Free Angel of Mercy by Andrew Neiderman Page B

thought smugly.
    “Arnold.”
    “Arnold. I’ve already told you…”
    “I thought she and I could talk about Mr. Brofenberg,” he said sharply.
    “Pardon?”
    “Amyl nitrate,” he said. She stared at him a moment and then pivoted and marched to her car, her heels clicking sharply in the night.
    A few days later, Corpsy drove to the apartment Susie shared with Faye.
    He noted that her car wasn’t in the parking lot, but he remained there for hours until he saw the complex superintendent come along and go into the Sullivans’ apartment. Curious, he got out and approached. The door had been left open, and when he gazed into the unit, he saw how empty it looked.
    “Can I help you?” the superintendent asked.
    “I… I was looking for Faye Sullivan,” he said. He couldn’t bring himself to say Susie.
    “Gone,” the superintendent replied.
    “Gone?”
    “Checked out without asking for her security back, and after she had just paid a month’s rent. Got to admit,” he added when Corpsy didn’t utter a word, “it surprised me. I thought she and her sister were more reliable than some of the dips I get renting units in this complex.”
    “But did she leave a forwarding address? Are they somewhere else in Phoenix?”
    “Hey, I was lucky she left the keys with my wife.
    Place is in good shape, though,” he added gazing around. “Not a scratch, and pretty damn clean, too. I can turn this around tomorrow.”
    “What about her mail?” Corpsy demanded.
    “I’m not the post office, mister. I guess you weren’t such close friends,” he said with a wry smile.
    “No, actually, I’m very close to her sister.”
    “Not now, you ain’t,” the superintendent said and laughed.
    Corpsy glared at him for a moment and then rushed out. He drove around in a daze for a while, trying to come to terms with the reality before returning to the lab, but the frustration and the disappointment he suffered was so great, he couldn’t work. When he gazed at himself in the mirror, he did see a resemblance to a corpse. I deserve my nickname, he thought. It riled him and he made a major decision. He decided he would pursue his fantasy. Nothing he had was as important.
    Eventually, he discovered where Faye Sullivan had gone by tracking back her requested letters of reference, and then he packed all that was of any importance to him, even some of the jars of kidney and gallstones, thinking they just might interest Susie.
    “Where are you going?” his mother asked when she saw him carrying his things out to the car., “To see someone.”
    “Where?”
    “Palm Springs, California. Don’t worry, I told the hospital, and I took my accumulated vacation days.”
    “But how long will you be away, Arnold?” she asked, her face troubled.
    He had never so much as left for a weekend before. Even going out for the evening was a major undertaking.
    “I don’t know,” he said honestly. Then he smiled.
    “Until she says yes, I suppose.”
    “She? Who?”
    “Susie Sullivan,” he replied. “She’s a nurse’s sister and she’s the woman I love.”
    His mother was astonished. When had he courted her? Why hadn’t he mentioned her before?
    “She’s very shy,” he explained, “but she’s waiting for me … just sitting by a window gazing out and hoping I will come. It’s going to be a surprise,” he concluded.
    His mother shook her head and fumbled for words.
    “You’re… going to marry… marry this girl?”
    “Of course,” Corpsy replied. “And live happily every after,” he added.
    He kissed his mother on the cheek and hurried out to his car. She stood on the steps and watched him drive away.
    He had a game plan. He would find a place to stay first and then he would go to the hospital and park and wait to spot Faye. He would be as inconspicuous about it as he could. He would follow her home and then… then she would be impressed with his determination and finally invite him in to meet Susie. It seemed so logical, so