Thinking back now, he remembered that she had had some kind of heart condition. She refused to talk about it, and now he couldn't remember exactly what it was. But that could possibly explain her entry into the clinical trials, though it didn't clarify why she was only being added now, at the last minute.
And if so, how would he feel talking to her? He hoped time had mellowed her, though he somehow doubted it. Not Ally.
What an irony. If it was the same Alexa Hampton, she could end up being his entree into the secretive world of Winston Bartlett's Gerex Corporation. The trouble was, he wasn't sure he actually wanted to see her again. Even after all the years, the wounds still felt fresh.
He closed out the NIH file and opened People Search, which he often used to look up phone numbers. He started with New York State as a criterion. The names Alexa and Nina undoubtedly belonged to women, so they might be listed merely by their initials. But start with Alexa and be optimistic.
He got lucky. Three names and phone numbers popped up.
One was in Manhattan, and Ally was a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker, but he wasn't sure he was psychologically prepared to speak to her. That number he decided to save for last, though it was by far the most plausible.
The next Alexa Hampton lived in Syracuse, with area code 315. He was still shook up as he dialed the number.
Sure didn't sound like Ally. But he was playing this straight. As a reporter he always started a conversation by identifying himself, so naturally he answered, "Stone Aimes, New York Sentinel."
"The fuck you want?" came the voice. It was female but it definitely was not ladylike. "I don't need any newspapers."
Whoa, that definitely didn't sound like Ally. She was direct but she didn't talk like a sailor.
"Sorry, ma'am. I have a few questions about your participation in some clinical trials. Sorry to bother you, but I have a deadline. Shouldn't take a minute."
"I'm doing a story on the Gerex Corporation. Are you--?"
"The what corporation? The fuck you talking about?"
"Seems like I'm calling the wrong number. I'm very sorry and I apologize."
"Listen, if you're some kind of weirdo, I'm going to call the cops and have this call traced."
"I said I apologize." He hung up and thought about another beer. This was beginning to feel like the moment.