Strictly Business

by Lisa Eugene

  Nina followed his thoughts slowly, trying to digest the information, her heart thudding dully against her aching chest. “Right. The MRI scan you say he got from WMH—the hospital where I work?”

  He nodded, his silent stare assessing her.

  “And you know that because of ‘R.L’ stamped on the back?”

  He took a deep breath. “We’re not exactly sure yet of the connection. Nina, I know this is hard for you to believe right now, but—”

  “What you’re telling me is ridiculous!” she exploded, shooting up from her seat. “I know all the doctors who work in radiology at WMH. I work closely with them every day. No one would do such a thing! As a doctor we take an oath to heal, to cure, to ease pain, not maliciously inflict it!”

  He quieted her when her voice rose in pitch. He scanned the room to ensure no one had entered the waiting area. His blue gaze grew determined.

  “I respect your work ethic and your ideals, but not everyone holds that medical oath as dearly as you do. Plus, your reality may be clouded when it comes to you profession.” A pulse ticked in his jaw.

  Nina winced, feeling anger roll off her in waves. She didn’t like the emotion stirring his voice. She paced the small area, needing to be away from him. She needed to think, to sort through this preposterous story. She knew how the MRI department worked. It would be impossible for someone to pull off what he suggested. They’d have to print MRIs that already existed. To do this they’d need access to the entire data base of MRI’s at WMH from which they could select a scan that closely matched the patient. Not just anyone had that access.

  Wade’s head followed her as her long legs stalked back and forth. He marveled that even when she was angry she was sexy. He knew she was having a hard time wrapping her brain around what he’d just told her. He could tell by her stiff spine and the angry slash of her lips that she didn’t believe him. What he counted on was her analytical mind to sort through the details, to put aside her emotions, her cloudy idealism, and methodically contemplate the possibility.

  “Only senior attendings have access to the MRI data base, but names and dates on the films would have to be changed. He’d have to print the films without being noticed…”

  “He, she or they. We don’t know.”

  Nina faced him. “I know reimbursing for surgical procedures is expensive, but I can’t believe that an insurance company would resort to such extremes. Won’t most of these patients keep going back to the doctor with the same complaints or get a second opinion?”

  “I suspect that some of them did. I think that they were given more physical therapy and more pain medication as my client was. Sure, some ended up having surgery, but many didn’t. Those who didn’t would save the insurance company millions. I think most people with chronic pain learn to live with it, especially if your doctor says nothing more can be done. In my client’s case his pain became crippling, and he started to distrust his doctor. He came to us for help.”

  “Why you?” she asked bitterly. “Did he see you on TV offering to be his champion against us quacks? Why didn’t he get a second medical opinion?”

  Wade shifted his weight, bracing himself and ignoring her caustic remark. His fingers itched to grab her and shake her, wake her up to the realities of life. Instead he kept his voice calm.

  “His insurance carrier doesn’t pay for a second opinion or for a second MRI. He’d have to pay out of pocket. For a lot of people that’s a deterrent. I think the doctor selects certain individuals who they know will be very compliant. Some people regard their doctor as God and don’t question him. Thank goodness my client started to question his care. He brought the scan to us and our doctors realized it wasn’t his. Whoever is behind this is desperate to get the scan back; they’ll even resort to murder.”

  “How did Mr. Johnson get the scan? If what you say is true I can’t imagine they gave it to him.”

  Wade hesitated before answering. “He took it from Dr. Barton’s office.”

  “Took it?”

  He sighed. “He just walked out with it during one of his appointments. He was waiting alone in an exam room for the doctor. The film was in the room. He was so fed up that he just took it and walked out. Thank God no one saw him. When they realized it was missing though, he became a target.”

  Nina shook her head doubtfully. “And why the need for the phony scans in the first place? A lay person wouldn’t necessary know what they were looking at. Plus, there’s a chance it might get out.”

  “Sometimes an insurance company sends more than one doctor. If a doctor was dispatched who wasn’t in on the scheme things could get messy. The films had to validate the diagnosis. These scans were evidently never meant to leave the office. They were just supporting documentation for a phony diagnosis in case someone looked.”

  “It doesn’t seem like you’ve got much proof, Wade. Just a lot of speculations. I feel sorry for your client, but I think the whole story is preposterous.” She faced him squarely. “Do you know that your accusations could ruin someone’s career, someone’s life? These doctors I work with have worked hard and made sacrifices to get where they are. You’re not just talking about malpractice; you’re talking about deliberately falsifying data, withholding care, and now attempted murder!”

  Wade pounced angrily from his seat. He grabbed her shoulders and dragged her close, his harsh breath sawing in and out of his lungs, raking across her face. “I’m well aware of what’s at stake here, Nina. This is what I do for a living. You’re forgetting about one very important person here—my client who is suffering. What about his life, his career, his health—all gone because of avarice. I’m sure he’s not the only one that they’ve done this to. For God sake look at what happened tonight! Don’t be so damned naïve! Not every physician is as noble and altruistic as you are. I’ve learned that. I’ve seen it firsthand! I’m going to make the bastards pay!”

