One Small Sacrifice

by Hilary Davidson

  “You have all this on tape?”

  “I was afraid he was going to do something to ruin my life,” Emily said. “He kept threatening to. I know what a liar and a snake he is. I thought he might go to you with a bunch of lies about me, but my worst-case scenario was that he’d go to the police and lie about you.”

  “How much did he say?”

  “More than you’d expect,” Emily answered. Mentally, she cringed; Will had called her all sorts of ugly names, and she’d held herself back from responding in kind. Anyone else listening might think it had been weakness that held her back; she had been afraid of setting him off. “He was always so cautious, but he’d freak out when things didn’t go his way.”

  “You have to hand it over to the police,” Alex said. “They need to hear this. You might already have made their case against Will.”

  Emily gazed at him. He didn’t really understand, she realized. He worked in a profession that allowed him to make his own rules; he’d never had to face the scrutiny of a board or commission. The stakes were so much higher for her. “If I do, I won’t be able to practice medicine in this country, or anywhere else, again.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “In New York, a doctor can lose her license if she’s convicted of not paying taxes,” Emily said. “Being part of a prescription scheme means jail time.”

  “It wasn’t your scheme. The police want Will, not you.”

  “That won’t matter. I’ll be caught up in this too. I can’t lose my license. I can’t.”

  Alex was quiet for a minute. “I don’t believe for a second that you’re okay with letting Will keep on doing this to people. Tell me what’s really going on.”

  The tide of fear welling up inside her fell back a little when she gazed at him. He wanted to understand. Explaining it to him would be painful; she hadn’t even fully thought it out herself. She had been carrying a dark mass of guilt and regret knotted together with a string of thorns.

  “When I was kidnapped, I was haunted by memories,” Emily said. “By my parents’ deaths, but also by every terrible thing I ever did. It was like being in a circle of Dante’s hell. I’ve always told myself that I do what I can to help people. In that dark little cell, it felt like a lie. How can I ever make up for all of the things I’ve done? If I can’t practice medicine, what good am I to anyone?”

  “I don’t believe that,” Alex said. “You want to help people, and you’ll always find a way to do that. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen with your medical license. Maybe it’s a sacrifice you have to make.”

  When he said sacrifice, she sat up a little straighter. It was like an arrow to her heart. She’d spent most of the past year trying to hold everything together, and that hadn’t worked. Perhaps it was time for her to try letting go.

  “Do you have Detective Sterling’s number?” Emily asked.

  “Sure.”

  “Call her now,” Emily said. “I want to tell her everything before I lose my nerve.”

  EPILOGUE

  ALEX

  Alex owned one good suit, and New York City Criminal Court seemed like the right place to wear it. At nine fifteen on a Tuesday morning in January, he stood next to Emily in a hallway lined with carved wooden benches. Both of them were too nervous to sit.

  “You know you don’t have to be here, right?” Sheryn told Emily. “This is just the start of Mr. Sipher’s trial. With all the smoke he’s thrown at us, it’ll probably go on for weeks.”

  “I know,” Emily said. “But Will needs to see that I’m here. He needs to know I’m going to testify against him, and I’m not backing down.”

  Sheryn smiled at her. “He was slow to get that message. He’s a man who’s used to getting his way all the time. That’s not good for anyone.”

  “Reality should be setting in around now,” Alex said.

  “Last I heard, he’s still resisting it,” Sheryn said. “The ADA offered him a plea bargain, but he wouldn’t consider it. It would’ve been a decent deal for him. Nowhere near enough jail time. What I call the premium package. It’s only offered to white men who wear expensive suits.”

  “Why would he turn it down?” Emily asked.

  “He wants to roll the dice. It’s a big gamble on his part. He’s counting on witnesses ghosting us.” Sheryn took a breath. “The recordings you made served him up to us on a platter, dead to rights. But, if you don’t testify, his lawyers are going to claim that they were forged or dubbed, that it’s not really Will’s voice. That’s why it’s essential for you to testify.”

