Forgotten Place (12 page)

"You tell me.  Does a guy that likes to
wear diapers and suck a pacifier before the girl he hires to play
mommy flogs him sound like somebody brazen enough to walk into the
busiest hospital in the city and try to kill somebody half an hour
after visiting hours ended?"

"Probably not.  Nice visual
though.  I think you killed whatever appetite I had."

One eyebrow twitched.

"Oh for heaven's sake.  I'm eating," I
shoveled another bite of egg into my mouth.  "So if you don't
think Linder is they guy, I'd imagine that's the excuse you've come
up with for me to stay home instead of talking to him this
afternoon."

"On the contrary.  I absolutely think
you should settle the question as soon as possible.  Ned's got
access to my file on Datello.  He's been going over the names
of business associates all night too.  If there's a connection
to Danny, he'll find it before two."

"What makes you think I won't rat you out
the second I get away from you?"

Johnny shrugged.  "Do what you gotta
do, Doc.  I'll do what I think is right and necessary.  I
guess either we'll have a meeting of the minds or we won't."

"You can't keep me locked up forever."

"I didn't think I'd need to.  It hardly
counts as keeping you locked up when you're going to therapy this
morning and interviewing a suspect with Ned this afternoon."

"Yet there is no freedom to come and go as I
please."

"Again, it's up to you how fast this
happens.  Just know that I don't make the same mistake
twice.  You had your shot at recuperating in your own way and
in your own time, but you blew it.  Now we do this my
way."

I started rearranging rapidly cooling food
on my plate.

"I'm not blind, Doc.  Stop being
childish and finish eating."

I echoed the sentiment from last
night.  "I really despise you, Orion."

"I know."

After another stolen
glance, and I accepted my temporary loss of freedom.  At least
for the time being. 
Somebody
was bound to take pity on my situation and
intervene before all good sense fled and I resorted to drastic
measures again.

All was eaten save for the crust of bread
around the slice of toast.  Johnny let it pass – at least this
time.  I doubted he'd find reason to accept future attempts at
defying his will.  Like he said, resistance would only prolong
the current situation.

Instead of arguing more, I took a sullen
stroll back to my room, showered and dressed comfortably for
physical therapy.  Johnny was waiting for me at the door to
the garage.  "Ready?"

It felt like a firing squad awaited. 
"I forgot to take a pill."

"You had your Prozac."

"I meant a pain pill."

"Hmm.  Wait here.  I'll get one
for you."

"I can get my own damn pills."

"Yeah, and I can read."

"What the hell is that supposed to
mean?"  I perched one fist on my hip.

"You had that prescription filled less than
a week ago and it's almost half gone.  Hitting the happy pills
a little hard, aren't you?  If they aren't helping your pain,
maybe we should have a conversation with this surgeon of yours
about trying something that lasts longer and works better."

"Something stronger?"

"Don't look so hopeful, Doc.  I was
thinking less addictive and more effective.  Given your
present state of neglect, I'm not sure how safe it is for you to
take a drug that could so easily kill you."

"I'm not suicidal.  Jesus."

For the first time since his invasion,
Johnny touched me.  His hands spanned my waist easily, fingers
overlapping in the back.  "Aren't you?"

"That's hardly a fair indicator. 
You've got mammoth hands."

"Mammoths didn't have hands, and if you'd
like, I'd be happy to pull up that baggy sweatshirt and take a look
at your protruding ribs.  Don't tell me that you aren't
suicidal.  Now behave yourself and let me get the damn pill so
you aren't late for therapy.  Go wait in the Expedition. 
I'll be out in a second."

I glanced at the keypad on the garage
door.

"Don't even think about it, Doc.  You
couldn't run fast or far enough, and if you try, I'll have no
choice but to rip the wires out of that box so it doesn't happen
again.  Stop fighting me every step of the way and this will
really be done before you know it."

I snorted.  "Really done.  As in
you leave me alone and I never have to see you again?"

"Yes."

I looked up sharply.  "You're
lying."