  His wrathful explosion was a mingling of pain and violent hatred. A kaleidoscope of emotion swirled in his blue eyes, and his large body stood rigid with contained fury.

  “Is this personal? Are you going after these guys because of your own issues?” she asked angrily between clenched teeth. Nina was so close to him she could feel the heat radiate from him, feel the contours of his body pulsing hard against hers.

  He stood in stunned silence for several minutes. His arms suddenly released her and he responded with a simple, “No.”

  She rocked back on her heels, and she had to brace herself against a chair. A thought pebbled in her brain then expanded so rapidly it filled her head like a giant boulder.

  “Is this the reason why you came to WMH—to gather information? Is this what that whole restaurant seduction was about—to butter me up, see if I knew anything, maybe get me to find info for you? Find out if RL is stamped on the hospital’s MRIs? Is this why you asked me out tonight?”

  His long fingers encircled her wrist and his skin burned into hers. She was so undone that she didn’t have the strength to pull away, instead she averted her face. She couldn’t look into those eyes. Not now.

  “Nina.” Her name rode on a gentle whisper, a startling contrast to his stark anger moments ago. “I found most of this information out today after we made plans. I had no idea your hospital was involved.”

  She bit hard on the inside of her cheek. She was determined not to cry. She felt her heart shattering into a thousand pieces and each piece splintered through her. She closed her eyes and took a deep airless breath as the realization that she’d been baldly used suffused her. She had been just a means to an end. I’ll do whatever it takes. Hadn’t those been his words? He trusted her to be gullible enough to fall for his deceit.

  “Nina, you have to believe me. What we have is incredible. What we have is real. It’s not part of this. I didn’t want to get you involved in this, I swear.” Wade said when she wouldn’t face him.

  How could she believe him? How could she believe a man whose primary pursuit in life was to destroy ever
ything she valued? She’d seen the cold determination in his eyes when he talked about this case. He’d stop at nothing to win, and that obviously included using her and employing whatever subterfuge necessary. She didn’t believe his case held merit. She was sure he had his theories all wrong.

  She was sure the financial gain in handling a case like this would be sizeable. Such potential rewards could inspire a reckless pursuit of what he deemed to be the truth, with the massacre of innocent lives and bourgeoning careers along the way. He and his colleagues were probably just trying to bilk money from some poor doctor and the insurance company.

  Nina struggled to hold herself together, but she knew if she stood there any longer with Wade mere inches away from her she’d collapse and dissolve in front of him. His eyes were openly pleading as he watched her waxing emotions. He took another step towards her and she broke away, anger and hurt carving her expression.

  “You’re a liar.” Wade’s head snapped back as though she’d struck him. “I don’t believe anything you’ve said. This whole case sounds pretty dubious if you ask me,” she told him frankly. “You used me. You pretended to have feelings for me just to get answers. I don’t want any part of this sordid attempt at duplicity, and I don’t want any part of you.”

  She turned on shaky legs and headed straight for the stairs. Her name reached her ears in a soft rasp, but it was soon followed by an empty hollow silence.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Nina promised herself that she wouldn’t cry. She promised herself that she wouldn’t be reduced to a sniveling bundle of raw unbridled emotions. She hated to see women like that. Even when she and Charles had broken up she’d kept her emotions in check. Of course, this wasn’t exactly the same scenario. She’d just been lied to and deceived by a very clever man—a very handsome clever man. One she thought was truly interested in building a relationship with her.

  A pang of emotion hit her, and she had to blink back the stinging behind her eyes. She was almost successful, but when Sally pulled open her front door and Nina saw the shocked look of worry that cross her friend’s face, the tears stubbornly roll down her cheek. Sally gasped and pulled her into the apartment. Nina was deposited on the couch then pulled gently into her best friend’s arms.

  “I’m okay, really,” she assured feebly, swiping away the dampness on her soggy cheeks.

  A moment later, Sally stood and took quick steps into the kitchen. A slight smile broke through Nina’s dismal emotions. She could hear Sally filling a kettle with water and knew her friend was making raspberry tea. Whenever either of them had a problem, whatever it was, raspberry tea was the ultimate cure. Nina was thankful that her friend hadn’t prodded her with questions. She’d simply given her the time she needed to govern the tremendous burden of feelings inside her.

  Sally came back into the room carrying a tray with a steaming teapot and two teacups. She handed her one of the delicate cups. Nina took a sip of the hot liquid and her eyes popped open. A swift current quickened through her. Sally laughed knowingly.

  “Raspberry tea?” Nina asked, holding up the cup.

  Sally smiled sheepishly. “Well it’s raspberry tea kicked up a notch—a shot of gin.” She grinned widely as she revealed the bottle of gin she had tucked under her shirt.

  “Bam!” Nina and Sally both exclaimed, taking the expression from a popular cooking show.

  “I brought the whole bottle. Didn’t know how much you’d need.”

  “Bam! Bam!” Nina exclaimed, taking the bottle and adding two additional healthy servings.