  At that moment, the elevator chimed, and the door opened. Will Sipher stepped out, flanked by his lawyers. He wore a bespoke black suit and looked healthier than he had in a long time. When he spotted Emily and Alex, he gave them a long, hard look, then turned his head and whispered. The lawyers whisked him down another corridor.

  “I guess someone’s not feeling very social today,” Sheryn commented. When neither Emily nor Alex responded, she added, “You two are wound up way too tight. This case is going to drag on for a while. You need to pace yourself. And you should remember what you’re doing is important. You know how many slippery eels like Will Sipher slip off the hook? Nothing about this case was easy.” She nodded at Alex. “I was saying the same thing to the ADA first thing this morning. He agrees with me.”

  “I guess I’ll be happier when the trial is over,” Emily said. “Right now, I’m just at home, twiddling my thumbs.”

  “I was sorry to hear about your job,” Sheryn said softly.

  “Once they knew I would be testifying in Will’s trial, they had to let me go,” Emily answered. “It didn’t matter that I had immunity from prosecution. The hospital can’t afford that kind of publicity. I hate it, but I understand why they wanted to part ways. I’ll still work, I hope. Just somewhere else.”

  “Another hospital?”

  “No, a refugee camp,” Emily said. “There are a million people in camps in Turkey and Jordan who need urgent care. When the trial is over, that’s where I’ll be headed.”

  The elevator chimed again, and Rafael stepped out. He’d healed from the injuries he’d suffered at Kevin Stanton’s house and was wearing an Armani suit that was easily on a par with Will’s.

  “Look what the cat dragged in, late as usual,” Sheryn mocked. “You missed the perp show. Will Sipher came up five minutes ago, spotted these two, and ran away with his barbed tail between his legs.”

  “Hey, the trial hasn’t even started, so I’m early,” Rafael shot back. “And Sipher’s not running anywhere without his passport.”

  “I kind of expected him to try to flee anyway,” Sheryn said. “Drive up to Canada and bolt. It’s a little disappointing that he didn’t try.”

  “Because you wanted to hog-tie him like a runaway calf?” Rafael asked.

  “Hell, yeah. I know how to have a good time.”

  Sheryn was working hard to keep the mood light. Alex reached for Emily’s hand and squeezed it. “When you do testify, you’ll be great,” he murmured.

  “I’ll be lucky if they still let me into the refugee camps,” she whispered.

  Alex took a deep breath and glanced at Sheryn. “Would you mind giving us a minute?”

  “No problem. We’ll be down the hall.” She nudged her partner’s elbow and steered Rafael away. They walked to the broad wooden doors of the next courtroom over, their heads bent forward in close conversation.

  Alex started to speak, but Emily cut him off. “We’ve talked about this. Please don’t do it. It’s just not worth it.”

  “I think it is,” Alex said.

  “Nothing good can come of it. He’s only going to lash out at you.” She reached into her handbag and pulled out an envelope, hand-addressed with Alex’s name. “Do you need to read this over again? He only wants to cause you pain, and he will lie and cheat and spin you around until you can’t tell which way is up. He will hurt you. He’s tried to enough times before.”

  �
�I know that.”

  “He wants you to suffer, Alex.” Emily’s voice was quiet, but there was urgency in her words. “You could get in trouble with the court. Please, the risk is not worth it.”

  “You tried to protect me before.” Alex touched her face. “But that didn’t work out.”

  “You’re not going to convince Will to do the right thing by appealing to his virtue. He doesn’t have any.”

  “You have to trust me,” Alex said.

  Emily gulped, but she nodded.

  Alex turned down the hallway where Will and his lawyers had vanished. Sheryn had been prepping him for the trial along with Emily, and he was starting to get familiar with the court building. It only took a minute to find the conference room. When he opened the door, he immediately spotted Will, sitting stiffly and staring at his folded hands with a stony expression. His face eased into a smile when he caught sight of Alex at the door.

  “You can’t come in here,” barked one of the lawyers.

