burning, felt the liquid pooling down his cheeks.

“Can you hear me, Mr. Pemberton?” a male voice asked.

Gathering every ounce of strength he could, Nick nodded. Once.

Twice.

“Relax. You’re going to be fine,” the voice informed him.

Nick closed his eyes because it took too much effort to keep them open. His head felt fuzzy, and he couldn’t focus on anything.

It could have been a minute or ten, he wasn’t sure, but when he opened his eyes again, he saw Evan and another man standing at the foot of his bed. Sunlight brightened the room. He must’ve slept for a while, because it had been dark before.

“Nick, can you hear me?” Evan asked.

Nick nodded.

“He’s coming around. Let’s allow him to sleep it off a while longer. I think that’s the safest treatment plan at this stage,” Evan said.

Sleep it off? Have I been drinking?
Nick tried to remember but came up empty again.

The voices in the room were louder, or he was more aware, he wasn’t sure which, but he heard someone say, “Chelsea.” The monotonous
bleep, bleep, bleep
noise suddenly went
bleepbleepbleepbleepbleep.

“His heart rate is increasing,” Evan said.

Nick heard quickened footsteps, then sharp voices issuing commands. Something squeezed his left arm for several seconds before the pressure released.

A blood pressure cuff!

He opened his eyes, blinking rapidly as he tried to clear the fog from his vision. He swallowed. His mouth felt dry as the Mojave Desert. Moving his thickened tongue from side to side took quite a bit of effort. He was thirsty. “Wa-ter,” he managed to say in a scratchy voice.

“He’s asking for water,” the nurse said to Evan.

“Go ahead. It’s fine. Just not too much,” said Evan.

Nick felt like he’d died and gone to heaven when a flexible straw was placed between his lips. It took a few seconds, but he managed to drink enough to relieve the dryness. He licked his lips. They were cracked and raw.

“Here, let me.” A woman rubbed a balm across his lips. “That should help.”

Nick tried to smile, but it hurt his cracked lips too much. He offered up a grimace instead. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

He must have drifted off again, because the next time he opened his eyes, the room was dark. A small light above his bed cast shadows on either side of him. He swallowed, wanting more water. He rubbed his lips together. Someone must have been caring for them, because they were almost back to normal.

Opening his eyes completely, Nick managed to shift himself into a semisitting position. He saw the call button clipped onto the pillow. He pushed it.

Images of a thousand aspirins and jugs of water made him push the button a second time. His head pounded, as though an orchestra were playing a Mahler symphony. He wasn’t sure exactly what Mahler symphonies sounded like, but remembered hearing some thing about how loud they were.

“Wow, you’re sitting up. I’m impressed,” a nurse said.

He managed a croaky “Why?”

She took a plastic aqua pitcher and filled a paper cup with water.

She put the straw in his mouth. He drank it all and asked for more.

“Why am I so thirsty?” He could only whisper, but Nick knew it was the first full sentence he’d said since he’d been admitted to the hospital. He ran a hand up and down both arms, searching for the chemo line, but found nothing.

“You’ve been asleep for a while. I’m going to get the doctor. I’ll be right back.”

Evan returned with the nurse. “You’re awake. Good. How are you feeling?” He felt Nick’s pulse, wrote something on a chart, then handed it to the nurse.

“Like I’ve been trampled by a herd of angry cattle.”

“Well, that’s not good, but it’s what I expected. You still feeling groggy?”

“Some, but not as bad as before.”

“Do you know why you were brought to the hospital?” Evan asked, careful not to put words in his mouth.

“No. It’s the leukemia, isn’t it?”

“Actually, your blood count is still at a good level. Your white count is elevated a bit, but that’s to be expected under the circumstances.”

Evan knew that one of Ambien’s side effects was temporary loss of memory. With the dose Nick had taken, he was lucky to be alive. Evan hoped that Nick would remember the events of the night before he was rendered unconscious and transported to the ER.

“What circumstances? Don’t keep me in the dark, Dr. Reeves. I might be sick, but I haven’t taken leave of my senses yet.”

That sounded more like the domineering man that Evan knew. He didn’t sound like a man who wanted to die, a man who’d just attempted to kill himself with a massive overdose of sleeping pills. Something wasn’t right.

“Of course you haven’t. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. I want you to concentrate, think back to two nights ago, try to remember what you were doing.”

Nick frowned in concentration. “
Two
nights ago? What night is it now? Wednesday? So two nights ago was Monday. I was at home.”

“Anything else about that night you remember?”

