The Stolen (12 page)

“What was your choice?” I asked.

She looked at me, her cheeks flushing red, anger in her eyes. “I didn’t have one,” she said. “You made my choice for me.”

“I know. And I’m sorry I did that. I wish I could take it back. More than anything.”

Amanda took a step closer, her eyes locked on to mine. For a moment I felt embarrassed, wanted to step back.

“Two years ago,” Amanda said, “you came clean about who you were. I had a choice. I could have left you on the side of the road for the assholes who wanted you dead. Or I could help you. I made my choice. And here we are. I didn’t leave you then, and I wouldn’t have left you ever. You decided to make my choice for me. And since you did that, I’m not going to put myself in another situation where someone can dictate
my
future without my say-so. It’s my life, Henry, and if you don’t like what I do with it, you should have never gotten into my car in the first place.”

I finally stepped back, felt like I’d been slapped across the face. Though I had no one to blame but myself. “So what are we, then?” I asked.

Amanda walked forward until I could smell the light perfume that she must have put on before work. Because she sure didn’t wear it for me.

“We’re friends,” she said. “Good friends. I’ll help you however I can with this. But just with this. That’s my choice. So either you can deal with it or you can’t, but if you can’t, say something now. Otherwise don’t waste my time.”

“I have nothing to say. I appreciate it. So will Danny Linwood.”

I sat back down. Took out the papers Amanda had given me regarding Michelle Oliveira’s disappearance. I began to go through them again. Amanda stood there in the hall for a moment, then came and sat down next to me. She looked over my shoulder.

“Do you mind?” she asked. She didn’t quite phrase it as a question. She knew there wasn’t a chance in hell of me minding. I smiled. Told her I didn’t.

Then I noticed something on Michelle’s medical reports. She used a pediatrician in Hobbs County for several years before moving to Meriden. I looked at the name on the birth certificate, the signature of the man who delivered Michelle Oliveira.

“What is it?” Amanda asked.

“Michelle Oliveira was born at the Yardley Medical Center in Hobbs County,” I said.

“And?”

“The doctor on this birth certificate is named Dmitri Petrovsky,” I said. “The same Dmitri Petrovsky who treats Danny Linwood.”

T
he girl sat on the couch, listening to the two grown-ups speak as if she wasn’t even there.

“I heard her coughing last night,” Elaine Reed said. It was cold inside the house. The girl watched with curiosity as Elaine held a cup of tea to her cheek. She’d heard Elaine’s husband, Bob, say something about not being able to work the fireplace. Bob talked loud sometimes, and used words that Elaine got mad at him for.

Elaine was a pretty woman, only a little younger than her own mom. She had bright red hair and always wore pretty blue jewelry. When the other day the girl asked what kind it was, Elaine told her that her own daddy had brought it back from Greece. She said the rocks there were as blue as the sea itself.

Bob was shorter, with thinning dark hair and a beard that circled only his upper lip and chin. He wore glasses and didn’t say much and spent most of the day reading books and newspapers. He seemed to like to argue about politicians, people he said were doing this country more harm than good. Elaine always nodded and smiled when he talked like that, but didn’t really seem to have any opinions of her own in that regard.

The house was so huge, bigger than her old one, and the girl was scared to walk around alone. Not that she ever had to, since Elaine insisted on holding her hand almost everywhere she went. The girl felt strange, this woman she’d just met acting so friendly, but Elaine was nice and it meant not having to be scared. Even though she was still confused, the girl loved running up and down the lengthy hallways, laughing as Bob helped her slide down the banister. Elaine placed both of her hands around the cup, took a sip and placed it on the wooden table. Bob picked it up, frowned at her, then took a glass coaster emblazoned with a bright yellow sunflower and put the cup back down on it.

“She might just have a cold,” Bob said. “Kids get colds. Not everything is a life-threatening disease.”

She’d heard Elaine mention that the Reed family had lived in this house for just six months, and still hadn’t quite grown used to its nooks and crannies, the way it creaked during high wind, the way the linoleum was cool in the spring and hot in the summer. Yet for all the comfort, Elaine said she still felt isolated. The days were sunny and clear, and when the windows were left open the girl could see the trees, high oaks. And the fence surrounding the property.

Bob Reed had a bit of a temper. Or as her daddy would say, his blood got up something. Bob complained that they had to drive three miles just to see a human being. And he had to fiddle with some sort of remote control to work a “stupid” motor-controlled gate that allowed access to the driveway. Not to mention some brick wall that obscured the surrounding area. Elaine would put her hand on Bob’s shoulder and say, “We know why this is happening. We need to make the best of it.” Bob would look at her, nod, then go off on his own.

But right now they seemed concerned. A few days ago, the girl had come down with a cold. She felt shivery and warm at the same time, and no matter how many blankets Elaine piled on top of her it never went away. When they first realized she was sick, Bob and Elaine grew pale, and this scared the girl.

