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Her nostrils flared. “I won’t talk about Adam or Myles. So, if there’s nothing else...” She rose. “I think I’ve used up just about all of my hospitality. Y’all can leave now.”
James and the others stood as well. Obviously, they’d hit a sore spot, but they weren’t going to get anything else out of the woman. “Well, thank you for your time.”
She swept out of the sunroom and made a beeline to her front door. Only when they got there, Lainie was missing. He frowned. “Lain—er—Elaine?”
She was trailing behind. Far behind. Victoria stomped to the den. “I asked you to leave.”
“Of course. So sorry. I was just admiring your beautiful painting over the mantel.”
The woman’s expression softened. “Thank you. Now, please. Go.”
Once they were out on the porch, Victoria Irwin didn’t waste any time shutting the door behind them.
Lainie looked at James and Cole. “You need to go see Adam’s father and ask him why Victoria Irwin has a picture of her, Adam’s father, and Adam on the end table in her den.”
Seventeen
“What? Let’s talk about this in the car. I don’t want you out in the open.” James ushered her to the vehicle, and just like before, Cole climbed in the back to hear. “Now,” James said, “what are you talking about?”
“I wasn’t sure whether to confront her or not, but I noticed a picture on her end table. It was of her and Adam and Adam’s father. I was trying to get a better look when she came back.”
“Well, that kind of confirms our theory that she’s involved, but she’s not the mother of Adam’s child. She’s Mr. Williams senior’s lover.”
“And he’s paying her to keep her quiet?” Cole asked. “Or just paying to keep her?”
“Why don’t we ask Myles Williams?” James glanced at Lainie. “But you can’t go.”
She sighed. “I know. Drop me at the hospital. I should be safe enough there.” She paused. “As long as I don’t fall asleep in the on-call room. I can look into some old cases. Maybe I’ll find a clue in there.” She’d start with the M&M committee. Morbidity and Mortality. If the person after her was someone with a grudge, a family member of a patient who’d died was a good place to start. Otherwise, she’d have to ask James to get a court order. Every keystroke was monitored, and if she went looking through old cases, someonewould notice and ask why. So unless she went through proper channels ... that would definitely not be a good career move. She paused. Which meant there should be a record of anyone who erased any information about Adam. In order to find that, though, she had to know who would have done such a thing. Who had Adam been close to at the hospital?
“Lainie?”
“Sorry. Just thinking.”
“I was saying, I’m okay with that as long as you let security know you’re there and that this guy might show up in the hospital.”
“I’ll tell them. And James? I had a thought.” She explained about the keystroke monitoring. “Adam was friendly to a lot of people at the hospital. He was a regular. He was charming and thoughtful and...” She waved a hand. “You get the idea. If someone thought they were helping him in some way, they’d probably do it.”
“So, if he were to ask a friend to wipe all evidence of his death...”
“Yes. But that doesn’t explain the lack of a death certificate. That’s a whole different database.”
James sighed. “Lainie, I know you don’t want to hear this, but I think we need to consider that, against all odds, he’s still alive.”
She shook her head and was still shaking it when James pulled up to the entrance of the hospital. “I’m not going to argue with you. Any sane person would have to consider it after everything that’s come up, but I promise there’s something else going on here. As soon as we figure out who’s after me, everything will fall into place. So, that’s the goal, right? Not just prove Adam is dead, but to find the person targeting me.”
“That’s the goal.” He gripped her hand. “We’ll get him, Lainie. We will.”
“I know.” She climbed out, put on her best pleading expression, and met his gaze. “Please let me know what happens as soon as you know?”
He rubbed his chin. “I’ve been thinking about something. I’d like you to hear the conversation.”
Her ears perked up. “Okay.”
“I’m going to call you and let you listen in while we talk to the man. You take note of everything he says. I want your thoughts on the conversation.”
“Of course.”
Lainie made sure she had her phone ringer on, then walked into the hospital, her home away from home. She made her way to security and found Jared in the office.