His unguarded expression caused physical
pain.  It uncurled in my belly like a punch from a prize
fighter and sucked the breath out of my lungs.

"No lie, Doc.  It's what you
want.  I'm not blind or stupid."

Chapter 10

"Park on the sixth level," I said.

"Why?"

"Because I want to try something when I
leave therapy this morning.  If it's all right with you, Mr.
Orion, sir," I love sarcasm more than anything else, I
think. 

"Does this something involve the case?"

"It sure as hell isn't about taking a swan
dive over the side of the building.  If that was the plan, I'd
ask you to park on the roof."

Johnny maneuvered the car into the
garage.  "Any particular area of level six?"

"West aisle."

"The attack happened in the center, near the
south end, right?"

"Yes."

"You want to go upstairs and talk to Journey
before we leave?"

I did, but couldn't fathom
for the life of me why Orion was suddenly being so accommodating of
what I wanted.  Correction – of everything but
one
thing I wanted. 
He wasn't about to leave me alone.

"Doc?"

I gritted my teeth at the hated
nickname.  Stubborn, stubborn man.  There was little
point arguing about it or anything else.  "I'm not sure
yet.  Am I permitted to use a cell phone in the event that I
need to ask questions while I walk through the crime scene
again?"

"I thought she couldn't talk."

"But Dev can."

"Dev."  Snorted derisively.  "I
thought you just met him yesterday."

"We bonded quickly.  Some men actually
feel remorse for behaving like Neanderthals."

"Some men don't have the common sense to
recognize when another human being is about to self-destruct
either, but I'll try not to hold his ignorance against him,
particularly since he was the first one to alert me to how horrible
you were actually doing."

"Right," I drawled.

"No lie.  I believe he mentioned
something akin to seeing more meat on cattle in India."

If he wanted to hurt me, that did the trick,
earned a spectacular display of silent treatment.  I was too
distracted by the hurtful observation of a total stranger to
protest the fact that he hung around throughout my entire therapy
session.  Until the last modality at least.  Amy handed
me a robe and told me to change for the whirlpool treatment.

I felt my eyelids stretch over bulging
orbs.  "Absolutely not!"

"What?  Why?  Helen, what's wrong
with you.  Of all the modalities we've used since you started
therapy, this is the one you actually seem to enjoy."

"I will not get in that tub
in front of
him
."

The glint returned to Orion's eyes. 
"If I have to strip you and dunk you in that thing myself, I'll do
it, Doc.  What did I tell you?  The nonsense is over as
of last night.  You're doing whatever these people tell you to
do, you're taking your pills in an appropriate quantity, you're
eating right and taking care of yourself.  Period.  No
arguments.  Or do you prefer doing this from within the
confines of a hospital?  Say one that specializes in treating
people who refuse to take care of themselves?"

"You wouldn't dare."

Orion took one step toward me and I was
convinced.  He would dare.  Not only would Dunhaven or
some similar candidate be in my immediate future, he fully intended
to strip me down and force me to participate in every bit of
therapy.

Dead sober, he murmured, "Yeah, I
know.  You hate me."

I looked at Amy, more than a little
incredulous that she stood by and witnessed his audacious behavior
and failed to intervene.  A moment later, I snatched the robe
out of her hand and marched behind the privacy screen to strip off
my clothes.

"You will turn around while I get in this
whirlpool."

Johnny nodded, but I didn't trust him not to
peek.

"Helen, I'm concerned about the stiffness in
your shoulder today," Amy said after I sunk down until my chin
bobbed above the water.  "Did you follow my directions
yesterday?"

"I didn't work the joint at all."

"No, but she did brace herself from falling
using the left arm," Orion said.  "She had an x-ray yesterday
morning to make sure she didn't re-injure the bone."

I gritted my teeth.  "Dr. Scott in
radiology reviewed the film with me, Amy.  He said nothing was
damaged.  If I'm stiff, it's probably left over from the
workout over the weekend and the thing yesterday with
Journey."  I changed the subject.  "I presume you heard
about what happened last night."

