Chapter Twelve On the Move
Chapter Twelve
On the Move
Morning Recon
Everyone was up early and logged in by eight. Charles and Fergus had created Myra and Annie’s new identities. They were confident it was enough to fool whomever was behind this sham. Charles read the profiles:
Myra Regan. Sixty-four. Currently lives in Concord, New Hampshire. Divorced from Gerald Regan, now deceased. Net worth three million dollars she inherited from her father, Joseph Hutchins. No children or siblings.
Annie Dresden. Sixty-two. Currently lives in Newark, Delaware. Single. Never married. Net worth five million dollars she received from a lawsuit she filed against a large chemical company for stealing her formula; signed under a sealed document due to trademark infringement. Also, no siblings.
Both are college graduates. Annie went to William and Mary. Myra went to Dartmouth.
Both have a FB page that is private. Not much activity on Instagram. Myra, you have some food photos, Annie, you have a lot of cats.
“Perfect. And thank you for making me younger than Myra.” Annie chuckled. Myra gave her an elbow.
Everyone agreed it would be suspicious if Yoko and Izzie were from the same place. That was easily taken care of by Fergus, who produced a Pennsylvania driver’s license for Izzie. Yoko’s was from Florida.
Charles continued explaining their assignments: “Izzie, you are to report to Mrs. Edith Clayton in the admin office. If she questions you, show her the emails, but by now she should have received one informing her that you are a new hire and will be reporting the day after tomorrow.
“Yoko. You are now in charge of landscaping in Florida. You are to report to Ivan Zhukov at the facilities building.
“Kathryn, orderly in Arizona. Reporting to Nurse Ratched.” Charles snickered. “Sorry, Janet Turner.”
“We should stop referring to her as Nurse Ratched,” Myra advised. “Although from what I’ve gathered, it’s apropos.”
“What’s the timeline?” Annie asked as she began to jot down the information.
“You and Myra will fill out the application forms as soon as we’re finished here,” Fergus instructed.
“I don’t imagine they will be long in contacting you.
Once they interview you over the phone, then the two of you can schedule your trips.
Meanwhile, Izzie and Yoko should plan on leaving as soon as possible. ”
“I’ll book you two on a commercial flight. Tomorrow morning okay with you?”
“I’m ready,” Izzie answered.
“Me also.” Yoko concurred.
“Good. I’ll send you the details as soon as I book it, and your hotel and vehicles.” Annie nodded. “Maggie is staying at a Suite Inn. I’ll get two more on the same floor if available. Kathryn, you’ll head down to Arizona.” Annie jotted down a few more notes. “How soon can you get there?”
“I’m already fueled and ready to go,” Kathryn replied. “Shouldn’t take more than eight hours. I can be there tonight and can meet up with Maggie.”
“Perfect,” Myra said. “Everybody good with this?”
“Whatever it takes!” came their battle cry.
Pensacola Hospital
Maggie arrived at exactly ten. She signed in again as Jeremy’s cousin. When she arrived, Clara was at the nurse’s station. “Good morning. Nice to see you again.”
“Good morning to you, too!” Maggie grinned. “How is my cousin doing today?”
“Seems to be coming along. They took the stitches out of his head earlier, but I suppose I shouldn’t be telling you that.” She leaned closer. “It’s just that he seems so lost. Sad. I hope his girlfriend comes back today. She seemed nice.”
“I haven’t met her.” Maggie made a mental note to find out about the girlfriend. She wondered who it was and if she could offer any additional information. She was going to check with Jeremy. “I better get moving if I don’t want to get thrown out of here.” Maggie moved quickly to Jeremy’s room.
“Hey. Good morning,” Maggie smiled.
“You came back.” Jeremy looked pleased.
“I said I would. Listen, they don’t give us a lot of time, so I need you to fill me in. Your girlfriend. How much does she know about the accident?”
Jeremy strained a chuckle. “She’s not really my girlfriend. We worked together. Sorta. I mean, we both worked at Sunnydale. I was the pharmacist. She’s in the administration office. We’re just friends, but it was the only way they would let her up here.”
She placed her finger on her lips, looked around to see if anyone was in view, pulled a device out of her bag, and walked the perimeter of the room.
She was checking for bugs. Not the bed type, but camera and audio types.
Nothing, so far. Just in case there were prying ears, Maggie whispered, “Tell me more about this morphine thing.”
Jeremy’s eyes followed her every move. She returned the device to her tote and nodded for him to continue.
