All the Pretty Girls - J. T. Ellison [94]
“I suppose you have questions about that poor dead lamb that showed up here in town. Well, that wasn’t one of our students and we didn’t have anything to do with it. So I’d appreciate it if you left.”
“Are you done, lady? ’Cause I’ve got a few questions and I’d appreciate it if you’d shut up and answer them.”
The rudeness shocked her into silence, and Grimes took advantage of the quiet.
“I need to know if you ever send lab work or anything else to the Asheville Community Hospital.”
The woman looked at him for a moment. “If there’s something that needs to be done for a student we simply send the student there, to the hospital. They can do things we can’t in a few cases. A very few cases. We do have a full-service health center here,” she boasted.
“Give me an example. When’s the last time you sent a student down to the hospital?”
“Well, we had to send one young lady down yesterday for a chest X-ray. Our machine is down. She’s been ill and the doctor thought it would be a good idea to rule out pneumonia.”
Grimes leaned into the woman’s face. “Who is the girl you sent?”
“Now, I can’t tell you that. That’s private information. I would—”
“Lady, tell me who it was or I’m going to arrest you, so help me God. I don’t have time for this crap from you. Who?”
The woman became indignant. “Well. You don’t have to yell. Her name is Noelle Pazia. There, satisfied?”
“No. Tell me how I can get in touch with Noelle.”
“Well, I suppose I could call her if you insist.”
He put a hand on her elbow and propelled her toward the door to her tiny office. “Let’s go make that call. I’m trying to make sure one of your students isn’t in trouble.”
The woman gave him a look that made him think of his daughter’s pet rabbit, nose twitching in fear, and picked up the phone. She dialed an extension, asked for Noelle Pazia and held up a finger to indicate she had been put on hold.
“The campus operator is routing the call,” she whispered, though there was no reason for her to keep her voice down. Grimes paced a few feet in either direction until the woman spoke again. “Is Noelle there? This is Nurse Brooks at the student health center. She isn’t. When did you see her last? You know she’s very ill, she needs to be in bed. She didn’t? Oh my. Yes dear, thank you.” She hung up the phone and gave Grimes a look he could not distinguish, whether it was anger or delight he would never know.
“She wasn’t in her room. She didn’t sleep there last night as far as her roommate can tell. I assume that means she went to stay with one of her male friends.” The nurse sniffed self-righteously, obviously not approving of such outrageous behavior. “A lot of the girls here do that.”
“You know that Noelle has a boyfriend?”
“Well, no, I don’t, I just—”
“Call that number again, I need to talk to the roommate. Tell her to meet us, right now. Go on, dial the phone. Then take me to her dorm.”
The woman started to sputter but picked up the phone. She got the roommate and told her to meet them downstairs in her dormitory. The second she hung up, Grimes got a hold of her arms and propelled her toward the door before she had a chance to speak. She was in his car a moment later and pointing him toward the residence halls. His heart was sinking with every moment, he had a bad feeling that Noelle Pazia wasn’t staying in a boyfriend’s room, but was lying on the side of a road in Louisville, Kentucky.
He got out of the car and made his way to the front entrance of the dorm. A very pretty redhead stood in the doorway, a multicolored scarf wrapped around her neck, ends trailing almost to her knees. She looked concerned, and as soon as he was within earshot he heard her ask, “Where’s Noelle?”
“I don’t know. I was hoping you could help me with that.”
“I spent the night at my boyfriend’s place.” Another, more audible sniff came from the nurse and Grimes turned, pointing a finger at her, a warning not to interrupt.
“Go on,” he prompted. The redhead complied. “He lives here in town, he’s an