Outside In

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3

Cam barely waited a full four days to call Craig back. Wednesday, when she’d first made the call to Craig, had been the thirteenth and Cameron took that to be a good omen. So, on Sunday afternoon, St. Patrick’s Day, just one month before her birthday, she called the number on the plain white card.

“Yes.” Craig’s voice answered the phone.

“Hi. It’s me. I want in.”

“Great. I’ll get back to you.” And the phone went dead.

Cam looked at the receiver in her hand. She hadn’t expected a brass band but at least more than “I’ll get back to you.” Had they lost interest in her? Had something turned up in her background report that had turned them off? Damn this secrecy s**t! Well, might as well get used to it.

Russ, her partner, was beginning to suspect something. Twice last night, she hadn’t heard him talking to her; her mind was miles away. She hated being secretive around him.

They’d been partners for almost three years. They trusted their lives to each other. She’d never hidden anything from him.

“Just tired, I guess,” was her response to his inquiry.

“Hey, Radcliffe, don’t get burned out on me,” he warned. “Why don’t you take a few days off? You’ve been going at this full press for a while now.”

“Maybe,” she’d said, chuckling to herself. Theirs was a good relationship. Radcliffe and Russ. When had that nickname started? The first day they’d worked together, she’d gone off on a long analysis of the situation and Russ had stared at her, laughing that she sure talked a lot. It must be the expensive education she had, you got the amount of words you paid for. He had gone to a State college. It was cheap, so he never had much to say. “Radcliffe.” The nickname had stuck.

When Cam walked to her desk the next afternoon, there was a message for her to return a phone call to a Maggie Thomason. She picked up her phone and dialed the number. A sweet, young voice answered. “Dr. Thomason’s Office.”

“Maggie Thomason, please.”

“One moment. May I tell her who’s calling?”

“Cameron Andrews, returning her call.” The line clicked to dead air but within a few moments, Cam heard a warm, rich voice.

“Cameron, thanks for calling back so quickly. We have a mutual friend who thinks we should meet. I was wondering if we could have dinner tomorrow evening.”

“A mutual friend? May I ask who?” Might this be her first connection?

“He said you dropped in to see him a few days ago. Really thought we’d hit it off. I’d love to get together.”

So, Craig! Yes! Cam’s mind and heart raced.

“Yes. Sure. I think that’d be great. I’ll look forward to it.”

“Why don’t I pick you up at the station. What time are you through?”

“My shift is over at seven.”

“Then I’ll be there at seven.”

“Yes, fine. Can I ask one question? What’re you a doctor of?”

“Psychiatry.”

“Uh huh,” Cam said. She heard a chuckle from the other end of the line.

“You can look me up in the phone book,” Maggie said. “I have a legitimate practice. But you can just tell your friends there that you have a date.”

“Sure.”

“Until tomorrow, then.” The phone went dead. Cam looked at the phone, then back to the office. Russ was sitting on his desk, legs dangling over the edge when she hung up.

“Problems?” he inquired.

“No. Not at all.” Cam looked at him with a puzzled expression. “I just got asked out on a blind date.”

“Sounds promising.” He looked at her with a wry smile on his face. “I have to hand it to you, Radcliffe. I never had women calling me for dates. How do you do it?”

“Just living well,” she smiled. “Besides, you’re already married.”

He nodded, with a warm smile. “Yeah. Now, that’s the way you should go. Marie thinks you don’t get out enough. If you dated more, maybe you’d find someone to settle down with.”

Cam looked at him, incredulously. “You’ve been discussing my love life with your wife? What? Don’t you have one of your own? You gotta dissect mine?”

“There’s a lot I can’t tell her, you know that. We have to have something to talk about. Besides, it makes her feel more secure to know that you and I aren’t fooling around when we stay out all night on a stakeout.”

“Maybe I should call her and have a long talk,” Cam threatened, drawing out the word “long” as far as she could.

“Oh no!” Russ feigned horror. Then his mood changed and he shook his head. “We got a tough one tonight. Are you up to it?”

“Yeah, I’m up to it. What’s the deal?”

“Some coke laced with strychnine showed up over by Johns Hopkins last night. Two kids dead. Another in the hospital.”

“Whew! As if the coke itself wasn’t deadly enough. Now they’re adding strychnine! Witnesses?”

“Just the one woman, in Hopkins. Still in intensive. Freaked out of her mind. Won’t talk to anyone.”

“Maybe I should go see her.”

“Hoped you would.” Russ hesitated, “Now, Radcliffe, are you sure your mind’s on this one? You’ve been looking kind of strange lately. Something else bothering you?”

Cam looked into Russ’ concerned face. They’d always been very honest with each other, knew they could count on each other for anything. She took a deep breath and lied to him outright for the first time. “No. There’s nothing else on my mind. I am fine. Let’s go have a talk with this lady.”

Russ slid off the desk, handed Cam a file, and strode out toward his car. Cam looked at the file in her hand and then followed.