Resurrection Dreams (18 page)

“So where was she since Thursday night?” Ace asked.

“When we find her, we’ll ask.”

“Maybe you’ll find her at Melvin’s house,” Vicki said.

Joey looked at her and hoisted an eyebrow. “You’re thinking that Dobbs abducted her Thursday night, kept her, and sent her over to Pollock’s last night to make good on his threat?”

“It’s occurred to us,” Vicki said.

“Pretty farfetched. What do you think Dobbs did, hypnotize her?”

Vicki ignored his sarcasm.

“Possibly,” she said. “I understand it’s widely believed that a person can’t be forced under hypnosis to do something she would otherwise consider abhorrent, but there are ways around that problem. If the subject is given an acceptable rationale for the behavior…”

“Like he told her Pollock is a ham sandwich,” Ace elaborated.

“I might as well get going,” Joey said. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”

He started to rise.

“No, wait. Keep out of it for a minute, would you, Ace? This is serious.”

“It’s starting to sound pretty half-assed, even to me.”

“Melvin actually might have kidnapped that nurse and hypnotized her into killing Pollock for him. If he was able to convince her that Pollock was a threat, that maybe he intended to rape or murder her, then that could provide a sufficient motive to allow her to justify using violence against him. It’s been done. I read a case study in a psychology journal that described exactly that…”

“It didn’t go down that way,” Joey said. “Gordon didn’t behave like a gal defending herself. She went well beyond anything that could’ve possibly been justified by the kind of hypnotic suggestion you’re talking about. The savagery…You have no idea. And I’m not about to enlighten you.”

“Okay. Suppose we forget the hypnosis angle. What if Melvin was with her in the apartment? Maybe he had a gun, or something, and forced her to attack Pollock.”

Joey shook his head. “I already explained there was no indication that anyone else was present. Besides, if he was there, why didn’t he simply shoot Pollock, or whatever, rather than force the woman to do the killing?”

“I don’t know. He might’ve had some sort of weird reason.”

“What I think this boils down to,” Joey said, “is that Dobbs made a casual remark last night in the heat of anger—a remark that you yourself said was fairly normal under the circumstances—and Pollock just happened to be killed a couple of hours later. From what you’ve told me, I might just as easily suspect you as Dobbs. After all, you were upset enough to pour beer on Pollock.”

“You could at least go over to Melvin’s house and ask him about it.”

“Did anyone other than you and Ace hear his threat against Pollock?”

“I doubt it.”

“I could go over there. I could probably even get a search warrant on the basis of what you told me. Not that I think I’d find anything. But I could do that. And Dobbs would know exactly who put me onto him. Do you want that?”

“Not especially,” Vicki admitted. She’d realized Melvin would probably find out that she and Ace had told on him, but she had pushed the knowledge aside, not wanting to confront it. Hearing her suspicions confirmed by Joey gave her a bad feeling in the stomach.

“I’d be out there in a minute if I thought you were onto something,” he explained. “But I frankly just don’t see how Dobbs could’ve possibly been involved in this. The nurse killed Pollock. It’s as simple as that. The only thing I’d accomplish by confronting Dobbs would be to make him extremely put out with you and Ace. I really can’t imagine you want to have someone like him mad at you.”

“We could live with it,” Vicki said.

“On the bright side,” Ace told her, “it might put a damper on his affection for you.”

Joey’s eyebrows went up again. “I hope you ladies didn’t bring me over here because of your own personal problems with Dobbs. Get the cop to roust him…”

Vicki felt her face go red. “Just forget it. We told you what we had to tell you. If you don’t want to follow up on it, that’s your business.”

“Better go home and catch up on your beauty sleep,” Ace told him. “Sorry we bothered you.”

Now, his face was red. “Maybe I spoke out of line…”

“I’d say so,” Vicki said. “We didn’t ask you over here to cause trouble for Melvin. He threatened to kill Pollock and we felt we had a duty to report it. That’s all. And if you don’t think it’s relevant, fine. Don’t do anything about it. No skin off our noses. In fact, it’s a relief.”

“I just don’t think…”

“We know,” Ace said.

Sighing, Joey rose to his feet. “If anything else comes up,” he said, “don’t hesitate to contact me. I mean that. But I honestly need more than an idle threat before I can go barging in on someone. This is America, after all. Freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution.”

