Abandoned: MIA in Vietnam Read Online Free PDF

need to do,” Wolfe said.
    “You sure? The wife will be home soon. If you’re here, she’ll be less of a bother. If not, I’ll have to leave for a while,” Noble pleaded.
    “Why, Chief, don’t you get along with your wife?” Wolfe teased.
    “Oh, I love my wife,” Noble said. “Unfortunately, she missed me a lot while I was at sea and working for Volkswagen. Since I retired, she has made me her hobby. She wants me to go everywhere with her. She accompanies me to doctor appointments. I can’t take a walk to the library without her wanting to come with me. She’s smothering me!”
    “Yoo-hoo, I’m home,” Daloris called. The dogs had known better than to bark at her. She entered the room, wide grin on her face. She wore a red dress and hat, and she peeled off a pair of long white gloves as she walked. “Oh, you have company. Doctor Wolfe. So glad to see you again.”
    “Hello, Daloris,” Wolfe said, putting his arm around her shoulders and leaning forward so she could give him a light kiss on the cheek. “You look all dolled up. Fashion show at the church?”
    Daloris smiled coyly. “Why, thank you, Addy. Will you stay for lunch?”
    “I asked him the same thing,” Noble said, following Wolfe to the front door. The dogs sat, tails wagging, waiting for a chance to bark. One harsh look from Daloris and all three lay their heads down quietly.
    “I’m sorry, Daloris. I’ve been gone from home all morning,” Wolfe said. “I’ve got some things to do that I can’t put off.”
    “Well, you say hello to Jennifer, Kayla Anne, and Junior for me, Okay?”
    “Will do,” Wolfe said.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 4
     
    Vehicles filled the parking lot in front of the Flagler Hospital emergency room and all other lots surrounding the hospital also. Wolfe thought about parking in the physician’s parking lot, but decided having to prove he was a retired doctor to the security guard would take more time than finding a spot in the last row. Besides, he wasn’t there on hospital business and he no longer had an active pass card.
    Entering the high-ceilinged foyer that led to the patient tower and the ER, Wolfe strode to the desk manned by an elderly woman wearing a pinkish jacket. She owned a wide smile and white false teeth too large for her mouth. “May I help you?” she asked.
    “Does Luther Gundersen still work here?” Wolfe asked. Gundersen had been an ER doc who started After Hours urgent care with his partner, Francis Cordiano. There had been some irregularities in the billing by the After Hours corporation, ending with Cordiano going to jail for tax evasion, the breakup of the business, and the eventual divorce of Gundersen and his fourth wife. She got one of the clinics, the one Wolfe had worked in. Gundersen eventually lost his license. Flagler hired him as a marketing agent. He knew how to do that, in spades.
    The volunteer flipped through the hospital directory on the computer screen. “Oh, here he is,” she said. “He’s in the Anderson Gibbs building in the administration suite. Should I call him? Whom shall I say is looking for him?”
    “I’m Dr. Wolfe. I haven’t seen Luther in a long time. I’d like to surprise him. How do I get to his office?”
    “Go to your right, walk past the elevators, through those glass doors,” she said. “Then go through the central building. Cross the patient drop off in front of the cafeteria and Anderson Gibbs is on the left.
    “Thanks.”
    The door to Anderson Gibbs opened to mild chaos. Workmen moved ladders and sheetrock. A power saw cut steel 2 x 4s. Someone hammered in the background, while a power drill screamed off to Wolfe’s left. Dust floated through the air. Wolfe smelled wood burning and gypsum. Gundersen stood inside the door with his hand out to Wolfe. “Addison,” he said, “good of you to stop by.” He beckoned Wolfe to follow and strode out the door. “Much too noisy in there to talk.”
    The door