SH Medical 08 - The Baby Dilemma

by Diamond, Jacqueline

  “I’ll sum it up for you. She lives near the restaurant, although, as you know, she owns a business here in Safe Harbor,” Mike said. “I could stake out her house and shoot more images, but that hardly seems necessary.”

  Eyes dull with tears, Mrs. Hightower shook her head.

  Now for the something extra that Paige had inspired. “I researched her background.” Mike didn’t need to consult notes for this part. “She’s been in this country for about a dozen years and has permanent-resident status. Her permits and licenses appear to be in order.”

  “Why should I care about that?” Gemma asked crossly.

  Mike described Yelena’s knife attack on her former boyfriend. It had been mentioned in the newspaper, but without all the details. “In my opinion, she slashed him in a jealous rage and made it look like self-defense. I thought you might prefer to find some other way to dissuade her rather than a one-on-one confrontation.”

  Although he wouldn’t have thought it possible, Gemma blanched even more profoundly. “Oh, Lord. You’re right. If I had some way to…I don’t like to use the word blackmail, but…I just did, didn’t I?”

  Mike pretended he hadn’t heard. Blackmail was illegal. However, there was no law against giving someone reason to think twice about her actions. “I was considering avenues to explore and I wondered if she might have an ulterior motive for this affair. I don’t have access to her financials beyond what’s public record. However, there may be something in your husband’s bank transactions that would give me a clue if they’re working some sort of deals together. Something that could put her business at risk.”

  “Deals?” Mrs. Hightower bit down on her lips, turning them white against white.

  “Are there large, unexplained deposits in any of his accounts?” Mike continued. “I wouldn’t put it past Yelena to have come up with some scheme, given how tough things have been in real estate.”

  “A scheme?” The tears in her eyes seemed to freeze into ice crystals. “Don’t you dare put my husband’s business in jeopardy!”

  “I’m just throwing out ideas.” Mike should have realized that Mrs. Hightower wouldn’t risk her financial security. “If you prefer, we could focus on Yelena. She still makes regular trips to Russia. Since as far as I could determine she has no family there, that raises interesting questions.”

  “Are you implying she has mob connections?”

  He’d considered that possibility. But if she had ties to unsavory characters inside Russia, then by implication so did Roy Hightower. “Honestly, I haven’t had time to move beyond a preliminary assessment. I just wanted to discuss options.”

  His client arose with remarkable smoothness on her spiky heels. “Well, Detective, I am exercising my options. This case is at an end. From here on, I will handle it my way.”

  He stood also. “That’s your choice. However, you’ve paid for several more hours of my time. I’m happy to do the research.”

  “Keep the money.”

  Since the retainer was nonrefundable, he intended to do just that. “I hope I’ve provided everything you expected.”

  Tightly, she indicated the folder. “Unfortunately, yes. You’ve done very well. I don’t mean to harp on this, but everything we’ve discussed is strictly confidential, isn’t that so?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “You have no reason to go to anyone else with this information?”

  “Absolutely not.” Had he found evidence of illegal activities, Mike would be obligated to report it. But he hadn’t, and regardless of any suspicions he might entertain, the probe stopped here.

  When Mrs. Hightower shook his hand, hers felt boneless. “If we run into each other again, as I expect we will, you will give no sign that we have any particular acquaintance.”

  “Of course not.”

  He’d struck a nerve, Mike reflected as he exited into the June sunshine. Had it been the mention of large deposits?

  Instincts honed as a police officer urged him to get to the bottom of this. But he had no right to do that. On the contrary, he had a duty to respect his client’s privacy.

  Vague suspicions didn’t amount to evidence. While he feared that whatever was going on might blow up in the Hightowers’ faces, that was their business, not his.

  * * *

  AFTER A JAM-PACKED MORNING when she worked in a couple of patients who’d suffered problems over the weekend, Paige ate a sandwich at her desk while updating charts. She kept fighting itchy eyelids and incipient yawns, her body’s annoying reminders that a nap would feel wonderful. Instead, she took extra vitamin supplements to make sure she wasn’t becoming anemic, and forged onward.

  Guiltily, Paige reflected that she ought to schedule her first maternity checkup with Dr. Rayburn. Since his office was next door, that shouldn’t take much time, but for now she hated to spare even a few minutes. Now, if she could just focus on this chart…

  Hearing a tap on her open door, she snapped to attention. Good heavens, had she dozed off without realizing it?

  “Am I intruding?” Those sharp green eyes belonged to Nora Franco. With a surge of pleasure, Paige waved in her friend and colleague.

  “You are totally welcome, anytime.” She clicked shut the patient’s records on the computer.

  Her fellow obstetrician, wearing jeans and a flowing checkered top suitable for a nursing mom, took a chair. “You left the wedding in a hurry. I heard someone broke into your house. Sorry I didn’t call sooner, but Neo caught a fever and I’ve been preoccupied.”

  “He’s doing well now?”

  “Right as rain. He’s at my sister-in-law Kate’s house, playing with his cousins. Everything okay at your place?”

  Paige explained about the drunken party guest. “Mike Aaron was a big help. He boarded up the window that night while I was at the hospital.”

