“Nobody saw a thing,” Rob said, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck. His neck cracked. “Man, this doesn’t make any sense. Why would she leave? Why didn’t she say anything to the nurses? She’s got to be here somewhere. I’ve rounded up everyone I could find to search the hospital, top to bottom. Two of the security guys have established grids in the parking lot and the grounds and are walking them off. They won’t miss her even if she’s hiding under a car.”
“I’m talking to everyone,” Maggie said. “Someone must have seen her leave. She’s not a ghost.”
Paul said suddenly, “Maybe somebody took her.” It was the first time he’d said anything like that since we’d all run out of the Tarcher party more than three hours before.
I turned slowly to face Paul. “Why would anyone take
Jilly?”
“I don’t know,” Paul said. “But somebody may have been afraid she’d remember everything that happened Tuesday night. She was gone for three hours, dammit. Where did she go? What did she do?” He added on a whisper, “Maybe it was Laura. I don’t understand what was going on between Jilly and Laura anymore. Who else would have done it?”
I pictured Laura in my mind and I couldn’t begin to believe she could have done anything like that. But Jilly had said that Laura had betrayed her, that Laura was dangerous.
“Fine,” I said. I took Paul’s arm and pulled him out of Jilly’s room as I said, “Excuse us, Maggie, Rob, but I’ve got to clear something up with Paul, and it just can’t wait.”
“Maybe Laura took her,” Paul said again once we were in the empty hospital corridor.
“Let’s say that Laura did take her. Did she have a gun to her head? Maybe Laura was carrying her over her shoulder? That means that someone must have seen Laura with her. It’s ridiculous, Paul, just plain ridiculous. Now, I dragged you out here because I want the truth out of you and I want it now. Did you sleep with Laura?”
“All right, so I didn’t sleep with her,” he said, and my nerd brother-in-law actually flushed up to his eyebrows.
“Why would you tell a lie like that about an innocent woman?”
“I wanted to sleep with her, but she turned me down. I wanted to get even.”
“That doesn’t make sense, Paul. You never knew I’d even meet Laura Scott. How would that be getting even?”
“It wouldn’t. Look, Mac, I wanted to sleep with her. It was a fantasy, nothing more really, just lay off. It’s not something I’m proud of doing, but I did it. Now I’m undoing it.”
I said slowly, “Jilly told me that Laura had betrayed her. If you didn’t sleep with Laura, if you made it all up, then what did Jilly mean?”
Paul shrugged. “I guess Jilly must have believed that Laura was my lover.”
“I suppose you made some comments that Jilly might have misinterpreted?” I wanted to slug him. It was hard not to.
“Look, Mac, Jilly and I were married for eight years. You can’t be married that long and not have some problems. We had our share.”
“According to Jilly in February when I saw her, you and she were in the sack all the time, having a fine time.”
“Yeah, well, sex isn’t everything.”
“Paul, was Laura at your house last Tuesday night?”
“Of course she wasn’t there. Why would she be? I already told you, Mac, it was just Jilly and me and the halibut we broiled. What the hell does that matter anyway? I’m going back to Jilly’s room.”
I watched him until he disappeared around the corner at the end of the hall. I heard Maggie speaking to Rob as they walked out of Jilly’s room, over the security guards’ voices, all of them talking over one another, making no sense really.
Mrs. Himmel caught sight of me and waved me down. I saw at least half a dozen hospital personnel milling about behind her. She was wringing her hands. I’d never seen Mrs. Himmel flustered before. She looked like she was going to burst into tears. Her pallor worried me. “Mrs. Himmel,” I said, gently touching her shoulder.