Standing in the Shadows (McClouds & Friends #2)(134)

"I'm not saying this to bug you!" Tonia protested. "I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this! Mueller is such a big break for you, Erin. It drives me crazy that you're not taking advantage of—"

"I don't care about Mueller!" Erin yelled. "I don't give a damn about his collection, or his donation, or the museum! I could give a shit! About any of it! It's all just a stupid, meaningless game!"

"Ah. Well. Excuse me for caring," Tonia said. Her voice was clipped and chilly. "If you feel this way, why are we going to Mueller's house at all? I do have other things to do with my time, you know."

Erin dragged a Kleenex out of her purse and blew her nose. "Because I said I would." Her voice was flat and colorless. "And no other reason. I've got nothing else left to steer by. Everything's breaking down, falling apart… All I've got left is my word. So I'll by God keep it."

Tonia snorted. "Oh, spare me the melodrama, please."

Tonia's derisive tone was the final blow. Erin's face crumpled.

Tonia swerved into a gas station parking lot to the angry blare of several horns, and killed the engine. She pulled Erin into her arms. "Oh, come down off your high horse for a minute," she soothed.

"I feel so bad. I can't stand much more of this, Tonia."

"I know you can't." Tonia's voice was soft and hypnotic. "Of course you can't. And you won't. You'll see."

Erin didn't want her goopy nose to leak over Tonia's white linen suit, but when she tried to pull away, Tonia just pulled her back down.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Tonia said. "This means I get to fix your face. No matter what you think of Mueller, you've got to go in there with your head high. You've got to show some attitude."

"Whatever," Erin said wearily. "Fix my face. Do your worst."

Tonia started pulling hairpins out of Erin's bun. "We'll start with the hairdo," she said briskly. "It's hateful, and it must go."

Erin sniffled and tried to laugh. "Thanks, Tonia."

Tonia pulled her into an embrace so tight, the back of one of Erin's stud earrings stabbed into her neck. She gasped at the sharp pain, and tried to extricate herself from Tonia's grip.

Tonia hung on. "It'll be over soon, Erin," she crooned. "I promise."



Connor shoved the glass doors open and strode over to the clinic's front desk. He had to struggle to control the trapped feeling that came over him. There had been times when he would've gladly chewed off a limb to get out of this place. Not that the staff wasn't great. They'd all done their best for him. And oh, good, there was Brenda, one of his favorites. A heavyset lady in her fifties was behind the reception desk, peering at a computer through gold-rimmed half-glasses.

"Hi, Brenda," he said.

She looked up at him blankly, and then her eyes lit up. "Connor McCloud! Why, look at you!" She scurried out from behind the desk and gave his face a maternal pat. "You're looking good, honey! What brings you in here? Just come by to say hello? I'll have to call your PTs. JoAnn and Pat worked with you, right?" She reached for the phone. "I'll just buzz them and—"

"Actually, I'm not here to visit. I'm in a hurry." He was sorry to cut her off, but he was too edgy to shoot the breeze with the clinic staff. "I came for some information. You'll have to tell JoAnn and Pat hi for me. I'll drop by to see them sometime. I'm doing pretty good. Those months of torture paid off."

"They sure did, you handsome devil. What did you need to know?"

"I'm looking for information on a nurse who worked here during the period I was in the coma," he said. "Her name is Tonia Vasquez."

"Hmm. Doesn't ring a bell, but this is a big place. Tell you what. I'll buzz Annette. She does admissions up there. Maybe she'll recognize the name." Brenda dialed. "Hi, Annette, it's Brenda. Guess who I have standing in front of me? Remember Sleeping Beauty?… Yep, in the flesh. Cute as can be. He's got a question for you. Could you pop down, or should I send him up?… OK… Yeah, tell me about it, honey. I'll send him on up, then. Thanks a bunch."

She hung up and waved Connor toward the elevator banks. "Third floor, left out of the elevator, then take the first left again, and you'll find her in the glassed-in internal office."

"Thanks, Brenda," he said fervently.

Annette's office wasn't hard to find. He knocked at the open door. A tall, smiling black woman in her forties hurried over to greet him. "Well, hey! Connor McCloud! Looking good!"

He shook her hand, smiled, and did as much of the chitchat routine as his nerves could handle before he blurted out his question.

Annette's brow furrowed. "I don't remember anybody of that name, but I'll beep Geoffrey. He's in staffing. He knows everybody in the clinic, and their great-aunt's birthday, too." She punched the number into the phone. "If anybody will know, it's Geoffrey."

Conversation lagged while they waited for Geoffrey to respond. Annette gave him a cheery smile." And how's your lovely girlfriend doing?"

He was frozen into total immobility. "Excuse me? My what?"