  “I hear he’s renting a room from you.” Nora regarded her archly. “Word spreads fast at the police department.” Her husband, Leo, had taken over Mike’s former job as a detective handling crimes against persons. Obviously, he knew the guys who’d stopped by to watch TV.

  “Purely platonic,” Paige assured her.

  “I didn’t ask.”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  Nora’s cheeks flushed. “Well, he ought to be reliable. Mike and Leo were never the best of friends, but Leo respects him. How’s everything else?”

  An innocuous question under normal circumstances, but the urge to confide about her pregnancy had intensified with each passing day. Paige had counseled Nora through her accidental pregnancy and ups and downs with Leo before their marriage. If anyone would empathize, it was her.

  “I haven’t told anyone yet, but I’m pregnant,” Paige said, and inhaled sharply. Speaking the words aloud seemed to make it official.

  Surprise and pleasure shaded to uncertainty in Nora’s expression. “Is this a good thing? I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

  “I’m not and yes, it’s a good thing,” Paige told her. “I had AI.” That was medical shorthand for artificial insemination, although she’d mentioned the term once around a patient, a computer engineer, who’d asked in confusion why she should consider using artificial intelligence to get pregnant.

  “Good for you!” Nora brightened. “You have guts. I considered it back when I didn’t think I’d ever find Mr. Right, but going through motherhood alone was a scary prospect. I doubt my father knows one end of an infant from the other. My mom did all the infant care when I was little.”

  “I have a lot of family,” Paige conceded, “but none of them live around here. Not since my aunt died.”

  “You must miss her a lot. I really liked her.” During their residency, Nora had had dinner with Bree and Paige several times. “You aren’t thinking of moving back
to Texas, are you?”

  “Not really.” Not at all, yet Paige discovered she couldn’t entirely dismiss the idea of all those loving arms and family gatherings to welcome her little one.

  “Good!” Leaning forward, Nora folded her hands on the desk. “Remember what we discussed at the wedding?”

  She’d mentioned returning to work, Paige recalled. “If you’re ready to come back, I’d love to have you.” The suite was large enough to accommodate two doctors, although they’d need to add another nurse.

  “Seeing everyone last Saturday made me miss work. And I keep wondering what’s happened to all my patients.” Nora shook back her blonde hair, which looked thicker than ever. “It’ll be hard to leave Neo, even though I think he’d enjoy the hospital day-care center. I hear it’s excellent. Still, I’d only work part-time.”

  “When can you start?” The sooner the better.

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  How complicated could it be? Paige wondered. “Oh?”

  Distractedly, Nora tugged on her maternity top. Her breasts must be filling up with milk, making her uncomfortable. “I’m presuming you’ll continue working after you have your baby, right?”

  “Of course.” Paige couldn’t afford to quit even if she wanted to, which she didn’t. “I might cut back my hours for a few months, though.”

  “That’s fine. Here’s the thing.” Nora drew a breath. What was she nervous about? “I’d like you to consider making this arrangement permanent by buying a half interest in my practice.”

  Paige’s mind raced. She hadn’t considered this possibility. From paying the ongoing expenses in the months since Nora went on leave, she had an idea of the operating costs, but no sense of what the practice might be worth. “How much did you have in mind?”

  “We can have the practice appraised. When I bought it, it didn’t cost much, honestly.”

  This was so unexpected, Paige had a hard time wrapping her mind around the idea. “I’m not sure I can afford it, with the baby coming.”

  “There are different ways to structure payments. You wouldn’t have to come up with the whole amount at once.” It sounded as if Nora had done her homework. Not too difficult, considering that her brother-in-law Tony Franco was the hospital’s attorney and well versed on medical-related issues.

  Paige supposed she could borrow the money, especially since she owned the house outright. While that would require making payments she hadn’t figured into her budget, there would be advantages to part-ownership, including the security of knowing she couldn’t be fired or have her hours cut. On the other hand, she’d be taking on a long-term commitment.

  “We can work out a fair financial split if I’m only working part-time and you’re basically full-time,” Nora continued. “Of course we’ll share a receptionist and support staff.” The practice already divided the cost of clerks for records, billing and accounting with Dr. Rayburn, Paige had learned.

  “I guess I just have one more question,” she said. “Why are you so eager to do this?”

  Nora paused before answering. “To make things more permanent and predictable. To know I can count on you. And frankly, Leo’s a little concerned. Tony told him how much the patients love you and he got the idea you might leave to start your own practice and take them with you.”

  “I wouldn’t do that!” Paige struggled not to take the comment as an insult. “That would be unethical.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way. I know you’d never intentionally undercut me.” Nora regarded her apologetically. “I just wanted you to hear everything so you don’t feel later like I hid things from you.”

  Fair enough. “I understand. But I’ll need to think about it.”

  “That’s fine. Just remember that this would give you more control over your financial destiny. By the way, when are you due?”

  “In February.”

  “That’s wonderful! I’m glad you have Mike in the house in case you need help. Is he going to stay after the baby’s born?” Nora waved away her own question. “I forgot. You haven’t told him yet.”

