Elaine Orr - Jolie Gentil 07 - Vague Images (24 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE

THERE WERE STILL boxes to unpack, but we’d have to finish another day. I was leaving for my last errand of the day when the door opened and George walked in, minus his cocky smile.

“No comment,” I said
. I wasn’t angry, it just never makes sense to encourage him.

“That’s a change
. Scoobie and I wondered if you’d want to meet for coffee.”

We often go for coffee, but this was almost a formal invitation
. “Ramona, too?”

“Sure, so make it six and I’ll stop by the Purple Cow to tell her
. See you at Java Jolt.”  He left.

I looked at Megan and she shrugged
. “Maybe he thinks you’re mad.”

“He knows what I look like mad,” I said
. “He probably wants ideas for some story he’s working on.”

I left and drove to the hospital
. I had thought of another question for Todd Everly, and then I was going to leave Tanya Weiss’ killer to the police. Lucas and Kim were fine and the memory of Tanya’s vacant eyes was fading. Besides, so many people were angry with her that I’d never figure it out on my own.

However, an idea about who had hurt Lucas had occurred to me when I watched people calling friends and sending text messages during the corn toss
. There was no way to trace who called Lucas the night he was hit, because Morehouse had told Lucas that the person used a throw-away mobile phone. But maybe there would be a way to figure out whether someone in the hospital had made the call that drew Lucas there.

It was a ridiculous long shot, but if someone was on camera making a call at that exact time, then it would be worth talking to that person
. I thought Todd Everly might be willing to look into that possibility. The police had asked for copies of security images when Tanya was killed, and Todd had been smart enough to keep duplicate images. He surely would have done the same when Lucas was hurt.

If he had to look at every camera over many hours
, it would take a ridiculous amount of time. But if he knew to look at exactly the time Lucas got his phone call, that had to reduce the amount of time Todd would have to spend going through digital pictures. Maybe I could even help him.

The clock in the hospital lobby said five-thirty-five, and I’d be cutting it close in terms of meeting the others for coffee
. I rationalized that they’d have each other to talk to and wouldn’t worry about me being late.

The door to Todd Everly’s office was shut, but he’d been there this late another time, so I knocked.

He opened the door and shook his head, but he was smiling. “I feel as if you should say trick-or-treat.”

“That’s coming up
. Can I come in for a second?”

“Sure
. I’ll clear a spot off my elegant desk chair. Just need to finish an email.”

I sat and glanced around his office for the minute he was typing
. It was so small a second person would have to be wedged in. That was because of the bank of screens showing varied locations throughout the hospital. They changed every few seconds. My guess was that there were many more cameras than screens and they rotated their displays.

“Now, Ms. Gentil, what can I do for you?”  He leaned back in his chair, a mildly amused look on his face.

I outlined my thoughts about someone maybe being in the hospital when they made the call to Lucas. He looked skeptical until I said I thought maybe the caller was on a security camera.

His expression changed to one that was more thoughtful than amused
. “You know, that’s a possibility. It seems if they were smart enough to avoid the cameras when Lucas came in, they’d stay away from them when they called him. But it’s such an innocuous action, maybe not.”

“And you have tape from all the cameras?”

“Digital files, sure.”  He frowned. “I pulled images from all the cameras just before and for about an hour after Lucas was hurt. It’ll take awhile to find and download from the earlier time, but it’ll be doable.”

“Do you need to download them?  Can’t you just look and download if you see something?”

He shrugged. “I don’t usually do things half-way.”

I thanked him and walked back to my car feeling very pleased with myself
. Maybe Todd could find who hurt Lucas and it would lead him to Tanya Weiss’ killer.

RAMONA, GEORGE, AND SCOOBIE were at the Java Jolt coffee serving bar when I walked in. I noted that owner Joe Regan had added a coffee grinder from maybe the 1920s to the collection housed on shelves behind the counter where he serves coffee.

We did the usual hellos and one by one got our coffee and walked to a table near the back of the boardwalk shop
.
Why is everyone so quiet?

I sat
. “Who died?”

“George,” Scoobie said
. I raised my eyebrows at him and looked back to George.

“I’m not dead yet, but I am fired.”

I looked at Ramona. “He’s serious?”

She nodded
. “Tiffany came by to tell me just before we closed.”

“Great,” George said, looking glum
. “She probably can’t wait to get a promotion.”

“I don’t think she meant it that…” Ramona began.

“Why are you fired?”  I asked, then added, “I’m sorry.”

George didn’t seem angry, mostly he looked tired
. “Because I held back something the editor said should have been front-page news.”

“Something that happened at the corn toss?” I asked.

“No.”  George looked at his coffee mug. “Kim. Her suicide…attempt.”

“No!” I said.

“What suicide attempt?” Ramona asked.

“I guess it doesn’t change much,” Scoobie said, “but I think you did the right thing.”

George tilted his head in an expression of agreement. “What he said was…”

“What suicide attempt?” Ramona repeated
. “Someone we know?”

Scoobie spoke
. “You know Jolie’s had a guy in his early twenties staying with us for a few days.”

Us.

“Yes, he’s been looking for his sister.”  Ramona was impatient. “Is that who tried?  He couldn’t find her?”

“Actually, it was the sister,” Scoobie said.

“And she’s fine,” I said, quickly. “Because of Scoobie and George.”

“Mostly Alicia,” George said.

