Belinda Doyle watched the sunset from the hospital room of a stranger.
The woman Artie Reasoner asked her to keep an eye on slept in a nice comfortable bed while Belinda, whose ankle throbbed on the short stool she propped her foot on, sat in a chair with nothing to do.
When the occasional nurse came in to check on the woman in the bed, Belinda would reiterate her request to have her friend and colleague, Jillian Proust, paged to the woman's room. The previous nurse who came in told Belinda visiting hours were over for the day.
"I'm on assignment," Belinda told the nurse.
"Yes, I've been told." The nurse adjusted an apparatus. "I only meant no one else would be coming in this evening."
The conversation had been somewhat unsettling. Several hours had passed since the ambulance delivered Belinda to the hospital. During that time she had seen her boss, Artie Reasoner, but no sign of Jilly. Belinda worried that maybe something had happened to her friend. Immobilized by the ankle injury, all Belinda could do was wait.
She knew little about the woman she kept guard over. After meeting with Louis Norton about the man's missing wife, Artie had Belinda make dinner reservations while he sent Jilly with Paul Cooley to Pinnebog Penitentiary to speak to Agatha Kitchner. Artie went off to the Swann Club but somehow wound up in Edgeville where he met the sleeping woman and her psychic friend. He brought them back to Port Pinnebog so he could piggyback off their invitations to a red-carpet event at the Swann Club hosted by billionaire industrialist, Viggo Pederson.
Now she was in the hospital with a sprained ankle, Jilly was missing, Paul was at the Swann Club with a psychic, and Artie was off chasing leads. Some weekend.
"Excuse me, Miss Doyle?"
Belinda turned to the door. Nurse Weaver stood inside the frame. Something troubled her.
"Yes, Nurse Weaver?"
"The woman you've been having paged."
"Is she here?"
Nurse Weaver worked up a smile. If it was supposed to be reassuring, it wasn't working.
"About an hour ago an ambulance arrived with the body of a woman found floating in the Pinnnebog River by the lock bridge."
"Midtown."
"Yes."
Belinda felt a slight sense of relief. "My friend lives in Tip Town."
"When the woman was found, she had a Big Wheel Casino rewards card in her pocket. The name Jillian P is embossed on the front."
"That doesn't mean it was Jilly they found floating in the water."
"No, I know. There are a couple of detectives down in the morgue waiting to talk to you."
"They want me to identify the body."
Nurse Weaver nodded. "If you're up to it. I can take you there in a wheelchair."
The woman in the bed sat up. She turned to Belinda and Nurse Weaver.
"You should go, Miss Doyle." The woman nodded at the door. "I'm fine."
"I guess I should go then," Belinda said.
"I'll be right back with a wheelchair." Nurse Weaver hurried from the room.
Belinda turned to the woman in the bed. "I kind of wish your friend was here so I could ask her about Jilly."
"Have you heard from her?"
"I haven't heard from anyone outside of this hospital."
The world outside the window was dark. The overhead lights in the room cast reflections on the glass. Belinda turned when she saw Nurse Weaver's reflection. She helped Belinda into the chair.
"Ready?" Nurse Weaver asked.
Belinda nodded. The nurse wheeled her down the hall to an elevator. Neither woman spoke to the other. Nurse Weaver must have sensed Belinda was trying to remain calm. In all actuality, Belinda was remembering when she first met Jillian Proust, a day that seemed eons ago but wasn't that far from the current one.
Fresh out of the administrative assistant program at PTU, Belinda Doyle had come highly recommended by the dean and her counselor. Jillian interviewed her and hired her on the spot.
"The hours are long. Sometimes you'll work weekends and holidays. Investigative work has no set hours but we open the office Monday through Friday at nine in the morning for walk-in customers."
"Won't be a problem," Belinda assured her. And it hadn't. Even when she had to tell her family she'd be on assignment in Florida over the New Year. Belinda's mother had pouted, even yelled at her over the holiday ham dinner. 'You're ruining a family tradition,' her mother screamed. Belinda stayed calm.
She was going to be in Miami for New Year's Eve.
Jilly would pose as a wealthy widow. Belinda would be her daughter. Artie and Paul were pals on a charter fishing expedition. They were looking for Harry Stanton, a man their client said married his mother for her money then ran off with the cash when the client's mother was killed in a car accident. The client believed Stanton was in Miami running a charter fishing business.
The trip had been wonderful. Belinda and Jilly spent mornings on the beach, afternoons shopping, and evenings dining at locations they knew Stanton frequented. The plan went a little awry when Stanton made the moves on Belinda and Jilly. The team adjusted.
Jilly cautioned her. Reminded her it was an elaborate hoax to catch a killer. Belinda couldn't separate the fantasy from the reality. Stanton was charming and sophisticated. She believed the words he said to her.
Stanton was also smart. He had invited Belinda and Jilly out for a moonlight cruise on his trawler. Jilly showed up with Artie as a date. Stanton got wise once they were out to see. He forced Jilly and Artie at gunpoint to jump into the ocean. Stanton tried to get Belinda to run off to Cuba with him. She tossed life rings over the side before she jumped overboard.
Stanton sailed off into the night. Artie pushed the life rings to Jilly and Belinda. He swam between them, pushing them away from the fishing boat. Seconds later the boat exploded. Burning debris rained down around them.
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