I'm back – with a long chapter
Chapter 88.
After breakfast, they went their separate ways, five to the hospital and the rest to the assorted places around town. With the election over, Cameron could focus on her clinic patients, depriving House of them. But seeing how empty her waiting room was, she realized not that many had returned to the clinic. Good. If House would treat the kids with sniffles, the adults with STDs and self-inflicted wounds and the rest, she'd have more time for her new duties as councilor.
Anna showed up mid-morning to itemize what some of those would be. "You'll join the committees on education and public health, of course. Would you also like to join me on the Town Infrastructure committee or Pamela on the Beautification one?"
"I haven't attended a meeting yet, but I'm already on committees?"
Anna shrugged. "It's one of the things we do, how we earn our pittance of a payment."
"I'm paid to be a councilor?"
"What did you think? We did it for free?"
Anna was so direct Cameron had to laugh.
House was amazed he had the same number of patients as the day before, and just as few had serious health issues.
He'd given his second penicillin shot of the morning when his phone rang. Happy for the respite, he answered.
"House, I'll be late to lunch," Cameron said. "I have a meeting of the Town Infrastructure committee."
"How'd you get roped into that?" He chuckled. "Didn't I tell you about the boring meetings?"
"Anna requested my time. I do have a few ideas, if I can slide a word or two in. Guess you're busy, since I've only had two patients this morning."
"Yeah, they're all coming here. Guess eventually they'll be split between us."
"It helps to know there's another doctor in town."
Anita had been unsuccessful the night before in tracing Steve's phone, but still hoped her friends at the bureau could help her trace him, perhaps through his car.
"We want to find him as much as you," Les said. "Probably the reason you couldn't trace his phone is that it has anti-spyware on it that doesn't allow anyone, not even us, to trace it."
"Is that standard now?" Anita asked. "It wasn't when I was there." It had only been a few weeks.
"Part of our latest security measures." Bertie didn't sound happy about it. "Lots of the new stuff ties our hands or keeps us from doing our jobs."
"At least we have an APB out on his car."
"Oh, I should have told you up front," Les rustled papers. "His car was found in Annapolis. We figure he stole another one. Doubt he has access to money to buy even a cheap used vehicle."
"So, we don't even have that to help us find him." Anita sighed.
"At least we know he hasn't gone far. Not with every airport, train station and bus terminal in four states looking for him."
"Well, let me know when you find out more." Anita ended the call. Her shoulders sagged.
After breakfast, Jessica went back to the apartment to get Bruno. On her way out again, she met House going from his office across to his lab.
House twisted his mouth when he saw the dog. "See the trouble you caused?"
Jess just laughed, knowing exactly what he meant. "Did you really expect us to live here forever?"
"Guess not." He scratched an earlobe. "Won't matter if we can get the team to move in when you leave."
"What about your lab guy? Or one of your patients? House, there are plenty of people who would be happy to rent our place." Bruno decided to inspect House's sneakers. Jess pulled the dog back. "I'd better go. See you later."
She made it to the vet clinic just as Dr. Carter was opening up. He reached down to rub a hand over Bruno's head and smiled.
"I'll take him to the back and be right with you," Jessica told the only patient's owner in the waiting room. The poodle, Pierre, looked at Bruno and sniffed him, then went back to playing tug with his owner.
Chuckling, Jess put Bruno in the kennel in the back room and made sure he had enough dog food and water. She returned to the poodle and asked, "What can we do for Pierre today, Mrs. Kavanaugh?"
"He's been scratching his ears and also sneezing on our walks. It's not as if anything's blooming."
"Where do you walk him?" Jess asked.
"Along Fifth Street as far as the high school, then down Harbor to Eighth and back to Madison. The same route every day."
"Past the recycling center on Eighth?"
"Why, yes." Mrs. Kavanaugh's eyebrows rose. "You don't suppose there's something there that's making him sneeze."
"It's possible. I'll give him a shot of prednisone," Jessica prepared the injection. As she gave Pierre his shot, she said, "I suggest you change your route to avoid going paste the center."
"Thanks, Doctor."
If Cameron's first committee meeting was a sign of things to come, House's prediction that it would all be boring would come true.
She was surprised when Zach, as the committee chairman, read off a series of items to discuss in a monotone so different from his lively speech whenever they talked to him at the motel office. Besides Anna, the other members of the committee were Stephen Patton, the newspaper owner, and Arnie Clark, the town clerk. Neither said a word.
She and Anna discussed each action item and, as if they hadn't heard all the pros they mentioned, Stephen and Arnie voted them down as too costly, whether it was repaving of a road or replacing the lights around the square with longer-lasting halogens or LEDs. At least Zach supported those two so they passed, but since it would interfere with his business, he vetoed a request from a motel chain to build one of theirs.
After they were finished, she and Anna walked out together. "Are the meetings always like that?" she asked.
"This is one of the better committees. It used to be worse when Cosgrove was on it." She smiled slightly. "At least now I have an ally in you, someone willing to spend to reap more tourist dollars for the town, not to mention, better facilities for the people who live here."
Cameron nodded. "Glad to support your positions."
"Are you going back to the clinic?"
She chuckled. "Seems I've lost a lot of patients to House's practice." She glanced at her watch. "I may check in to see if anyone's waiting before I go to lunch, but you saw the outer room when you came for me."
"I'll drop you off. It's on my way." They'd reached Anna's car. "Have to make a run into Snow Hill to the yarn store. Wish there was one here, but the one there carries all the supplies I ever need. Every brand of wool too."
"I didn't know you knit."
