Chapter 11.

I wasn't too surprised to find that Jake had a new waitress, or rather, a previous waitress, who'd returned to duty. At this hour of the day, there weren't many customers. Ellie seemed to have slipped right back into taking care of them.

She noticed me come in and sit down at the bar, but didn't come over to talk to me until she'd made sure all of the diners had everything they wanted. Finally, she took the time to approach me and ask, "What did your tests show?"

"Nothing conclusive," I had to tell her. "The genetic tests will tell us more, but they take a while. I just wanted to ask Jake a few questions before I go out to check on Christopher. Will I be able to get samples from your father?"

"Oh!" she said. "My dad's watching the baby this afternoon while I work. But, I'm afraid you're out of luck about Jake. He had a meeting with Mr. Giordano this afternoon. Something about operating hours during the summer."

"Giordano owns Boomer's too?" I asked. I don't know why that surprised me.

"Yeah, well, I guess he owns practically everything around here," she said. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed one of the customers looking her way. "Excuse me. I have to get back to work."

"Go ahead," I told her. I watched for a while as she deftly filled coffee, iced tea and other drinks, cleared empty plates and brought out desserts. Jake had been right. She was a good waitress, smiling pleasantly no matter what the customers demanded.

The hollow-eyed look I'd noticed when I first met her was gone now. Maybe it was knowing that her parents were willing to help her and that she could get her old job back had eased her mind somewhat. She finished with the customers for the time being and returned to ask, "Can I get you anything, Doctor House?"

"A beer will do," I told her.

She went behind the bar and carefully drew me a glass of the Michelob they had on draft, and placed it on a paper coaster in front of me.

"Thanks," I said. "Ellie, when was the last time you saw Petey?"

"A few months ago. I think it bothered him that I spent so much time with the baby, and was always too tired to...," she blushed before going on. "Well, you know."

I nodded. "Do you have any idea where he might have gone?"

She shook her head. "I know his friend, Jerry, lives in Philly. And he was talking about some place his grandparents left him. Up in the mountains."

"He's not in either of those places," I told her. "We've already checked. Didn't he have any other friends besides Jerry?"

"Not any good friends. I guess I'm a little worried about him, but Chris is my main concern right now, ya know?"

I nodded. "Yes. Petey will turn up eventually. Frankly, the only reason I want to see him is because he is Christopher's father."

She looked at me with a puzzled frown, so I explained further. "If Christopher has a genetic disease, we need samples from his father and his father's family, too."

"Oh," she said, finally understanding. "I know you met his sisters. Did you take samples from them?"

"Not yet," I replied. "I also talked to Senior. No one here in town will say anything bad about him, but clearly he's not the warmest person or even the best father."

"Actually, he and Petey got along fine until the car accident," she said.

I nodded. "Yeah, I heard."

Some more customers came in, so I let her get back to work. I finished my beer and left a few bucks on the bar, deciding that I could talk to Jake later.

Heading out into the sunny street, I donned my sunglasses and looked right, then left. No sign of Chase or Thirteen, so I guessed they were still on their missions. I started toward the hardware store I'd stopped at the first time I came to Dorsey, and I was just in time to see Chase exiting with Jess Giordano.

Chase saw me and headed my way with her. "I believe you've met my boss," Chase told her when they reached me.

"Yes. Dr. House, back again I see," she said, a funny kind of smile on her face.

I looked at her briefly and then turned back to Chase. "What did she tell you?"

"Nothing yet," he said with a frown. "Jess and her father were busy discussing the profit and loss statement of the hardware store."

"How much profit could there be in a small town like this?" I asked.

"People need all sorts of things that our store carries," Jess said, rather defensively. "Problem is the economy in general is in the toilet and shipping costs keep going up. The truckers pass on their increased fuel costs to us, so we have to raise our prices and people don't buy as much."

"Or they go to stores that can absorbed any added costs. Yeah, yeah," I said dismissively.

Jess glared at me. "Doctors can get away with charging whatever they want and the insurance companies pay it."

I shrugged. It wasn't something I ever bothered myself about, but clearly she had. Now was not the time to get into an argument with her about this.

"Have you seen Thirteen?" I asked Chase.

"Not since we split up earlier," he replied.

"Thirteen?" Jess asked with a sneer. "You actually call someone that? It can't really be a name!"

I'd had about enough of Miss Giordano, but I still needed some answers and a sample from her so I ignored the remark. "I need some blood from you and your sister," I said, completely confusing her. "Your father too, but I realize that will be problematic."

"We think Christopher is suffering from a genetic disease and we need to test the closest relatives we can find," Chase explained, hoping that would help her understand.