Aidan’s computer had quickly analyzed the millions of permutations and rejected all of them. Now it was going to take brute force techniques to break the encryption key. Billions of attempts. Billions of failures.
Hunched over the computer, Aidan responded to Ryan’s earlier text with a simple but accurate answer. Not yet.
24
WORD OF THE lawsuit spread through Manhattan Memorial like wildfire.
The staff was shocked and terrified as their worlds were thrown totally into chaos. The potential fallout from the hospital merger became secondary compared to this. Even the possibility of a lawsuit of this magnitude could impact the entire hospital.
The atmosphere within the walls was grim, the silence and whispered conversations permeating everything, compromising the fine work that had always been associated with Manhattan Memorial.
Jacob Casper was locked in his office with counsel almost around the clock, desperately working to stop this avalanche before it took on a life of its own.
Janet had no time for anything, much less a dinner with Casey. She was expected to be in on all the meetings with Jacob, taking notes, following up on instructions. For once, she was too overworked and exhausted to be plugged into her gossip line. Besides, there was nothing to gossip about other than what was happening here. And she was in the inner loop, bound by confidentiality. There was nothing she could do to calm the frenzied staff.
This was just an overwhelming nightmare.
During the limited time Janet had to run to the ladies’ room and buy a bite to eat, she did, and then hurried back to her office to eat in privacy. To hang out at Au Bon Pain would mean to answer a million questions—none of which she could, or was permitted to, answer. Plus, she didn’t want to be bombarded. To say what? That no one’s job was secure? That no one’s future was a fait accompli? That no one even knew if the hospital would survive this unless the lawsuit was settled quickly and quietly?
Solitude was the only solution. That, and a lot of strong black coffee.
During one of those brief, solo meals, Diana knocked on her door.
Janet looked up, and then gave a faint smile when she saw who it was. “Come in, sweetheart.”
Diana poked her head in and waved a brown paper bag. “I thought you might like some company for lunch—company who loves you and has no desire to pump you for information.”
“That sounds wonderful.” Janet gave a weary sigh. “Pull up a chair and join me. I apologize in advance. I’m lousy company.”
“No apology necessary. You’re going through hell.” Diana settled herself, placed her lunch on the desk and glanced at the small fruit salad her mother was picking at.
“Mom, you have to eat.” She pulled out the turkey sandwich she’d brought from home and placed half of it in front of her mother. “You’re going to get yourself sick. Nothing is worth that.”
Janet stared down at the sandwich, and then lifted her gaze. “Thank you. I’m trying to keep it together. But sitting in that conference room, hour upon hour, hearing the same ominous predictions—it really gets to me. This is my hospital, too. I’ve worked here forever. And that bitch, Nancy Lexington, wants nothing more than to destroy it. For what? It won’t bring Ronald back.”
“Yeah. I know.” Diana swallowed hard. “And selfishly, I’m hysterical, Mom. My job was in flux before. Now? What am I going to do if they cut me loose?”
“We’ll fix it the way we fix everything,” Janet replied. “But right now, we don’t even know if there’s going to be a job to fight for, or a Manhattan Memorial to practice in.”
“What are the odds that Nancy Lexington will settle?”
Janet shrugged, trying to choke down a bite of sandwich. “It depends. The woman who burst in here last week, threatened me and slapped me across the face was definitely irrational and paranoid. Maybe she’s really lost it and she went over the edge for good. I don’t know. But if she won’t accept the millions we’re offering her, we’re in deep trouble.”
Diana munched on a carrot stick, her own mind working. “If she doesn’t give a damn about the money for herself, you’d think she’d care about it for her children—the children who she so loves and shields.”
“Shhh,” Janet said. “You’re not supposed to know about what she’s shielding them from.”
“I’ve never repeated anything you told me, and I never will,” Diana replied. “I’m just talking to you. We’re alone, and the door is locked. But I don’t know what more that woman wants other than what she already has—and now, what she’s being offered. FYI, I doubt her children are in the dark about anything their father did. He wasn’t exactly discreet—even if he thought he was.”
“I’m not sure how much Nancy wants or what would be enough for her to settle. But I have a feeling we’ll be finding out very soon.”
* * *
“Soon” came even sooner than Janet had expected.
At eight o’clock, with Janet sitting at her desk wondering if she’d be needed any more that day, Jacob burst through the administrative doors and into Janet’s office.
“We had our settlement conference.”