Pets, Paranormal Box Set by J.D. Walker

Author:J.D. Walker [Walker, J.D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Published: 2018-10-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

Monday morning, as I sat on my borrowed penthouse balcony with my laptop, I called Dr. Fred Bronfeld’s office. He came on the line after the nurse I spoke to transferred me to his extension.

“Felix, I’m glad you called,” he said after greeting me. “Your uncle’s not well.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to calm myself. I knew it. “Tell me what’s going on.”

I heard him shuffle some papers. “He came to me last month because of stomach pain. We ran some tests, and did a scan. It’s stomach cancer, Felix. Terminal. He has maybe five months to live.”

My heart felt like lead. “Jesus, doc. How…it was that advanced already?”

“You know how Ben is. Illness is a sign of weakness to him. So he must have been in some serious pain to even think of coming to see me.” I heard him sigh. “I’m sorry, Felix. Even with chemo and other treatments, there was…It’s too far gone.”

“I understand.” I cleared my throat. Fuck. “Did you give him medication for pain management or anything?” I hadn’t seen anything stronger that Extra Strength Tylenol in Ben’s kitchen cabinet.

“I gave him a prescription for Oxycontin.” I wonder if he even filled the damn thing! Or he’s hiding it from me. Dr. Bronfeld cleared his throat. “You might consider hospice as his time gets closer. He’ll need morphine for the pain by then.” I knew that Ben would never agree to leaving his home of many years.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I appreciate it, Doc.”

“Again, I’m sorry, Felix. Ben is stubborn, but he’s a good man.”

“The best. Thanks, Dr. Bronfeld.” I hung up and closed my eyes, letting sadness wash over me for a few minutes until I reined it in. Ben wouldn’t want me to fret over him, so I needed to get over it. Once I solved this case, I’d take some leave and spend as much quality time as I could with him until he…

My phone buzzed. It was a text from Kevin in IT. The message read: Someone hacked the system last night. Yes! At last, I had some progress.

I texted back: Can you trace it?

Kevin replied: No. Hacker’s good. Can’t track the IP. Damn it! Still, that meant the trap had been set, and I could expect a visit from the thief sometime soon.

I replied: Okay. Thanks.

The rest of the day, I took it easy and tried to nap so I’d be awake overnight, in case my burglar struck.

* * * *

It took two more nights before my thief showed up. I was happy this was finally going down, as I didn’t know how much longer I could go with only a few hours of sleep. I was sitting in the dark, the doors to the balcony wide open to let the air in. The moon was big and bright, too. I had situated myself in a corner of the room, sitting on the floor.

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