Chapter 7: Penny Lane

I heard Sarah gasp but I kept my eyes on the nurse I had not been introduced to yet. She had an odd grin on her face.

“David, call Lt. Cable,” Grandmother said.

“Have him bring someone from forensics,” I added.

Peter, who evidently was handling communications, just nodded.

Doctor Bales’ knuckles turned white as he squeezed the arms of the chair.

“Watch him close! If he moves his hands, shoot to kill!” David barked to Beth, who had drawn her gun. The slight click of the safety echoed loudly in the quiet room.

Grandmother stood with her arm around Sarah. Nicky just held my hand tightly as she looked around the room. But her eyes seemed to be focused on Sarah.

“This is absurd, Catherine, I’m...” the doctor sputtered.

“Shut up, Donald!” Grandmother cut him off. “I think you are already in enough trouble as it is. Don’t add to it with any ridiculous statements.”

There was a commotion in the hall, and David’s hand went to his ear as Peter quietly left the room. He was back in less than thirty seconds, nodding to David.

“Locals,” David told my grandmother.

Nobody spoke as we waited. Nicky never let go of my hand.

Lt. Cable arrived a few minutes later. He must have come straight from the gym since he still had on his sweat pants and was carrying his gun and his badge in his hand. He quickly scanned the crowded room.

“Okay, who’s going to tell me what’s going on?” he asked.

“I guess that would be me,” I said.

He didn’t exactly roll his eyes, but his eyebrows arched a little when I said that.

“As you are aware, I became emotionally overwhelmed while you were questioning me about my family yesterday and blacked out. When I woke up, I found that small, seemingly random bits of my memory had returned, but jumbled. Like remembering your favorite flavor of ice cream and your shoe size at the same time. It mostly doesn’t make sense.”

“Yeah. So...” Lt. Cable said.

“Today, after lunch, I was discussing another family concern with Sarah when I became distressed and blacked out again. When I awoke, more of my memory had returned. It just so happened that Doctor Bales was standing over me at the exact moment I woke up, and it triggered a piece of memory in my mind of him talking to another person across my bed while they thought I was in a coma. The other person gave Doctor Bales a syringe that appeared cloudy and black to me, telling him to inject me with it and I would be dead in thirty minutes.”

Lt. Cable looked first to Doctor Bales and then to me.

“Are you telling the truth?” he asked me.

“I don’t know if my memory is true or not. But there were only two ways to find out. Either let him proceed and see if I end up dead, or freeze everything and call my grandmother and the police. Obviously, I chose the latter.”

“All right,” he said, reluctantly agreeing with my logic. “Doctor Bales, let’s see what you have in those pockets,” said Lt. Cable.

The doctor raised his hands off the arms of the chair and immediately went to the pockets on his lab coat. Beth immediately extended her arms out straight, both hands on the gun, aiming it directly at the doctor.

“Hands in the air!” she yelled. At this range, Beth couldn’t miss.

Doctor Bales froze, and then slowly withdrew his hands.

“Stand up slowly. Keep your hands up!” she ordered. “Turn around. Hands on the back of your head!”

As Doctor Bales stood, Lt. Cable went to him and began to pat him down. He removed the stethoscope from the doctor’s neck, an ophthalmoscope from one pocket, a key chain with two keys from the other, and a pad and pen from his breast pocket.

“He’s clean,” said Lt. Cable, a puzzled look on his face.

All eyes were on me as Doctor Bales, a sly grin on his face, lowered his hands and reached for his possessions.

“Wait!” said the unnamed nurse. Beth’s gun immediately returned to the doctor, while everyone else turned to see who had spoken. “Check the ophthalmoscope. It’s not the one he usually uses. The handle could be hollow,” the nurse said.

Bedlam broke out for a moment, as the doctor lunged for the ophthalmoscope. David also grabbed for the ophthalmoscope and snatched it away, while Beth reversed her grip and clubbed the lunging doctor behind the ear. He was out cold before he hit the floor. Grandmother had dropped to the floor, pulling Sarah with her and trying to cover her with her body. Meanwhile, Nicky had thrown herself across me trying to shield me.

Lt. Cable was down on one knee, beside the unconscious doctor, pulling his hands behind his back, only to realize he did not have any cuffs on him. Two uniformed state troopers and another suit rushed in jamming the doorway, their guns drawn.

Lt. Cable looked to David who nodded and said, “Clear.”

“Okay. Cuff him, and then finish searching him. I’ll call it in. Get a gurney in here and take him to the ER. Those cuffs come off only on my orders. You two stay with him at all times. When he comes to, or if he requires surgery, notify me immediately,” he told the two uniformed officers.

The unnamed nurse had picked up my phone and dialed a number, spoke briefly, then replaced the receiver on the cradle.

“On the way,” she said in response to the request for a gurney.

Sarah had risen and she and Beth were helping Catherine to her feet. David stood, still holding the ophthalmoscope and observing everything.

“Are you okay?” he asked Catherine, with unexpected tenderness in his voice.

“Well, that was certainly exciting!” my grandmother said, laughing weakly. Several others chuckled at her remark.

Nicky, slid off me partly, and turned to watch everything that was going on. Then she asked, “Can somebody explain to me what just happened?”

I noticed that she stayed beside me, with one of her sleek long legs draped over me.

“Get me a bag,” Lt. Cable said to one of the two local Sheriff’s deputies who had just entered the room. I figured out he was referring to an evidence bag.

