Page 33 of Baby Me
I didn’t bother responding to her and left immediately. My cousin was a nurse at the hospital. All the information I needed to know would eventually come from her, since she had access. Anna didn’t need to know why I needed the information, just that I had an interest. Maybe, I could trust her with just enough to tell her that all I wanted was to help Tripp out and make sure he had everything he needed for his new baby. She wasn’t the brightest of girls when we were growing up together, so the chances of her putting two-and-two together when the staff discovered the kid dead one day would be minuscule.
Besides, it wasn’t like she’d be able to turn me in. She would be considered an accessory to murder if she tried after giving me all the information needed to commit the crime.
Chapter 15
Tripp - Three days later
“Tripp Martin?”
I turned to see a woman standing there that looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place her. She obviously knew me since she called me by my full name.
“Yeah,” I answered and stood waiting for her to catch up to me.
She huffed and puffed as she finally made the final step to close the distance between us. “Sorry, I tried to catch you before you left the floor where your daughter is, but the elevator door closed too quickly.”
“Is something wrong with Coral?” I asked. My heart ticked up a few beats as I wondered what could have changed in the time I’d walked downstairs to go grab a drink for Vina and myself.
“You don’t remember who I am, do you?”
“Can’t say as I do.”
“Right. Well, I’m June’s cousin. Anna.”
“That’s why you seemed a little familiar.” I nodded at her. “So, this isn’t about Coral then?”
“No. I mean yes. Look, I don’t know. There’s something I needed to tell you, and Jesus there’s no easy way to do this.”
“I find just spitting things out helps the situation and relieves the tension.”
The woman nodded and swallowed hard, like it almost hurt to do so. “June came to me a couple days ago wanting information.” I nodded while waiting for her to say more. “She wanted to know about your daughter, what she was in the hospital for, what type of treatments she was receiving, and a whole slew of other questions. She claimed it was simply because she was concerned as the two of you are dating again.”
“We were until the day I found out I had a daughter and that she was in the hospital. June said a few horrible things to me and my other kids. I haven’t spoken to her since that day. I’m not sure why she would want information about a child I just found out about.”
“That’s the thing that worries me. She wanted me to give her all that information.” She stumbled over her words quickly to assure me that it never happened. “I didn’t tell her anything and when I refused, she demanded that I help her gain access to Coral’s room.”
“She did what?” I yelled angrily.
“I didn’t do that either, but I thought you should know because it’s not okay for her to do that. I won’t help her, but I’m worried because she seemed really determined and one of the other nurses has been showing a picture around to everyone on that floor. I’m fairly certain it was my cousin, and she was on the floor where your daughter is. That was a few days before she came to me asking questions.”
“I need to get back up there. I just left Vina and my daughter alone.” Panic hit and I started running as I pulled my phone out and dialed the clubhouse. “Get Scout on the line, I need her.” The demand was past my lips before the prospect who answered could even offer up the usual greeting.
It took me no time to get back upstairs to check on my girls. When I found Davina nodding off in a chair next to our daughter’s crib, I quietly made my way back to the nurse’s station and gave them a picture of June.
“This woman should not be allowed on the floor at all, but definitely not near my daughter. If you see her, I want a phone call immediately and security better handle business before I get here.”
“That’s the woman I saw lurking around a few days ago,” one of them said. I turned to her, and she pulled her phone out to show me a picture of June in an oversized coat, a floppy hat, and large sunglasses dangling from her fingers.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know who she was trying to get to. I asked who she was here to see, but she tried some fake crying stunt, like she needed to pull herself together before she went in to see whoever she was supposedly here to visit. When I questioned her again, she took off for the bathroom or something, but I called out to her and was able to snap this picture. I circulated it with the nurses because she seemed suspicious, but I didn’t think to show our patients or their families.” The nurse seems lost in thought for a minute before speaking again. “Come to think of it, she showed up not long after you and Coral’s mother did that day.”
“Thanks for letting me know.”
I walked away because I knew the nurse didn’t mean anything by forgetting to let us know. She had simply been overwhelmed with work and then forgot. That was life and there was no reason to point out to her that her inaction could have gotten someone killed. Especially since I didn’t think June had it in her to do that. She was probably just curious about the woman and child who would make it impossible for us to be together again like she wanted.
Part of me felt a little bad about it, since she had finally divorced her husband. The other part thought I was setting her free to go find true happiness elsewhere. It wasn’t something she could find with me. That much had become evident before we even found out about my daughter.
At that point, June hadn’t met my kids yet because she kept claiming she wasn’t ready. But considering the low-level of anger that seemed to radiate from her and the pure fire in her eyes if I even mentioned my late wife, it was clear it would always be a problem. She could claim that she’d put our history behind us, but she lost me to Kim when my late wife got pregnant with Kip. The resentment over what Kim and I did obviously rubbed off on Kip in her eyes and was pushed onto my daughter when Star came along as well.
Instead of heading back to the hospital room where my baby girl and her mom were resting, I called the clubhouse again. They hadn’t been able to find Scout and for some fucking reason or other I didn’t have her cell phone number. That was something that needed fixing, especially since she was our Tech Officer now. It was a new position we created for her – like a Sgt. At Arms but on the digital side of things.