honest I was looking for someone with money. My goals were simple - I wanted someone to provide the things I never had, and I wanted to travel - and I saw that in him.”
Bill remembered how very uncomfortable he felt with what Mary was saying, since he had no idea as to why she was even telling him all this.
“Red was always helping some showgirl to make ends meet, as long as he could benefit from it. So, some ten years ago, he flew four of us to his annual golf tournament. The other girls did tricks, and Red split the money with them and paid all their expenses. Of course he brought me along as a surprise for Doc, and we were married shortly thereafter. Later I found that Doc paid Red a fee for arranging this get together.” As Mary talked, she stretched out her shapely legs, staring at her feet. “Bill, my first five years in North Dakota were not only a culture shock - they were a nightmare. Here I was, a show girl trying to raise three strange children who really didn’t accept me in the least, and we lived on a ranch that was so remote I almost went crazy. Finally Doc persuaded me to go back to school and train as a nurse, so I’d be able to help manage his office, and that’s what I did - and that was the only thing that kept me from going insane.”
Bill recalled how shocked he was at what she was telling him, “My God Mary, your life looks so stable from the outside. I hadn’t a clue,” he’d replied.
“Much of my happiness has been my challenge in nursing. And now I see so much more purpose in life having worked with you. To be very honest, money’s not the answer to happiness. I’d give anything to have placed love above money, even though I eventually grew to love and respect Doc over the years.”
Again taking a deep breath, she appeared visibly relieved to have this out of the way, but she still looked disturbed.
“Okay, let me get to the point as to why I’m telling you all this and why I wanted to talk to you.” Bill remembered how her eyes were even more determined, as she once again stared at him.
“Last week, Red asked to meet alone with me at the ranch. He said he needed to ask me a very important favor, and like a fool my inexperience trapped me. He wanted to know if you were working for the government, and I told him you were flying to Washington every so often, but I didn’t know what you were doing there. Doc tells me Red and Lanin are very close friends, and Red sets Lanin up for gambling, girls, and booze regularly on his wife-less trips to Las Vegas - and let me tell you, Red Hinkley isn’t the type of person you’d ever want to cross swords with. He’s been known to serve as the middleman, like hiring a torpedo to take people out of the picture. Doc’s been able to distance himself from Red, but Red keeps acting as if he did me a big favor. Recently, Lanin told him that you represent a real problem to what they call their Dinosaur Club. In fact, he and Lanin would’ve gotten rid of you a long time ago, if they didn’t suspect you were involved with the FBI or someone in Washington. Bill, he’s asked me to find out just why you came here. He wants me to learn more about you, even if I have to seduce you - and he’s willing to pay me if I can find out what makes you tick. Pausing she said, Bill, I just can’t sell you down the river to that leach - not for any amount of money, which I’m sure the Lanin clinic and his big international bankers would pay.”
With that she uncrossed her feet, and sat up straight. Then leaning closer she whispered, “Bill, I think you’re safe as long as they think you’re an informant for the government, but I get the distinct feeling your days are numbered if they learn you’re really here just to help these poor little Nuns.”
“Mary - Doc knows why I’m here, in fact he helped hire me. He also knows that Lanin’s clinic, or these Dinosaurs as you call them, intend to eventually acquire the hospital and I’ve been hired to stop that type of hostile take-over. But I still have to reorganize the emergency service before I leave, and that’s going to become a real peeing contest - as you well know. Anyway, I’ve just started to recruit my own replacement, and it now looks like we’re both planning to leave paradise at about the same time now that the hospital is back on a sound financial track. That’s unless they plan to kill me before I can get out of harm’s way.”
“Bill, that’s exactly what my meeting with you is all about, she whispered. I think they do plan to kill you!”
Startled by what she’d just said, Bill stared out at the water speechless, as Mary grabbed his arm, shaking it to get his attention. “Bill, you know that Doc, like anyone else, must protect himself. If he even attempts to expose that Lanin clique - that damned Dinosaur Club would blackball him forever, but I’m sure you already know that. However, he’s willing to secretly talk to you in confidence - after we’ve had a chance to visit. So I guess we both need to talk to you off the record, and he asked me to find out if you’d be willing to keep his confidence, before he tells you anything about what’s really going on here.”
“Mary, you know Doc has my assurance of that,” Bill said to her, “and you can tell him that neither I nor Susan will abuse that confidence. I also understand what you’re trying to tell me, and I’m very appreciative. Hell, I’m really very thankful to you for what you’re telling me - but you need to know that there is much more behind this than meets the eye. To be very honest, I can’t share with you whether it’s a government investigation or not, but the Harrington and Associates have asked me to find out more about all these powerful doctor organizations that are intentionally cooperating with that Washington clique in de-regulating healthcare in America. We know a little bit about all these elite aristocracies trying to deregulate and decentralize our healthcare system through their monopolies, but they apparently include much more than health insurance and these corrupt pharmaceutical houses. Worse yet, they already have far too many politicians and corruptible physicians in their pocket, and believe me their pockets are very deep. But whoever they really are, they’re totally ignoring the medical ethics and the basic principles of our profession, let alone this country’s democracy we’ve held so sacred for so many years. Hell, this powerful aristocracy is completely caught up in an endless feeding frenzy, and they could care less about the working class that built this country. And there appears to be a new breed of doctors that are acting like a bunch of God damned Witch Doctors. Fascists use these same terror tactics to keep people confused while they get what they want, and that’s exactly what Lanin’s cronies are doing. They don’t want medicine to remain a professional science with standards. They just want to be a part of that wealthy upper crust that completely controls our dysfunctional politicians in Washington.”
“You sound just like Doc, Mary said finally grinning to relieve the tension. Bill, I’d like to tell Red that you told me in complete confidence that you’re investigating things for the government. I’d like to tell him the government sent you here to stop any takeover of this nonprofit hospital. It just may give you the time you need to get your butt out of here, before being killed.”
With that, tears once again filled her eyes - “Bill, I just don’t want you to get hurt,” she’d whispered softly.
“Alright - you can do that - but I have a favor to ask.”
Bill remembered how she looked at him and nodded, not knowing what that might be.
“Please don’t let Susan know that Lanin and Hinkley have me on their hit list.”
“That’ll be our secret,” she smiled, nodding to confirm their agreement.
* * * * *
After Susan and Doc returned from fishing, both Mary and Bill ran to check if they’d caught dinner, and once again Bill recalled Susan’s beautiful smile as she lifted a stringer of fresh Walleye out of the holding tank - but it also hurt him deeply to think back to those happy days.
“Guess who caught the first and the biggest Walleye?” she’d yelled, laying the fish down and diving into the cold lake.
“You shouldn’t have to perform surgery on Sunday, - I’ll filet them,” Bill remembered saying to Doc as he picked up the stringer and carried them to their fish-cleaning table where he made fast work of ten thick boneless filets, while the others changed for dinner. When Doc returned, Bill watched him soak the fresh filets in a mixture of milk and eggs before shaking them in a plastic