Nick rubbed his hand across his stubble. “I didn’t need a shave?” He laughed.

“A sense of humor is good. Seriously, think back to that night. Did you go anywhere? Do anything unusual?”

Nick had a flash of Chelsea’s naked body on top of his. “I had sex with my wife.” He grinned. “I remember now. Actually, she seduced me. I was surprised since Chels and I aren’t the most compatible couple in the world.”

“Okay, sex is good.” Evan thought of Lin. He’d tried to call her several times over the past two days, and each time he’d gotten her voice mail. He planned on driving to her apartment tonight, as soon as he left the hospital.

“It was especially good that night. Damn, I shouldn’t be discussing this with you.”

“Yes, you should, Nick. I’m trying to figure out a few things. Just humor me a few more minutes. I don’t need details, just your recollection of Monday night.”

“Okay. Chelsea brought me some tea. We drank it after we made love. She…she was adamant that I drink a second cup.” Nick paused. “Goddamn her! She put something in my tea, didn’t she? She’s behind this, isn’t she? That bitch. I swear I will kill her when I get my hands on her!”

“Nick, try to calm down. And stop making threats. Someone is liable to hear you. The last thing you need is a visit from the police.”

“Did you check…do whatever they do to check for drugs? Did you do that?” Nick asked. She poisoned me, didn’t she? Wait! If she did that, how the hell did I get here?”

“A toxicology screen. Yes, we did. We found extremely high levels of Ambien and Ativan in your system. Enough to…Your wife called the paramedics, and we got you just in time.”

“Kill someone? Is that what you were about to say?”

“Yes,” Evan answered. Nick was his patient. His loyalty was to him, not his wife.

“Where is she? Has she been here?”

Evan hated to be the bearer of more bad news, but his patient had to hear it from somebody. “She was here the night you were admitted. She stayed for several hours. When you woke up, she was in the cafeteria. I had just told a couple of nurses to have her paged when she came up. I thought she’d be thrilled with the news. When she came upstairs, one of the nurses told her it looked like you were out of the woods, because you were awake. She said she needed to use the restroom. No one has seen her since.”

“That conniving bitch! She laced the tea with drugs. That’s why she wanted me to drink the second cup. I’ve known for a while she wanted me to die. She’s been after my money since the day we met. She never made any secret of it, either. I guess the leukemia isn’t working fast enough for her. It’s…it’s not easy knowing…knowing someone hates you enough that she wants you dead. And then try to…Never mind, Doctor. That’s my problem, not yours. I’ll take care of it when I get out of here.”

Nick had just voiced Evan’s own thoughts.
A man doesn’t offer up ten million dollars if he’s about to off himself. No, something is definitely wrong with that picture,
Evan had concluded.

“The ER doctor called the police after the tox screen came back.”

“Then where are they? Shouldn’t they be here questioning me? I guess they got tired of waiting for me to wake up,” Nick said wearily.

Evan hated what he was about to say, but again it was better coming from him than someone else. “Mrs. Pemberton told the staff you took the pills yourself. When someone attempts to take their life, since it’s against the law, we have to call the police. A re port was filed, but that’s all I know at this point.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! No matter how bad it is or was, I’d never try to kill myself. That’s just something I would never do. My own mother…” Nick closed his eyes, unable to finish whatever he was going to say. Evan saw a lone tear escape his eye.

“I agree, but it’s the law, and we have to abide by it, or we could lose our licenses to practice medicine. We don’t take risks, Nick.”

Evan had eased into calling him by his first name. He seemed comfortable with it. Since Nick had been more than a bit formidable during his first office visit, Evan hadn’t cared for him as a man all that much, but now he felt like the guy was having more than a bad run of luck. His health was withering away, and his wife wanted him dead. That was enough to piss off a saint.

“I took the Ambien you prescribed only a couple of times. With all the chemo, the last thing I wanted was more drugs floating through my bloodstream. Come to think of it, around the time you told me I could wait a month before my next treatment, I remember thinking I felt unusually tired. I bet she was lacing my tea with the stuff back then, and I was too stupid to know it.”

Evan had no doubt that there was some truth in what Nick said.

While it wasn’t up to him to prove a crime had been committed, it
was
up to him to be honest. If asked his medical opinion of Nick’s state of mind, he would have to conclude that his patient was perfectly sane. No one who’d gone to such great lengths to orchestrate such a large, not to mention expensive, bone-marrow drive was, in his professional opinion, the least bit suicidal.

“I can’t offer you legal advice, but I can do whatever is in my power to keep you alive,” Evan said.

