Malice
Page 2
She looked up from her phone and stared at the bedroom door.
“Dad? Mom?” she heard Justin’s muffled voice call out from the end of the hallway, where their parents’ bedroom was.
Her phone dinged.
She looked down at the screen. Ryan had replied: Weird? What do u mean?
She quickly typed: IDK, but someone might be in our house.
Even as she typed the words, she felt as though she was being a little too dramatic. Threat or no threat, people didn’t just break into houses . . . not in their neighborhood. But she was curious what Ryan’s reaction might be. She wanted to know if he would get worried about her. She looked up from her phone and stared at her bedroom door again, her head tilted, listening for anything out of the ordinary. But all she could hear was the grandfather clock outside their parents’ bedroom and Justin’s footsteps as he walked down the staircase.
She heard a creaking sound.
It was the loose step—the sixth one from the bottom. It had been creaking since she was a little girl. She always tried to avoid it, especially if she was doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing.
Suddenly, she heard a loud crash as though something—or someone—was tumbling down the stairs. White-hot terror rose inside her and she clapped a hand over her mouth.
Justin?!
Oh, my God! What just happened?
Panic fluttered like a trapped moth in her chest as she contemplated opening the door to find out what was going on. To help her brother.
Step number six squeaked again. Someone was heading upstairs. Toward her.
Her heart thundering in her chest, she sprinted to the other side of her room and crawled beneath her bed.
Call 911! Someone is in my house, she texted.
The phone dinged: Stop messing around.
I’m serious! I’m under the bed! she typed. Call 911 NOW!
The phone dinged again: Stop, M. Ur starting to freak me out.
She tried to reply, to tell Ryan that she wasn’t messing around, that she was really in danger, horrible danger, but her hand was shaking so badly, she kept tapping the wrong buttons.
She heard footsteps in the hallway, drawing closer. A moment later, she heard the knob to her bedroom door turn. But the door didn’t open.
She’d locked it.
The house went silent again. Then something slammed into the door, and she heard wood splinter. Another slam, and the door swung open on its hinges.
Her breath turned to ice inside her chest as the phone clattered to the carpet. She clamped a hand over her mouth again, barely stifling a scream.
A ding! pierced the silence as another text came through, but she didn’t dare breathe, much less move to pick up the phone. Sweat carving a jagged path along her spine, she listened to the intruder’s heavy breathing and tried to stay quiet. She lay still as a statue and watched a pair of large black boots step into the room. Then the person who belonged to them moved slowly past her bed and out of view.
She heard her closet door opening, the squeak of her hangers moving as her clothes were being moved around. Then silence slowly settled over the room. A moment later, the boots reappeared. They were heading away from the bed, away from her. She shuddered with relief as she watched the intruder step from her room, into the hallway.
Ding!
Bile slid up her throat. No, Ryan, no!
The boots froze, then turned and faced the bed.
CHAPTER 2
DANIEL
Two Days Later . . .
A LITTLE AFTER 6:00 a.m., Daniel sped down Southern California’s Pacific Coast Highway, heading from his beachfront Malibu home to Pacific Palisades, where he worked for a pediatric practice. Healing Hands Pediatrics was one of the most well-respected pediatric practices on the West Coast, with more than half of its patients coming from affluent families, including many A-list celebrities, movie producers, and other members of the entertainment community.
It was a sunny December morning, and the windows were down. The chilly ocean air flooding into the SUV invigorated him. His elderly golden retriever, Bruce, rode shotgun, his thick, yellow coat blowing in the salty wind.
Daniel loved the picturesque drive to work—the dazzling blue waters of the Pacific Ocean on his right side, and the majestic rugged beauty of the Santa Monica Mountains on his left.
Sometimes he felt overwhelmed by the new world in which he’d found himself. The house in Malibu, the swanky clinic, the respect he was enjoying now that he was a physician. Even now, after two years of living this new life, it still seemed a little surreal. As though he was living a life meant for someone else. He was certain that he would never become completely used to it. But that didn’t mean he enjoyed it any less.
Today was his first day back at work since returning from his honeymoon. Ten months after meeting Mia O’Brien at that hotel bar, he’d done the unexpected: he’d asked her to marry him. She’d said yes, they’d found a justice of the peace, and then they’d taken off for a two-week honeymoon in the Caymans. Even now, when he thought back to how it had all unfolded, he was still a little stunned.
The whirlwind romance.
The marriage he’d always vowed he’d never have.
Especially to a woman like Mia.
It had been difficult—even painful—to kill a conviction that he’d held and reinforced for most of his life: that beautiful women were bad news. But the more he’d gotten to know Mia, the more he realized his theory about beautiful women didn’t apply to her.
When he became too chilled from the brisk morning air, he rolled up the windows, flipped on the radio, and listened to a radio host report the local news.
“Officers entered the Sherman Oaks home after receiving a call from a concerned friend of the family early Saturday morning,” the radio host was saying. “The family of four had all died from apparent gunshot wounds, and authorities think it may have been a murder-suicide. Though names haven’t yet been released, neighbors say the father was a respected pediatrician in the area and the mother an active member of the community.”
