this when he said rather incredulously, “You’re thinking about stealing them, aren’t you?”
“Not steal, but I would like to get my hands on them. The problem is, I don’t know how to get access to the archive room or where in the room I would need to look.”
“I’ll help.”
“How?”
“Well, the way I see it, you need information, and there are people who work in the archive room, so why not just ask the people who work in the room to find what you want?”
“Because it’s against hospital policy to share employee records. If I could get a copy of my friend’s file that would help, but I’m not the patient, so doctor-patient confidentiality will keep them from sharing that with me.”
“Why don’t you just ask your friend to come and get the file?”
“If I have to I will, but she’s going through a really tough time right now. The last thing I want to do is force her into a place where she has some truly horrible memories.”
“Fair enough.”
Clearly something was on his mind, so Ember asked, “What are you thinking?” But she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.
He flashed her a grin that got her heart beating a bit faster. “I’ve a way with people.”
“Of that, I have no doubt, but this is insane. I can’t pull you into this.”
“You’re not. I’m volunteering,” he said, and wiggled his brows at her.
“And the fact that I’m actually considering it means I’m going to hell.”
“I can’t believe I agreed to this.” They were walking down the administration wing of the hospital on their way to—as Brandon so simply put it—ask for the information they wanted.
“Are you sure you can do this?” Ember asked.
He grinned and the sight of it was both disarming and very familiar to Ember. When he noticed her stunned expression, he said, “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing, you just looked a lot like a friend of mine for a minute.”
The grin turned into a full-on smile. “Sweet.” And then he added, “Watch and learn.”
Before she could ask him what he was talking about, he strolled away from her and headed to the desk where two women were working. Ember stood off to the side and watched as Brandon turned on the charm; even as a kid of sixteen, he had the women eating out of his hand. She watched as the one woman shook her head no, but Brandon wasn’t discouraged. After only about five minutes, the woman headed into the room behind the desk. A few minutes later she came back out with a file, photocopied the contents, and handed them to him. Ember was convinced that she was definitely going to prison.
In the next minute, Brandon turned and walked back to her all loose-limbed and easy. “Piece of cake.”
“You are entirely too good at that.”
“It’s a gift.”
“What did you tell them?” she asked.
He shrugged before he said, “That I was looking for my birth mom.”
They headed outside to a bench before Brandon handed Ember the file. There had been two nurses in with Darcy when she’d delivered, a Nora Jerkins and a Lacy Shane.
“I wonder if these women still work at the hospital?”
“Do you want me to go back and ask?”
Ember couldn’t help but smile—he was just so freaking adorable. “Thanks, but I’ll call my uncle.”
She reached for her phone and did just that.
“Hey, Ember.”
“Can you do me a favor?”
“Sure thing, honey.”
“Can you look into a Nora Jerkins and Lacy Shane? I need to know if they still work at Mt. Sinai. And I also would like their home addresses.”
“Sure, I’ll google them—there’s probably an online directory. Is this about Darcy?”
“Yeah.”
“Give me a minute.” Brandon stood and started to pace around while Ember waited the few minutes before her uncle said, “Okay. Nora died in 2002. Lacy Shane doesn’t work at the hospital; she quit in 2004. I have her address if you want to write it down.”
She pulled a pen from her purse and jotted it down.
“Let me know what you find out, and be careful, Ember.”
“I will, thanks, Uncle Josh.”
Brandon was now leaning up against a tree as if he had not a care in the world.
“Find them?” he asked.
“Nora died, but Lacy is still around. I’ve got her address.”
“So let’s go talk to her.”
“Now?”
“Do you have anything else to do?”
He was right; she had the entire day open. “Okay, and after I’ll buy you lunch.”
“Good deal.”
Lacy Shane lived in a rundown row house in Queens, so if she had been paid off all