“That’s good enough for me. Now, would you suggest I phone the authorities, or should you make the call?” Nick asked briskly.

“As your doctor, I don’t want to see you upset. I’ll call them and explain your health situation. After that, it’s up to them to decide if Mrs. Pemberton’s a threat.”

“The woman is beyond greedy! She wants my money and will stop at nothing to get her hands on it. Normally, when she wants large chunks of money, we negotiate. I’ve never really denied her anything. I just didn’t think…murder is…That’s so unbelievable, I just can’t wrap my mind around it.” Evan watched as Nick swiped at his eyes again.

“Let me make a few phone calls, see what I can find out. I’ll order something for you to eat. Any special request?”

“I don’t care as long as it’s not Jell-O or chicken broth.”

“I think your system’s ready for something a little heartier. Just rest. I’ll be back to check on you before I leave for the night.”

If Nick’s admission turned into an attempted-murder investigation, there was no way Evan would be able to get out of the hospital at a decent hour. He’d have to leave finding Lin to another night.

W
hen Jason had stopped by Lin’s apartment on Tuesday, she’d already decided to go back to Dalton. She’d forget about getting revenge on Nick. She also knew it was in her best interest to forget about the man whose mission it was to keep him alive.

Jason Vinery’s visit had changed everything.

“You’ll get to see the trees changing their colors. Well, maybe not. They’ve probably changed already. So you’ll see a bunch of naked trees,” Jason had said as a means of persuasion.

Now here she was, in Jason Vinery’s SUV, on her way to Vermont.

“I don’t mind telling you this entire story seems as hokey to me as the one about the tooth fairy. I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Lin said, but it was said happily.

“If it were hokey, I wouldn’t be here, trust me. I believed the man. He’s dying, Lin. Why would he confess to something so bizarre?”

“You just answered your own question. The man is dying. He’s got nothing to lose.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that. But what’s the point? He has no family left. All his millions go to the institution when he dies. He has no reason to do this, other than to get it off his chest. If we make it in time, he’s agreed to let me videotape his confession. Said he had proof. That’s convincing enough to me.”

Lin guessed Jason knew what he was talking about. In her desire to exact her revenge, she had joined forces with Jason, but she was afraid she would never be free of Nick again.

“If you get a valid confession, what do you plan to do with it? Give it to your ‘source’ at the paper?”

“I haven’t gotten that far in my thinking. Maybe I’ll just give it to you. You could use it more than me, anyway.”

It would be one more secret to keep from Will. Speaking of Will, he hadn’t called her today. She took her cell phone out of her purse. Damn, she hadn’t bothered to turn it on since she’d turned it off after talking to Will Monday night. The poor kid was probably beside himself with worry.

She had five calls from Will, three from Evan, and two from Sally.

Damn!
She listened to her messages.

“Hey, Mom. Just checking in. It’s Tuesday. Missed the donor thing again. Guess I’ll try again tomorrow.”

Four more messages from Will, the last one sounding more than a little worried. She dialed his cell phone number.

“Mom! Damn, where have you been? I’ve been worried to death about you. I’ve been calling and calling.”

“That’s my line. Honestly, I haven’t turned my phone on since we talked Monday night. Not a very responsible parent, huh?” Lin tried to make light of the matter but knew it was a major faux pas where her son was concerned.

“Then why do you have the stupid thing if you’re not gonna use it! I was worried, especially after the way you acted the other night at the hospital. Speaking of which, have you heard from Evan? And where are you?”

She’d been anticipating that last question. Not wanting to tell an other lie, she opted for the truth. “I’m on my way to Vermont.”

“Mom! Have you lost your mind? Forget I said that. Sorry. But what’s going on with you? You’ve been acting weird ever since I started college. You’re not suffering with that empty-nest-syndrome thing, are you?”

If only that were it. Lin could deal with that, because that was normal, something many parents experienced.

“No, I’m not, though I miss having you around, Will.” She took a deep breath. Once the words were out, she couldn’t take them back. “I have to talk to you when I get back from Vermont. Nothing life-threatening or anything, but it will…explain my behavior.” There, it was out! After more than eighteen years of lying to her son, she was going to tell him the truth about her past,
his
past.

“Ohhh-kay.” He dragged the word out the way kids do when they think whatever a parent said was crazy.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Lin laughed. Will was her son, and nothing she said could take that away. “I’ll be back tomorrow, but I want you to promise me something.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Whatever you do, don’t do that bone-marrow drive. Will, I’m very serious. This is important. You’ll understand why when we talk. Promise me?” she said, crossing her fingers.

