NINE

MADAME

IT was midnight at the Village Blend and the doors were locked for the evening, yet the lights and fireplace continued to blaze, the heat fogging the cold, rain-spattered windows.

A small group had gathered around a table near the brick hearth. In rapt silence, they sipped hot cups of coffee as they listened to Madame Blanche Allegro Dubois update them on Dr. Lorca’s plans for Clare.

“So,” Blanche said at the end of her talk. “What do you all think? Ideas?”

Blanche wasn’t surprised when her hotheaded son spoke up first.

“I say we break Clare out of the hospital. If Lorca doesn’t have her, he can’t experiment on her. Meanwhile, Quinn and his overpriced lawyers can fix things on the crawl, you know, through our slow-as-molasses legal system.”

Tucker Burton, the Village Blend’s assistant manager, tossed back his floppy hair and nodded enthusiastically. “Breaking Clare out will be easy! I’ll help!”

Tucker’s reaction didn’t surprise Blanche. As a passionate (albeit part-time) thespian, he always did prefer a bold production.

“Why do you think it would be easy?” Dante asked.

“Ever since that big charity Superhero Show, Punch and I have been hired to perform scaled-down versions for pediatric patients all over the city, and Clare’s hospital is used to seeing my comings and goings. Last week, I walked through its lobby in my Panther Man costume and no one blinked an eye.”

“But don’t you think ‘breaking Clare out’ is a little extreme?” Dante argued. “What if this treatment of Dr. Lorca’s is the right thing for her? Maybe Lorca is the Jonas Salk of head cases.”

“You’re a head case if you believe that,” Esther scoffed. “I saw Lorca on one of those laugh-it-up morning shows. He spouted a bunch of pill-pusher platitudes and talked up his own brand of supplements for ‘cognitive enhancement’—the man was so full of himself, his hubris added more pounds than the camera.”

Dante folded his arms. “So now you’re an expert in psychiatry?”

“No, tattoo boy, just full-frontal fakery.”

Blanche cleared her throat. “Esther may be unnecessarily blunt, but she is right.”

“About what exactly?” Dante said. “That I have tattoos? Or Lorca spouts pill-pusher platitudes?”

“Both,” Blanche replied. “Earlier this evening, I asked my Gotham Ladies group for some urgent help, and they came through. One put me in touch with a practicing psychiatrist and professor at Stanford University who’s had public disagreements with Lorca over his clinical work. Though Lorca’s credentials are solid, those ‘cognitive enhancement’ supplements he peddles, for example, are not recognized by the medical community as achieving what they claim. He’s made no effort to submit proper trials for peer review. What’s more, given the fact that Clare suffers from no injury, disease, deficiencies, or physical trauma, the Stanford professor suggested an alternative, drug-free therapy that could help Clare.”

Matt leaned forward. “Like what?”

“Like aides-mémoires.”

“What?” Dante asked, scratching his beard.

“An aid to the memory,” Matt supplied. “Such as?”

“First Clare must be made to feel safe and relaxed,” Blanche explained. “Then sensory prompts can be tried to stimulate her memories. These stimuli might be found in sounds, smells, tastes, or even feelings. If we find the right keys, Clare’s subconscious may release some or all of her imprisoned memories.”

“That’s the exact opposite of what Lorca is prescribing!” Matt threw up his hands. “How can Clare find this key when she’s isolated from everything she knows?”

“She can’t,” Blanche said. “I believe our Clare’s been misled and manipulated. I fear that smooth-talking doctor never mentioned any other type of therapy to her except his own. I would have to hear, from her own lips, that she doesn’t want to see me—or even try reconnecting to her daughter, her work, or the life she’s spent years building. But I can’t. Not if I’m not permitted to see her.”

“Someone’s got to speak with her,” Tucker urged.

“Please, let me break Clare out,” Matt begged.

“No.” Blanche was firm. “You cannot drag the woman, kicking and screaming, from her hospital room. Even if you could manage it, you’d be no better than a kidnapper.”

“Then we’re back to the slow boat of litigation,” Matt griped.

“Why can’t we just call her and talk to her?” Esther asked. “Get her to fire Dr. Quacker and walk out under her own steam?”

“Weren’t you listening?” Dante returned. “A phone call from us isn’t going to be allowed. Lorca has Clare isolated. He’s about to move her upstate. And if she changes her mind and objects, he’s ready to legally commit her.”

“Then I’m one hundred percent with Mr. Boss,” Esther said. “Why should we let Quacker get away with it?”

“Because we’ll land in hot water if we don’t.”

“Well, I for one don’t mind hot water.” Esther raised her demitasse of espresso. “We wouldn’t have a business without it.”

“Doesn’t bother me, either,” Tucker said, “especially when it comes to helping CC. Count me in for the breakout.”

“Slow down,” Blanche interrupted. “Your intentions are noble, but your plan won’t work. Not if Clare is convinced Lorca’s treatment is her only way back to us.”

Everyone fell silent a moment. Finally, Tucker spoke.

“Okay, people, how about this. Instead of breaking Clare out, we break Madame in.”

Esther began to clap. “That’s it!”

Dante nodded in agreement. Blanche praised Tucker for the idea. Only Matt stayed silent. After everyone settled down, he finally gave his caveat.

“I’m only in if we double our options.”

“What do you mean?” Tucker asked.

“We sneak my mother into Clare’s hospital room so she can have a talk. And if Clare decides to leave, we break her out, right then and there.”

Tucker nodded. “A little costume change is all it would take to sneak her out of the building. No one pays attention if you’re wearing scrubs.”

“We should still plan a diversion,” Matt insisted, “something to lure the floor staff’s attention away from Clare’s room.”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Tucker waved his hand.

“What?”

“None of us may know the key to unlocking Clare’s memories, but I know nurses. The key to Clare’s escape is the Village Blend’s pastry case!”