"I did."

"Have you seen her this morning?"

Amy nodded.  "I poked my head in the
door around six.  The detective I talked to was sitting with
her.  She was still sedated.  I can't believe how far Jim
is taking this thing."

I looked up at her from my bench in the
whirlpool.  "You still think he's the one who did this,
Amy?"

"Who else could it be?  Everybody loves
Journey.  She's one of the sweetest people I've ever known in
my life, Helen.  We're talking about somebody that doesn't
know the meaning of the word enemy."

"Detective Mackenzie talked to your friend
Tim yesterday."

"And?"

"He said pretty much the same thing. 
Commander Orion is meeting with Samantha Wine today.  I hope
she'll be as cooperative as her other friends have been so
far."

"She will," Amy's tone grew grim.  "She
knows more about whatever it was that happened with Jim, I promise
you.  I doubt she'll hesitate to break Journey's
confidence."

"Journey told me that the reason she didn't
maintain a friendship with Mr. Linder was because her friends
disliked him so much.  She doesn't believe he would try to
hurt her."

Amy started massaging my left
shoulder.  "Of course she can't believe it.  Journey has
a hard time believing in the dark side of man, which is pretty
ironic considering her profession."

"There's a difference between illness and
evil, Amy."  I should know.  I was the embodiment of the
contrast between the latter and the former.  "Having a mental
illness is no different than any other kind of ailment.  Did I
ask to be shot?"

Orion snorted.

"Of course you didn't," Amy said, "and I get
your point.  You sound just like Journey.  Nobody asks to
be schizophrenic or to have depression or dementia.  But she
takes it to an extreme, Helen.  There comes a point where you
have to draw the line with people and recognize that they choose to
be bad, that it's not some nebulous ailment beyond their
control."

I felt Orion's eyes burning into the back of
my head.  Yeah, I got it.  Amy struck a little to close
to home for either of our liking.  "There are always
circumstances that you may not know.  Nobody knows everything
about another person, no matter how much they delude themselves
into believing otherwise."

"You should reserve judgment until after you
meet Jim," she said.  "If the guy doesn't make your skin
crawl, maybe there's something wrong with you too."

"Did Journey get the feeling that all of her
friends thought she was flawed because of her choice in partners
while she was seeing Linder?"

"We tried to like him, Helen.  I
already told you this.  He made it damned near impossible for
her to be with us when he was around.  He was sullen and rude
and couldn't be bothered to get to know us.  It made Journey
uncomfortable enough that either she would skip our social
gatherings or make excuses about why Jim couldn't come. 
Honestly, we were all relieved when it reached that point. 
Including Journey."

"Really?"  I peered at Amy over one
shoulder.  "Did she say something that made you believe that
was how she felt?"

"No, but it wasn't exactly a mystery. 
She was relaxed and happy with us again instead of being
tense."

"How long was it between the time he stopped
socializing with her friends and the breakup?"

"Not too long.  A couple months at
most."

I fell silent and pondered
what she revealed.  Could Linder be so irate that Journey
essentially chose her friends over him that it prompted two
attempts on her life?  He wouldn't be the first guy to resort
to –
if I can't have you, nobody
can.

"Out of general curiosity, how did Journey
tell all of you that she and Jim were no longer involved?"

"She didn't.  Sam told us."

"So Sam is the only person intimately aware
of the details."

"If Journey mentioned any of them, Sam would
be the one to know."

I glanced over at Johnny.  He didn't
even pretend not to give us his complete attention.  He nodded
once. 

"Did Journey ever talk about meeting any of
Jim's friends?"

"You mean the drunks he hangs out with in
bars?"

"Hmm."

"Yeah," Amy muttered in disgust.  "Most
of the time they spent together... well, let's just say that I
think others weren't in the picture.  How would that make you
feel if the guy you were seeing either dragged you to bars to hang
out with his fellow alkies or kept you away from the rest of the
world?"