“Okay, okay! Geez, what? Do we have some defective gene or something?”

“No, but promise me.”

“I said I would.”

“Humor me, Will, and say the words.” Lin knew she was about to push her son over the edge, but it couldn’t be helped.

She heard his frustrated sigh over the phone. “I promise not to go to the bone-marrow drive until my mommy gives me her permission.”

“Will, don’t make jokes right now. I have my reasons, and you’re going to have to trust me. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Sure, Mom, whatever you say. Just remember to keep your phone turned on. Sally was getting worried, too.”

“I will. Promise.” Lin clicked off the phone before Will could ask more questions.

Jason was looking at her as though he, too, thought she was losing her mind.

“Something tells me you’re not going to be as easily put off as my son.”

Jason kept shaking his head, like one of those bobbleheads on someone’s dashboard. “I had no idea you had a son, Lin. What the hell! I don’t understand why you felt you had to keep that from me.”

“How long before we’re in Vermont?” Lin asked.

“Three hours, four if we stop for gas. Why?”

“Because it’s going to take me that long to tell you my story.”

“Bring it on. I’m all ears.”

Two hours and one box of tissues later, Lin finished her story.

Jason spoke for the first time. She’d made him promise not to interrupt her.

“And you’re falling for the damn doc!”

Lin’s mouth dropped open like a cartoon character’s. “That’s all you’ve got to say?”

“I knew there was a reason for you to be so hell-bent on revenge. I’m just surprised you waited all these years. What made you decide to drag Pemberton through the dirt now? You didn’t tell that part of the story.”

“When I saw him at Will’s freshman banquet, he looked so…rich, so pampered. I’d sent him all those letters and not once had he bothered to read them. I felt like I’d been tossed aside like a day old paper. And Will, too. God, what kind of man could deny his very own flesh and blood?”

Jason held up his hand as the female voice of the GPS told them they would be arriving at their destination in fifteen minutes. “I love that thing.” He paused. “Lin, did it ever occur to you that Nick never received your letters? Maybe he never had the chance to ac knowledge Will because he didn’t know he existed.”

“Oh, please, Jason. You men, you all stick together, don’t you?”

“Hey, remember I don’t like the guy myself. But if his old man killed his wife, the mother of his son, sending back a bunch of his son’s love letters would be mild in comparison, don’t ya think?”

Lord, she’d never thought of it that way. Of course, she hadn’t known the Pemberton’s family history then. Could it be possible?

No! She wouldn’t go there, because if she did…She could
not
go there.

“There’s no doubt in my mind the man’s a true son of a bitch, but do you really think in a family as powerful and well off as the Pembertons, Nicholas Sr. would run home to catch the daily mail?”

Jason said.

“When you put it that way, no, it doesn’t make sense,” Lin said.

“Look, we’re here.” Jason said, pointing to a sign that read
TARA WOODS
.

“Sounds like a country club,” Lin said.

“Yeah, but we’re about to find out that it’s anything but. Dr. Steffani keeps rooms there, or so I was told. I can’t imagine being in some nuthouse, let alone living in one.”

“You know what they say, a psychiatrist is as wacky as his patients,” Lin said.

“We’re about to find out firsthand.” Jason removed a small black duffel from the backseat. “Camcorder,” he indicated, slinging it over his shoulder.

Tara Woods looked like its namesake. A beautiful old mansion sat smack-dab in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by hundreds of sweet-smelling pine trees. Lin took a deep breath as they walked up the long path to the visitors’ area.

“This fresh air is a treat after the city.”

“Yeah, it is, but after spending most of my life in the city, you miss it when you’re away.”

“Jason, we’ve been gone only half a day.”

“I know that. I’m talking about weeks. It’s like it’s a drug, something you crave. But we’re not here to discuss the pros and cons of living in New York City, are we?”

“No, we aren’t.”

Jason stopped at the entrance, waiting for her to catch up. She’d lagged behind, but knowing the doctor was dying forced her to hurry.

“Once I begin questioning him, you just stay put. Don’t say one word, okay? They might throw us out,” Jason said.

“I wouldn’t do that, Jason. Since we’re talking about my son’s biological grandfather, I do have a stake in this. I won’t say one word, I promise.” Lin smiled her first real smile of the day.

Once inside, they were led down several dim hallways, where doors were kept shut and most of the patients were sedated.

