Chapter 6 6

The appointment was for 9:00 AM.

Helen arrived at 8:45, early enough to choose her seat, late enough to avoid conversation. The Manhattan Private Medical Center occupied the top three floors of a building where the elevator required keycard access and the waiting room featured original art that rotated quarterly.

She chose a corner chair, partially obscured by a potted ficus. She wore the clothes she'd put on for the police station: jeans, sweater, practical boots. She hadn't gone home to change. She hadn't gone home at all.

The magazine in her hands was Architectural Digest. She wasn't reading it. She was watching the elevator doors, telling herself she wasn't watching, knowing that she was.

They arrived at 9:23.

She heard them before she saw them. Adelia's laugh, that particular pitch designed to carry, to announce presence, to demand attention. Then Duke's voice, lower, intimate, the tone he used for private communications.

Helen lowered the magazine. She watched them emerge from the elevator, Duke's hand on Adelia's elbow, guiding her with a gentleness that made Helen's stomach clench. Adelia wore sunglasses despite the interior lighting. She moved slowly, carefully, as if the floor might betray her.

"Just a few more tests," Duke was saying. "Then we'll know for certain."

"You're too good to me." Adelia leaned into him. Her head found his shoulder. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

They turned toward the reception desk. Duke looked up. His eyes found Helen's.

The transformation was instantaneous. The tenderness vanished, replaced by something harder, defensive, angry. He straightened, removing his hand from Adelia's arm with a gesture that tried to be casual and failed completely.

"Helen." He crossed the waiting room in four strides. He stood over her, using his height, using the advantage of surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Medical appointment." She held up the card the institute had provided. "Standard physical. Required for clearance."

Duke's eyes moved over her clothes, her lack of makeup, the magazine she'd forgotten to lower. She watched him assemble his assessment: out of place, out of her depth, embarrassing him by existing in his space.

"This facility is-" he searched for words that wouldn't sound like what they were, "-expensive. Specialized. Are you sure your... your employer's coverage extends to this level of care?"

"My employer is the federal government." Helen stood. She wouldn't let him tower over her. "They take care of their own."

Adelia had followed him. She stood at his shoulder, sunglasses pushed up into her hair, studying Helen with the frank curiosity of someone examining an unfamiliar species.

"Darling?" Her voice was honey over broken glass. "Is this...?" She let the question hang, knowing the answer, wanting to hear him say it.

"My wife." The word sounded strange in his mouth. An artifact. A relic. "Helen, this is Adelia Montoya. She's consulting on-she's working with the Defense Department. Important projects. Critical infrastructure."

"How impressive." Helen didn't extend her hand. "I believe we've met. At the institute. Data entry, was it?"

Adelia's smile flickered. She hadn't expected to be remembered. She hadn't expected the flat tone, the absence of deference.

"That's right." She recovered, placing her hand on Duke's arm, marking territory. "Such essential work. The foundation of everything, really. Without people like you, people like us couldn't function."

"People like us." Helen repeated the phrase. She looked at Duke, at the way his arm had shifted to accommodate Adelia's touch, the way his body angled toward her as if drawn by magnetic force. "Yes. I suppose that's true."

Adelia's eyes narrowed. She sensed something, perhaps. A wrong note in the performance. She pressed closer to Duke, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper that carried perfectly across the quiet room.

"You know, it's the strangest thing. In my consulting work, I've encountered the most brilliant scientist. Dr. Patterson. Perhaps you've heard of him? Her?" She watched Helen's face with predatory attention. "Groundbreaking work in neural networks. The kind of mind that changes everything. And the surname-so common, isn't it? So... ordinary."

Duke laughed. The sound was harsh, automatic, designed to dismiss. "Helen? Related to someone like that?" He shook his head. "Adelia, darling, you don't understand. My wife's family background is-" he gestured vaguely, "-uncomplicated. She shares a name with greatness. That's the extent of the connection. That's the only connection she'll ever have."

He looked at Helen as he said it. He looked for the hurt, the shame, the confirmation of his assessment. She gave him nothing. She stood in her cheap clothes in his expensive world and felt, for the first time, genuinely free of his opinion.

"Dr. Patterson," she said slowly. "Yes. I've heard the name. Impressive work, apparently. Though I understand the project is classified. Top secret." She met Adelia's eyes. "I wonder how much a consultant would actually know. About the real work. The important details."

Adelia's hand tightened on Duke's arm. Her smile became fixed, mechanical.

"Helen." The nurse's voice came from the doorway. "Ms. Patterson? We're ready for you."

Helen picked up her bag. She walked past Duke, past Adelia, past the life they were building with her husband's money and her husband's time and her husband's promises.

"Enjoy your appointment," she said. "I hope the results are everything you expect."

She didn't look back. She followed the nurse through the door, feeling their eyes on her back, knowing they were discussing her, knowing they were wrong about everything that mattered.

In the examination room, she sat on the paper-covered table and laughed. The sound surprised her. It had been so long.

Dr. Patterson. They had no idea.