Her words rankled. Rage grew inside me, so intensely that my body heated, and I could almost believe my blood was actually boiling. How quickly she’d flipped the switch. Now I remembered why I didn’t always like her. “What about you? You don’t think he’ll turn you in?”
“Sure he will, but they won’t find me based off what he knows.”
“And what about what I know?”
She laughed. Not the soft, girlish giggle that was more play than anything. A deep, throaty laugh so arrogant my blood pressure doubled. “What you think you know and what you actually know is inconsequential. Take the offer or leave it. I don’t have time for your mind games.”
I considered hanging up, but she had me backed into a corner, and she knew it. Fink was a loose end that Jones should’ve tied up when he had the chance. But he didn’t, and now I was left with an epic mess. “If anyone can find the girl and convince Fink to keep his mouth shut in order to get her back, it’s you.”
She gave a little gasp of pleasure at the stroking of her ego. “That’s more like it. As soon as I see the payment come over, I’ll take care of Fink. One way or another, he won’t say a word about what he knows.”
I relaxed enough to allow a satisfied smile. I had her right where I wanted her again, just that easily. Katarina wasn’t the only one who knew how to push buttons to get what she wanted. “And if you can’t get him to agree?”
She made the sound of a knife going across someone’s neck to slit their throat, like characters in old-timey cartoons often did. “He won’t get a chance to talk. Guaranteed.”
“Good.” I took out my burner phone and accessed a quick transfer app. “Is your username still the same?”
“Of course,” Katarina all but purred. She always loved getting her way.
“Should be in there now.” I set the burner phone down on the desk, thought better of it, and put it in my pocket so I wouldn’t forget to dispose of it.
“There it is.” She gave a little laugh of triumph. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” I paused, letting my voice take on a deeper tone when I spoke again. “And Katarina…”
“Yes?”
I let the silence hang between us.
Her breathing was heavy on the other end, either from excitement or anticipation. Maybe both.
I waited until I was sure I had her full attention. “Don’t fail me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
12
Gabe waited a few moments after he transferred the caller to the doctor’s phone in his office. When the doctor’s voice was a soft murmur down the hall, he jumped to his feet and crept down the empty corridor. When he was only a few feet from the doctor’s door, he stopped, leaning close so he could hear the conversation. He didn’t normally eavesdrop, but ever since he’d stumbled upon the photo album in the doctor’s office with pictures of a man who resembled himself, his curiosity had been unquenchable.
Now, he wished he hadn’t canceled the transaction. Ever since he’d found the photos in the doctor’s drawer and realized his employer must have something to do with a man’s death, a man who resembled himself greatly, he’d been eaten up with regret.
His mind had played out different scenarios during which he picked up the man and set him free, like a child would a previously injured bird, or picked him up and got fake IDs for both of them, going into hiding.
But none of those scenarios would play out. It was too late, for one. Second, Gabe’s gut told him he’d stumbled into something bigger than he’d ever known. And though he’d done many things in his life he considered wrong, he felt he had no choice but to stick around and see if his instincts were right. Some leftover sense of honor his grandparents had instilled in him, he guessed.
“Very funny, Katarina. This is still not worth fifty grand.”
Gabe blinked and pressed his ear closer to the door, wondering if he’d misheard the words. Whoever Katarina was, she was trying to extort a significant amount of money. Even though he was sure the doctor could afford it, why wasn’t he railing against the injustice of her request? Gabe waited, dying to know what she had on him.
Rubbing damp hands on his slacks, Gabe forced his lungs to slow their intake of air. He moved closer to the door, eager to hear the rest of the conversation, but the room had gone quiet. The doctor was obviously listening to what the woman was saying, or he’d ended the call. He could be making his way to the door, about to surprise Gabe and catch him in the act.
His stomach clenched, nerves boiling over, Gabe got ready to retreat. He took a step back, and when the doctor finally spoke again, he froze. The volume of his voice told him the doctor was still at his desk, which meant he was safe in the hallway, for now. He leaned in again, wondering what the woman had said on the other end that’d had the doctor’s undivided attention.
The doctor gave a short laugh. “Being delusional has been his thing for a long time.”
Gabe recoiled. Was he talking about Gabe? Or maybe the man in the photos. Was it possible that the stranger who looked like he could be Gabe’s twin was the doctor’s lover? Was he wrong about the photo? Did Katarina have proof that the doctor and this mystery man were into deviant role playing. Had the photo been faked? Was she threatening to expose him?
Or had that mystery lookalike died at the hands of a doctor who spent his workweek caring for people who were close to giving up? How could someone who devoted his professional
