Scared to Death. Debby Giusti

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      No need to embarrass himself further. “See you later.”

      “Wait.” The door opened. Crutch in hand, Kate scooted forward, propped her shoulder against the wooden doorjamb and let out a ragged breath. Her hair framed her face, cheeks flushed from exertion, brow wrinkled.

      “Sorry it took me so long to get to the door.” She glanced down at her injured leg. “I’m slow as a tortoise with this injury.”

      “I shouldn’t have disturbed you.”

      “You didn’t. Dinner at five sounds fine. Although after that huge breakfast, I should probably skip a meal or two.” She looked up. “You’ve been very kind.”

      “All you’ve been through, the least Heather and I could do was offer you a place to stay. Plus, we have plenty of room.”

      Kate glanced down the hallway. “And a beautiful home.”

      He noticed a small puddle of water by the front door, which he pointed out to Kate. “Lloyd must have had ice on his shoes. Tina would have given the doc a piece of her mind for tracking up her hardwoods.”

      A spark of amusement flickered in Kate’s eyes. “Sounds like something she’d do.”

      “So Tina was a neat freak even as a kid?”

      “And put me to shame,” Kate said with a laugh. “My idea of clean was to shove everything under my bed and hope no one noticed.” She looked at the picture hanging on the wall.

      Nolan followed her gaze. Heather had taken the photo a couple weeks after they’d arrived in Mercy while Nolan and Tina had sat at the kitchen table.

      “Looks like you two were having fun,” Kate finally said.

      “Heather wanted to try out her new camera. That little skunk made faces at us until we were both howling with laughter.”

      One of the first lighthearted moments he and Heather had shared after Olivia’s death. He had hung the photo to remind them life went on even after the loss of a loved one.

      “Where’d you happen to meet Tina?” Kate asked.

      “In California. When Olivia got sick, I needed someone to help with her care. Tina was looking for a new job.” He shrugged. “Win-win, all the way around.”

      “I’m sorry about your wife.” She hesitated a moment, then asked, “Was it cancer?”

      “Olivia died of an infection. She’d had surgery. I thought she was doing better, but…” He sighed, a heavy weight on his chest.

      Suddenly, he was tired of talking. “You look like you need some rest. Probably that medicine Lloyd gave you. He’s quick to push pills.”

      “So I noticed. A nap sounds good. See you about five?”

      “I’ll keep the fire roaring. Come out earlier, if you get cold.”

      She closed the door as he stepped into the great room and walked to the hearth. Grabbing the poker, he stoked the fire. The flames licked the logs, sending sparks dancing like fireflies in the air.

      Once again, the memory of Olivia’s declining health swirled around him. Both of them had skirted the real issue of a Hollywood lifestyle gone amok.

      Alcohol. Drugs.

      Olivia had been so good at explaining away her symptoms that he’d turned a blind eye to the truth, especially when she’d promised the unexpected trip to India would be her last.

      A fact-finding expedition for a documentary on the plight of India’s poor who sold their organs to rich foreigners—a transplant tourist racket she’d wanted to explore.

      Nolan shook his head. Organs for a price.

      For Olivia Price.

      Only later, he’d learned the truth. She hadn’t gone to India to gather information. She’d gone to buy an organ.

      He’d never suspected liver disease.

      Nolan threw another log on the fire. To Olivia, time was money and too precious to be spent waiting for a donor through normal channels in the States.

      So she’d found another way. The unscrupulous physicians at the Beverly Hills Specialty Center had claimed the procedure was as safe abroad as in the U.S. Olivia’s mistake had been to trust the upscale medical facility that catered to the rich and famous. Too late, she’d learned they covered up the high rate of complications that often led to death, just as it had with Olivia.

      Fisting his hands, anger swelled up in Nolan anew.

      Why hadn’t she told him the real reason for her trip? Probably because by that point their marriage had been a sham.

      On the exterior, they had looked like the perfect family. Except he and Olivia had been living a lie.

      Nolan shook his head, sorrow overwhelming him. Justice. That was what he’d expected. Sanjeer Hira and the other physicians at the Beverly Hills Center had preyed on Olivia’s fear of not finding a donor in time, but no illegality could be found. Bottom line, the authorities’ hands were tied. Despite the dangers, private citizens were free to undergo medical procedures abroad.

      Fingers pressed against the mantel, Nolan stared into the fire. When Olivia had told him about a pre-op stop she had made in Georgia, Nolan had realized he might have a way to bring down the Beverly Hills operation and the physicians involved.

      A limousine had picked Olivia up at the Atlanta airport and had driven her to a VIP suite in a rural mountain clinic. There she’d received a special IV treatment exclusively for liver patients to increase the rate of recovery. Twelve hours later, she’d been whisked back to Atlanta and had boarded her flight to India.

      The fact that the Beverly Hills physicians had insisted she use an alias during her Georgia layover raised a red flag in Nolan’s mind. A legit medical procedure wouldn’t require cash up front. Nor a fictitious identity for the patient.

      Carrying a hefty load of grief and guilt, Nolan had moved to Mercy after Olivia’s death. If he couldn’t get to the Beverly Hills Center through the front door, he’d go in the back way. Surely, someone in the small Georgia town had made or would make a mistake, exposing a crack in the seemingly flawless Beverly Hills facade.

      With dogged determination and hours of surveillance, pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, but the picture appeared more corrupt than he had even imagined.

      Now Tina had died.

      And her old friend was sleeping in the guest room.

      Probably a mistake to offer Kate lodging. Although it had been the Christian thing to do. Besides, where else would she have gone? To a hotel in Summerton? The pass had closed, and the last thing Nolan wanted was an innocent woman out on her own.

      Dropping into the leather chair, he pulled the Bible to his lap and let his fingers slide over the page.

      Maybe he and Heather СКАЧАТЬ