CHAPTER FIVE

C HAPTER F IVE

Salem

T he next morning, the Spangler family arrived at the hospital, with the exception of Christina, who was on assignment with Doctors Without Borders on the other side of the world. Helen promised she would keep her daughter informed of Milton’s health. At that moment, he was in stable condition but still in the cardiac unit. They hoped he could be moved to a private suite, but it might be days before that happened.

The unit allowed only one visitor at a time, so Helen went inside. Patricia, Benjamin, Gary, and Oliver waited in the small room outside the patients’ ward. Patricia had a blank look on her face, Benjamin’s expression was one of deep concern, and Oliver appeared bored. He was checking his newest wrist acquisition, a Breitling, when his phone vibrated in his Luca Faloni navy blazer pocket. He frowned when he saw the caller ID. It was Dickie Morton. Oliver stepped far enough away to have a conversation.

“What’s up?” he huffed into the phone.

“We got a problem.”

“No doubt.” A problem would be the only reason for a call from Dickie while Milton was in the hospital. “What kind of problem?”

“One of the packages is missing.”

“Which one?” Oliver asked.

“The first one.”

“You can’t be serious.” Oliver’s voice got louder.

“Like a heart attack. Oops, sorry,” Dickie replied. “When Dirk went out for his cigarette break, he noticed the glass on the pavement.”

Oliver looked around to see if anyone was listening or watching his facial expressions. He stepped farther down the hall. “You get your men on the stick. Pronto.” Oliver punched the red button with so much force, the phone flew out of his hand. An orderly was heading his way and was about to pick it up when Oliver grabbed it. “Thanks. I got it.”

“You alright, man?” the orderly asked.

Oliver pulled himself together. “Yeah. Thanks. Dad’s in the cardiac unit.” He jerked his head toward the big wood-and-glass swinging doors. That was a good enough excuse for his agitated behavior.

* * *

The night before, during the commotion of Milton’s rush to the hospital, news had broken of another missing person. This time, the woman had disappeared from one of their inns. The one in Eugene. Oliver had listened to the news as he followed the ambulance. His heart rate was up; his hands and face broke out in sweat. His new side hustle could be in serious jeopardy.

Oliver had thought he had all his bases covered. Hush money to the local highway patrol, and a nice payout to the night transportation supervisor. The small hotel staff also got a kick-back. No one would ever think of going against the Spangler family, especially if they were employed by the company. Someone hadn’t done their job that morning. A new young female housekeeper at one of the inns was in search of extra cleaning products and accidentally found her way into the powder mill behind the laundry room. Two men wearing white jumpsuits, with head coverings, face-piece respirators, and disposable shoe coverings, were standing over a long stainless-steel table. At first glance, she thought they might be doing a deep cleaning of the storage room, but then she saw a machine pouring out white powder into small plastic bags. They immediately apprehended her and called Dickie. Dickie had handled that situation, but now he had a new one to deal with. The first missing girl was now really missing.

Oliver returned to the waiting area, where the rest of the family was either pacing or sitting. Benjamin gave him a sideways glance as if to ask what the call was about. Oliver blew him off with a quick shake of his head and a shrug, indicating it was nothing. But it wasn’t really nothing. It was a major problem. His side hustle was turning huge profits, and now he was faced with a dangerous situation. Two, actually. He had to rethink his strategy.

* * *

Benjamin sensed there was something wrong. His brother was too fidgety. But now wasn’t the time to grill him. Their father had suffered a major heart attack, and his needs were the first priority. He noticed the cardiologist walking toward them. His expression didn’t seem to be strained. That was a good sign. “Hello, Dr. Kramer. Any word on my father’s prognosis?”

“He’s doing quite well. We should be able to move him to a private room tomorrow, provided all his vitals are stable.”

“That’s excellent news.” Benjamin said with a sigh of relief.

“Something is very puzzling, however.”

Benjamin gave him a curious look.

“His heart muscle is strong. His EKG is close to normal.”

“What does that mean?” Benjamin asked.

“I’m not sure. I realize that’s not very comforting to hear from a doctor, but there is no significant heart damage. You must have gotten him here in record time.”

“EMS was at our door within minutes. Their auxiliary station is only a mile from the house.”

“That turned out to be a good thing for your father.”

“Yes, but what did you mean by puzzling ?” Benjamin asked.

“We’re going to run some tests. Could he have ingested something that brought on the cardiac arrest?”

Benjamin balked. “Ingested something? Like what?”

“We’ll run a series of blood and urine tests. If everything looks normal, then I’d like to put him on a heart monitor once he leaves the hospital.”

Benjamin looked perplexed. “So you’re not sure what caused this?”

“Could have been a number of things. The good news is he’s out of danger for now.”

“How soon can we move him to a private room?”

“To be on the safe side, I’d recommend keeping him in the cardiac care unit for another night. If his chart looks good tomorrow morning, we’ll move him to where he can be more comfortable. But we cannot allow more than two visitors at the same time. It’s imperative we keep his stress level down.”

Benjamin held out his hand. “Thank you, doctor. Much appreciated.”

“And thank you for keeping your mother calm. She was rather hysterical when she first came in.”

Benjamin stifled a chuckle. His mother was often on the verge of hysterics, especially when she didn’t think she was getting her way. Benjamin thought back to when his mother was easygoing. Kind. It had been years.

Benjamin and Dr. Kramer approached the rest of the family, where the doctor explained about the tests and another night in the unit, and that Milton could have a private suite the next day, providing everything looked good.

Everyone in the family looked relieved. Everyone but Oliver, who was still reeling from his phone call. He feigned a smile. His father was going to be okay, but Oliver had more important things to deal with. He kissed his mother on the cheek. “I have to get to the office. We have a trucking situation that needs to be handled.”

Benjamin interrupted. “Do you want me to go with you?”

Oliver smirked. “I think I can handle this myself.”

“Of course you can,” Patricia chimed in.