Foreign Body (37 page)

"He's truly dead?" Shashank questioned, with anger and disbelief.

"I have it from a good source."

"How could this have happened? He was a professional. He was no amateur."

"People make mistakes."

"Not Dhaval," Shashank growled. "He was the best. Listen, I want this woman taken care of."

"We feel similarly, but she's now been alerted that someone wants her dead. I think we better handle this problem from this end."

"You'd better!" Shashank groused. "I don't want you to have to start looking over your shoulder to and from work." With that said, he hung up.

Ramesh dropped the phone back into its cradle. He looked up at Naresh, who'd finished his call as well.

"Nothing yet," Naresh said. "But they've barely begun the investigation. It's not going to be easy. There are lots of private academic doctors who have admitting privileges at other nonacademic private hospitals, and most have admitting privileges at more than one. It's more for convenience's sake for the patients in terms of location, and they apparently don't admit that many, as they are not supposed to have private patients."

"Your people are going to continue to work on it, I presume?"

"Very much so. What do you want me to do?"

"Keep tabs on the Hernandez woman. Supposedly, a friend is coming tonight who is a forensic pathologist. Remember, there are to be no autopsies. Luckily, in this situation, we have the law on our side."

Chapter 28

OCTOBER 18, 2007

THURSDAY, 4:32 P.M.

NEW DELHI, INDIA

Cal had his legs crossed and his feet on the corner of the library table. Santana had gotten him a bunch of articles about medical tourism that had been springing up in the U.S. newspapers. They had all picked up on the three CNN segments about the New Delhi deaths, and on the three networks' evening news broadcasts. People were eating it up. Cal's favorites were those laced with personal stories of people canceling scheduled trips, mostly to India but also to Thailand.

With everything suddenly going so well, Cal should have been ecstatic, but he wasn't.

Like a toothache, the issue involving the Hernandez woman had been bothering him all day. Early that morning, he'd called back the anesthesiologist and the pathologist, and again had gone over the hypothetical scenario involving succinylcholine. If the two doctors had been at all suspicious, they didn't show it in the slightest, and in certain respects competed with each other in making certain the diabolical scheme was foolproof.

When he had hung up from the conference call, he'd felt reassured. Unfortunately, it hadn't lasted, and the issue had slowly wormed its way back into his consciousness.

What could it have been that the pesky medical student had come across that had initiated her suspicions? Even after the Hernandez woman's departure, there were bound to be others who'd be just as curious and stumble on the same mysterious and potentially fatal flaw.

"Hey, man!" Durell called out from the library doorway.

Cal waved. "What's up?"

"You want to come out and take a look at the organization's new ride?"

"Why not," he said. He let his feet fall to the floor with a plop and stood up.

The front door to the mansion then slammed shut.

"Can we hold off just for a few minutes?" Cal asked. "If that's Veena and Samira, I'd like to get a debriefing. I've been worrying over that Hernandez chick all day, ever since you rightly said we should find out what made her suspicious. I imagine it has something to do with her being a medical student, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it could be. I even called the two doctors we've originally consulted in Charlotte, North Carolina. As far as I can figure out, we've thought of everything."

"I'm for finding out," Durell admitted. "Otherwise, it's going to be a constant worry, you know what I'm saying?"

"I know what you're saying," Cal agreed, as Veena, Samira, and Raj came into the library. They were in a good mood, singing a song they all knew from childhood. Samira broke off and went up to Durell for a hug and a real kiss. Veena went to Cal but availed herself of only a French-style peck on each cheek.

Raj literally threw himself laughing onto the couch as he finished the last refrain of the childhood ditty.

"You guys are happy," Cal commented, with the suggestion he wasn't.

"It was an easy day for all of us," Veena said. "Raj was the only one assigned a patient, and he was just a hernia repair. Samira and I had to look for things to do."

"How come?"

Veena and Samira looked at each other. "We're not sure. Maybe a few cancellations.

Maybe Nurses International is doing too good a job." They laughed.

"Wouldn't that be ironic," Cal said. "Anyway, what's the status with the Hernandez woman? Any feedback today?"

