Chapter 44 #2
“But Mindy never said anything about them to you?” Sandra asked.
“Nothing about storming in with a gun, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“She’s holding members of the hospital board in a boardroom. One of those people is the CEO of Bright Future.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Then she never expressed any malice toward them or the hospital? Or people who worked for them?” Sandra just wanted as much information as she could before getting back on the phone with Mindy. Assuming she’d answer her call. But she thought of a workaround for that when the time came.
“She’d get frustrated at times, yeah. Like how much money they were making from inflating the cost of medication and treatment. How they should be ashamed of themselves.”
“Besides talking about suicide,” Sandra said, putting extra care into saying that last word gently, “was your wife acting differently in the last few months?” That would account for when she’d got online with Fat Cats and found like-minded people in Feeney, Sparling, and Perkins.
“She was quieter, but I thought that had to do with her depression.”
“Which it could, but it would seem there was more to it.” Sandra told him about the website and the forum. “Did she ever mention it to you?”
“No. I’m starting to think I haven’t known my wife these last few months. I thought she might be getting better. Now this. What does she expect to accomplish? That they’re just going to wipe out our debt?”
“It is our belief she feels the people in that boardroom can do that.”
“I told her we would figure it out. She just had to focus on getting better.” Dylan shook his head. “Now, she’ll spend the rest of her life in prison.”
Where she will receive free treatment… The thought fired through Sandra’s mind. But prisons were only required to provide very basic medical care to inmates under the US Constitution. “Your wife isn’t thinking rationally right now. She probably isn’t even concerned about that.”
“She must be in a darker place than I thought,” Dylan said. “I should have seen this coming.”
“There was no way that you could have seen this.” Sandra felt confident in offering that assurance. From what he’d told them, Mindy had essentially shut herself off from him, her true feelings, her plans…
“Is she going to be all right? Can I talk to her? Maybe if I do, she’ll see she’s made a huge mistake.”
It could also trigger her to do worse. So far no one was hurt in that room that they knew about. “I don’t think that’s a good idea at this point.”
“But there is a way that she can walk away from this, right?” Dylan looked around anxiously. “I saw those ERT guys out there. They look ready for war.”
“No one is moving in.” Sandra was quick to quell the man’s panic. There would be no advantage to telling him there were two shootings that would reflect on her. “On that site I mentioned, Fat Cats, she used the handle Alaya Princess. Do you know why?”
“Yeah. When Mindy was at her lowest during chemo, she took up meditation. In this guided one she was encouraged to ask the name of her higher self.”
Sandra didn’t miss Brice’s tense facial expression.
He clearly wasn’t a fan of new-age spirituality.
She had a tolerance for it, appreciating there was more to the universe than could be explained with science.
But running was her god. She hadn’t found a better way of purging her demons and glimpsing peace of mind.
After consideration, the fact Mindy allowed Sandra to call her by that name could be something she used to her advantage when she spoke to her next.
“What did you think your wife was doing today?”
“She told me she was going to shop for flowers for the backyard.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “All a lie.”
“You couldn’t have known, and none of this is on you,” Sandra assured him. “And I will do my absolute best to get your wife out of that hospital safe and sound.”
“But she’ll still go to prison?”
“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”
“You can talk for her, maybe lessen her sentence.”
“It’s possible, but there are no promises in this. Your wife’s responses in the next while will determine where we end up.” She kept her tone firm, level, and confident while exuding genuine empathy.
“I guess that’s the most I can ask. Are you sure you don’t want me talking to her? I might be able to help.”
Sandra shook her head. “We all appreciate your willingness to do that, but if you were to talk to her, it could have detrimental effects on how things play out.”
“I don’t understand. Clearly, she’s doing this for me. She’s given up hope, right? She doesn’t want me saddled with enormous debt. She’s trying to get the people in there to write it all off and treat her again. I can help her see that we’ll both be fine.”
“But your wife is a smart woman?”
“Yeah.”
“Then she’ll see through that. Despite best intentions and plans, tomorrow is never guaranteed.
Your desire to help things could easily backfire and escalate things.
” She watched as shadows passed over his face.
“For that reason, I need to ask that you don’t try contacting her on your own.
If you do, it could be considered as interfering in an active crisis incident.
” She let the rest go unsaid, trusting that her full message got across.
He’d be in trouble with the law. “Actually, I’d like to borrow your phone,” she added.
“You’re going to use it to call her.”
“I am.”
Dylan handed his phone over to her.
“Thank you.”
“Come on, Mr. Ashmore. I’m going to have an officer take you home.” Neal left the alcove and escorted Dylan from the vehicle. “We’ll get your phone back to you later.”
When Neal returned, Sandra was going to share her thinking with him. She would be using everything she learned about Mindy Ashmore and convince her to surrender peacefully. What she’d just discovered gave her an edge.