Page 83 of I’ll Be Watching You

“Thank you for helping,” Grace said, and returned to the dining hall.

“That was a bust,” I said as we walked across the parking lot to Jack’s truck.

“Maybe,” he said.

“You learn something I didn’t?”

“Not from Grace, but I talked to Carl for a while. He said he met you earlier.”

“I remember,” I said.

“I felt him out a bit, and then shared why we’re looking for Jim. Carl knew about the drug trial, and he gave me two more names. We have no way of knowing if they were included in the forty reported patients, or were among the ten Klein said were excluded, but I sent the names to Tess to see what she could learn. Carl said he was skeptical about the ‘wonder drug,’ as that was how it was pitched to them. The last time someone talked about a wonder drug, it was oxycodone and it caused a lot of problems for a lot of people.”

“You’re fabulous,” I told him as we walked back to his truck. I’d get the names from Tess, then forward them to Luisa so she could check in the medical records if they were missing a year in their files as well.

We climbed into the cab and I said, “We need to pick up Luisa at the office.”

“When’s Nate coming back with your Jeep?”

“Hell if I know. I might borrow Mom’s SUV for a couple days.”

I looked at my phone. Nate hadn’t responded to any of my text messages. I hoped he’d had more success than we did.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Nate Lorenzo

At dusk, Jim Novak walked back to his camp.

Nate had been relaxing on the backside of the rock outcrop for the last four hours. He had no problem doing nothing. Sometimes, he thought people would be happier if they just lay back and did nothing for a few hours. Look at the sky. Smell the roses. Take a nap or float in the pool. Everything was go-go-go all the time.

When Nate left the Navy, he’d had a hard time getting back into the groove of daily living. Remodeling the house his parents left to him when they died grounded him. He did a lot of the work himself, spending weeks getting each detail just right.

He worked for the Angelharts not because he had to—he owned his house free and clear, and between his parents’ modest savings that he inherited and his own earnings from the Navy, plus his frugal lifestyle, he didn’t need to make much money. But he knew if he didn’t get out and do things, he would hole up in the house and be antisocial, which wouldn’t be good.

But this kind of work—sitting around and waiting—was right up his alley. And when Novak showed, Nate had already figured out his approach.

He waited twenty minutes for Novak to settle, watching from across the wash. After he took his first swig of what Nate presumed was bourbon, Nate crossed over. Novak spotted him immediately.

“I’ll move along,” he said, as if Nate was going to roust him.

“No need,” Nate said. “I’m Nate Lorenzo. I’ve been looking for you, Jim.”

Novak eyed him with suspicion.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Just wanted to talk, if that’s all right with you. About your appointment at the VA on Monday.”

Novak frowned. “How do you know I was there?”

“Carl from Honor House saw you. He’s worried about you, but that’s not why I’m here.”

“Carl,” Novak mumbled as if trying to place him. Then he nodded, took another swig. “Carl told you about me?”

“A bit,” Nate fibbed. He told Margo. “Do you remember your appointment?”

He shrugged. “Not really.”