friends in the military who may be able to help us out. If Hans is
alive, I bet we can find him.” “You really think so?”
Nick cupped her face. “Shelly, if this guy had anything to do with you walking out of these four walls cancer-free in ’72, he is your key.”
“Key?”
“This is what I have been saying all along. It’s taken our project to shake this guy out. He must be following what we’re doing. If he contacted Barry from a library in Baltimore, that means he is stateside. So you need to write an open letter to this guy on the website. Tell him how it’s going. You need to draw him out, but he must be cautious. Wall is right. If this guy does have the formula, there are a lot of companies that would love to keep him quiet.”
“That’s so sad, isn’t it? You would think every human being on this planet would do anything to stop cancer, but if we find a cure, I guess they’re out of business.”
“There’s no money in a cure.” Nick looked at his watch. “Shel, I
have to go meet Dad and Tanya for dinner.” “They still see each other? That’s great.” “To you it’s great; to me it’s a scary thing.”
“What on earth could be so scary about your dad and Tanya?” “This morning he asked if I had any condoms.”
“Thanks for the laugh.” She smiled. “I needed that.” She rose
from her swing as Nick stood to leave and kissed him gently.
“Anytime.”
As they embraced, she looked up at the wing of the hospital. “Looks like we have little eyes upon us,” she said. Nick looked up and waved.
“You know, if we find this guy, those little eyes may not be there
anymore.”
“Yeah,” she said, nestled into his body, “but I hope you will be.” “That, I can guarantee,” he said. She kissed him again as the sun
set further into the western sky.
*****
Following dinner, Nick returned home with his dad after
stopping at Tanya’s for a nightcap. Sal said goodnight, heading