“Well, thanks, Joey,” he said. “Maybe I’ll come back and finish reading this book to you.”
“And maybe I can come too,” said Jamison suddenly, seeming to surprise even herself with the comment.
“That would be good,” said Joey. “Thanks. Maybe you can meet Anne.”
“Yeah, maybe,” said Decker.
“I used to do a lot of volunteer work,” said Jamison. “Maybe I can volunteer here. How about that, Joey?”
“Sure,” he said, but then his smile faded and all his energy seemed to disappear along with it. He closed his eyes and his breathing deepened a bit.
“This is beyond sad,” whispered Jamison. “He’s just a little boy. Doesn’t he have anybody?”
“No. He was going to be adopted, but the people apparently pulled out when he got sick.”
“What bastards!”
“And the world is full of them, Alex.”
“What were you hoping to prove with that book?”
“Just trying to make sense out of something. I was pretty sure, but that goes to show that anybody can be wrong.”
Decker rose and was about to put the book back when Joey opened his eyes and turned his head to look at him.
“It’s funny, though,” said Joey.
“What is?” asked Decker quickly.
“I woke up tonight and saw you with the book.”
Decker glanced down at the book and then back up at Joey. “Yeah? What’s funny about that?”
“Well, I’ve woken up a couple times I guess during the night, and I saw him with the book too. That was what’s funny. I mean, it’s not like he reads to me. And then he walked out with it. But when I woke up the next morning it was back on the shelf. Both times.”
“Who?” asked Decker, his voice unusually tight. “Who took the book?”
“The guy with the glasses. I think his name is…” He stopped to think for a moment. “You know, like the chipmunk?”
“You mean,” began Jamison.
Decker had already turned and rushed out of the room.
“Alvin,” finished Jamison before turning and running after Decker.
CHAPTER
55
AN IRRITATED DECKER hovered at the front entrance to Dominion Hospice.
Bogart was talking to a police officer in the front parking lot. The man hurried off and Bogart turned and headed over to Decker.
The reality was not a good one.
Alvin Jenkins was nowhere to be found.
He hadn’t gone to make rounds. He had apparently fled the premises right after leaving Decker and Jamison in his office.
Decker had called Bogart in immediately. The last several hours had been spent searching the building and finding nothing helpful.
Bogart said, “We have a BOLO out on him. And we have a team at his apartment. Or at least at the address that was in his file.”
“I bet the guy had an exit plan that he activated as soon as we came here asking questions. He’s probably got a half dozen passports that would pass any scrutiny. Hell, he might be on a private jet, heading back to wherever he came from.”
Decker groaned and looked miserable. “I was too slow, Ross. I missed the window.”
“I don’t fully understand how you even came to suspect this place had anything to do with anything.”
“Berkshire would never have wasted time coming here unless it served her purpose.” He held up the book. “Your lab guys need to check this book out. There’s something in here that was important to both Berkshire and Jenkins. I’m surprised he didn’t try to take it before now.”
“Will do.” Bogart took the book and sealed it in a plastic evidence bag he pulled from his overcoat.
“Harry Potter? What do you think is in here?”
“Maybe a coded message using the words in there somehow.”
“So Alvin Jenkins was working with Anne Berkshire. Do you think he was the one who attacked you and stole the flash drive?”
Decker shrugged. “I don’t know. I know appearances can be deceiving, but he doesn’t look the type to wield a long-range sniper rifle. And he’s pretty small and in his fifties. Whoever walloped me? I just think he was a lot younger and a lot bigger. It takes a lot to knock me out.”
“So someone else is out there?”
“Well, if it is a spy ring they could have a lot of members. Or they could have called in reinforcements from whatever country they’re spying for. And since we know Berkshire once worked for the Soviets, that list of possible suspects is pretty short.”
“We’ll dig into Jenkins’s background. He had to undergo some background checks to get a job here, you would think.”
Decker just looked out into the darkness, lost in thought.
“Something else bugging you?” asked Bogart.
“The woman was reading a book to a dying kid just as a way to send stolen secrets,” said Decker.
Bogart shook his head. “Yeah, I was thinking about that too.” He added, “I always thought I wanted kids. Didn’t work out that way. And I’ll soon be a divorced man. But I still think about it.”
Decker gazed over at him. “You can still marry again. Have kids, Ross.”
“I think raising kids is a younger man’s game. I’m not far off the big five-oh.”
Decker shrugged. “Just saying it’s a possibility. But then what do I know? I had a kid. Now I don’t.”
“You were still a father, Amos. You had a daughter. You would still have a daughter if the world weren’t so screwed up.”
“Well, I don’t and it is. So why wish for something you can’t ever have?”
Bogart looked uncomfortable. “Where’s Alex?”
“I think she’s still sitting with Joey Scott. With all the police activity, I think the patients here got woken up and rattled. She’s calming him down.”
“So the boy really has nobody?”
“Apparently not. I don’t know how much longer he has to live. I guess not long. Sometimes it’s enough to make you want to put a gun against your head and pull the trigger.” He looked at Bogart. “Just like Walter Dabney did.”
“He had choices, Amos. Everybody has choices.”
“Yeah, it’s just that sometimes all those choices suck.”
Bogart said, “I’m going to get this book down to the lab.”
Decker curtly nodded and Bogart hurried out into the rain and then into his sedan. Decker watched him drive off. He turned and walked back down the corridor until he reached Joey Scott’s room.
Jamison was sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked up when Decker appeared in the doorway.
“He just fell asleep,” she whispered, rising off the bed and joining Decker in the doorway.
“Bogart is taking the book to the lab to check it out.”
“No sign of Jenkins?”
He shook his head.
Jamison glanced over at the bed where Joey lay sleeping. “Can you imagine anything more heartless than what those people did? Using the cover of a dying little boy to pass along stolen secrets?”
“I’ve yet to see the limits of people being heartless,” replied Decker. “But, yeah, it’s pretty damn heartless.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe Dabney did a good thing by shooting her.”