“Thanks,” Ace said. She gave Vicki a look of concern. “I guess we’d forgotten that. What fools we’ve been.” She got up and walked to the door and opened it. “Thanks for coming by, officer. And thank you for reminding us that we live in a country where personal liberty is thus cherished.”

Shaking his head, he left the house.

Ace shut the door. “Freedom of speech my lily white ass.”

“Some cop,” Vicki muttered.

“About as useful as a limp dick.”

“If I were a cop, I’d hot-foot it over to Melvin’s with a search warrant.”

“You sound like you’re convinced.”

“Oh, yeah,” Vicki said. “In fact, I don’t see how Melvin could’ve been involved. It doesn’t make sense. But I’d go out there, regardless. I’d check him out. I’d search his house. I’d want to make sure the nurse isn’t there. What kind of a cop is Milbourne, anyway?”

“The kind that has a yellow streak up his back. He knows damn well he oughta go out there. He’s just too chicken-shit to do it. The question is, are we?”

“You’re kidding. You couldn’t drag me over to Melvin’s. Besides, if the cops can’t be bothered…It’s their job, after all. We did our part.”

“You just want to forget about it, then?”

“I’m not about to play Nancy Drew.”

“Might be fun.”

“Yeah. Like a sharp stick in the eye.”

“You could give Melvin a call, ask him out for a picnic or something. I’m sure he’d be delighted. While you keep him busy, I sneak into the house and have a look around.”

“Great idea. I only see two problems. One, I’m not about to take Melvin on a picnic. Two, what if the nurse is in there and kills your butt?”

“We both know she isn’t, of course.”

“Right. So what’s the point?”

“Good point. Never mind. Let’s go over to Blayton, check out the shopping mall, and take your folks out to dinner.”

“Yeah!”

Thelma’s VW bug was in the clinic parking lot Monday morning. So was Charlie’s white Mercedes. The red Duster was gone.

Thank God.

With the car gone, the gift taken back, Vicki felt as if Melvin might be receding from her life. It was too much to hope that she was rid of him entirely. But the car had been a link that was now broken.

And yesterday, he’d neither called nor put in an appearance. Of course, Vicki’d spent the afternoon and evening in Blayton, so he might’ve tried while she was away.

Going an entire day without any contact from Melvin, however, made her feel encouraged.

She was very glad that Joey Milbourne had refused to see him about the threat. She and Ace had done the right thing, telling him, if only because they both would’ve felt guilty keeping the knowledge to themselves, but the more she’d thought about the situation, the more certain she was that Joey had been wise not to act on it. Obviously, Melvin hadn’t been involved in Pollock’s death. Confronting him about it would’ve made things messy, and for no good reason.

Very messy, she thought. Melvin would think we’d stabbed him in the back. And he’d be right.

Just have to hope he never finds out we told.

Don’t worry, he won’t.

Now, if I can get through today Melvin-free. That’ll be two days in a row.

With a last look at the empty space in the parking lot, Vicki turned away and entered the clinic. The waiting room was deserted. Thelma, behind the reception window, raised her head and smiled. “Morning,” Vicki said. “Have a nice weekend?”

“Oh, it was too short, I’d say. Aside from that…we went to the Antique Fair yesterday. Jim paid good money for a beat-up old Roy Rogers lunch box, which didn’t set too well with me, but he said he had one just like it when he was a kid so what the hell. Men are such children, more often than not. Isn’t it something about Dexter Pollock?”

“Terrible,” Vicki said. She’d been feeling pretty good. Not anymore.

“Lord only knows why that gal did him in,” Thelma said, “but I bet she had her reasons. Wouldn’t surprise me at all, they find out Pollock was up to no good with her. I always figured, if he lived long enough and didn’t mend his ways, one gal or another would up and do him in. In my younger days, I had a couple of occasions to slap him down, myself. Course, I never killed him. But I might’ve, I’d had a gun handy. I suspect, if they ever nab that nurse, there’re plenty of folks hereabouts who’d like to pin a medal on her. They’d have to stand in line behind yours truly.”

“Well,” Vicki said, “I wasn’t especially fond of Pollock, myself. I doubt if he deserved to get murdered, though.”

“I suspect he deserved it, all right. But it’s a shocking thing, anyhow, I guess, that kind of bloodbath happening here in our own town. You want to go in and see Charlie? He said he wanted to see you first thing.”