“Kids cough,” he said now, trying to be strong. “Look at Patrick. Hawked up a ball of phlegm every night until he turned three.”

“Well, this one is six,” Elaine said. “And that coughing doesn’t sound right. Maybe we should take her to see someone.”

“Not him,” Bob said. “I don’t trust that man.”

“Neither do I, but we have to. He told us if we ever needed medical help, we had to see…”

“Screw that crazy, scarred-up old man,” Bob said. “He doesn’t have to live like this. He didn’t have to change his life for some strange kid.”

“Patrick,” Elaine said. “Think of Patrick.”

Bob sighed, put his head in his hands. “Her cold will pass,” he said, reaching for the newspaper. “Can’t even get the newspaper delivered because ‘he’ said so.”

“Speaking of which,” Elaine said, “I think it’s time for her shot.”

Bob nodded. He said, “I’ll do it this time.”

He stood up. Headed toward the bathroom. A minute later Bob came back carrying a plastic bag.

He opened the bag and took out a gauze pad, a syringe, a small vial and a bottle of clear liquid that smelled funny. The girl watched all this. It all seemed vaguely familiar. And though that needle looked huge, like the size of a knife, for some reason she wasn’t scared.

“Did you wash your hands?” Elaine asked.

“Of course,” Bob replied. He took the small vial and rolled it gently between his fingers. Next he took a cotton ball, opened the bottle of clear liquid, held the ball against the open top until it was wet, then cleaned the top of the vial with the cotton ball.

“That smells funny,” the girl said. Elaine scrunched her nose and smiled.

“It does, doesn’t it?”

Bob didn’t smile. He just kept doing what he was doing.

Bob took the syringe and pulled the stopper back a little bit. Then he pushed the needle into the top of the vial, pressing the stopper again. A small bubble of air entered the vial. Then he turned the vial upside down, the syringe pointing at the ceiling, and pulled the stopper again until a small amount of the liquid was sucked into the syringe.

He tapped the syringe until the air bubbles had risen to the top of the needle. Then he removed the needle from the vial.

Bob turned to Elaine, still holding the needle. “Where did we give it to her this morning?”

“The abdomen,” she said.

“Gotcha. Caroline, would you come here?” The girl stood up warily, then went over to Bob. “Here, sweetie, sit down next to me.”

She did. Bob rolled up the sleeve of her right arm, then took the smelly cotton ball and rubbed it all over the underside of her arm. Then he blew on it gently.

“That tickles,” the girl said.

“Just needs to dry a bit,” Bob said. He waited a minute, then took her arm and gently squeezed her skin until a fold stuck out. Caroline winced a bit but stayed still.

“Good girl,” Elaine said.

“Now close your eyes,” Bob said. When she did, she felt a sting as the needle entered her skin. She felt Bob’s grip tighten, then a few seconds later it eased up. She opened her eyes. The needle was on the table and Bob was swabbing her arm with another cotton ball.

“You’re such a brave girl,” Elaine said. Caroline smiled.

T
he rental car zipped along like only a Hyundai with a hundred-and-twenty-five thousand miles could. Now that I’d been summarily dismissed from the Daniel Linwood story by Wallace, I couldn’t expect to be reimbursed for expenses anytime soon. Which meant watching my budget until I proved that it was worth potentially disrupting the lives of several families, not to mention putting my career on the line, to find out what happened to two missing children. Which meant that, for the time being, the $44.95-a-day rates of the Rent-a-Wreck of Yonkers was the only thing that could fit my ever-extended budget.

As soon as I realized that both Michelle Oliveira and Daniel Linwood not only were born in the same hospital, but were treated by the same doctor, I decided to speak to this man to see what, if anything, he could shed light on. Dr. Dmitri Petrovsky worked in the pediatrics unit at the Yardley Medical Center in Hobbs County. Amanda and I were on our way to speak to the good doctor. Like good guests we were coming uninvited.

As I drove up I-287, Amanda gripped the side door handle as though the car might split in half at any moment. Ironic, considering a few years back Amanda had driven us to St. Louis at an average speed that would make Jeff Gordon cry for mama.

I noticed her clutching the side, smirked and said, “Come on, you really think I’m going to spin out or drive us both into the Hudson? Besides, between the two of us, who do you think has racked up more points on their license?”

She glared at me. “I’ve never had an accident in all the time I’ve been driving. And I’ve been in a car with you, oh, a total of, like, three times. Forgive me if I don’t quite trust your instincts. Not to mention my Toyota was sturdier than the Verrazano bridge.”

“I have such fond memories of that car.”

Though Amanda and I had now been on speaking terms for just a few days, I was surprised at how easily we fell back into old patterns, the give-and-take of conversation. I was actually uncomfortable with it. Specifically, the fact that she seemed so calm. As if she knew our banter was nothing more than that, and would never get past the surface.