Christ, that’s horrible, Daniel thought with a shiver. Sherman Oaks was only ten miles from Pacific Palisades. The guy had been a pediatrician. Daniel wondered if he’d known him.
While he couldn’t wrap his head around how someone could possibly kill his own family, he did understand suicide. His own family had been handed some pretty crummy DNA, and many of his family members had been addicts. All the males had died before the age of forty, most from suicide. He’d come pretty close to an attempt a couple of times himself in his younger years. That was one reason why it was important for him to stay on the straight and narrow with his health and not start drinking again. Well, at least, not to the point of intoxication.
The talk of murder and suicide was putting a damper on his fantastic mood, so he flipped the radio off and enjoyed the rest of the drive in silence. Reaching Pacific Palisades, Daniel turned onto Entrada Drive, then drove the remaining three blocks to the practice. As he pulled into his reserved parking space, he noticed something was different. Usually, he was the first one to show up in the mornings. But this morning, there were already several other vehicles in the parking lot, including Teddy’s. Why would his boss be opening the clinic early?
A Curious George cartoon played from the practice’s two flat-screen TVs mounted on the walls as he led Bruce through an already half-filled double waiting room. Business was certainly booming these days. Unfortunately, that wasn’t necessarily good news in his line of work. As Daniel made his way through the waiting room, children and their parents oohed and aahed at Bruce. At the practice, the three-legged dog was a celebrity in his own right. Daniel brought him in at least once a week to help soothe some of his more neurodiverse patients.
Daniel noticed a commercial for a new drug was airing on a monitor above the reception desk and frowned.
At the desk, he greeted Margy, the practice’s office manager. Margy was in her seventies a
nd had smooth cocoa skin and short silver hair. She’d been with the practice from the beginning, when Teddy had opened it almost twenty years ago.
“Welcome back, Dr. Winters.” Margy smiled. She reached down to pet Bruce. “And good morning there, Dr. Bruce. We’ve missed you.”
Bruce set his graying chin in the woman’s lap, enjoying the attention.
“So, what’s with the clinic opening so early this morning?” Usually, he had at least an hour of quiet in his office before he saw patients.
Margy’s smile faded a little. She peered at him over the rim of her glasses. “Oh, those are the Respira patients.”
Respira? Daniel shook his head. “Come again?”
She pointed to a 24x36-inch poster on the wall next to her. On it was an image of young boy with his parents. The whole family was smiling and sitting in a green field. The poster was captioned:
PARENTS ARE BOUND TO MAKE MISTAKES. BUT PLEASE . . . DON’T MAKE ONE WITH HIS HEALTH. ASK YOUR PEDIATRICIAN ABOUT RESPIRA TODAY.
Daniel raised an eyebrow. They didn’t usually promote pharmaceuticals at their practice, especially with such aggressive fear-based ads. He wondered if the commercial he’d glimpsed a moment ago was for the same drug. “Respira, huh? What is it?”
“The new immunoceutical,” she said, her mouth twisting a little.
Immunoceutical? Was he missing something? He didn’t even know what an immunoceutical was. “Come again?”
“It’s become a pretty big deal around here. I’m sure Teddy will fill you in.”
His nurse, Deepali, a bright, ambitious young woman from New Delhi, stopped what she was doing and turned to Daniel. “Married life looks good on you, Dr. Winters.” She smiled. “Welcome back.”
“Thanks.” He beamed, feeling the same warm contentment in his middle that he usually felt when he was at work. His colleagues were like family, and the practice felt like a second home. It was good to be back.
As he made his way down the examination hallway, his nostrils filled with the familiar scent of their signature bubble-gum-scented antiseptic. Right outside his office door, he noticed another large poster for the new drug. He frowned, wondering what the big deal about this drug was. Why the big push?
He walked into his office and let Bruce off his leash. The dog hobbled into his kennel and turned in three tight circles before curling up on the baby blue lambskin dog pillow Mia had bought for him. Daniel grabbed his lab coat from the hook on the back of his door, shrugged it on, and went to his desk. He placed a hand on the back of his curved office chair, surveying the space. Except for a few new files in his in-box, everything seemed just as he’d left it.
Immaculate. Just the way he liked things. When his surroundings were organized, so were his thoughts. He sat down at his desk and, as he waited for his laptop to power up, leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
He had never felt so happy and fulfilled. He had the perfect career, the perfect wife, the perfect life. He loved just about everything about his job: practicing medicine, the patients, his colleagues. Even his mess of a boss, Teddy.
Life was really good.
Fantastically good.
But the dark, cynical part of his brain stained the otherwise-perfect picture. It was holding its breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. For things to sour in some sort of way. There was also the little voice in his head that kept pestering him about Mia, frequently asking: Why you, Daniel? Why of all the men in Los Angeles did she pick you?
It’s not that he was unattractive. Or that he had trouble with women. He was tall with thick brunette hair and dark eyes. At the age of thirty-seven, he was still in great shape. He was successful. He had a beautiful beachfront home in Malibu—although if he hadn’t inherited it from his late uncle, he’d certainly be living much more modestly.