Vicki felt a small flutter of concern. “Do you know what it’s about?”

Thelma shook her head. “No idea. But he’s got Jack Randolph with him.”

“Who’s Jack Randolph?”

“A lawyer.”

Oh, God. What’s going on?

He heart pounded as she stepped through the waiting room doorway. She walked slowly down the corridor toward Charlie’s office.

A lawyer. Malpractice? That seemed unlikely. She hadn’t seen anyone with a major problem last week. Complications were always possible, of course. But if somebody had a problem…

She knocked on the door of Charlie’s office. “Come in,” he called.

She opened the door. Charlie smiled at her from behind his desk. In spite of the smile, he looked confused for just a moment as if he didn’t recognize her.

“You wanted to see me?”

The confusion seemed to clear. “Vicki? Indeed I did. Have you met Jack Randolph?”

“No, I…” As she stepped into the room, the man rose from his chair beside Charlie’s desk and smiled at her.

“Dr. Chandler,” he said.

She knew she was staring at him. She knew she was blushing, that her mouth was hanging open.

The man from the playground. Who’d watched her from his perch atop the slide. Who’d been there the next day, on a swing, as if waiting for her. Who’d shown up, even in one of her nightmares, only to be shot off the slide by Dexter Pollock. Or was it Melvin? She couldn’t remember.

“Hello,” she managed.

“Nice to see you again,” he said.

“Oh,” Charlie said, “you’ve met?”

“Briefly,” Jack told him.

“Well good, that’s fine. Jack’s an attorney, Vicki.”

“Is there some kind of problem?”

“No, no,” Charlie said. “Take a seat.”

She sat on the chair in front of his desk. No problem, he’d told her. That was a relief, but she still felt confused and tense. And strangely excited by the presence of the man from the playground. She watched him sit down on the other chair.

What’s he doing here? she wondered. It must have something to do with me. How did he know where I work?

“Vicki,” Charlie began, “I’ve given some thought to your position here. I find that you’re an extremely valuable asset, and I’d like to think that you’ll stay here in town and possibly even take over the clinic after I’m gone.”

After I’m gone.

He looked the same as usual: his white hair neatly combed, his face ruddy, his blue eyes bright. But Vicki remembered how he’d seemed a bit confused when she first opened the door. “Are you okay, Charlie?” she asked. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no.” He waved a hand as if dismissing the thought, then scratched his stomach. “I suspect I’ve got a few good years left in me yet. But I am getting on, Vicki. I’ve spent my life looking after the folks of this town, and I’d like to see you stay here and take over the clinic after I’m gone.”

There, he’d said it again.

“I don’t have any plans to leave,” Vicki told him.

“Well, that’s good to hear. The thing is, I want to make it worth your while to stay on.” He scratched himself again. “I’m asking you to be my full partner here at the clinic.”

“Geez.”

“Is that a yes?” Charlie asked.

“Well…yes. Of course. I’m just so shocked…”

“We’ll be fifty-fifty partners.”

“God. I…”

“Jack will draw up the papers today.” He looked at Jack. “And I want you to put in there that Vicki will assume full ownership upon my death.”

Vicki frowned. “I’m very grateful, Charlie, but…Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Fit as a fiddle.”

“This is too much. I don’t deserve to have you just give me your practice.”

“I want it to be in your capable and caring hands. I wouldn’t want to trust it to a stranger. I’ve spent my whole life caring for the folks of this town, and I wouldn’t want to see it all fall apart after I’m gone.”

That’s three.

He looked at Jack. “You’ll write all that up and have it ready for my signature this afternoon?”

Jack nodded.

Scratching his stomach, Charlie smiled at Vicki. “There’s also the matter of the loan. Let’s just call that a gift.”

“Charlie, you can’t…”

“Sure, I can. No arguments, now.” She saw a tiny speck of blood appear on the front of his white shirt over the place where he’d been scratching. “You were a young lady with promise, and I always hoped you’d turn into a fine doctor and come back here to take up for me. Lending you that money was just my way of hooking you back. Now that you’re here, we’ll just forget about it.”

“That’s twenty-five thousand dollars, Charlie.”

“I’ve got no use for it, anyway.” He looked again at Jack. “Maybe you can put that down on paper, too. Make it official that I’m canceling out the IOU.”