Pretending to care isnt how I do things.
Its the name of the game, come on.
God, Mark. Do you really think Im that callous?
Danson shrugged and switched on the radio, tuning it to a country station. Kate turned to the window, retreated into her thoughts and confronted the truth.
Danson may be an oaf, but he was partly right. Covering tragedies involved invading and exploiting the privacy of people at the most painful times of their lives, and Kate hated doing it. She always reached inside herself to be as honest, compassionate and professional as possible.
But Jenna Coopers case was one of the most agonizing shed ever reported on. Look at all Jenna had suffered: her babys missing, her homes gone. How much more was that poor woman supposed to endure? And even more heartbreaking was Jennas belief that she was to blame.
As the city flowed by, her words echoed: I was holding him but I let him go. Its my fault that I lost him.
As the city flowed by, her words echoed: I was holding him but I let him go. Its my fault that I lost him.
Thats why for Kate this was more than a news story. Not because so much was riding on her internship with Newslead-it cut deeper, forcing her to face her own guilt over her little sisterpulling her back years to the accident when shed gripped Vanessas hand
the cold numbing her fingers, felt them loosening, unable to hang onuntil Vanessa slipped away
I let her go.
It also forced Kate to face her guilt about her daughter.
She looked at her phone and traced her fingers over Graces sweet face on the screen. Oh God, how she missed her. She was horrible for leaving her. Im so sorry. But there were no jobs for her in Ohio. Theyd run out of money and options.
Kate didnt know what the future held for them. She was giving this story all she had but it was taking a toll. She was exhausted and filled with remorse for thinking of herself. She accepted something shed known since her first days as a reporter: when you covered tragedies, a piece of you died inside.
Not long after Kate had returned to the near-empty newsroom and started working on her story, Tommy Koop materialized at her desk.
Hey, Tommy, where is everybody?
He glanced around. Chucks out. Dorotheas running things for today. Be very careful.
Why?
Tommy leaned in and dropped his voice. Shes taken a few extra spoons of bitch in her coffee today.
As Kate nodded her thanks for the warning, Dorothea summoned her to her office.
The news editor was at her desk, eyes on her monitor, eyebrows raised as she stared at the updated news budget list.
Im reading your slug line regarding todays story. She turned to Kate. Is this the best youve got?
Yes. Theyve just discovered theyve lost their home while they continue to agonize about their missing baby.
Its tragic but a bit soft.
Its not soft. And its exclusive. Did you see Mark Dansons photos? Theyre good.
Not yet. Couldnt you find anything newsier, harder?
I contacted every source and official connected to the story-theres nothing new so far.
What about the FBI? Any leads after the motel, any more new tips in their search for their persons of interest?
Nothing, theyre still processing the motel room. Theyve told me nothing so far.
Dorotheas eyebrows climbed a little more and she turned back to her monitor.
Fine, well have to go with this, she said. I dont really need to remind you that the time on the internship is winding down. In a few more days, Chuck and I will have to make a decision on the successful candidate.
Im aware of that.
Mandy and Roy will be assigned to help with coverage of the Presidents visit. Im sure well find something for you.
But I thought Chuck wanted me to stay on this story to its conclusion?
Yes, thats something Ill discuss with him when he gets back from his meeting. Thatll be all, Kate, thanks.
46
Shreveport, Louisiana
Ed Bascom sat on a bench in the park across the street from the Beau Soleil West Medical Center, as his subject had instructed him to do.
Her name was Jan Marie Cross and she was a nurse at the hospital.
Bascom was confident she would tell him what he needed to know for his client Hedda Knight in Chicago.
I sure as hell hope so.
The adoption lawyer had been pathologically demanding with her relentless texts and calls for him to confirm that Remy Toxton had delivered the baby and to locate the child.
Offer people money, Ed. I dont care how you do it, just do it!
Since the earlier information hed obtained about Arkansas dead-ended, Bascom had gone full tilt on the case. Hed returned to Lufkin, Texas, and Remys neighborhood for more door-knocking, finding a neighbor hed missed the first time.
Ned Weller, a retired electrician, had been walking his dog when he saw paramedics with All Aid Ambulance Service take a young woman from the house in the night. No siren or lights, so few people wouldve noticed. Ned was good with time and dates because hed always walked Rider, his retriever, after Letterman and that night Clooney was his guest.
As all private investigators know, medical information is confidential and there are laws against obtaining medical history or records. Bascom acknowledged that when he went to All Aids office and worked a ruse to find out where their ambulance had taken Remy and about her condition.