"I was free around two-thirty," Veena said, "so I went down to talk to the case manager. I asked her about Maria Hernandez's body and whether it had been taken care of. She cackled mockingly and said, 'Of course not.' Apparently, they had gone to the extent of offering to have the body taken to Varanasi to have it cremated on the banks of the Ganges, but the granddaughter turned it down, so they are completely frustrated.

Tomorrow the medical examiner friend is coming to the hospital, which shouldn't make the slightest difference because they absolutely refuse to do an autopsy. But there's clear sailing in sight. The case manager told me they are getting a writ tomorrow from a magistrate to remove and cremate the body. So it should be over tomorrow sometime."

"Same for Benfatti," Samira said.

"Same for David Lucas," Raj said. "The magistrate writ is to cover all three bodies."

"You all haven't been inquiring about your bodies, have you?" Cal asked, with mild alarm.

"Yes, we have," Samira said. "Is that a problem? We will all feel better when the bodies are gone."

"Please, no more! Don't call any attention to yourselves by asking specifically about the bodies."

All three shrugged. "We didn't think we were causing undue attention," Samira said.

"The situation is general hospital gossip. It's not as if we are the only ones talking about it."

"Do me a favor and don't participate," Cal said.

"My patient's death certificate was signed today," Raj said. "But still the wife wants an autopsy on the advice of Jennifer Hernandez."

"What was the official cause of death?" Cal asked.

"Heart attack," Raj said. "Heart attack with emboli and stroke."

"With all three bodies still around," Cal said, "maybe we should put off doing any more patients for a few days."

Veena sat up straight from where she'd collapsed into a leather club chair. "I agree wholeheartedly. No more deaths until all this chaos caused by Jennifer Hernandez is cleared up."

"Someone should let Petra know," Cal said. "One of her nurses called in today to say she had a good candidate."

Veena bounded out of the chair. "I'll do it. I didn't even think we should have done one last night." Without waiting for a response, she left the room.

Raj got up from the couch. "I think I'll take a shower," he said.

"Likewise," Samira said. She gave Durell a final hug and followed Raj out of the room.

Cal glanced at Durell. "Let's see those wheels," he said.

"You got it," Durell responded.

"I'm thinking we should do something proactive about this Jennifer Hernandez," Cal said, as they passed out of the library and headed toward the front door.

"I told you, if we don't find out what has made her suspicious, we're always going to feel like we have our dicks hanging out. Someone else is going to see it and call us on it."

"That's exactly what has me worried. It's a bummer it has to be now, just when everything else is going so smoothly."

"What do you have in mind?" Durell asked. He opened the mansion's front door and held it for Cal.

"I thought I'd call Sachin, Mr. Motorcycle Jacket. He handled Veena's father perfectly. I thought of him because he called me yesterday to say he checked on Basant Chandra Wednesday and the guy panicked. He doesn't think he has to see him again for a couple of weeks. I think he could handle Jennifer Hernandez with ease. It's a much more simple job."

"What would you have him do?"

"Snatch her and bring her here. We can lock her in that room under the garage until she talks."

"Then what?" Durell asked. He was standing next to a burgundy Toyota Land Cruiser. It has seen some miles and had its share of dents, but the wear and tear only seemed to give it character.

Cal put his right hand lightly on the vehicle's metallic surface and walked a complete circuit around it, letting his fingers trail along. He then opened the driver's-side door and glanced inside. The interior was equally worn.

"I like it," Cal said. "How does it run?"

"Just fine. It's been a workhorse for an architectural firm."

"Perfect," Cal said. He shut the door firmly, and there was a reassuring click.

"So what will you do with Hernandez after you learn what you want her to tell us?"

"Nothing. I'd just pay Sachin to have her disappear. I don't really want to know where, but my guess is that she'd end up somewhere at the bottom of the landfill."

Durell nodded. He wondered how many people had already disappeared there. It was so convenient.

"Hey, man! I love the car," Cal said, his spirits rising. He gave one of the front tires a kick. "If we need it, it will be perfect. Good job."

