Read Online The Lost and the Damned by Dennis Liggio - Free Book Online

wasn’t wearing scrubs, but she was wearing white. I adjusted my tie and my cover story, then walked up to her.
    “Hello,” I said, “I’m…”
    “I’m sorry, sir,” she said, “but our visiting hours are closed. All our administrative staff has gone home as well.”
    “I know, I’m sorry, I really am,” I said, “but I’ve traveled so far and I just got to town. I know I should wait until tomorrow, but I just needed to know. I needed to know if she was here, if she was safe…” Okay, I admit, I was laying it on thick.
    “I’m sorry…?” she said, both concerned and confused.
    “My niece,” I said, “she’s been missing. We’ve been looking everywhere for her. She’s been gone a year and the police can’t do anything. We’re at the end of our rope, but we had an idea. Just an idea. Maybe, just maybe someone checked her in here… maybe she’s been safe all this time. Maybe her friends were wrong when they said that she…” I trailed off for dramatic effect. Even acting, it was hard not to act sad and flustered without feeling that way myself.
    “I-I’m sorry, sir, I really am,” she said, “but patient records are not something I could open or disclose. If you came back tomorrow, I’m sure our hospital administrator could help you…”
    “Wait! Wait!” I fumbled in my pockets and pulled out the high school picture of Katie, putting it on the table in front of her. “Do you recognize her? Have you seen her?”
    She stayed silent, staring at the photo. I watched her face. There was some sort of reaction, but I couldn’t read it. I prompted her with my frantic act. “Have you seen her? Is she here?” She looked up at me and we shared a look, her face shocked, and I knew. “She’s here, isn’t she?” I grabbed her shoulders, shaking her and her look revealed more. “She’s here? Thank the Lord, she’s here! Please tell me she’s here!”
    “I-I, M-Mr…” she stammered.
    “Vanderholm! Scott Vanderholm!” I said. “Please tell me our dear Katherine is here!”
    “I-I,” she stammered. She looked down again, taking a long look at the photo. Her next words were a whisper. “She’s here.” She looked through each of the glass doors and then leaned close to me. “Kate Doe… I mean Katherine. She’s here.”
    I stood back in my best impression of stunned. Then I gave my best doe-eyed smile and stood there. “We’ve found her,” I said. I kept track of the nurse’s body language out of the corner of my eye. She seemed relieved and leaned backwards. I reached forward and grabbed her hand, scaring her for a moment. I pumped her hand up and down in a furious handshake. “Thank you, thank you!” Her face was pale. For a moment I worried it was too much. I had pushed the act too far.
    She finally smiled weakly. “I’m glad I could help,” she said. “But please, don’t tell anyone I told you. I could lose my job. I just… I just wanted you to know. But please, don’t tell.”
    “I won’t!” I said. “At this point, I’d name my first child after you!”
    She giggled. “Please, just act like you didn’t know tomorrow.”
    “I won’t, I swear it!” I said, which was true. Once I called the record company in, they would have their own way to verify she was here. “Thank you, very much. I’ll be back tomorrow!”
    She smiled and said goodbye, as I left, stopping to say an excited, “God bless!” before leaving through the doors. I walked through the parking lot with a large smile, not from an act, but rather from the promise of half a million dollars and a job well done.
    Believe it or not, I don’t like lying. I like the truth, I enjoy telling it. Lies are complicated, lies are work. Lies beget more lies and just weave a tighter and tighter net around you if you keep telling them. I try to be as honest as I can in my personal life, a trait that has gotten me in trouble before and ruined a few relationships. When it comes to a job, then things get a bit