Chapter 17
Chapter Seventee n
T he next day I returned to the hospital, and as I stepped up to the oncology reception desk, the chirpy nurse who’d greeted me when I’d first introduced myself as Daisy was no longer chirpy. When she saw my approach and met my gaze, her expression sunk so much, I believed Mother must have died.
“I’m sorry, Daisy.” Her eyes shifted downward, and her dour expression had me preparing for news that Mother was gone.
Although how I was supposed to react was beyond me.
She cleared her throat. “You can’t see your mother at the moment.”
Huh? She was alive. “That’s okay. I’m not here to see her.”
“Oh.” Her face plunged, even more serious. “You’re here to see the police then?”
I wasn’t expecting that. “What? The police are here? Now?”
She nodded. “I thought you knew. They’ve been here all morning.”
Bringing out my acting skills, I feigned utter shock—hand on chest, eyes bulging. “Do you know why?” I knew exactly why, but I was curious if Nurse Chirpy had any gossip.
“Well.” She leaned forward ready to whisper. “I was walking past before.” Her eyes darted left and right as if ensuring we were alone. “I wasn’t snooping or anything. But I heard them say murder .”
“What?” A wrecking ball plowed through me. No acting required. “Murder? Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. Patricia had another one of her panic attacks and we had to call the doctor.”
Oh, yeah. I bet she had a fucking panic attack. “But the police didn’t leave?”
“No. They talked to the doctor for a while and when he told them how sick she was, they decided to stay.” She eased back from the counter and frowned. “So, who were you here to see then?”
“Oh, um, you, I guess.”
She palmed her chest. “Me?”
I plucked the paperwork from my pack and slid it toward her. “I’ve arranged for Mother’s funeral and paid for it. You won’t need to do anything. Just ring this number and they’ll come and . . . you know . . . pick her up.”
A horrified expression crawled across her face, and when the realization must have dawned on her that I was abandoning Mother, she blinked at me like I was truly evil.
I had no idea why because it wasn’t like I had any feelings whatsoever for Mother, but I felt the need to justify some of my actions. Shoving an annoying curl behind my ear, I closed my eyes and huffed as if utterly overwhelmed by this situation. Which I totally was. But how could I sum up what Mother had done in just one or two sentences? “Look. I’m sorry. I must appear utterly insensitive.” I softened my stance. “I know my mother comes across as sweet and innocent, but I feel I should clarify some things for you. For starters, I was conceived during an orgy.” Nothing like going for the jugular. “And the man who Mother pretended was my father turned out to be a criminal, and that’s why the police are here.”
The expression on her face was priceless, and it took all my acting skills not to burst out laughing. “So, can you do me a favor please?”
She nodded, her jaw stuck half-open.
“When the police come out, can you please tell them I’ll be waiting downstairs in the café?”
A weird, strangled noise came from her throat that I deciphered as a yes.
I turned, and as I walked away, I wondered how long it would be before every nurse in the oncology ward would be whispering the ‘orgy’ word around.
At the café, I purchased a ham and salad wrap and an orange juice and sat at a table that gave me an unobstructed view of the elevators.
I’d finished my meal and was contemplating texting Zali when Detective Flanagan and another police officer emerged. I waved them over. Flanagan came straight to me while her colleague went to the counter.
“Hello, Daisy. May I?” She indicated to the seat.
“Of course. I wasn’t expecting you to be here. With Mother, I mean.”
“Well, your timing is perfect. We have some information for you.”
“Already?”
“Are you okay to talk about it here?” Flanagan indicated to the couple a few tables over.
“Sure.” I shrugged. Where else would I go?
“Your information has allowed us to close this case.”
I nodded. “That’s good. So, Robert did rob the jewelry store? ”
“Yes, he wasn’t hard to find. He’s currently in jail, serving time for another robbery.”
I rolled my eyes. “Bloody hell.”
“He’s given us enough information to arrest the other three men in the robbery. But do you want the good news or the bad news?”
I cringed, having a distinct feeling that neither was going to be good. “The bad news, I guess.”
Flanagan shifted in her seat. “Robert confessed to hitting the store owner with the paperweight. So, he’s now been charged with murder.”
“Oh my god. So, I spent my childhood living with a murderer.” My gut dropped. “Did Mother know?”
She clicked her tongue. “She said she didn’t.”
“Of course she did.”
“She knew he’d robbed the store. It was why you all moved frequently.”
“I thought as much.” Frowning, and not really sure if I wanted an answer, I asked, “And the good news?”
“The good news is that there’s no way he’s your father.”
I sat up. “What? How can you be so sure?”
“Because he’d only been out of jail for six months when he did the jewelry store robbery. Prior to that, he was serving a seven-year jail term for a bank robbery. So that means he was halfway through his sentence when you were conceived.”
Anger rose in me like a demon. “That fucking bitch.” Clenching my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms, I glanced at Flanagan. “Sorry.”
She shook her head. “No need to be.”
“All that time.” I wanted to scream. “So, there’s absolutely no chance he could have been at the orgy?”
“Correct. ”
“Arghh, her lies.” I wanted to pick up my glass and smash it against the wall.
Flanagan shook her head, eyeing me with sympathy.
“Shit!” If Mother was within reach right now, I would’ve slapped her face so hard her rotting teeth would have fallen out.
But most of all, I wanted to get out of there.
I wanted to get out of that hospital. Out of this city. Out of this country.
“You okay?” Flanagan’s hand draped over my wrist, clawing me back from my emotional landslide.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I nodded. “Are you going to arrest her?”
“She’s been charged with obstruction of justice for giving a false alibi. But . . .” She let the sentence hang.
“But she’s going to die soon anyway.”
Flanagan nodded.
Typical. Mother always managed to weasel out of things. “I hope there really is a hell.”
“I think dying alone is her hell.”
“Good. I have no intention of ever seeing her again. My visit today was just to give her funeral information to the nurse. I’m not staying.”
“On that note. We’ve gotta go catch some bad guys. Do you need a lift anywhere?”
I sat up. My hopes soaring. “Does that mean I’m okay to leave the country?”
“Sure does.”
“Excellent. I’m going to get my stuff and go straight to the airport.”
She offered her hand. “Good luck to you.”
Grinning so wide I could barely speak, I said, “Thank you.”