“I noticed we were shorted several boxes of OxyContin, Vicodin, codeine, and morphine a few months in a row. When I called the sales rep, she blamed it on someone else. After the third time, I brought it to my boss’s attention.
The next week I was out the door. Said they were automating the system. ”
“That’s not a coincidence,” Maggie said softly. She had been around long enough to know when things don’t add up, or when they do.
“Yeah, ’cause when I asked Regina—that’s my pretend girlfriend—she said she didn’t know anything about automation. She works in bookkeeping, so she would know if any invoices were paid.”
Maggie bit her lip. Ever since she stopped biting her nails, her lip had been taking the brunt of her nervous tic. “Then you were run off the road,” Maggie said plainly.
“Yep. And then they said they found a vial in my car.” Jeremy shook his head. “Who is doing this?” he asked rhetorically.
“I don’t have an answer for you right now, but I can promise you, I will. Just give us some time.”
“Us?” Jeremy asked inquisitively.
“I work for enormously powerful people. If anyone can get to the bottom of this, my boss can.” Maggie knew divulging Annie’s role would not be an issue. Maggie worked for the Post, and Annie owned it. “We’re also going to find a lawyer for you, should this situation go any further.”
Jeremy’s eyes welled up. “Why are you doing this? Don’t misunderstand me. I really appreciate it, but you don’t know me from a hole in the wall.”
“We fix holes.” Maggie grinned, the gap between her front teeth on display. “You need to gather your strength. But, in the meantime, do you think Regina would be willing to talk to me?”
“I can ask. That’s if she comes back.”
“I’m sure she will.” Maggie really had no idea if she would, but once again, her gut was telling her that Regina was someone who cared about Jeremy.
Maybe not as a love interest, but at least as a friend.
A colleague. Maggie pulled out her business card.
“Please give this to her and tell her about our cousin thing.”
Jeremy tried to laugh, but it hurt too much. “I have a fake cousin and a fake girlfriend. I hope I don’t have a fake doctor.”
Maggie was happy to see Jeremy in better spirits. “I have to fly out to Arizona later, but I’ll be back in Florida tomorrow afternoon. Are you allowed to make phone calls?”
“I don’t know. Haven’t tried. Besides, who would I call, anyway?”
“Me, for one. I’ll talk to Clara. She seems like a reasonable woman.”
“She brings me ice a few times during her shift.”
“Good. Okay, I am off for now. Sit tight. I’ll be back.” She patted the shackled hand.
“Maggie.” He gently grasped her wrist. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“I’ll think of something.” She gave him a wink and returned to the nurse’s station.
“Hey, Clara, do you think it would be alright if Jeremy could use a phone to call me? Just in case he needs something.” She lowered her voice. “Like a lawyer?”
“If I’m on duty, I’ll let him use my cell,” she said in a hushed voice.
“Thanks. I owe you.”
Maggie drove to the airport, where Annie’s jet was waiting. “Hello, Roger,” Maggie greeted the pilot. “How’s the weather looking?”
“Clear skies. We should have wheels up in about twenty minutes. Do you need anything?”
“Maybe a sandwich,” Maggie said sheepishly.
Roger, who had been Annie’s pilot for a while, was used to Maggie’s voracious appetite. He nodded and thought to himself, Where does that girl put it?
Maggie strapped herself in and pulled out her laptop. She instantly sent a message to the mainframe:
Sykes was a pharmacist at Sunnydale. Boxes of Oxy, hydrocodone codeine, and morphine were missing from shipments. Contacted the sales rep but got no real answers. Sykes told his boss and was fired almost immediately. Then came the accident and the vial at the crash site. Seems like a setup to me.
A colleague named Regina works in admin office and visited him. He thinks she is on his side. I left my contact info for him to pass on. Izzie should make friends with her. Wheels up in five. Later, gators.
The information was uploaded to their secure server, giving all the Sisters access to the information. It was the quickest way to share details in real time.
Tempe, Arizona
Maggie’s flight took off and landed without any delay. A people-mover tram brought her from the hangar to the rental agency. She laughed to herself. This is like déjà vu all over again. She quickly filled out the paperwork and drove the car to Theresa’s hotel.
Henry and Frida had asked Theresa if she wanted to join them again for some sightseeing.
She wasn’t sure what to give them as her excuse.
She surely didn’t know anyone. Should she tell them the truth?
No. But she also didn’t want to lie. How about a headache?
That was something she didn’t have to fake.
Her two new pals were disappointed, but said they would check in with her later in the afternoon to see how she was feeling.