“Quinn called me a mummy. The bandages attract too much attention. They’ll stop me if I try to walk out of here with them on my face. I can cover the ones on my chest and arms.” He frowned impatiently. “If Quinn gets a move on and brings me—”
“Shut up,” Joe said as he came into the room. He tossed a bundle of blue-green scrubs on the bed. “It takes time to walk in and steal surgical garb from under the noses of everyone in the ER. We’re just lucky it’s a busy night. Tunic, pants, slippers. Do you need any help getting dressed?”
“I can manage.” Newell swung his feet to the floor. “But I’ll need to hurry. I can’t take the chance of—” He inhaled sharply as he stood up. “Shit.”
“Sure?” Joe asked.
Newell nodded and reached for the tunic. “I’ll slip out the door where the ambulance brings in the patients. Bring your car around and wait for me there.”
Eve gazed at him skeptically. “You don’t look very well. There’s a good chance someone will stop you.”
He shook his head. “Not if I do it right and look as if I know where I’m going. If I seem to have a purpose and appear a little impatient, no one is going to get in my way.”
“Will they put out an alarm when they find this room empty?”
“No, they’ll just assume someone else has come in and taken me to an available room. Hospitals aren’t always efficient, and it may take them a few hours just to find out I’m not here. Believe me, I know.” He was carefully working the tunic over his head. “Get out of here. I’m okay.”
“If you say so.” Eve turned away. “But if you go out another door and try to give us the slip, I’m coming after you, Newell.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not well enough to be deceptive. Though I might have tried that if I thought I could get away with it.” He added grimly, “But I’m not the one who is going to suffer if I move too slow. Just have that car at the entrance. I’m not going to be able to do much for a few hours beyond getting to the front door.”
“It will be there.” Joe took Eve’s arm as they left the room. “Tough. I believe we’d better look beyond the personnel record he gave to the hospital.”
“I’m glad he’s tough. He would never have been able to get Beth out of there if he weren’t.” She added as they walked out of the hospital and headed for the parking lot, “He told me that he’d found out that she was attended by all kinds of different doctors during the years. One of the first ones was a German doctor who specialized in memory erasure by hypnosis. It was the principal treatment during her first year at the mental hospital.”
“Did you get his name?”
“Yes, Gelber, but won’t it be in the records?”
“It depends on whether they wanted to have the details of that particular therapy documented.” He opened the car door for her. “And what memory they were determined to erase.”
“You mean the memory that someone tried to kill her on that ski slope?”
“I’m not sure they did.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure of anything right now. We’re only putting together the pieces one by one.”
“And Newell should be able to give us a few more pieces to add to the puzzle.” Eve’s gaze was on the emergency door. “I think he cares about her, Joe.”
“We’ll see. When he first came around her, evidently she was almost a vegetable. It’s difficult to develop any feeling for a woman in that condition.” Joe’s tone was noncommittal. “It could be that he just hates her enemies. It would have the same effect.” He started the car. “There he is. Bold as brass. He’s right. No one is going to stop him.”
Newell’s skin was pale against the blue-green scrubs, but his step was firm as he came toward their car as they pulled up before him. “It’s about time.” He opened the rear door and climbed into the car. “I told you it was an emergency.” He sat up very straight on the seat until they had driven out of the hospital zone. “Okay.” He slumped back on the seat and closed his eyes. “Give me a minute. Get on the highway and head north.”