“This way,” the administrator said. A woman in her early forties, she was attractive in a professional way. Perfectly styled brown hair. Formfitting navy suit. Shoes that were quiet as she led them to Dr. Steffani’s rooms. “If you need anything, there’s an intercom by the bed. Just press the button, and someone will come.” She turned and left before either of them could reply.

Dark-skinned, with a shrunken-type head, Dr. Steffani looked like a shriveled-up potato. Somewhere under all the layers of overlapping skin were a nose, a mouth, and two eyes. Maybe. Lin saw large areas where his skin was missing, sores that oozed pus. She gagged and turned away. As long as he could speak, Lin shouldn’t care what he looked like.

A hospital bed was set up in the large room, which, Lin guessed, had served as a ward at one time. A kitchen area faced one wall. A dining table and living-room furniture were on the opposite wall. How sad to be dying with only that to look at.

“Dr. Steffani, I’m Jason Vinery. We spoke on the phone.”

Lin stayed behind Jason; she didn’t want the old man giving her the evil eye. The place gave her the creeps. When she thought about Nick’s poor mother being forced to stay there after she’d lost her baby girl, she wanted to cry.

“Yes, please sit down,” said Dr. Steffani. Though he looked like a creature, whatever was killing him didn’t affect his voice. He spoke with the confidence of a doctor. “I know you’ve come a long way. I don’t have a lot of time left. Skin cancer, of all things. My actions all those years ago have tormented me. Sometimes I think God is punishing me with this wicked disease, because every time I see myself, I think of it as a reminder. I had Louise take down all the mirrors.”

Jason set up his camcorder on a tripod, the lens directed on the doctor’s monstrous face.

“There is no way to tell this other than the way it happened. If you have any questions, I would very much appreciate if you would ask them when I finish. This isn’t something I’ve been looking forward to.”

“Whatever you’re comfortable doing, Doctor. I’m ready when you are.” Jason clicked the record button on the camcorder, and its soft buzz filled the cavernous room.

“Look, Steffani, I’ve given you hundreds and thousands of dollars for that…that nuthouse you run. The least you can do is listen to me!” Nicholas Pemberton Sr. wasn’t used to having anyone questioning his wishes.

“I’m happy to listen, Nicholas. Stop screaming and calm down. You sound like one of my patients. Now, tell me, what seems to be the problem?”

“It’s Naomi. I think she’s losing her mind.”

In a calm, pleasant voice Dr. Steffani asked, “And what has Mrs. Pemberton done to make you think so?”

“She hides in her room all day. She won’t let Nick Jr. out of her sight. I’m afraid if something isn’t done, she might hurt my son.”

“Nicholas, just because a mother seems to be a bit…over-protective of her son doesn’t mean she’s out to cause him harm. Has she hurt him?”

“No! Er, not that I’ve seen, anyway. She’s become nothing more than a thorn in my side since she lost that damned baby!”

“What did you just say?” Dr. Steffani asked.

“You heard exactly what I said. She was pregnant. She carried the kid around for nine months, and it was dead.”

“Stillborn is what we say.”

“Dead is dead, Dr. Steffani. She’s not right in the head. Imagine what my business associates would think if they knew my wife never left her room. She hasn’t been out of the house once since the kid died.”

“I’m curious, Nicholas. Did Naomi see an obstetrician throughout her term?”

“What do you think I am? One of those backwoods idiots you seem to be so fond of? Of course she saw a doctor!”

“And was there any indication of trouble? The child was active throughout the pregnancy?”

“How the hell would I know? She was disgusting to look at. She was so fat! I wasn’t about to touch that…thing causing her stomach to protrude.”

“And you felt this way when she was pregnant with Nick Jr., too?”

“What does the way I felt about my wife looking like the Blob have to do with her mental status? She’s not normal. For all the money I’ve passed your way, I would think you’d jump at the chance to care for her.”

“Nicholas, calm down. You’re going to suffer a stroke. Relax. Take a deep breath.”

“Cut the psychobabble!”

“If you want me to help your wife, there are certain things I need to know. If you’d rather consult another doctor, I can recommend someone.”

“What is it you want to know?”

“That went on for weeks before he actually brought her to the center, as I called it back then. We talked daily on the phone. He would threaten my career. I would try to calm him down. Finally, it got to the point where I refused his calls. That was before he brought her to the center. I thought he would strike me when he brought Naomi in that sad day. She was so thin. Her eyes were sunken and hollow. I’m sure she barely weighed a hundred pounds. What struck me the most, though, were the bruises all over her body. There were dozens, some yellowed, some purple, and the others, well, they were fresh. When I asked Nicholas if he beat his wife, he raised his hand to me.”