Two young children, both vanishing into nothing, reappearing after years, neither with any memory of their time gone. Both having been born in the same town, to low-income families with other siblings. I had no idea exactly what we were looking for, or what I expected to find, but I hoped that Dmitri Petrovsky, having borne witness to the birth of both Michelle and Danny, could yield new information.

We arrived at Yardley Medical Center a little after nine in the morning.

We stepped out of the Hyundai. It was warm outside, the sun hot and vivid. I was wearing a pair of brown khakis and a navy-blue sport coat. Amanda was in a sweater and light blue jeans. She looked a millions times better than I did, which wasn’t surprising, since I had to dig through a pile of unmentionables just to find two matching socks.

The Yardley Medical Center was a long building, twelve stories high, shaped like an L, with one taller side made of red brick, the other, shorter part windowed by steel and blue glass. We walked around to the main entrance, passing ambulatory care, and entered. The lobby was not large, but it was impeccably clean. Off to the side was a flower shop, a newsstand and a small cafeteria, and another path leading to a bank of elevators. In the middle was an information desk and security checkpoint. Half a dozen people were in line. When they finished talking to the attendant, she handed them a sticker to show Security, who let them enter the elevator bank.

We walked up to the information booth. The attendant, a heavyset black woman, said, “May I help you?”

“We’re here to see Dr. Dmitri Petrovsky in Pediatrics,” I said.

“Your names?”

“Henry Parker and Amanda Davies.”

“Do you have identification?”

We both handed over our drivers licenses. I didn’t want to announce myself as a member of the press just yet. In case Petrovsky knew anything, I didn’t want to give him time to prepare.

The woman looked at our IDs, then at us, then handed them back. She scribbled our names on two orange stickers, then signed each one before peeling them off and pressing them against our shirts.

“Petrovsky, Pediatrics. Suite 1103.”

We thanked her, showed the stickers to the guard and rode the elevator to the eleventh floor. The elevator was jam-packed, and the ride took forever. Finally we got off on eleven and followed the signs to the correct suite.

The eleventh-floor hallway was painted light blue. Very soothing. When we found 1103, a door marked Pediatrics, we paused for a moment, then entered.

We found ourselves in a waiting room littered with toys and parenting magazines. Various brochures were available. There were about a dozen chairs, almost all of which were filled with mothers, fathers and their tykes. I counted three pregnant women. Some of the kids were playing, some sleeping, and at least two were bawling their eyes out. Amanda took a seat, picked up a copy of
Parenting
magazine, and nodded toward the secretary.

“Would you mind signing us in, hon?”

“My pleasure,
hon.
”

I approached the secretary, a middle-aged woman with frizzy hair and a pair of red glasses perched on her nose. “Help you?” she said.

“I’m here to see Dr. Petrovsky,” I said.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, I’m sorry, we don’t.”

She swiveled to a computer, pressed a few keys, then swiveled back. “He can see you today, but not likely until eleven-thirty.” She handed me a clipboard with several forms on it. “If you and your wife would please fill these out and return it back to me.”

I opened my mouth to explain the whole
not wife
thing, but didn’t think it was worth the time or explanation.

I took the papers and a pen, sat down next to Amanda.

“If anyone asks, you’re my wife.”

“’Scuse me?”

“Just go with it.”

“Come on, Henry, these kind of matrimonial decisions should be made by both of us for Christ’s sake.”

A lady holding her infant son glared at us.

“Sorry,” I said, turning to Amanda. “Honey, there are children present.”

Amanda gave me a look that could have melted steel. I concentrated on filling out the forms, being as vague as possible, while leaving most responses blank.

When they were completed, I went back up to the receptionist. Handing them over, I said, “I left a lot of this blank. Frankly, there are some personal issues I’d rather discuss with Dr. Petrovsky first, if you don’t mind.”

The woman rolled her eyes at me, said, “Suit yourself,” and took the papers. When I returned to Amanda, she was buried in a copy of
Parenting
magazine.

“Wow,” Amanda said, eyebrows raised. “Did you know that the World Health Organization recommends breast-feeding your child until they’re at least two years old, and sometimes until they’re four?”

“Why not?” I said. “Nothing brings a mother and her child closer than reading, writing and breast-feeding.”

Amanda snorted a laugh, causing the other mothers to sneer at her in unison. She went back to reading the magazine. I did a cursory search through the reading material available. Since I had no aching desire to sift through a Learning Annex pamphlet or a four-month-old issue of
Cosmopolitan,
I just sat there and waited.

Finally after a two-hour wait, the receptionist called, “Mr. and Mrs. Parker.”

I looked at Amanda, her face suddenly nervous. We stood up and followed the receptionist down a wood-paneled hallway into an examination room.

