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Chapter 10.

If they were surprised to see me at the hospital at 8:30 the next morning, no one said anything. I went directly to the pathology labs and set up the tests I wanted on the samples I'd collected from Christopher, his mother and grandmother. Heading to my office, I looked at Wilson's closed door and shrugged. Playing him, or even playing with him, used to be fun. But I'd realized long ago that both he and Cuddy had their own agendas, their own games to play, their own desires to manipulate me. It was no longer enjoyable or even challenging, just a distraction. I'd moved on. Instead I went in search of Chase.

I found him in our conference room, but he wasn't alone. He was talking in low tones with Thirteen about our last case. I decided I could take her into my confidence along with Chase. I didn't think she'd go running to Cuddy about what I was doing.

"I need the two of you to come with me in an hour or two," I said. "Got a patient in Dorsey and I may need some help."

They both looked at me quizzically, then a light seemed to dawn in Thirteen's eyes. "Is this about the baby you treated in the ER a few weeks ago? The one you were trying to find?"

Leave it to her to know about that.

"Christopher Giordano. Age nine months old. Initially he had diarrhea, was listless, didn't cry much."

"That could be any number of things," Chase said.

"He's also prone to ear infections and a runny nose," House added.

"Those are all common in infants," Thirteen pointed out.

I shook my head. "There's something about this kid that just...feels off," I said, for once not able to verbalize what I instinctively felt.

"Why don't you have the mother bring him into the hospital?" Chase asked.

I couldn't tell him it was because I wanted to handle this case my way, didn't want any hospital personnel interfering. They'd just tell me that I always handle cases my own way. Again, I couldn't explain why it was important to leave Christopher with his mother and grandparents. Or that there was more to this than the mystery of his illness.

"I took some blood samples yesterday from the baby and his mother and grandmother," I went on. "Genotyping will take a while, but I want to at least get some preliminary tests done before we go out there again."

"You think it's something genetic?" Thirteen asked. "What about the father and his family? Can you get samples from them, too?"

"Yes, no one knows where the father is, and what was your last question again? Oh, yeah, that's where the two of you come in."

Chase and Thirteen exchanged puzzled looks.

"Christopher's paternal grandfather and his father's two sisters all live in Dorsey. I'll need your help in getting their blood," I told them. I'd fill them in on the Giordanos on the drive to Dorsey. "Right now, I'm going to see what results we have so far. Be ready to leave in about an hour."

I could see they were trying to think of objections, but couldn't come up with anything. Chase shrugged and said, "We'll meet you in the parking garage. Do we need to gather any supplies?"

I gave them a short list, and left.

The lab had very few results for me so far, so I took a seat in a dark out-of-the-way corner to wait. Just short of an hour later, I approached the lab tech again. This time she handed me a few more results, nothing helpful, except that the tests had ruled out the things I'd already doubted.

Chase and Thirteen were on time. We got into my car and I drove off on the now familiar route. I didn't want to give them any preconceived notions about Nina, Jess and their father, or even about Ellie and her parents, so I only told them the basics.

"Christopher's mother, Ellie, comes from Dorsey. That's where her parents still live. She married Peter Giordano, Jr. after the two of them ran off together about a year and a half ago. Petey also grew up in Dorsey. His father owns a lot of the town and his mother died about ten years ago." I paused to let that sink in, then went on. "Petey's no longer with Ellie and the baby. I don't know what happened there, and no one knows where Petey is."

"OK," Chase said. "But you also mentioned two aunts."

"Ah, yes. Nina and Jess. Thirteen, when was the last time you bought a dress?"

"A dress? What does that have to do with anything?" Hadley asked.

"Nina runs the dress shop in Dorsey."

"And you want me to just saunter in there and buy a dress from her?"

"That's the idea," I said.

"And me? What do I do?" Chase asked. "What does the other sister do?"

"The other sister keeps the books for Giordano Sr.'s businesses. Her name is Jess," I told him. "And I wouldn't be surprised if she's a sucker for an accent."

"What do you need to find out from Nina and Jess?" Chase asked, ignoring my comment.

"We need to find their brother. They both claim that they don't know where he is, and that may be true, but there may be something they do know that they don't realize can lead us to Petey. Plus, I wonder if there's a known disease that affects members of their family."

"Did you ask them?" Thirteen asked, then caught herself. "Of course you did, in your own way, but again, you think there's something they may not know they know."

"Right," I said, nodding at her and glad I decided to bring her along.

We'd arrived in Dorsey. I parked near Boomer's and I got out. Chase and Thirteen followed me slowly, looking around as they did.

"This is really a small town," Thirteen said. "It can't be more than a couple of square miles."

"The dress shop is down that way," I said, pointing north along the main street. "Giordano owns more than half the businesses here. Meet me back here in about half an hour, and we'll go tackle Ellie, her father and Christopher," I ordered.

I knew I could rely on them to be discreet as they nosed around. Meanwhile, I entered Boomer's one more time. I had a few more questions for Jake the bartender.