Hush

Should I tell him? Lake wondered. What if she enlisted him rather than Maggie to search through the files? But despite how genuine he sounded, she felt a lingering suspicion about him. And she needed to stick with the plan she worked out with Archer.

She glanced at her watch. She wanted to position herself near the coffee shop at just a little after noon so as not to risk missing Maggie.

“No, Harry, but thank you. Look, I have an appointment and I need to get back.”

“I’m off for the rest of the afternoon, but I’ll be at the clinic tomorrow,” he said. “Let me know how it goes, okay?”

“Will do.”

They stood and walked back toward the entrance. Two boys, nine or ten years old, whooshed by them on skateboards, their faces tight with concentration. One made Lake think of Will, pinching her heart. At the same moment she felt a cloud pass over the sun and she glanced up instinctively. She quickly said goodbye to Harry and hurried home.

Back in her apartment, she made coffee and paced. She felt outraged about the approach Levin was taking- telling people that she’d engaged in some kind of espionage for another clinic. Word would get around in her professional circles and the story could dog her for years, perhaps even ruin her business. Was this Levin’s backup plan? If he couldn’t manage to kill her, he’d destroy her reputation?

If, of course, Levin was the one behind it all. What if someone else at the clinic was the mastermind of the embryo stealing? Maybe it was Sherman, in cahoots with Hoss. Or, if he’d found the right person in the lab to assist him, even Steve might have been able to pull it off. It would be in his interest, too, to keep the clinic’s success rate high. If it was someone else, that person could have convinced Levin that Lake was stealing information-while also arranging to have her attacked.

She hailed a cab at 11:40 and was outside the coffee shop by 12:05. She felt exposed standing right in the front of the restaurant, so after a few minutes she ducked into the doorway of the shoe store next door, where she’d still be able to see Maggie coming. As she waited, she rehearsed what she’d say to Maggie. She would have to sound very credible, especially if Maggie had been told that Lake was a spy.

By 12:40 Lake started to worry. Based on her routine, Maggie should have been there by now. Maybe, in light of everything going on, Maggie felt the pressure to stay close to base. Lake shifted her position again and again because her body still ached from last night. Please, please come, Maggie, she pleaded in her head.

And then Lake saw her. She’d made the turn onto Lexington and was hurrying up the block, her shoulders slumped and her face blank. She was wearing another pretty dress today and carrying the same tiny summer purse-the reason she’d left Keaton’s keys in her desk.

“Hi, Maggie,” Lake said, stepping out from the doorway. “I hate to interrupt your lunch today but I was hoping I could sit with you for a few minutes.”

Maggie shook her head back and forth.

“That’s not-that’s not a good idea,” she said.

“Could I just talk to you out here for a few minutes, then?”

Maggie looked off, refusing to make eye contact.

“I’m sorry-I can’t.”

Lake’s heart sank.

“But why not, Maggie?” she asked. “What have I done to upset you?”

“It’s not me. It’s what you’ve done to the clinic. Dr. Levin told me all about it. He said you’ve been giving another clinic confidential information of ours-information about the techniques we use.”

“Maggie, I need you to understand the truth. Yes, I did look through a few files but not so I could pass the information to other doctors. I think the clinic is transferring some couples’ embryos to other women without anyone’s permission. That’s the real reason they want me out of there.”

Maggie’s brown eyes flashed with anger.

“That’s not true,” she said defiantly. “Dr. Levin is an amazing man-he’s a miracle worker really. All he wants is to help people.”

“I’ve spoken to a patient whose embryos were probably stolen,” Lake said. She could hear desperation beginning to seep into her voice and tried to squelch it. “And last night a man attacked me. I’m almost positive he was hired by the clinic.”

Maggie shook her head again.

“I don’t believe you,” she said. “That’s ridiculous.”

“But why would I just make all this up? What would I have to gain from it?”

Maggie raised her chin and looked Lake directly in the eye.

“Because Dr. Levin caught you stealing. And you need to cover your tracks.” There had been a slight hesitancy in her words, as if a part of her was still weighing what Lake had said.

“Maggie, over the last few weeks you’ve gotten to know me a little. Do you really think I’m capable of that?”

Maggie bit her lip. Have I made a dent, Lake wondered?

“I have gotten to know you a little, but I know Dr. Levin much better,” Maggie said. “And he’s the one I trust.”

She started to turn. Lake couldn’t believe it. This had been her chance and she’d blown it.

“Maggie, please,” she said. Lake reached for the nurse’s arm and grabbed it at the wrist. A man walking by with a bulldog caught the gesture out of the corner of his eye and swiveled his head in their direction. Lake dropped Maggie’s arm. “I can prove to you that what I’m saying is true-you just need to do one thing to help me.”

“I can’t,” she said. “I want you to leave me alone.”

Maggie rushed past her, started to enter the coffee shop, and then changed course, continuing north on Lexington. She obviously didn’t want to take the chance of Lake following her inside and pleading with her further.

Lake glanced around to make sure no one was watching her. Then she hailed a cab.

Now what, she wondered? letting her body sink wearily into the backseat. She’d banked everything on Maggie, which in hindsight was a stupid plan. Yes, Maggie seemed like a decent person, and, yes, Maggie had clearly liked her, but Maggie was also young and naive. And probably fearful of getting involved in any way.

At home Lake poured a glass of wine and drank it with a piece of cheese-the only edible thing she had in the fridge. As she paced up and down the long hall in her apartment, she mentally ticked through the clinic’s other staff, wondering if she dared contact any of them for help.

Steve. He was her friend’s brother, the whole reason Lake was at the clinic to begin with. But as far as she knew, he might very well be in on things. Plus, she couldn’t ignore the fact that he hadn’t called to hear her side of the story or to ask if he could help. Which made her think of Harry. But she still didn’t know if she could trust him.

She glanced down and saw that she had drained the entire glass of wine. I need to get in touch with Archer and come up with a new plan, she thought. As she set her wineglass down, she heard her BlackBerry ring in her purse. Grabbing it, she saw to her shock that it was the number of the clinic. Could it be Maggie, she wondered, having a change of heart?

“This is Lake Warren,” she answered.

“It’s Rory,” the voice on the other end said, nearly in a whisper. “From Advanced Fertility.”

“Yes?” she asked. It was the last person she expected to hear from.

“I know something,” Rory said. “I think you should know it, too.”

25

LAKE CHECKED THE surge of hope that had already begun to build in her. She’d had a similar call hours earlier from Harry. And though he’d disclosed Levin’s latest tactic against her, it hadn’t been the kind of information she’d needed.