They waited for Anora in the library, where they had met the last time. There was no one else there. Ted imagined that in another decade or two, rooms like this—devoted to providing a comfortable space to store and peruse hardbound copies of brightly colored dreams—would have disappeared, replaced by reclining couches with virtual reality headsets. Aging baby boomers could be laid out in rows, fed a soy and vegetable soup combined with tranquilizers and stool softeners, and monitored occasionally for continued heartbeat and respiration. He hoped that when he got to that point, they’d have some old noir movies programmed.
But if he wanted to stay alive now, he needed to keep focused. These depressing thoughts came from his growing fear that the forces against them were going to prevail, in which case his best bet would be to emigrate to Tasmania or Uruguay—he’d heard the beaches were great.
Lester sat quietly with the pastry box from Andre’s on his lap.
Anora sidled into the room, and Ted could see she was frightened. No. She was terrified. She seemed to have shrunk inches in every dimension. Her eyes had the thousand-yard stare of the doomed. He let Lester take the lead.
“Come and sit with me. You look like you’ve had a rough couple of days. We’ve all been there. You’re safe with us.” Lester spoke in a gentle voice.
She took a seat across the room and gazed intently at the floor.
“Okay, sit all the way over there. I’m adaptable.” He pulled his chair a few inches closer to her. “There. That’s better.”
She flashed a sideways look at him.
“I guess you were there when they came for Miss Miller.”
No response.
“Was it the lawyer who brought the papers? The same one? The woman?”
She gave a tiny shake of her head.
“No,” Lester said soothingly. “This time it was a man. Two, maybe.”
A slight nod turned into a shudder.
“Yeah. We’ve met those guys, too.”
Another flashing glance.
“Don’t worry. They won’t be back. They like to scare people, that’s all.”
Ted found himself lulled by the quiet compassion and sincerity in Lester’s voice. He wanted to believe it, too.
“They threatened you, didn’t they?” Lester said.
A shrug.
“Said they’d know if you talked to anyone. Did you recognize them? Have they been here before?”
Another quick shake of the head.
Lester carried his chair across the room and sat next to her. He patted the back of her hand. She tightened but did not flinch. “They won’t be back. They may have said it, but it won’t happen. Did they tell you where they’re taking her?”
Another shake of the head—but this time an uncertain one.
“No, they wouldn’t tell you. But maybe you heard them talking?”
She froze.
Lester made no change in his tone or pace. “I mean they wouldn’t even care if you heard. They probably acted like you weren’t even there. But you’re smart enough to keep your ears open and the brain working, aren’t you? You couldn’t stop them, but you might be able to help us find her again.”
She looked up at Ted. “You said I would have a green card.”
Lester shot a sharp look at him.
“Yes,” Ted said. “We promised. But we all want to know that Miss Miller is safe and being cared for. That’s first order of business.”
“She did not want to go.” She chose to direct this to Lester.
Lester nodded, signaling understanding and comforting. It was working. She looked better. Less afraid. “What did you hear?”
“I don’t know. The ugly one. He said something, speaking German, I think.”
“Maybe Russian?” Lester asked.
“Yes,” she said. “I don’t know.”
“The social worker lady, what’s her name, says they took her to another nursing home.”
She shrugged. She didn’t know. “Old people do not like change. She was frightened.”
Lester smiled encouragingly. “None of us do, but you’re right. The old ones take it harder.”
“I want to help her. I’m sorry.”
“You’ve been a big help already. There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
Ted stood. Anora had nothing to offer. It was time to move on and try another avenue, though he wasn’t sure what that would be. “I haven’t forgotten my promise. It may take a little time, but I will do everything I can to make it happen.”
She didn’t believe him. He could see it in her eyes, but he wasn’t going to convince her by repeating it. Especially since he had no idea how he was going to manage it.
Lester shook her hand. “We’ll see you again, Anora.” He joined Ted at the door.
“Would the name of the ambulance company help?” she asked.
They stood on the front steps waiting for Mohammed to bring the car around. The boardwalk blocked any view of the ocean, but the scent of salt air was refreshing, sweeping away the odors of age, loneliness, and quiet despair. Despite the bleak news, Ted found his thoughts and mood were already lighter.
Lester wasn’t as sanguine. “She’s dead, isn’t she?”
Ted had already considered the question. “They need her. If our filing leads to a hearing, the judge will demand we produce her in court or show evidence of why we can’t. If she’s dead, that throws the whole case into probate—which means more delays and the possibility that some third cousin twice removed shows up.”
“She might simply disappear.”
“Same problem, only the delays would be worse. No, they’ve got her on ice somewhere.”
“I’d say the odds of getting any usable information out of the ambulette company are only slightly better than me getting a scratch-off Win for Life.”
“We’re going to find her, Lester.”
“Or we could spend the next month calling all the eldercare facilities in the tristate region asking if they took in an old lady yesterday. How many do you think there are? Five hundred? A thousand?”
“If we get stuck, we start by calling the top-tier nursing homes first. And then we’re going to nail their asses,” Ted said.
Lester did not look at him. He stared out at the wind-swept boardwalk. “You believe that? Or are you just wishing it was so?”
“I don’t know, but right now it feels pretty good.”
“With or without the police?” Lester said, not turning his head.
“I don’t know that either. Does it matter?”
Lester finally faced Ted. “When do we get Anora her green card? She’s earned it.”
Ted grimaced. “I made a promise. I may not yet have a plan, but I am aware I made a promise, and I mean to keep it.”
Mohammed came into view, his car slaloming through the half-filled parking lot. Lester frowned. “You ever go to Coney Island when you were a kid? Play on those bumper cars?”
“He’s not that bad,” Ted said.
“That’s not a ringing endorsement.”
They walked to the curb. Lester stopped and faced Ted again. “There’s still a lot we don’t know.”
“That’s a reasonable synopsis of our situation.”
They nodded at each other, both acknowledging how far they yet had to travel—and the costs they might have to pay.
Lester looked away first. “And then there’s the immediate question,” he said.
“What’s that?”
Lester held up the pastry box. “What the hell am I going to do with this cake?”