He claimed to be her estranged dad; that Remys mother had a terminal condition and he needed to learn more about their daughters, and possibly their grandchilds, situation before his wife died, and how he was praying people could find it in their heart to help him.
Oh no, that is so sad. The assistant at the office blinked fast when Bascom showed an old picture of himself with his wife and daughter, saying it was Remy.
The assistant had then gone into the database, reviewed the call then put Bascom in touch with the two paramedics whod transported, his daughter, out of state. You should talk to them, she said, scrawling numbers on a slip of paper. Give it a moment. Ill call them first and explain.
Bascoms success with the assistant led him to Don Dunlap, one of the paramedics, who was not as easily moved by Bascoms story. In fact, Dunlap was reluctant to help. But, after Bascom suggested he would consider compensating him for his time, Dunlap agreed to meet him privately the next evening at his sons baseball practice.
Dunlap was nervous at the ballpark. Look, he said. How do I know youre her estranged father? Talking about a patient is risky for me.
I understand. Shes got a boyfriend, Mason, Bascom said. He may have been with her at the time. Hes an ex-convict. Were worried. Remys mother is terminal and weve got a lot of pain in our lives to make up for. And if Remys got a baby now, well, maybe my wife can pass knowing that weve made a new start, you know?
Bascom looked off to the laughing children playing on the diamond.
Dunlap looked down, kicking gently at gravel as he thought.
Okay, he said. I wont tell you much and Im not giving you any paper.
Any help would be appreciated.
Before I left work today I looked at my patient chart for that trip. She was having trouble breathing, which can happen in the third trimester. She was not bleeding and the fetal tone was fine. But the mothers vitals were a little off. She was having some pain. We got her on oxygen, stabilized her. We transported her to hospital-thats really all I can tell you.
Wait, where? What hospital?
Out of state. We were advised to take her to Shreveport, to the Beau Soleil West Medical Center. Its a faith-based nonprofit, mightve had a connection to her boyfriends employer. I think hes a carpenter.
Bascom thanked Dunlap and offered him cash, which he rejected.
I changed my mind about that. My old man walked out on us when I was a kid and never tried to reach me the way youre doing. It just got me thinking.
Bascom looked at him, nodded and turned to leave.
Bascom looked at him, nodded and turned to leave.
Another thing, Dunlap said. I figure youre going to Louisiana to learn more.
I am.
One of the names we had for the hospital was Jan Marie Cross. You might want to start with her. She was a nurse with the team treating Remy when we delivered her there.
Thank you. May I ask one more favor?
Go ahead.
Would you mind letting her know, confidentially of course, as a kind of follow-up, about my family concern about Remy? Sort of let her know Im on my way to Shreveport and need help?
Bascom gave Dunlap his cell phone number.
If it helps bring a family together, Dunlap said, Ill consider it.
Bascoms work on Dunlap resulted in him having several heartfelt telephone conversations with Jan Marie Cross, a nurse at the Beau Soleil West Medical Center hospital.
With each call Bascom opened up about how things went wrong for him and his wife and their relationship with their daughter, Remy. Eventually Cross opened up about being a single mom and her teenage sons online gambling problem and how he ran up three thousand dollars in debt on her credit card. Money she did not have. Bascom said he would give her the money for her peace of mind if she could help him with his.
Thats when Cross, whod been extremely nervous about breaching patient confidentiality, agreed.
You sound like a kind man, she said. Theres a park across the street from the hospital. Meet me there.
So now here he was, waiting.
Bascom had followed Crosss instructions to meet her at this time, at this bench, and to be reading a copy of the Shreveport Times.
Five minutes passed, then ten.
He knew how uneasy Cross was and how it was always a roll of the dice dealing with people in these situations. Hed gone to a bank and obtained three thousand dollars in cash from the account Hedda had established for the case.
Still, anything could happen.
While waiting at the bench, Bascom surveyed the area, noticed an older couple in the distance strolling along the grass, then a man with an eReader, before he saw a woman in her mid-forties coming toward him from the hospital. She was wearing blue scrubs, just as Cross described.
She had a plain face that was taut with concern.
Ed? she said.
Yes. Jan?
Yes.
Bascom set his paper aside for her to sit next to him, but she declined.
I cant stay long. I debated about coming.
I know.
Its become complicated. I felt I had to see you, since youd come this far. She cupped her hands over her face. Im sorry but I cant help you.