"Thanks."

Chapter 29

OCTOBER 18, 2007

THURSDAY, 10:32 P.M.

NEW DELHI, INDIA

Juggling all her injection paraphernalia, Laurie made her way to one of the plane's lavatories. After locking the door, she spread out her gonadotropin pharmacopeia on the tiny shelf. She deftly filled the syringe with the prescribed amount of follicular-stimulating hormone and then equally deftly gave herself the subcutaneous injection on the anterior aspect of her thigh. Ten-thirty p.m. Indian time was only an hour later than noon in New York City, which was when she gave herself her shot each and every day.

At that moment they were flying over northwestern India, soon to begin their approach into New Delhi.

Finishing with the injection, Laurie regarded herself in the mirror. She looked terrible.

Her hair was an absolute mess, and the dark circles beneath her eyes were drooping down in the direction of the corners of her mouth. Worst of all, she felt just generally dirty. But no wonder. First there'd been the overnight flight to Paris, during which she'd managed to sleep only a couple of hours. Then there'd been the three-hour layover, which was mostly needed to get to the next departure gate. And then there had been this current eight-hour marathon. What had her irritated was Jack, who had no trouble sleeping. It just didn't seem fair.

Laurie picked up the debris from her shot and poked it into the trash. The used needle went back into her purse, where she carried the medications and the fresh syringes. She didn't want to be irresponsible. She washed her hands and again looked at herself in the mirror. It was hard not to, since most of the wall behind the sink in the Lilliputian bathroom was a mirror. She couldn't help but wonder what effect this sudden trip was going to have on her infertility saga. She had absolutely no idea why she'd not gotten pregnant so far, and hoped the travel wouldn't add to whatever her problem was.

She opened the door and stepped out. Sensing that between her reaction to Jack's sleeping and her pondering her inability to get pregnant, she was getting herself worked up, she made a conscious effort to calm down. She hoped that over the course of the visit she would be capable of keeping her fragile emotions in check so she'd be able to provide the support Jennifer needed, which was the major stimulus for making the trip.

At the same time, Laurie admitted to herself that she was also there to appease her own conscience. Maria's passing had definitely provoked a certain amount of guilt.

Back in her seat, Laurie looked at Jack. He was still sound asleep and in the exact same position as he was when she left him five minutes earlier. He was the picture of relaxation, with a slight insouciant smile on his handsome face. His hair was certainly messed up, but since he wore it short in a kind of Julius Caesar style, it didn't look nearly as bad as her tangled mop.

As swiftly as the irritation about Jack's sleeping ability had come over her a few minutes earlier, now the opposite feeling surged through, bringing a smile of appreciation to her own face. Laurie loved Jack more than she had thought she was capable, and felt blessed.

At that moment the plane's intercom crackled to life. The captain welcomed everyone to India and announced that they had begun their descent into the Indira Gandhi International Airport and would be arriving in twenty minutes.

With a surge of love, Laurie reached down and cradled Jack's head in both hands and gave him a sustained kiss on the lips. His eyes popped open and blinked, then he returned the gesture. Laurie gave him a broad smile. "We're here," she said.

Jack sat up, stretched, and tried to look out the window. "I don't see a damn thing."

"You won't. Remember, it's ten-forty at night. We're landing around eleven."

The landing was unremarkable. Both Laurie and Jack felt a definite excitement as they exited the plane and walked through the terminal. There was no problem at passport control, nor did they have to wait for luggage since they hadn't checked any. They were waved through customs without hesitation.

As Laurie and Jack came up the ramp outside the customs area, Jennifer began waving wildly and shouting their names. Her impatience was such that she ran down a few steps to meet them, enveloping Laurie in a hug. "Welcome to India," Jennifer said gleefully.

"Thank you, thank you for coming. You have no idea how much it means to me."

"You're welcome," Laurie said, laughing, somewhat taken aback by Jennifer's exuberance. Until Jennifer let go, she was unable to walk.

Jennifer then hugged Jack with equal enthusiasm. "You, too," she said.