“Call security,” he said to one of the other staff members.
I looked over at the woman who was a few years older than me. She turned regretful eyes on me but when over to the phone to do Dr. Pines’s bidding.
“I don’t understand what’s going on,” I told him. “If you would just explain, we could sort this all out.”
“Reese?” Ms. Anderson called, a worried gaze on her face as her eyes shifted between Dr. Pines and me.
“It’s okay, Ms. Anderson.”
“It’s not okay,” Dr. Pines insisted. “You are a detriment to the residents.”
I gasped, outraged. “What are you talking about?”
“You need to leave. We’re terminating your ability to volunteer at Creekview.”
My body started to vibrate with indignation. One of the security guards appeared at the lounge’s door. “Ma’am, please come with me.”
My jaw dropped. “Rob,” I said, knowing his name since we often talked on my way in or out of the nursing home. “You know me.”
He hesitated, his eyes going over to Dr. Pines.
“She needs to be escorted out. And take her volunteer badge.”
I looked at Rob.I’m sorry, he mouthed as he approached and stuck out his hand for my badge.
“Reese, where are you going?”
My heart cracked in half at the despair in Ms. Anderson’s voice. “Couldn’t I just have a movie night with them tonight, and we can fix this all tomorrow?” I begged Dr. Pines.
His face hardened, and he didn’t even bother answering my question. He looked over at Rob. “If she remains in the building for another five minutes, I will call the police.”
“Police?” I bellowed. “I haven’t broken any laws.”
“We’ll start with breaking and entering for that incident with my office.”
“I—” Rob caught me by the elbow and pulled me toward the door.
“C’mon, Reese,” he said in my ear. “I don’t think he’s playing about the police.”
“I was looking for the bathroom,” I said lamely.
Dr. Pines didn’t say anything as he scowled in my direction. When we were a few feet out of the lounge, I heard him bark at the employees to take the residents back to their rooms. I swallowed the lump in my throat when I heard Ms. Anderson and the other resident ask why they couldn’t watch the movie for the night.
“I’m going to need that.” Rob pointed at the badge still pinned over my breast pocket.
My fingers trembled as I pulled the tag off my shirt and handed it to him. I didn’t even look at him as I walked back to my car with my head lowered. My mind raced with all types of thoughts about what’d just happened.
The vicious look on Dr. Pines’s face told a sinister story. He hadn’t been frightened for the safety of the residents. He wanted to get rid of me. Whatever it was that he didn’t want me to find, I knew it was something harmful to the residents at Creekview.
Any doubt that I had before evaporated in that instant.
I sat behind the wheel of my car, trying to figure out how to handle this. After a few seconds of debate, I shoved my pride aside and dialed Chael’s number. He hadn’t called or texted me in days, but this couldn’t wait. The phone rang and rang and then cut off. There wasn’t a voice mail that picked up or anything.
I grumbled and ended the call before pulling up the information for LS Investigations. It was well after their office hours, but I hoped that someone might still be in the office or had one of those systems where an unanswered office call automatically transferred to one of the PIs or something like that.
No luck with that. The company’s voice mail answered. I hung up before leaving a message. Part of me thought about letting it go and waiting until Monday, but I couldn’t. All I could think about was the sound of Ms. Anderson’s voice as she asked about the movie.
It reminded me of when I was a little girl, and my nana would get me all dressed up because she said my mother was on her way to pick me up for the day. Only, hours later, to find out, she wasn’t coming.
