Page 165 of The Bone Code
I waited for her to go on. She didn’t.
“I promise anything you say will stay between us,” I encouraged.
“I consulted my pastor, and he said I should phone you.”
“You’ve thought of something else the girls said?”
“They asked about a Canadian pharmaceutical company.”
“Do you recall which one?”
“In over jacks.”
I was lost.
“InovoVax. Do you hear the rhyme? It makes sense to me because I play poker.”
“I do. Very clever.”
Several seconds passed. In the silence, I feared she might hear the banging of my heart.
“But I must be honest,” Abilene said at last. “I made up the rhyme because I also saw the name in print.”
“In print.”
“Well, in pixels or whatever. On caller ID.”
“Someone at InovoVax phoned someone at GeneFree?”
“Many times.”
“Do you know who?”
I heard a soft clicking. Pictured Abilene shaking her head, the swinging eyeglass chains connecting with the phone.
“Good Lord, that was a knuckle-brained move. I was wagging my noggin, but you can’t see me.”
“You don’t know who called?”
“With the new system, the party comes up on my screen, then the call rolls automatically to the proper extension.”
“When was the last time you noted a call from InovoVax?”
“Earlier this week.”
“Would the number remain in the system?”
“Huh. Mighty fine question. No reason I can’t have a little look-see.”
I heard keys click. A lot of them.
“Yes. Here it is. Oh, my. With all those zeros, I’m sure it must be the number for the main switchboard.”
“Can you dial it?”
She did. It was. A mechanical voice apologized that InovoVax was closed for the day, instructed that messages could be left only on individual extensions.
“It’s after five,” Abilene said. “Still, doesn’t that just suck pickles?”