The little voice also whispered that he’d been a fool to ask her to marry him so quickly. He agreed it was an uncharacteristically impulsive move on his part, but the feelings he’d had for Mia had just been so intense, so unlike anything he’d ever felt for anyone before, he’d been terrified to let her slip through his fingers.
Then again, it could also have been that he’d been ready for another challenge. Now that he’d finished medical school, landed his dream job, and successfully quit going overboard on the alcohol (for the most part), maybe he’d wanted to prove to himself that he wasn’t too stubborn to change his mind about a belief he’d had since he was a boy: that beautiful women were trouble. Whatever the reasons, he was eager to get past this inner conversation. Eager for the little voice to finally shut the hell up.
Due to the lack of any real parental figures in Daniel’s life, a therapist had once taught him the art of self-parenting when he was a teenager, and the little voice had been born. The therapist had explained that it was his higher self. That it was natural for it to want more for him. It had served him well before Mia. Even saved his life a few times. But now, it was being overprotective and unnecessary. And, frankly, it was starting to piss him off.
“Your first day back and asleep on the job already?” a deep voice boomed, lurching Daniel from his thoughts.
Daniel opened his eyes and watched Dr. Teddy Reynolds barrel into his office. The man worked his large frame into the chair that faced his desk.
“So, when am I going to get to meet this future ex-wife of yours? You can’t keep her a secret forever, you know.”
“Soon.” Daniel smiled. It had been his stock answer for everyone the last several months. He just hadn’t been ready to introduce Mia to anyone. He was still trying to get used to the relationship. Soon, though, he knew he’d have to make good on his promise.
The large man studied him as if checking to see if married life had physically changed him. Daniel observed his boss, too. As usual, Teddy looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. It was barely 7:00 a.m., and his tie was already pulled loose. His blond comb-over was mussed, as though he’d been running his fingers through it—and his cheeks were as ruddy as ever. It wasn’t a healthy look.
Teddy was larger than life in every way and always looked one boisterous yell short of a heart attack. Still, Daniel was glad to see that the older doctor was back to himself. He seemed to have been going through a rough patch in the months before Daniel had left for his honeymoon.
Teddy listened as Daniel gave him the CliffsNotes version of his honeymoon. Of how gorgeous the Caymans were, the amenities the resort offered, the cuisine. When he was done, Teddy smiled. “Seems you left out most of the good stuff.”
He’d certainly shared the G-rated version.
“In all seriousness, you look happy, Danny. Happiest I’ve ever seen you. I’m glad to see it.”
“Thanks.”
“And you know what?” he said, clapping his massive hands. “You’re about to be even happier.”
“Yeah? How’s that?”
“Did you see the waiting room when you came in?”
Yes, it was practically full. “I did.”
“The new posters? The commercial?”
How could he miss them? “Respira, right?”
Teddy nodded. “I’m telling you, immunoceuticals like this one are going to shake up health care like you’ve never seen.”
“Should I be embarrassed that I don’t even know what an immunoceutical is?”
Teddy laughed. “A lot of doctors don’t. But they will soon. They’re a brand-new class of drug. A pharmaceutical rep will be in around lunch to get you up to speed. It’s on your schedule.”
Teddy’s eyes were practically dancing. “It’s good to have you back, Danny,” he said again. “These are exciting times!”
Daniel grinned. “Sounds like it.”
When Teddy had gone, Daniel pulled out his phone and shot off a quick text to Mia.
Wish I was home with you. What are you up to?
He watched the screen, anticipating a flirty reply. Mia never made him wait long.
But no texts came through.
He texted her again.
And again, there was no response.
Probably in the shower, he told himself, dropping his phone into the pocket of his lab coat. But he could feel the little voice waking up again.
Daniel walked into Teddy’s office at noon.
His boss was sitting behind his mahogany desk, talking to a man Daniel had never seen before. Noticing Daniel’s arrival, Teddy stood up. “Danny, I want you to meet Thomas Blackwell. He’s a pharmaceutical rep for Immunext, a small but very important pharmaceutical start-up. Immunext manufactures Respira.”
Daniel shook Thomas’s hand, noting his sharp features, expensive suit, and spicy cologne.
Thomas powered on an iPad. “I know you guys are pressed for time, so let’s get started. I promise it won’t take me more than a couple of minutes to fill you in on everything you need to know so you can start prescribing.”
“Aren’t the others coming?” Daniel asked, referring to the practice’s two other pediatricians and their nurse practitioner.
“Oh, they’ve already had the presentation and have been prescribing for the last several days,” Teddy said. “This is just to get you up to speed, because you have patients on your schedule this afternoon who will be coming in asking for it.”
Daniel nodded. He wasn’t a fan of meetings like this cutting into his workday. But presentations from pharmaceutical corporations were important. All the doctors and nurse practitioners relied heavily on them for information on new drugs. With a visit from a drug manufacturer, they could learn everything they needed to know about a pharmaceutical in as little as five to ten minutes and start writing prescriptions immediately, especially if Teddy was already on board with the drug, and clearly he was in this case.