Chapter Thirty

Tully felt Libby grip her hand as they drove through New Orleans on their way to Children’s Hospital. The streets were still mostly empty, with only a few lost souls walking around as if dazed amidst the police and National Guard troops still occupying the city. With so much debris everywhere, it was hard to figure out where to begin.

“Honey, do you think it’s smart to go home once we’re able to?” Libby asked.

“I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t want, but I don’t want to abandon the city. The kids love it here too, and you have a year of school left, whenever they open it up again. Do you really want to walk away from that?” They were driving past Tulane, which appeared to be locked down tight.

“At least I have a job.” Libby turned away from the window as she teased Tully.

“That you do, darlin’, and while it’s not going to be easy, I think it’ll be good for us to start fresh here together. If we’re going to build a life, this seems like a good time to start. From the looks of this place, we’re at least a little ahead of everyone else, since our damage is minor. For now, though, we’ll stay with Mom and Dad and live on the boat if things get tight.”

Jo looked out the window as they drove along, appearing lost in thought. “Do you think Victor’s going to recognize you without the power suit?”

Libby ran her nails along Tully’s jeans and smiled at the question. When they had evacuated, Tully hadn’t packed any work clothes, so casual was the style of the day. “Maybe when they see your ass in these pants, they’ll give you whatever you want. I know I would.”

“Can I quote you on that when I see Roxanne again?” Jo asked Libby.

“No more comments from the cheap seats,” Tully said. “We’re here.”

The same police officer Tully had spoken to when she’d gone in on the day of the evacuation was again on duty when she stepped into the lobby. With no patients and only a few staff people trying to clean up the storm damage, the hospital was quiet and calm.

“If you’re Tully Badeaux, that short guy said he was waiting for you in the executive boardroom. Said you’d know where he was talking about.”

“Thanks, Officer, and it’s nice to see you’re all right.”

Neil’s appearance stopped her from saying anything for a long while. The man actually appeared older than the last time she’d seen him, and a bone-deep exhaustion clung to him like lint. Next to him Victor wore chinos and was freshly showered, smiling as if he were waiting for a tee time.

“We appreciate you stopping by today, Tully. It saved us from having to call you in for another talk. After all the excitement we’ve all lived through, it’s time to start fresh, without this old business hanging over our heads.” Victor stood up and offered her his hand.

“Considering what you all are facing,” Tully responded, “I appreciate you making the time.”

After shaking hands they sat down and exchanged pleasantries on how they had made out in the storm. Throughout the entire meeting, Neil just stared at her, letting Victor do the talking.

“Like I was saying, Tully, we want to put this to rest and concentrate on getting the hospital back up and running,” Victor said as he retrieved a file from the folder in front of him. “We’re prepared to make another offer based on what you presented to us before the storm. Since Dr. Nicolas is no longer here, we can’t enforce the apology the Heberts wanted, but we’ll try our best to get in touch with her and have her comply.”

It was too easy. Victor never gave in that easily to anything, especially admitting some culpability on the part of one of their doctors. Tully thought about what she’d told Jo and Roxanne the day before. They couldn’t prove Kara’s sobriety the day of the surgery, which was a fact. But sometimes fate gave you the chance to gamble, not because you got a glimpse of the other guy’s cards, but because you could see the beginning of the moisture on his brow. Victor was holding shit for a hand, but he thought he was doing a good job of bluffing.

“I figured with all the excitement around here you haven’t had a chance to put this case on the fast track you threatened me with at our last meeting, so we went ahead and arranged that. I believe you were served with those papers yesterday.”

“If you accept the offer that won’t be necessary,” Neil said, speaking for the first time.

“I’ll even give you a break and waive a jury trial and let the judge decide the outcome.” Tully kept talking over him. “We’re ready to go tomorrow.”

“The papers your people filed were for injunctions against Nicolas, and she’s no longer here, so what does that have to do with the hospital?” Neil asked.

“If you need to find Dr. Nicolas, who’s still in your employ, by the way, since I haven’t seen any evidence to indicate otherwise, she’s sitting in central lockup in Montegut, Louisiana. She was stopped for driving under the influence of some undetermined substance.” Tully took the videotape out of her briefcase and laid it on the table. “This is the tape of that traffic stop and consequent arrest. Before the storm she was documented buying illegal drugs from a known dealer in New Orleans east.” She laid down the pictures Pasco’s team had taken, thumping them on the table in one big wad. “And we have a few more photos and video of her taking those drugs on the campus of this very hospital before the storm.”

