Mo smiled at him. “He can visit every day.”
“J.J. might be out of the hospital by tomorrow,” Debbie said. “And so far...well, the social worker suggested I get a new job. I’ll have to talk to a lawyer, but like I mentioned, Wendy told me she was putting me in her will as J.J.’s guardian. You know, if something happened to her... I don’t want anything to go wrong, so I’ll find a different line of work. I’ll do anything to keep J.J. and me together.”
“I may be able to help you,” Mo told her.
“Yeah?”
“My friend Grace works for the tourist company that runs the Haunted Mausoleum. I’m sure you’d be a great tour guide. You’ve been here forever.”
Aidan found himself watching Mo again—and liking everything he saw. “Speaking of which,” she was saying, “I’ve got to get back home. I’m working tonight.”
“Hey!” J.J. said hopefully. “Maybe Rollo could stay here while you’re at work!”
Mo paused, obviously surprised.
“Um...”
“Please!” J.J. asked. “Debbie, it’s okay, right?
“Honey, it’s not up to me. It’s up to the hospital,” Debbie explained.
“He’s decked out the way he’s supposed to be,” Aidan pointed out, waiting for Mo to make a decision.
“I...I suppose he could stay. It’s a private room. I can come back and get him—if they’ll let me—later, after the evening’s over.”
“I can run him down to you whenever you come by,” Debbie said eagerly, “if you’re worried about waking J.J. or the staff being disturbed because it’s so late.”
Mo raised her hands. “Well, I guess he can stay then.” She went over to the dog and spoke to him. “Rollo, I’m going to leave you with J.J. for a bit—is that okay?”
Rollo let out a soft whine; he knew he was in a hospital.
Aidan stood. “All right, then, thank you, J.J., for all your help. And Debbie, thank you.”
“I’m not doing anything. I wish I could do something,” she said.
“Why don’t you walk us down?” Aidan suggested. “J.J. has Rollo, so he’ll be okay for a few minutes, and there’s an officer in the hall.”
“Is that’s okay with you, J.J.?”
“I have Rollo,” he assured them.
“Be right back,” Debbie said.
As they headed down the hallway, Aidan told Debbie, “You can help by trying to remember if there’s anything Wendy might have said about going to New York—and going to hear Richard Highsmith’s talk.”
“She was excited about their trip. She and J.J. were staying with a lovely gay couple she’d worked with once. I don’t think they were all that close. They were just good people who offered her a place to stay whenever she wanted to visit.”
“Do you know their names? We haven’t heard from anyone in New York City.”
“No, she just told me about them. She was careful with her money. And hotel rooms in New York are so expensive! She told me she and J.J. would be fine,” Debbie said. “I didn’t know she was stopping by the convention center. I did know that she admired Richard Highsmith.”
“Did she ever mention meeting him?” Aidan asked.
“No. She just liked his politics. I’m not sure how she’d meet him.”
“Well, they were both living in New York at the same time,” Aidan said.
Debbie laughed. “Them—and eight to twenty million other people, depending on the time of day. If she knew him, she never mentioned it to me.”
“Well, if you think of anything...”
“I’ll call you.”
They’d reached the ground floor. Debbie turned to Mo and hugged her. “Thank you!” she said.
“Me?” Mo asked, as if slightly embarrassed.
“Offering to help me with a new job. Always treating me like a real person.”
Mo smiled. “You are a real person, Debbie. And a really good one. I’ll see you later tonight.” Aidan opened the door, and they both waved to Debbie as they walked out.
“It feels funny,” Mo said.
“Leaving without Rollo?”
“Yes. But he’s such an exceptional dog. He knows when people need him.”
“You’re pretty exceptional, too.”
She looked at him, startled. “Me? Well, thanks.”
“You don’t think so?”
“Not particularly—but I’m mostly surprised by hearing that from you.”
“Maybe I’m just jealous because you seem so comfortable with yourself and your life,” he said. They were in a parking lot; he wasn’t sure he wanted the conversation getting any deeper. “So, tell me, what exactly do you do at this Haunted Mausoleum?”
“I’m the Woman in White.”
“Ah, yes—and no one’s determined precisely who she was!” They’d reached the car. He opened the door for her and she slid in.