Endless Night

“Did you get a flight out?”

“Asia?” She hardly recognized her friend’s voice. “I’m at the airport now but I’ve changed my mind. This is nuts. We can’t run away. If Dr. Reynolds is guilty, we’ve got to stand our ground and prove it.”

“Are you crazy?” Asia hissed. “You know Mick got jumped on his way over here after he called his friend in the police department. Reynolds has paid them off.”

Jackie pressed the phone tightly to her ear. “There’s got to be a mistake.”

Asia’s voice rose an octave. “Dr. Reynolds doesn’t have the clout to buy off the police on his own. He’s selling his patients’ information to a crime ring. The errors are too widespread to be the work of one person. I should have seen it before.”

Jackie tried to control her own panic. “We’ve both got to calm down. Where are you? Did you get Mick to a hospital?”

“I’m waiting for him at the clinic now. He’s in a lot of pain. As soon as he can travel, we’re gone.” There was a sound of voices in the background. Asia spoke in a whisper. “You’ve got to get out of there, Jackie. Dr. Reynolds has men looking for us. They’re trying to keep us quiet any way they can.”

Jackie jerked around, scanning the crowd, and scooted into a farther corner.

Asia had been poring over the computer accounts in the darkened office, hours after closing time, downloading information to a thumb drive. Asia’s boyfriend Mick who worked on the imaging equipment was there too, sipping coffee. Asia had just begun to explain why she’d summoned Jackie at such a late hour when Dr. Reynolds appeared, briefcase in hand. His wide forehead creased in suspicion.

“What are you three doing here? What are you downloading?”

Asia stood, facing him. “Dr. Reynolds, there are payments coming in for treatments we never provided. Addresses and personal information for our patients have been altered too.”

The doctor’s face purpled. “I’ve been watching you poking around, sticking your nose into things. What exactly are you saying?”

Mick stepped forward. “That you’re guilty of fraudulent billing.”

“It’s more than that,” Asia said, a tremor in her voice. “It’s too widespread. You’re working for somebody who does this on a large scale. ”

Jackie watched in horror as Dr. Reynolds’s face twisted in rage. “How dare you.” Spittle flew from his mouth. “I’ll ruin you. All of you.” He spun around and ran from the room towards the back office.

At Asia’s urging, Jackie had snatched the thumb drive and crammed it in her pocket before Mick dragged both of the shocked women to the parking lot. “Go. Now. He keeps a gun in his office, I’ve seen it.”

They raced to Jackie’s car.

Mick kissed Asia. “Go to the coffee shop. Wait for my call.”

Asia’s eyes filled. “Where are you going?”

“I have a friend at the S.F. P.D. I’m going to contact him. I’ll meet you. It will be okay.”

But it wasn’t. He’d returned bloodied and battered.

“I was jumped. They wore masks but I recognized one. He’s a cop. Reynolds must have bought them off.”

Asia had taken Mick to the nearest clinic, promising to meet Jackie at the airport.

“Listen, I’ve been keeping detailed notes on all the inconsistencies I’ve found.” Asia started to talk faster. “I contacted someone who used to work for Dr. Reynolds at his office in Thousand Oaks. She’s looking too. You’ve got to give me and Mick some time. We’ll call you as soon as we can. Just get away somewhere, anywhere.” The phone disconnected.

Jackie’s breath seemed to form hard crystals in her lungs. Mick beaten? Dirty cops? Crime rings? The whole thing was absurd. She quickly dialed her friend Patti’s cell number.

“Hey, Jackie. You’re out of milk. I came to borrow some before rehearsal. I should have taken up a smaller instrument. I work up an awful thirst dragging that cello up five flights.”

“Patti, listen. I’ve got to go out of town. Can you take care of the place?”

“Sure, where you going?”

“Just a quick getaway.”

“Sounds great. You know I’m kinda miffed. You never mentioned your darling boyfriend.”

She felt a stir of alarm. “That’s because I don’t have one.”

“Care to explain the good-looking cop who stopped by? He was in plainclothes, of course, but he showed me a badge.”

Jackie froze, unable to speak.

Patti continued. “Handsome fella. How can you resist an ex-Navy man? Just the thought of dating a sailor gives me a charge.”

“I don’t….”

“He told me that you decided to break things off because of his dangerous job and all that. He wanted to come patch things up. He wondered if you’d left town, maybe gone to Maryland.”

“Maryland?” The lights flickered before her eyes. He knows I have family in Maryland? Jackie forced a cheerful tone. “He sure has put a lot of thought into it, hasn’t he?”

“I guess so. Anyway, I gotta go.”

“Can you take care of my things until I get back?”

“Okay, but you’re going to have an empty fridge by that time. Bye.”

Jackie squeezed the phone between her clammy palms.

The stranger knew her father was in Maryland. He knew where she lived here in San Francisco. The cop, if he really was a cop, was probably out right now checking all the places she frequented. Dr. Reynolds had set things in motion with alarming speed. She could feel nothing but cold, blind panic.

An image of Roman rose in her mind, the rock solid strength that had never failed her except for the one awful moment in Alaska that had changed everything. She thought of his laughter and sense of adventure, which had been a balm for her as long as she could remember. That part of your life is dead, Jackie. She blinked the memory back into the past where it belonged.

In a fog she joined the end of the nearest ticket line. For the first time, she considered where she could go. She just needed time, time to think things through, a safe place to figure out a plan. Not in Maryland—she could never risk involving her father. He’d be safe as long as she stayed far away until things were settled.

The line snaked its way along until Jackie found herself at the front. The efficient woman behind the desk looked at her. “Where to?”

“I…” Speech failed her. What place would be safe until she could climb out of the mess she’d gotten herself into?

“What is your destination, ma’am?”

She would fly to the farthest corner she could think of, the place that held her most precious memories and the echoes of her most terrible nightmare. Jackie’s mouth formed the word, but her mind did not believe it.

“Alaska.”

Roman Carter drove the rattletrap van with Wayne’s Aviation emblazoned on the side to the small airport on the edge of town. The day was clear, the roads newly plowed of snow. He felt an unusual surge of optimism. Maybe the tourists would start to come again, in spite of the economy. If the flight load picked up, he might be able to make progress toward owning his own plane.