“What does this have to do with the Hebert case?” Victor asked.

“On second thought, we’ll wait and have that jury trial,” Tully said as she fanned the photos out. “What does this have to do with the Hebert case? It shows a pattern of behavior, a pattern that was like pointing a loaded gun at an innocent little girl and firing without thought or conscience. Because that’s what a doctor operating under the influence is, a loaded gun. I’ll paint the jury a map that might need to get from point A to point B via points LMNOPQ, but I’ll get them there.” It was as big a bluff as the one Victor had tried, but Tully had a much better poker face.

“You still have to prove that she was high the day of that surgery.” Neil slammed his hand down on the table. “And I really don’t see that happening.”

“Like I said, I need to prove a pattern of behavior, first off.” She raised her index finger. “Then I put the dealer on the stand to see just how long Dr. Nicolas has been a loyal customer,” another finger went up, “and I finish with a witness from the hospital.”

“Who’d you talk to?” Neil demanded.

“And ruin the surprise for you? Where’s your sense of adventure, shorty?”

“You bitch,” Neil said with a sneer. He stopped when Victor put his hand on his forearm and squeezed hard.

“What do you want?” Victor asked.

“Three and a half million for pain and suffering, and Dr. Nicolas doesn’t step foot in an operating room in this hospital again, not even to clean the floors, until we decide on a length of time she can prove sobriety. That means you help me enforce that restriction, even if she decides to seek work somewhere else, no matter the state.”

The room was silent, as if everyone was waiting to see where the dice would land. “Done,” Victor said finally. “You’ll have the papers in the morning.”

“I’ll have the papers now, thank you. The aftermath of the storm will make it difficult to get all the signatures you need, but it’s not impossible. We’ll wait, but if you want the deal and for Josephine here to call off tomorrow’s court appearance, then you’ll get it done.”

“Fine, give me an hour and I’ll have it ready for your signature.”

“That gives me plenty of time to call the Heberts so they can sign as well.” Tully saw Josephine already on the land line, but from the way she was hitting the disconnect button, there was still no dial tone. The deal was really more than they wanted, way more, but she thought the turn of events wouldn’t exactly upset the Heberts.

Tully didn’t know if Victor or Neil knew of Kara’s past, but she had been willing to gamble and guess they did. Having knowledge of such reprehensible behavior made them as responsible for what had happened to Evangeline as Kara. Tully wanted to believe that they didn’t, but they weren’t willing to let Tully weave a tale of such neglect in front of a jury.

“Kara might have problems, but she would’ve made a fine surgeon,” Neil said. The angrier he’d gotten, the deeper the crease in his brow had become. “She’ll never live up to that potential now because of you.”

“It doesn’t sound like you believe she can keep clean. If Kara Nicolas had aspired to be a rock star, then I still wouldn’t have understood her addiction, but murdering a few notes in a song is different from what she did. In this line of work so many things can go wrong, without any outside factors like drugs coming into play.”

“I know all that, so don’t preach to me, Tully.”

“I’m not preaching. I merely mentioned it because you have no idea how many clients I turn away when I think a surgeon did his best and something just went wrong because of the patient’s health or unexpected bleeding.” She accepted the papers Victor’s assistant handed her and placed them on the table in front of her. “You never mention all those cases where I explain to a grieving family that no matter how much pain they’re in, the doctor and the hospital aren’t to blame. It’s just fate.”

“That’s because for all the ones you turn down, some other vulture’s ready to take your place. You lawyers will ruin health care.”

“When it comes to people like Kara, that’s not such a bad thing, is it? I’m sure if one of your kids had been on that table, your thoughts on the subject would be different.”

Ignoring Neil, Tully started reading, not wanting to waste her time trying to convince him of something he would never admit—at least not publicly until, as he said, a vulture like her came along and convinced him it was in his best interest to give a little instead of lose everything he held dear. Three and a half million sounded like a fortune to most, but she was willing to bet four times that amount that the Heberts would trade it for just one more week with their daughter.