“That’s true. She called us.”  I looked at Ramona. “Kim, the guy’s sister, was at the end of the pier Friday night. It was cool and getting dark, so there was almost no one on the beach.”

“Scoobie was talking her out of it,” George said, “but I wasn’t sure it was working
. So I got in the water under her. I thought it might distract her and Scoobie could grab her.”

“It did distract her,” I said, dryly, and looked back at Ramona
. “Scoobie and I had no idea who was near the rocks under the pier, so Scoobie ran down there. I think it made Kim focus on the rocks around the pier pilings, and realize that she didn’t really want to dive onto them.”

“Why are you fired?” Ramona asked. “You should get a medal or something.”

“Me, too,” Scoobie said, with a smart-aleck smile.

“Because my editor thought I should have told him, asked him not to print it, and let him decide.”

I studied George for a second while he looked at his fingers, which were folded in front of him on the table. “No way he’ll rehire you?”

George met my gaze
. “Nope. I asked if he would just suspend me or something. No dice.”

“And Tiffany’s been there a year,” Scoobie said, slowly
. “So she’s learned the ropes.”

Something occurred to me
. “And even if the editor promotes her, he’ll pay her less than you. It’s like at the hospital.”

“I thought about that,” George said
. “I’ve pretty much decided not to believe that.”

I opened my mouth, saw Scoobie give a miniscule head shake, and said nothing.

“Can you get another job?” Ramona asked.

“Oh, sure
. But I do like it here.”  He gestured around the pine-paneled shop, clearly meaning the town not just Java Jolt. “Except for the proprietor in this place.”

From his place behind the counter, Joe Regan glanced at George
. “You weren’t whispering. I’m sorry you lost your job, even if you are an a-hole.”

George gave Joe his middle finger.

“Okay, maybe I won’t be sorry.”  Joe turned back to the large thermos he was filling. “You want some part-time work, let me know.”

“You really shouldn’t
flip the bird at people if they can offer you work,” Scoobie said.

George did a half-grunt, half-smile, and looked at me
. “It’s half your fault, you know. If you had asked me not to print it, I would have written the story.”

“It’s not funny,” I said, feeling nauseated.

“I thought about writing something, but when I saw how Kim was, after you got her to your house and Lucas was with her, I realized she was so…fragile, or something. If I’d have written a story and she succeeded in a few days…Well, I would have wanted to jump off that pier.”

“I wonder how he found out,” I mused.

George shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter. No one asked Kim, or Lucas, or Alicia not to talk about it.”

“So now what?” Ramona asked.

“Do you have any money saved?” I asked.

George looked irritated.

“I mean,” I flushed, “Robby took almost all of ours. It just made a hard time worse.”

“Ah, I get it.” He didn’t look irritated any more
. “If you’ve recovered financially, or won the lottery, feel free to support me.”

“My space at the rooming house is almost done,” Scoobie began.

“Yeah, that’d work,” Ramona laughed.

“I meant George could live there.”  Scoobie gave George a pointed look.

“That’s a thought. I could maybe rent my house,” George said. “That could cover the mortgage payment. Or just rent it in the summer, when rents are high.”

“My Uncle Lester handles rentals, too,” Ramona said.

“Oh, he loves me,” George said.

He and Scoobie and Ramona spent a minute telling pushy-Lester stories, but I sat very still
.
Scoobie wants to keep living with me.

IT WAS RAMONA’S yoga night and Scoobie had to study for a test, so after more words of encouragement for George, they paid and left. George and I walked out together.

“I guess your head is spinning,” I said.

“Kinda. For years I’ve thought I should leave. I’m good enough to get a job at a bigger paper. I just really like it here. Everywhere you go…” he stopped, and I thought he sounded kind of choked up.

“You see someone you know.”

“Yeah. And they’re usually glad to see me. Even Sergeant Morehouse is happier to see me than you are.”

I knew he was going for
, if not lighthearted, at least something not too serious. I followed his lead. “If you knew the number of times he’s told me not to tell you something, you’d know you aren’t tops on his list of buddies.”

“No kidding
. Well, of course. But damn, if he told you he coulda told me.”

“I think he just does it now and then to make me leave him alone.”

“That makes sense.”

As George finished his sentence, my phone chirped, and I took it out of my pocket and saw the caller ID
. “Hospital. Wait’ll I tell you.”  I pushed answer. “Hey, Todd.”

George’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline
. I rolled my eyes at him as I listened.

“You know, that was a good idea, Jolie
. You want to come over and look?”

“Now?”

“It’s a good time. I shouldn’t really let you see the files, because management doesn’t know anything about your idea. Definitely don’t bring Scoobie and George.”

“I’ll see you in a few minutes.”  I disconnected and looked at George, about to speak.

“You’re
dating
him?”

I’d been about to tell George why I was going, but his presumptive tone annoyed me
. “I’ve gone on dates before, you know.”

“But you don’t even know him.”

“Yes, but he doesn’t go out of his way to annoy me.”  I gave George a four-fingered wave and left him on the boardwalk outside Java Jolt.

I PULLED INTO the hospital parking lot not quite fifteen minutes later. I should have stopped by my house to feed Pebbles and Jazz first, but I was too excited to be delayed. I parked in the visitor area. There were still ten or twelve cars in that lot. Visiting hours didn’t end until eight.

The elevator was slow and I punched the up button a couple of extra times
. Scoobie would have offered to give me an injection of patience. Scoobie.
What should I do?  Maybe he just likes the air conditioning better at my place.