"Oh, all my life it seems." Anna smiled. "They say it helps regulate the blood pressure and heartbeat." She didn't say more about it, changing the subject back to their earlier talk. "You knew about Patton's views, didn't you?"
Cameron nodded. "I've read an occasional editorial in his paper. So, Principal Berman isn't on the committee."
"No. He only has time for the one directly related to education."
Anna pulled into the clinic and Cameron got out, thanking her. Sure enough, only one patient waited, Jessica. Cameron frowned, not from the lack of patients, but worry over her friend. "What's wrong?"
Jessica grinned. "Nothing, but I hope you'll confirm what I suspect."
Cameron thought back to her talk with House the night before about Jessica's motives for wanting a house. Her frown reversed into a beaming smile. "No wonder you're looking for land or a larger place to live."
"I don't trust the home pregnancy tests," Jessica said. "I want to be sure. We want to be sure."
"Come on back and I'll examine you and get a sample."
They entered the exam room. Cameron hoped Jess was right. It would be great for Wilson to have a child so he wouldn't fuss over House so much. He and Jess would make great parents.
A half hour later, she was done with the exam. "I'll have to send a sample to the lab to confirm but I'll test part of it myself."
"Don't say anything until we're sure, okay?"
Cameron zipped her lips and handed the key to Jess. "My exam certainly indicates you may already be two months along. I can't wait to see the look on House's face when you and Wilson tell him. Your brother will be thrilled too, and so will everyone else."
She and Jessica walked to the diner together, both smiling, but they suppressed their happiness when they entered.
"Thought you'd be later," House told Cameron.
She shrugged.
"How was your first committee meeting?" Anita asked. "House said that's where you were."
"Yes. Made a quick stop at the clinic afterwards and only had one patient. The meeting was frustrating, but I now have a better sense of the other members."
Linda came by and they placed their orders. House was hungry and so were the women.
"I hear they're building houses and condos out near the harbor," House said.
Jess nodded. "We'll look at the models and plans over the weekend. You won't have trouble renting our place." She didn't say more.
When their food came, House looked pointedly at the burger and fries Jess ordered and said, "Eating for two, I see."
Jess almost dropped her fork, but seemed to catch herself. "I could say the same for you."
He had a half-pound burger with all the possible add-ons and twice the number of fries.
Cameron hid her laughter behind her napkin. She made certain to change the subject, asking Anita about her progress in finding Steve.
"He knows all the tricks about covering his tracks and is using them so we don't find him. It's frustrating because I had him and even talked to him after I turned him over to the Snow Hill police." She sighed then took a bite of her turkey sandwich, shutting down that topic.
Wilson had lunch with the team. He deftly brought the conversation around to the apartment he shared with Jessica.
"You trying to convince us to take your place when you and my sister move out?" Simpson asked.
"It's a great building," Hadley said.
Wilson added, "the apartment is almost completely furnished. We'll take a few things, of course, but others won't fit in a house."
"The owner of the house where we live now wants us out in two weeks. She has plans to renovate the kitchen, although I can't fathom why," Magnani said. "It's been fine for our needs."
Wilson frowned. "Two weeks? Can't you hold her off for the month or two she said originally? It'll take that long for us to find another place to live.
Simpson shrugged. "She said two weeks. We can maybe stretch it a few days, but not another two weeks."
"What's her name?" Wilson asked. "Maybe I know her and can talk to her."
Jacobs' eyes lit up. "Would you? It's Mrs. Blackwood."
He held his hand about five feet off the floor. "Short woman, about fifty with graying dark hair?"
Jacobs smiled. "That's her."
"Let me see what I can do."
After lunch, everyone went back to work. Cameron headed immediately to the clinic to avoid talking to House about Jessica. What she'd say to him that evening if he asked, strike that, when he asked, she wasn't at all sure. Two patients waited for her and the afternoon passed quickly with a steady stream. She hoped that didn't mean they'd stopped going to House.
House treated his own stream of patients almost automatically. None of them had an ailment that required much attention. One was obviously a drug-seeking individual who he had to placate with a prescription for Tylenol 3. Instead of his patients, he thought about what it would mean for Wilson to have a child.
Jessica's patients were also easily treated except for the dog who'd scratched at a rash and needed to be shaved and left with a cone around his neck. Once an hour, Jess checked on Bruno, but he seemed content to play with a couple of chew bones. That calmed her anxiety as she waited for Cameron's lab results.
Anita focused on the burglary at the sporting goods store, calling around to see if anyone had tried to sell the items actually taken. The owner of the store had calmed down enough that he was more coherent about what was missing and what wasn't. The missing goods included skis, poles and boots, a ski mask, jacket and pants, and a ski guide for New England. It wasn't hard to deduce where the perp was going. He was probably already in Vermont or New Hampshire, slaloming down the slopes.
What he, or she, although the clothing taken was in men's sizes, hadn't taken was any cash or items easily convertible to spending money. And since the price tags on items left behind were in the double and triple digits, it was easy to see the thief might not have been able to afford to buy them outright.
"Mr. Torrance, do you sell much of this skiing equipment?"
"Oh, yes. I have a loyal clientele. There are no ski slopes in this area, of course, but people travel." He stroked a set of skis lovingly.
"Has anyone been in recently who found they couldn't afford the apparel and skis?" Anita already pictured the type of person.
Torrance's smile was smug. "Those people don't frequent my store. I've kept it quite discriminating."
Not very PC, she thought. "Where do those people go?"
He raised one shoulder. "How should I know? Walmart, I suppose."
She left the shop wondering whether or not she even wanted to help him, but knew it was her duty. When she reached her office, all thoughts of Torrance and his shop flew away. Steve had been spotted in Baltimore.
