for her to find someone who will treat her right. And I know you, Nick. I know where you come from.”
“Dr. Wall?” he asked.
“Her mentor, the man who cured her cancer. He's been watching
over her for Shelly’s entire life. You met him last night.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Met so many people last night. Great event, by
the way.”
“Yes, it was. Listen. I have an idea.”
Nick cocked his head to the side. “Are you working for Jerry?” “Excuse me?”
“Jerry Lamont, my friend and co-worker.”
“Oh, Jerry. He’s a wonderful young man. He’s got a comb-over issue, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, he does. I’ll let him know you noticed.”
“Don’t you dare,” Doris chided. “Hear me out. I speak from the heart. And if anybody asks, I never called. Got it?”
“Sure, whatever you say.” He still wasn’t sure what this woman was up to.
“If you would like to bump into Dr. White by accident, so to speak, she always comes in around seven o’clock in the morning and parks in the doctor’s parking lot on the north side. She drives a silver Beetle. Has a license plate on it that says Doc Shel.”
“That’s cute.”
“Yes it is. Now, remember the parking lot is right next to the new
playground.”
“Sounds to me like you spend a lot of time looking out for Shelly.”
“Between me and Doc Wall, we watched her grow up. She’s our little miracle, so we’ve always been looking after her, especially after her mom died. So what do you say?”
“Well, we have that in common, both mom-less.” Nick hesitated a moment. “You know, I’m kind of caught off guard. Let me get this straight. You want me to accidently bump into her at seven in the morning in the doctor’s parking lot of St. Theresa’s right next to the new playground. Is that about right?”
“That’s right. It’s that easy.”
“Sounds sort of like stalking, doesn’t it?”