  “He’s only staying for the summer, anyway.” Hearing the wistfulness in her voice, Paige added, “After that, I’ll need the second bedroom for the baby.”

  She would have loved to chat further, but Keely’s dour appearance in the doorway emphasized that personal discussions were at an end. “The next patient’s prepped, Doctor.”

  “Thank you.” Paige got to her feet.

  “I’d like to start scheduling patients by mid-July. Mornings only. No surgery yet.” Nora cleared her throat, obviously unwilling to say too much in front of the nurse. “Let me know what you decide. No rush.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Nora’s proposition played through Paige’s mind for the rest of the day. They hadn’t discussed what would happen if Paige decided not to buy in. Would Nora replace her with another doctor willing to pay the price? Even if she didn’t do so immediately, with her husband pressing the issue, she was likely to start looking. Given Safe Harbor’s growing reputation, she’d have no trouble finding a taker.

  Paige hadn’t expected to have to make a choice like this, not with everything else going on. A few times, she felt a flare of anger, but she could hardly blame Nora, who hadn’t even known about the pregnancy until today. And as long as they agreed on a reasonable price, Paige ought to be able to swing it.

  She had no intention of leaving this area or Aunt Bree’s beloved home. But this seemed so inflexible. What if she did decide she missed her family more than she’d imagined? With a baby on the way, she was seeing a lot of things afresh.

  By the time Paige headed for home around 6 p.m., she felt as if she’d spent the day digging postholes and wrangling cattle. She’d stayed late to see Sheila and her recalcitrant husband, Gil, a pudgy fellow with a beer gut. Hard to figure how anyone could cheat with him while married to Mike. His condescending attitude hadn’t endeared him, either, but perhaps he was keeping up his guard out of insecurity.

  The man certainly appeared to be hiding his true motive. Paige got the impression Gil had deliberately refused to see her until after five in the expectation that she’d be unavailable. When that didn’t work, he’d refused to give a sperm sample until he could see the renowned new head of the men’s fertility program. Gil had read in the newspaper that Dr. Cole Rattigan would be arriving late in the year and, to his wife’s disgust, refused to accept that Paige was competent to order the initial, routine testing. Only an expert in male fertility was good enough, one who wouldn’t join the staff for months.

  She’d waited until Gil boxed himself completely into a corner before saying sweetly, “Fortunately, Dr. Rattigan’s schedule has changed and we expect him in July. I’ll make sure he works you in right away.”

  Displeasure had yielded to reluctant acquiescence, and she’d made the referral. After her husband stepped out, Sheila had thanked Paige earnestly. “I know he’s being stubborn, but he really does want kids. It’s just that doctors intimidate him.”

  “Don’t forget about counseling. He might be uncomfortable with the idea of giving sperm, or there could be something else bothering him.”

  “I mentioned it, but he’s not interested.”

  At least he’d agreed to see Dr. Rattigan. Hopefully, they’d soon have test results and could proceed from there

  The visit had sapped what little energy Paige retained. After eating a quick meal at the cafeteria, she drove home on fumes.

  As she pulled up, she felt a tug of irritation. In front of her house the shaggy-looking man leaned against her low fence, smoking and drinking beer. Discarded cigarette butts littered her patio and when he spotted her, his face creased smugly.

  Paige parked in the garage and got out, trying to decide on her n
ext move. Call the police? She wasn’t sure loitering qualified as a crime, or that it was worth troubling them about.

  Then Mike’s silver sedan pulled into her driveway. Climbing out, he lifted a hand in greeting and turned to face the interloper.

  In a business suit, with an ink smudge on his jaw, he didn’t exactly resemble a knight in shining armor. But he came the closest Paige had seen in a long time.

  Chapter Eleven

  Ceding the defense of her home to anyone else went against the grain. Yet today, Paige watched gratefully as Mike, with only the tightening of his fists betraying his tension, calmly addressed the intruder. “Doesn’t drinking beer violate your parole, Willy?”

  At the sound of his name, the gray-haired man jerked so hard he dropped the can. Paige smelled the yeasty brew as it ran into the storm drain. “Now look what you made me do!” the man complained. “How’d you know my name, anyway?”

  “Willy Kerrigan. You held up a liquor store for a couple of hundred dollars and two six-packs of beer to pay for your drug habit,” Mike said. “I can fill in the details of your parole, if you like.”

  “You got no right to snoop on me!” The man’s jaw thrust forward.

  “I’m a private detective. Snooping is what I do. Anything else you’d rather I didn’t find out?”

  It took Willy only a moment to grasp the implication that pressure would simply make things worse. Giving his head a taut shake, he scooped up the can. “You gonna report me?”

  “Only if you keep harassing my housemate,” Mike said levelly.

  “You’re living here?” Annoyance flickered over the man’s ferretlike features. “Okay. I’m leaving, see?” He turned away.

  “You forgot something.” When the man glanced back, Mike indicated the cigarette butts on the sidewalk.

  Lip curling, Willy picked them up. He started to toss them into the gutter, saw a sign warning against putting anything except water in storm drains, and carried them all the way to the halfway house.

  Mike hadn’t even raised his voice.