  “Of course he can,” Will said slyly. “What’s the harm in a visit from an old friend?”

  The other lawyer bent at the waist and whispered into Will’s ear, but he waved the man away. “Go outside. This won’t be any fun with you listening in.”

  The lawyers muttered to each other, glaring at Alex as they passed him. He shut the door and took the seat across from Will’s.

  “You’re looking well, Alex.”

  “You too. Rehab obviously agreed with you.”

  “It was incredibly boring,” Will said. “But it was the only way the judge would let me out on bail. Also, it got me into tennis again, so that’s nice. I haven’t really played since college.”

  “Sounds more like a country club than rehab.”

  “A bit of both, I suppose.” Will shrugged. “I was wondering if you received that letter I sent you. You never responded.”

  “I got it.”

  “These rehab programs always want you to go about making amends,” Will went on. “It’s quite tiresome. But I know that I owe it to you. I don’t feel bad about coercing Emily into writing those prescriptions, but I do feel guilty for sleeping with her. That was why I wrote the letter. I owed it to you.”

  Alex stared at him silently.

  “I was afraid to tell you before.” Will watched him closely. “And I can’t imagine that Emily confessed to that. It’s certainly not something I’m proud of.”

  “I know you’re lying, Will.”

  “No, you don’t,” Will shot back. “You know Emily’s version of events. I’m sure it conflicts with mine. Hers is refined to make her look good, or at least less guilty.”

  “And yours is designed to make me feel bad. Just like when you told me I’d killed Cori. The problem is that you lie about everything, Will. You’re good at it. But it won’t always work out for you. This is one of those times.”

  “There will always be a shred of doubt in your mind,” Will said. “If you’re with Emily a year from now, or ten years from now, you’ll still be wondering if it’s true.”

  “No, I won’t,” Alex said. “Because it doesn’t matter.”

  “I don’t believe you. If you want to tell me how much you hate me, I’ll understand.”

  “I don’t hate you, Will. Part of me even feels sorry for you.”

  “How very . . . enlightened of you.” Will leaned back in his chair, suddenly at a loss. “If you’re not here to punch me, what are you here for?”

  “I came by to tell you to take the deal,” Alex said.

  Will gave him a terse smile. “And go to jail?”

  “It’s going to be a lot worse if you go through with the trial. You’ll spend the rest of your life in jail.”

  “Or I’ll get off scot free,” Will said. “There are many, many steps between where we are now and the end of the trial. Don’t forget the appeals! As my lawyers have assured me, even if I lose the first time around, I can still win.”

  “By then, they’ll have bled you dry,” Alex said. “No matter how many appeals you launch, you’re going to jail.”

  “Thank you for your concern,” Will said, “but I know you only care about keeping Emily out of jail.”

  “I don’t have to worry about that. She has immunity from prosecution.”

  “Perhaps, but that won’t save her medical license,” Will pointed out. “After she testifies, her name will be poison. Her career will be over. That will be sad, because I know how much it means to her.”

  “You’re willing to destroy the rest of your life to do that? That’s not much of a trade.”

  Will stared at him silently, chewing that over.

  Alex leaned forward. “You remember me talking about Maclean?”

  “Your war-hero friend?” Will yawned. “Yes, I’ve heard lots about him. Saved your life and all that.”

  “He used to have this expression. Not your turn today. Maclean was . . . I guess the word is fatalistic. Whether you lived or died, it wasn’t about how good you were or how smart you were. It was about whether your number had come up.”

  Will leaned forward slightly, intrigued in spite of his languid pose.

  “When I was on that rooftop with Kevin Stanton, I knew my number was up,” Alex continued. “I was going to die, and I accepted that. All that mattered was taking him down before he hurt anyone else. Suddenly, it was my turn.”

  “You really thought that?”

  “That’s why I threw myself off the roof.”

  “But you lived.”

  “By accident. The truth is, if I’d been focused on saving myself that night, I would’ve died.”

  They were both silent for a moment. “Is this your way of telling me to surrender to . . . what, exactly? Fate? A higher power?”

