Part 14 (1/2)
She had to get Megan that Lincoln book, so she navigated to an online bookseller, plugged Lincoln's Ghost into the search, and waited for the book to come up. It appeared, and she clicked SEND TO CART, but then realized she might have to rush it to make sure it got here in time, so she reviewed the order form, changed the s.h.i.+pping preferences, and looked at the s.h.i.+pping addresses, which was when it struck her.
The list contained all the people who were closest to her, both past and present. She'd never deleted the older addresses, and it still had her mother's home address and Sam's old condo address. William could have had a list like that, too, online. He used to shop online and was always sending gifts to doctors, nurses, and secretaries whose offices he called on, to grease his sales calls. Jill even knew his pa.s.swords, but she didn't need them. She had his laptop.
She palmed the mouse, went online, and plugged in the website. The flash screen came up, offering an array of new and upcoming books, and at the top, it read, WELCOME, WILLIAM! She navigated to My Account, which had all of his account settings, including Addresses, and the Default Address was the house on Acorn Street in Philadelphia. She clicked Manage Addresses, and a list of old addresses popped on the screen, some twenty odd long.
Jill s.h.i.+fted onto the edge of her seat. William had sanitized his laptop, but he'd forgotten to erase information that was stored online. The second address on his list was an apartment in Philly, to which he and the girls moved after the divorce, and after that was their old home address. Next was a string of doctors' office addresses, with the names of office managers, followed by a few women with addresses in and around Philadelphia, presumably girlfriends. There was a group of men on the list, but all of them were doctors except for the one she'd hoped to find: Neil Straub, with an apartment address on West 11th Street, in Manhattan.
Jill picked up her phone, called information in New York City, and asked for the phone number, but the automated voice said they didn't have the listing. She pressed 0 for an operator and reached a supervisor who looked up the number, then came back on the line, saying, ”I'm sorry, we can't give out that number.”
Jill hung up, with a growing suspicion that Neil and William had been up to no good. She'd found out as much as she could about Neil for now, but she could find out about the others on the address list, and maybe they would yield information about him or lead to something else. Maybe there would be some connection to Abby, or at the very least, it would give Jill something to do until she could call Abby and the hospitals again.
She printed the address list, then got to work.
Chapter Nineteen.
Jill woke up in front of her laptop at the island, with a shaft of sunlight coming through the windows over the sink. The kitchen was bright and still, and the wall clock read 6:15 A.M. Her first thought was of Abby, and she prayed that she'd called or texted. She picked up her BlackBerry and checked her messages, but there was nothing from Abby, or Victoria. None of her patients had called either, including Padma, but Jill wouldn't rest until Rahul's bloodwork came in.
Beef came over from his dog bed, wagging his tail slowly, and she patted him on his soft head, scrolled to her call log, found Abby's number, and pressed CALL on the way to the back door, to let him out. The call rang as she unlocked the deadbolt, and Beef trotted outside, with Jill behind. It was a clear Sunday morning, the neighborhood quiet and peaceful, because it was too early for leafblowers and lawnmowers. Their backyard was large, a full, flat acre with a pool, bounded by a tall privacy fence. Pin oaks shaded the left end of the property, which was Beef territory.
Jill stood in the suns.h.i.+ne, letting it warm her and hoping Abby would pick up the phone. She listened to the ringing, but there was no answer, so she left another message, then pressed END. She scrolled back to her call log, pressed in the number for the Penn ER, and asked again about Abby. Still no luck. She called Temple and Hahnemann, but Abby hadn't been in there, either.
She checked her phone for the time, and it was 6:35. She wanted to go to Abby's house to check on her, but she'd have to leave soon to be back in time for Megan's meet. She found Victoria's number in the log and pressed CALL.
”Jill?” Victoria answered, groggy. ”Why the h.e.l.l are you calling me so early?”
”I'm sorry to bother you, but I didn't hear from Abby. Did you?”
”No. You woke me up.”
”I'm sorry, really. She hasn't returned my calls, and I want to check on her, but I don't have the keys. Do you know if any of the neighbors have a set?”
”I don't know, and are you nuts? What's your problem, Jill? Stay out of it, would you?”
Jill had expected the reaction. She kept her tone conciliatory. ”I'm worried she fell down the stairs, hurt herself, or can't get to the door somehow.”
”She didn't fall. She's not an old lady. Jeez!”
”If she was drinking, she could have fallen and aspirated her own vomit. It happens, Victoria. People die from that.”
Victoria scoffed. ”I thought you said she wouldn't go out partying last night.”
Jill bit her tongue. ”What if I was wrong? Do you have keys?”
”Yes.”
”Will you meet me there?” Jill asked, hoping against hope. She couldn't drive to Victoria's apartment in Central Jersey and still get back in time for Megan's meet.
”Why would I do that?”
”Because you love your sister.”
”Right,” Victoria shot back. ”I love her enough not to enable her.”
Jill wasn't getting anywhere, so she went for it. ”Victoria, I think a car might have followed her to my house the other night, and I think it's been following me. It's a black SUV, and the license plate was T something. Do you know it? Does she date anybody who drives a black SUV?”
”No.” Victoria scoffed. ”How do you know it was following her?”
”I don't, for sure, but it had one headlight. I noticed it because it was a padiddle, that game we used to play.”
”You think a padiddle is following her? Really? Did you spy it with your little eye?”
Jill didn't know how to convince her. ”Besides that, the pills that were found in your father's bedroom were prescribed by a doctor who's been dead for years. It was a forged prescription.”
”Are you saying Dad forged his prescription?”
”Either he or someone trying to-”
”He would never do that. Are you crazy? Really, are you? None of this is your business.”
Jill wanted those keys. ”Victoria, you don't know this, but if you meet me, I can explain. He did it once before-”
Victoria gasped. ”Stop it right now. Did you wake me up to trash Dad? What's the matter with you? You're a sick woman.”
”Please, meet me and give me the keys, for Abby's sake.”
”No, this is all about you. She's fine, you're the freak.” Victoria hung up, and Jill pressed END, agitated. Beef came trotting forward, wagging his tail, and she turned to see Sam coming out the back door with a soft smile, in his T-s.h.i.+rt, running shorts, and bare feet. He met her and gave her a big hug, holding her close.
”Sounds like that went well,” he said, sadly, and as Jill hugged him back, she felt that the tension of last night had diminished, and they were reconnecting, almost back to themselves again.
”I'd kiss you, but my breath stinks.”
”Kiss me, anyway.”
Jill went on tiptoe to give him a kiss. ”Tastes like stale coffee, right?”
”No.” Sam smiled. ”Tastes like wife.”
”I love you.” Jill smiled back, but her thoughts returned to Abby. ”Are we allowed to talk about Abby?”
”Yes.” Sam smiled, crookedly.
”She's still not answering, and I want to go downtown and check on her. Megan has a meet today, and Courtney's mom is taking her. It starts at noon but I can be back in time, don't you think? She won't swim until one o'clock or so.”