What Stella Wants

“Can you read that?” I asked Nina.

“It says, ‘Lucille, wait for me. Our love is eternal. A.’ You see? That proves it!”

“Proves what?”

“That he loved her, even though she didn’t wait and married Uncle Benny. ‘Our love is eternal.’ Isn’t that just too romantic?”

“Not when the guy stalks her for the rest of her life,” I said, concern growing with every new fact Nina trotted out. She didn’t seem at all concerned about this part of Aunt Lucy’s relationship with Arnold Koslovski, so what was bothering her?

“Didn’t you say the guy’s married?” Jake was obviously trying to hone in on the “life or death” issue, too.

“His wife died two years ago,” Nina said. “She had leukemia.” The tears were back in Nina’s eyes. We were getting closer to what was bothering her. “And now…now he’s back in town, looking for his beloved Lucille before…before…”

“Before?”

“Before he dies! Arnold’s dying!”

Okay. Now we had an issue. Aunt Lucy had gone half-crazy after Uncle Benny died. If this Arnold person was dying, how would she take a second loss of a love?

“How do you know the guy’s dying? Are you sure?”

Nina nodded miserably. “Yeah. He was going to buy the old Proctor place, signed the contract and everything, but then he reneged.”

“Nina, how do you know all this? We were only gone, what, half an hour and you found out all this?”

Nina looked even more miserable. “Yeah, told you I’m good.”

“Honey, just because Arnold didn’t buy the Proctor place, it doesn’t mean he’s dying.”

Nina nodded. “I know. I found out about the Proctor deal from Cindy Evans, she works at Burgess Realty and I knew she’d know if somebody like Arnold Koslovski moved back to town. She’s the one who gave me his new address and that’s how come I know he’s dying!”

Jake couldn’t stand another second of this. “What in the hell does that have to do with the man’s health?”

“Because,” Nina said as she looked up at him, “it’s the hospice unit in Honeybrook. Arnold Koslovski couldn’t live there if he wasn’t dying!”

Nina started sobbing and my cell phone began vibrating. I ignored it. A minute later Jake’s cell also went off. Marygrace Llewellen was an impatient woman.

“Guess she wants to know why we haven’t made it to the hospital yet.”

Jake gave me a look that said “And we took this case on as a public service because…why?”

I ignored him and reached for my cell phone. “Go ahead. I’ll take care of her and this situation too.” Nina was still snuffling into a wad of tissues, too lost in her own conclusions about Arnold Koslovski and his relationship with my aunt to pay any attention to us.

“Good luck!” Jake was gone in an instant, probably relieved to have a valid excuse to take off. For once I couldn’t blame him. I looked down at my sodden cousin, took a deep breath and once again tried to convince her that she was jumping to conclusions but it did no good. Nina remained adamant in her beliefs about Arnold Koslovski. When Spike arrived home from her information-gathering trip to the D.A.’s office, I gladly relinquished my responsibilities for my cousin’s happiness and refocused my thoughts on Bitsy and Baby Blankenship.

I started by responding to Marygrace’s third page in thirty minutes, launching into an offensive before she could tackle me with another one of her verbal onslaughts.

“Jake’s on his way to the hospital now,” I said as soon as she came on the line. “We were checking with some of our informants, you know, for recently fenced stolen property that might’ve belonged to an elderly woman. It was a shot in the dark, what with most of your pawns consisting of tools and elec—”

“Never mind that!” Marygrace whispered into the phone. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry over here! The State’s in, and I don’t mean your regular auditor types. I think they’re feds!”

“What?” I looked up at the ceiling, hoping I was communicating directly with the Person or Persons in Charge. Why me? I asked silently. Is this paybacks for spying on Aunt Lucy? I’m telling you, I was only trying to protect her! And if this is about putting off Bitsy…Well, don’t you think I’m already feeling bad enough, now you gotta add feds to the mix? I could lose my license if they get pissy about things.

“Stella,” Marygrace snapped, forgetting to whisper. “Pay attention! The State comes in to audit nursing homes once a year. They come in any other time they feel like it, but most often it’s because someone’s made a complaint about something we’re doing or not doing to the old people. Well, they’re here, only I know all the State people and I’ve never seen these two, no matter what their credentials say.”

“Are they doing the regular things the State does when they come?”

“Hell, no! They asked for Baby’s chart and then they went into her room! She’s not there. There isn’t any reason for them to go in there, and the charge nurse says they’ve been looking all over her room. I think you’d better get Jake to lay low until they leave. I don’t want any more questions.”

“So, you want us to back off and let Baby come on back to the nursing home without any coverage.”

Marygrace sighed. “No. I want Jake to lay low, you know, don’t let the feds know who he is and what he’s doing.”

Right. Now that would be easy. What was he supposed to do, dress up like a nurse?

I hung up and dialed Jake’s cell phone number.

“Dr. Carpenter.” No hello. Just Jake sounding very professional and lying his ass off.

“This is Nurse Barbie calling. Wanna check my temperature?”

“I’m with a patient. Can it wait?”

“Jake, Marygrace just called. She thinks she’s got feds at the old folks home and she wants you to stick to Baby like glue, but disguise yourself.”

“No can do,” he said cryptically. “They are probably familiar with my work.”

“Nurse Barbie’s familiar with your work, too,” I said, and felt a familiar rush of warmth as I remembered his last house call.

“I think you should probably do the consult yourself. I’m in the middle of completing a consultation on a patient who’s about to be discharged.”

“You’ve got an audience and it’s more than Baby Blankenship, huh?”

“I’m sure your qualifications will more than meet the need.”

“Yours too, Doctor,” I cooed. “I guess I’ll see what I can round up before Baby gets back to the home. So, they’re about to ship her out?”

“Yes, absolutely. Within the hour. Feel free to consult with me after you’ve assessed the patient.”

“Oh, Doc, I do love it when you talk dirty!” I said and hung up.

Great. I had to go undercover at the nursing home where too many people had already seen me, and my black eye from the earlier tangle would be a certain giveaway. How was I going to pull this one off?

Thirty minutes later, after a visit to the attic and a search through a multitude of chests and boxes, I emerged from my room a changed woman. If Aunt Lucy arrived before I walked out the door, I was dead meat. I could justify it as having been done for a worthy cause, but knowing my aunt, this would cut no sway with her. Sacrilege is sacrilege.

When I walked into the kitchen, Spike looked up and did a double-take. Nina reflexively crossed herself.

“Oh no you didn’t!” she gasped. “That’s Aunt Cathy’s!”