“How do you plead?”

Kara blinked a few times, trying to curb the craving for a fix. She was standing in front of an elderly judge.

“Shouldn’t I have a lawyer?”

“You can have a clown on a tricycle if you want, ma’am, but there’s a line of people waiting to see me. If you’d like bail, then go ahead and enter a plea.” He looked up at her over his glasses.

“Not guilty,” Kara said.

“No record, from what I can see,” his attention went back to the papers, “so I’m going to release you on your own recognizance. The district attorney’s office will send you your court date information. Make sure you give accurate information on where we can find you, or we’ll write a warrant to put you back in here so quick it’ll make your tail spin.”

“I can go?”

“As soon as you sign a few things.” The judge signed first, then slid the document toward her. She didn’t read a line before signing, and he shook his head.

It took another twenty minutes, but Kara traded her orange scrubs for her blue ones and walked outside the building, blinking in the brightness of midmorning. After a few failed phone calls to Jessica, she figured cell-phone service was still a victim of the storm. Unfortunately, when Jessica had droned on about where she was staying, Kara had tuned her out. Even if she wanted to start walking, she had no idea which way to go.

The oak tree across the street cast a large patch of shade close to Bayou Terrebonne, so, after being locked up for all those hours, she headed in that direction, planning to sit and wait for Jessica to come for her afternoon visit. The car stopping behind Kara made her turn around and squint to try and make out the driver, but with the glare of the sun on the front windshield, all she could make out was the outline of someone’s head.

“Need a ride?”

Kara kept her hand up to her brow. “Is there a place to stay around here? I’m actually trying to find a friend of mine.”

“There’s a place about four miles from here. We can start there if you want. Hop in.”

The voice sounded familiar, but Kara ignored the warning bell, wanting to get back to the small bag she’d hidden in the trunk of Jessica’s car.

“Thanks, I appreciate not having to sit out there for hours.”

The car made a U-turn and headed south, and when they passed the large house with the bed and breakfast sign and Jessica’s car parked in front, Kara decided to turn and study the driver’s face. The fog finally cleared. For what seemed like an eternity she didn’t recognize it; then an arrow of fear pierced her brain, and she reached for a nonexistent door handle. She was thinking she might able to escape when the car stopped, but the fist connecting with the side of her face sent her world into darkness.

“I can’t believe you got that done so quickly,” Libby said as they walked to the car. “And I can’t believe you found a witness and didn’t tell us about it.”

“Oh, there was no witness.” Tully smiled at her. “I guess there were plenty the day of the surgery, since it’s something that doesn’t happen in a vacuum, but none of them were willing to talk.”

“Should I be worried that you bluff so well?” Libby gave her a pointed look.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t think I could bluff you at all, since you have ways of wheedling things out of me that Neil can only dream about.”

“I’m actually more shocked that he didn’t take you up on your offer to go to trial, even with the witness.”

“Neil knows the golden rule of civil law.”

“Another rule?” Libby asked, slipping her hand into Tully’s.

“Well, it’s my rule anyway.” Tully leaned over and kissed her on the side of the head. “This case would’ve been hard to win even with a real witness and all the evidence we gathered on Kara’s obvious habit, if Kara had been the kind of doctor a jury wants to believe.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Good doctors are cocky but human. Confidence is a desirable personality trait for them because they have to believe in themselves to do what’s necessary to get the job done. They should give you a sense that, despite what’s wrong with you, they have the talent and the know-how to fix the problem. But they also have to make you think that they care a little about you as a person. It doesn’t have to be a warm fuzzy feeling, but you have to walk away believing that they connected with you on some level. Kara hadn’t gotten to that place yet. A jury would’ve convicted her on principle, and he realized that.”

“So what happens to Kara now?”

“I’m sure with what she just cost the hospital, she’ll have a hard time finding another job for a long time, even if she does stay clean. If she decides to go somewhere else, our agreement won’t be binding, but since it isn’t a closed settlement, I’ll be happy to write a nice long letter to whoever decides to employ her. We can’t bring her up on any charges unless I do find a witness to testify she was high, but even then we don’t have any blood work or tests to back that up. Elijah and Simone will get what they wanted, just not in the way they thought they would.”