David, holding up the ophthalmoscope, shook it. We could hear something rattle inside the handle. He looked at Lt. Cable and asked, “Should I open it?”

“Let’s wait on forensics. There could be fingerprints on it,” Lt. Cable replied.

By now, one of the deputies was holding open a large plastic bag, so David dropped the ophthalmoscope in, then Lt. Cable sealed the bag. The deputy reached for the bag.

“Oh no, that’s now evidence in a federal investigation,” said the unnamed nurse as she flashed her badge. “I’ll take that!”

“Linda?” Sarah looked at her with a questioning look.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Sanders. My real name is Penelope. Penelope Lane. I’m with the FBI,” she said to Sarah. “I’ve been working undercover.”

The room went silent for a minute as Lt. Cable studied her badge.

“Penelope?” I said aloud. “Penelope Lane? Penny Lane?”

“Don’t say it! I had this name long before Paul McCartney ever thought of writing the song,” she said.

Beth kept looking at her. You could see the wheels turning in her head.

“Penny Lane?” Beth asked. “You were in the class before mine, weren’t you?”

“Yes. I spotted you right away, Beth. David also. I’m guessing he spotted me about a month ago, but when he did nothing about it, I let it ride. Am I right David?” Penny asked.

“Actually, it only took me two days to peg you, but it took over a week to verify it. I had to call in a couple of favors to be sure,” David smiled as he confessed.

Three men entered all wearing jackets with F.B.I. stenciled on the back. The leader looked around and asked who was in charge. David pointed to Penny.

“This is Lt. Cable, Tennessee Highway Patrol,” Penny told them. “He’s part of an investigation into a mysterious car accident that claimed two lives and left the boy...”

“Boy?” I interrupted her.

“Sorry. This young man here, in a coma. Because of the accident, his case overlapped ours. I was going to let it go until the doctor got goofy and tried to kill the boy ... er ... young man. The evidence in this bag should convict, but it also has a bearing on our investigation. Toxicology results will need to go through Washington first, everything else, they can have. Their team, I assume, will do the debriefs for the attempted murder. Understand, they are to get everything, except toxicology, and that’s pending Washington approval.”

The FBI team leader took the evidence bag from Penny, and the team set about gathering the rest of the evidence and taking pictures.

Lt. Cable stood staring. I could not tell if he was angry or relieved that the Feds were now involved in his case.

“I’m going to go check on the doctor,” he finally said. Then to a THP (Tennessee Highway Patrol) officer standing in the door, he added, “Larry, why don’t you see if there is an empty room nearby and get their statements? You can do the minors together; just make sure you have their grandmother with them. I want this done by the book. I don’t want him getting off on a technicality!”

Penny turned to Sarah. “Can they use the nurse’s lounge at the end of the hall? I think it would be more comfortable there.”

Sarah nodded her head.

Larry then said to Sarah, “Since it doesn’t seem to matter what order we take you, why don’t you come show us where it is and I’ll get your statement first?”

Then turning to grandmother, he asked, “Ma’am, are you the grandmother?”

Catherine said she was, and looked at Nicky and me with a smile.

“Then why don’t you come with us also. That way, you’ll be finished so you can be there for the kids’ statements.”

“I’ll need to go with her,” David said, nodding his head towards Catherine.”

“Okay. You know the drill. You can be outside the door ‘till we’re through with her, then I can get your statement, too,” the officer told him.

Larry and another officer followed David, Sarah, and Catherine out the door.

Nicky was still half draped over me. Beth had moved to the big chair to sit down as she continued to eye me thoughtfully.

I took a moment to check out Agent Lane. She was a pretty, twenty-something brunette with a lush body and fascinating eyes. Sometimes they seemed plain, making her whole face appear bland, and other times, like now, they were dancing. When they danced, her whole persona changed to exude confidence and intelligence. It was an attractive combination and I found myself becoming attracted to what I saw.

“Agent Lane?” I asked. “I thought all FBI agents had to be armed when they were on a case?”

She looked at me and her eyes twinkled. A sly grin crossed her face as she lifted the hem of her obviously tailored nurses’ uniform an inch, and said, “I am!”

Everyone laughed!

After they got all of our statements, Catherine and Sarah left to go home with David and Beth. There were now several more security personnel on duty, but I didn’t know how many or where, except there were now two outside my door.

Agent Lane had stayed with Nicky and me while Beth went to give her statement.

Nicky asked Agent Lane if she could tell us what this was all about, but Penny said she couldn’t say at this time. So we chatted about what happened and Penny was telling Nicky how brave she was for throwing herself over her brother to protect him. Nicky was still lying half on me and I could feel her pleasure at being praised and a deep love for me that went beyond anything I had ever experienced.

“Maybe it’s the twin thing!” I thought to myself.

Suddenly, a storm erupted in the hallway.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN’T GO IN THERE?” came the furious voice of an irate female.

“I think Grace is here,” I said with a laugh.

Penny went to the door and told them it was okay. Grace bounded into the room, the fury evident on her face.

“Can you believe they wouldn’t let me in here, Linda?” she exclaimed. Then to Nicky and me she asked, “What’s going on here, guys?”

“Hello, Beautiful!” I said, laughing at her confusion. “Can I have a hug?”

“Me too!” said Nicky, reaching out her arm as well.

Grace came and hugged us. With both of them touching me at the same time, it was like a giant spark of static electricity went through me. I could feel their affection for each other washing over me, too.