“Dr. Petrovsky will be with you in just a moment.”

When she left, I turned to Amanda and said, “Here we go.”

“You really think this guy knows anything about Danny and Michelle?”

“That’s why we’re here,” I said. “I just want something to prove to Wallace this story deserves looking into, regardless of what some stuffed shirt says.”

We sat there waiting for fifteen minutes. I looked around the room. Nothing out of place, and because we were in a simple examining room rather than Petrovsky’s office, it prevented me from snooping around his framed degrees.

Then the door opened, and a fifty-something barrel-chested man walked in. He was about five-ten with a thick gray beard and a white coat that barely concealed his protruding midsection. Beneath the beard his cheeks were slightly red. He walked with a slight limp. I guessed he’d undergone a hip or knee replacement surgery recently.

“Mr. and Mrs. Parker, I am Dr. Dmitri Petrovsky.” He spoke with a thick Russian accent. I took his extended hand, as did Amanda.

“Thanks for seeing us on such short notice,” I said.

“It is my pleasure. Now, if you will do me one more, please, have a seat.” Amanda sat down on a small metal chair. Petrovsky laughed. “No, not there. Here.”

Petrovsky approached the examining table. He reached underneath, fiddled around for a few seconds, and then pulled up a pair up stirrups which he latched into place. He then slapped the green cushion and said, “Mrs. Parker, if you please.”

He put his palms together and then opened them as if he were reading a book.

Amanda’s eyes went wide. “Oh, hell no. Henry, this is where I get off the train. Good luck.”

“Mrs. Parker?” Petrovsky said. He turned to me. “I do not understand. This is a routine part of a first examination.”

Time to come clean. Or at least cleaner.

“Dr. Petrovsky, my name is Henry Parker, and I’m a reporter with the
New York Gazette.
Now, first off, I want you to know that I’m here in the best interests of two children. All I want to do is ask you a few questions. We don’t want to make any trouble, I promise. And I would appreciate your complete candor. It’s vital in our investigation.”

“Investigation?” Petrovsky’s eyes were frightened, but I couldn’t tell if it was from the surprise or something else. “Please, I do not understand. You lied to Maggie at reception?”

“Not exactly, Doctor. I just needed to speak with you. If after we talk you think my motives aren’t genuine, you can do what you want. But please, just hear me out. I mean well.”

Petrovsky folded his arms. I took that to mean he was listening.

“I’m investigating the disappearance of Daniel Linwood,” I said. “The records show that Daniel Linwood was born in this hospital, and that you were the attending during the birth. In conjunction with Daniel Linwood, we’re investigating a similar disappearance, a girl named Michelle Oliveira. Michelle also was born here, under your supervision.

“Daniel Linwood,” Petrovsky said, his eyes yielding a glimmer of recognition. “The name does sound familiar, yes. What has happened that you are investigating?”

This surprised me a little. The Linwood disappearance was major news in Hobbs County. Petrovsky had worked here dating back years. Either his memory had slipped, or he was being obstinate for a reason.

“A week ago, Daniel Linwood returned to his family after being kidnapped nearly five years ago. I’m looking into who kidnapped him and why.”

“But you say Daniel was found, yes? He is with his family?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Then all should be happy, no?”

“Not if you want a sense of justice. And I think Daniel’s disappearance is related in some way to Michelle Oliveira. You know both children were born at Yardley,” I said. “And they’re both from Hobbs County.”

“I did not know this, and I do not know this Michelle person you speak of.”

Petrovsky reached into his pocket and took out a handkerchief, mopping a few beads from his brow. He put it back in, laughed slightly, then held his hands to his stomach.

“My wife,” he said. “Says I should lose about fifty pounds to stay healthy. Perhaps, she says, this is the reason I have a titanium knee. I think she may be right, but she cannot tell me
how
to lose that weight.”

“Doctor,” I said, “Daniel Linwood has no recollection of his missing years. I need to know what could happen to a child that could do that to their brain, to their memory. If you know anything about Daniel, or what happened, that could explain it.”

“Please, Mr. Parker, I am just here to do my job. I have delivered many hundreds of children in my career, and now you ask me to remember two as if they were delivered this morning? You have lied to me, and now you expect me to answer you like a man at a cocktail party who has medical questions? If you have medical questions, I would be happy to refer you to another physician in this clinic. Or if you prefer to continue down this path, I would be happy to refer you to hospital security, who will refer you to a good lawyer. That is all I have to say. Now I suggest you leave. Right away.”

The look Petrovsky gave us confirmed that he was not bluffing. I had no intention of calling his bluff. I merely thanked him for his time, apologized again for the ruse, and we left.

We exited Yardley in silence. When we got to the parking lot, Amanda said, “Goddamn, that guy knows something.”

I nodded, picked up the pace and headed toward our Hyundai, hoping a strong wind hadn’t caused it to blow away.