“Will do”, Agnes said.
“You’re a doll,” Jack said.
He started for the door. Before he got there Agnes called out to him:
“I appreciate you letting me know about this as soon as you did,” she said.
“Rickettsias are extremely dangerous for us lab workers. In an aerosol form it is highly contagious. It’s as bad or worse than tularemia.”
“Needless to say, be careful,” Jack told her.
17
* * *
FRIDAY, 12:15 P.M., MARCH 22, 1996
Helen Robinson brushed her hair with quick strokes. She was excited.
Having just hung up the phone with her main contact at National Health’s home office, she wanted to get in to see Robert Barker as soon as possible. She knew he was going to love what she had to tell him.
Stepping back from the mirror, Helen surveyed herself from both the right and the left. Satisfied, she closed the closet door and headed out of her office.
Her usual method of contacting Robert was merely to drop in on him. But she thought the information she now had justified a more formal approach; she’d asked one of the secretaries to call ahead. The secretary had reported back that Robert was available at that very moment, not that Helen was surprised.
Helen had been cultivating Robert for the last year. She started when it became apparent to her that Robert could ascend to the presidency. Sensing the man had a salacious streak, she’d deliberately fanned the fires of his imagination. It was easy, although she knew she treaded a fine line. She wanted to encourage him, but not to the point where she would have to openly deny him. In reality, she found him physically unpleasant at best.
Helen’s goal was Robert’s position. She wanted to be executive director of accounts and could see no reason why she shouldn’t be. Her only problem was that she was younger than the others in the department. She felt that was the handicap that her “cultivation” of Robert could overcome.
“Ah, Helen, my dear,” Robert said as Helen demurely stepped into his office. He leaped to his feet and closed the door behind her.
Helen perched on the arm of the chair as was her custom. She crossed her legs and her skirt hiked up well above her knee. She noticed the photo of Robert’s wife was lying facedown as usual.
“How about some coffee?” Robert offered, taking his seat and assuming his customary hypnotic stare.
“I’ve just spoken with Gertrude Wilson over at National Health,” Helen began. “I’m sure you know her.”
“Of course,” Robert said. “She’s one of the more senior vice presidents.”
“She’s also one of my most trusted contacts,” Helen said. “And she is a fan of Willow and Heath.”
“Uh-huh,” Robert said.
“She told me two very interesting things,” Helen said. “First of all, National Health’s main hospital here in the city compares very favorably with other similar hospitals when it comes to hospital-based infections, or what they like to call nosocomial infections.”
“Uh-huh,” Robert repeated.
“National Health has followed all the recommendations of the CDC and the Joint Commission on Accreditation,” Helen said.
Robert shook his head slightly, as if waking up. It had taken a moment for Helen’s comments to penetrate his preoccupied brain. “Wait a second,” he said. He looked away to organize his thoughts. “This doesn’t sound like good news to me. I thought my secretary told me you had good news.”
“Hear me out,” Helen said. “Although they have an overall good nosocomial record, they’ve had some recent troubles in their New York facility that they’re very sensitive about and would hate to be made public.
There were three episodes in particular. One involved an extended outbreak of staph in the intensive-care units. That gave them a real problem until it was discovered a number of the nursing staff were carriers and had to be given courses of antibiotics. I tell you, this stuff is frightening when you hear about it.”
“What were the other problems?” Robert asked. For the moment he tried to avoid looking at Helen.
“They had another kind of bacterial problem originate in their kitchen,” Helen said. “A lot of patients got serious diarrhea. A few even died. And the last problem was an outbreak of hospital-based hepatitis. That killed several as well.”