  “I’m telling you it’s your turn today,” Alex answered. “It’s all on you. You can focus on dragging out your trial as much as possible, at throwing mud and losing whatever money you have left through years of appeals. Or you can let go and move on.”

  “I’m not going to jail.” Will’s voice was tight.

  “Yes, you are. The question is for how long.”

  Will turned his face away so that Alex couldn’t read his expression. He was silent for a long time. “You must hate me so much, after everything I’ve done. Why are you here, really? Is it just to mock me?”

  “It’s not for you. It’s not even just for Emily. It’s for your mom.”

  Will glanced at him, a sidelong look full of suspicion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I loved her, you know. After I lost my mom . . .” Alex’s voice trailed off. “It was an awful time. I didn’t have anyone else. Your mom saved my life.”

  “You were closer to her than I ever was.”

  “No. You know why she took me in, don’t you? It wasn’t because of any feelings she had for me. It was because she wanted you to have a brother.”

  Will gave him a curt, almost imperceptible nod, acknowledging the truth of that.

  “She loved you more than anything in this world, but she always worried about you,” Alex said. “She’s not able to be here for you anymore, but I am.”

  “You’re not exactly on my side.”

  “But I know what your mother would say. She was always practical. You know if she were here, she’d tell you to take the deal, Will. You know she would.”

  Will took a long, ragged breath. “Nothing ever turned out how I wanted it to,” he said suddenly, his sharp attitude sinking under the weight of his sadness. “I don’t know how I got here. I keep hoping it’s a nightmare.”

  “I keep thinking I should be dead,” Alex said. “But I’m not. That seems like a kind of miracle.”

  “You’ve always been the fortunate one,” Will said. “No matter what, you always get away unscathed.”

  “You can have my luck, if you want it,” Alex answered. “Somehow, I doubt you really do.”

  “If I had it, I wouldn’t wind up in jail,” Will said. “I have to try my own luck wit
h this. You understand, don’t you? I’m not going down without a fight.”

  “That’s exactly what Hadley said you’d choose.” Alex got to his feet.

  Will’s entire demeanor shifted, and his eyes narrowed. “When, exactly, were you chatting with my ex-wife?”

  “You don’t have a clue, do you?” Alex shook his head sadly. “It was supposed to be a surprise, but I guess that doesn’t matter now.”

  “Hadley is in Europe, with designs on snagging a title or an oligarch. She would never expose herself to the circus of a trial.”

  Alex shrugged. “Detective Sterling told her that her name was going to come up plenty in your trial. From the earful I got last night, Hadley thinks you’re ruining her life for a second time.”

  “She’s in New York?”

  “Got in yesterday.”

  “She wouldn’t. She—”

  “Tell your lawyers to check the witness list,” Alex said. “Sterling told me the ADA added her this morning.”

  When Alex left the room, the lawyers rushed back in. Alex retraced his steps along the hall, stopping in front of a row of tall windows. Finally, he turned the corner and found Emily and Sheryn. Emily’s expression made it clear she was desperate to know what had happened; Sheryn watched him with her game face on. He gave her the slightest of nods.

  “When will they let us into the courtroom?” Emily asked.

  “When the judge is good and ready,” Sheryn said. “This is why I hate coming to court. Hurry up and wait.”

  “Do you have to do this often?” Emily asked her.

  “I’ve had to testify a bunch of times. It’s not my favorite thing,” Sheryn confided. “My old partner, Sandy, was the opposite. He loved coming to court and gabbing around here. Big gossip, that guy. But it was fine by me because I didn’t have to trot downtown all the time.”

  “What about Rafael?”

  “I’m still breaking him in,” Sheryn said. “I told him he’s got the wardrobe to be a courtroom star. He’ll give the defense lawyers a complex because he’s better dressed.” She patted Emily’s hand. “Hey, where the hell did Rafael go? Did you hear me telling him he could leave? I need to find him.” As she stood, she whispered a single word to Alex. “Bait?”