A Longer Fall (Gunnie Rose #2)(20)

Maddy shook her head. “Maybe Rogelio does. Jake treated Rogelio like he was second-in-command. I guess you checked Jake’s pockets?”

I hadn’t checked Jake’s pockets. I clenched my fingers into fists to keep from smacking myself in the head. “We’ll do that,” I said. “You know where Rogelio is?”

Maddy said, “I haven’t laid eyes on him since the wagon brought us here. I guess he’s over in the men’s ward.”

“I’ll come back when we find out something. I don’t know how long that’ll be.” I patted Maddy’s hand. “And look, I found your bag.”

“Mr. Eli, if you’d draw back a minute, I need to talk to Lizbeth,” Maddy said. Her voice was steady and determined.

Eli nodded politely and wished Maddy a swift recovery. I watched him stride out of the ward, his long braid swinging across his back.

Maddy barely waited until Eli was out of earshot.

“Thanks for looking for my bag, but Jesus, Lizbeth! What are you doing with him? You know he’s a grigori! Where’s your sense, girl?”

“Me and him worked together,” I said again. I had a hard time getting the words out between my teeth. I was running out of sympathy. “I trust Eli, Maddy. He’s all I got to work with. I have no money, no contacts here, no names to track.”

“Okay,” Maddy said slowly, thinking it over. “You don’t know this place. People here are different, seems like.” She stared at my face some more. “I wish I’d never come here,” she said, suddenly, in a burst of anger.

“You and me both. I’m going to find you money to go home,” I said, promising her and myself. “I’ll be here again to see you. Please do what the doctor says, so you can get well. I’d like to work with you again.”

Maddy smiled, a little shy now. “I feel the same way. You’re good to have on a crew, Lizbeth. You’re a fine shot and a reliable woman.”

“You know it’s going to be days before anything moves in or out of here,” I reminded her. “They got to clear away the wreck. They got to repair the track. I’ll figure out a way to get us home. We’re owed.”

“Watch out for that grigori,” Maddy said, just as I was turning away. “Trust him or not, you know he bears watching. And that woman, that Harriet Ritter, and her sidekick. Those two are wrong.”

“I’ll keep my eyes open,” I said. I was glad she hadn’t noticed the wedding ring. I gave her a final wave before I followed Eli out to the main hall.

Maddy was right to think the man and woman we’d met on the train had a lot they should tell me… if they would. But tracking down Harriet Ritter and Travis Seeley wasn’t at the top of my list.

First we needed to visit Rogelio, and then we had to track down Jake’s body, since I’d been so stupid I hadn’t gone through his pockets.

Eli was waiting for me in the hall. It took me a minute to spot him because there was so much traffic. Doctors, nurses, visitors, patients who could walk… on their own, or with crutches. Orderlies who were mopping or sweeping or pushing rolling bins of laundry.

“After we finish here, we’re getting some sleep,” Eli said, putting his big hand on my shoulder. He looked as tired as I felt.

“You’re right,” I said. “But first…” We went back to the desk at the entrance, and I asked where Rogelio was.

“Who?” Miss Mayhew shook her head. Her white starched cap was anchored so firm to her scalp that it didn’t wobble. “We haven’t admitted anyone by that name. I’d remember. We don’t get many Mexicans.” She was matter-of-fact about that. To give the woman credit, she checked the list of patients despite her doubt. But after, she looked up at us and shook her head again.

I was stunned.

Eli didn’t seem so surprised. “He must have been well enough to walk away on his own,” Eli said. “Miss Mayhew, we need to find the body of another friend. Where would we be able to view the dead?”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Nurse Mayhew said automatically. “The unclaimed deceased have been taken to Hutchison Funeral Home or Debenham’s Funeral Home. Here are the addresses.” She handed us two business cards. I didn’t know if it was funny or outrageous that the funeral homes had cards at the hospital desk, but at least it was convenient.

“Can you tell me if the bodies will be autopsied?” Eli said delicately. Miss Mayhew, a nurse but also a Dixie woman, might find this unseemly.

“I doubt it,” Miss Mayhew snapped, kind of angry, kind of shucking him off. “Sally has four doctors total. There are lots of the living to take care of before they can start looking at the dead.”

“Thanks so much for your help,” I said. I let Eli take my arm and lead me out of the hospital. We went down the steps and past the benches and bushes and flowerbeds. Everything was decorated here.

We turned right and began walking.

Eli said, “We need to talk. And how long has it been since you ate or drank anything?”

“I’m real thirsty.” I was trembling, which is one of the things that happens to me when I’m parched. It had been the longest day of my life and it wasn’t over yet.

“There,” Eli said, pointing to a sign that read BEVERLY’S RESTAURANT. The dim coolness of the place was welcome. It was quiet after the clamor of the hospital. A gray-haired woman in a flowered dress seated us and said, “Your waitress will be right here.” It was too late for lunch and too early for dinner, and there were only two other customers having a quiet, sad talk. We could speak without being overheard.