  Sally echoed the sentiment and filled the cup almost to the rim as they both burst into a bout of laughter.

  Nina shot her a warning glance and Sally shrugged. “You look like you could use it girl!”

  She realized how much she needed the levity. She looked over at Sally who now sat patiently on the couch leaning on her fluffy cushions with her legs tucked under her.

  Sally took a cautious sip of her tea and said seriously, “I’ve never seen you cry before. Not even after you and Charles broke up.”

  Nina sighed audibly and took a long gulp of the steaming brew, feeling it move down her throat and through her body like a prickly massage. She knew Sally was concerned, especially since her gaze kept returning to the pattern of blood dotting the front of her top. She wanted to share the whole incogitable story with her friend, but she knew there were things she couldn’t tell her. It was all too complicated.

  Nina told her that Wade had been working on a case and used her to gather some general information since she was a doctor. She didn’t know why, but thought it better to leave out the connection to WMH. She told her about Ben, the private investigator being shot right in front of her, and she watched Sally’s big brown eyes swell with alarm and fury.

  “How could he put you in danger like that?”

  Nina shrugged, suddenly feeling a chill settle on her skin. She reached for her tea.

  “Thank God you’re okay. What a dick! I’d like to give him a piece of my mind.”

  Nina touched the surface about their romantic involvement, but omitted the part about him rocking her world.

  “He used me,” she whispered, swallowing the lump in her throat and blinking back the tears that stung her eyes.

  “Oh, Nina,” Sally inched close to her, giving her a warm embrace. “I don’t know what to say. He sounds like an ignoble pig! ”

  Nina’s lips curled in a smile at Sally’s vehemence. She listened to her friend ramble on. For someone who didn’t know what to say, she was able to invent some choice adjectives to describe Wade and express her low opinion of him. What does a woman need when a man has done her wrong? A girlfriend who will validate her feelings and curse his name! Her mood was starting to brighten a little.

  When Nina finally left Sally’s apartment it was almost four in the morning. She was able to dodge Sally’s insistence that she stay the night. Feeling minimally better and armed with a renewed sense of self, she wanted to get home to her own apartment, sleep in her own bed, and scrub her mind of Wade Connolly.

  Nina stepped into her quiet apartment and scolded herself when her eyes darted instantly to her answering machine. The unblinking red light glowed tauntingly in the dark and she chastised herself for letting her thoughts stray to the man who had brought her so much anguish. An angry headache pulsed in her temples, no doubt a result of her emotional upheaval and her healthy consumption of gin. Grabbing the aspirin out of her medicine cabinet she headed for the kitchen. She flipped on a light and stood frozen in the doorway. The two wineglasses that she and Wade had used earlier were washed and left turned over on her countertop to dry.

  She shook her head in bitter confusion. How could someone who would do something so thoughtful be so unscrupulous? How could a man who passionately gives himself to charities be so depraved? These things were so incongruous to her that her heart started to throb painfully, matching the pain in her head. How could the intimate moments they’d shared have been just an act? Most importantly, she wondered, how would she get him out of her aching head and heart? She looked down at the aspirin in her hand and knew it wouldn’t do the trick.

  Wade stepped into the shower and let the ice cold water beat down on him like hammering fists. He hoped it would wash the fatigue from his body and send it spiraling down the drain with the sudsy water. His left arm throbbed painfully and the tension in his spine threatened to snap his back. He’d spent the entire night at the hospital.

  The hospital’s entrance had been blocked by a throng of reporters, all clamoring to pick at the morsels of this juicy story. A shooting in the down town Tribecca area of Manhattan was rare and would garner much media attention. It was a hot spot for many famous actors and actresses.

  Seeing that the back exit of the hospital looked clear, Wade had attempted to sneak out without being noticed. He hadn’t been entirely surprised to see Marie Deluse emerge from a dark limousine across the street. Like a smug kitten she’d sauntered towards hi
m, ready to lap up exclusive tidbits of this story. He’d of course denied any knowledge of the shooting.

  When he’d told her he was merely visiting a friend her red lips twisted in a skeptical line. After a verbal game of cat and mouse, Marie had acquiesced, realizing she’d get no information from him. He’d declined her blatant offer of companionship, an offer he’d refused before on more than one occasion. He sighed heavily as he thought of Marie. He never found her sincere. It always seemed that beneath her enticing smiles and bold sexual offers was a grasping, plotting woman who was ruled by ambition. He stayed friendly with her on a business level, but their relationship could never be anything more. Wishing her luck with the story he’d walked away.

  Wade had waited at the hospital until Ben was out of the operating room and had spoken with the surgeon. Ben had luckily pulled through the surgery, but was still unconscious and the doctor couldn’t predict when he’d regain consciousness. Wade was just happy that his friend was alive. He knew that Ben would be dead right now if it hadn’t been for Nina. She was a remarkable woman; he’d been dumbstruck just watching her in action. She was a true asset to her profession and she forced him to challenge some of his biases.

  She’d asked him if this case was personal and he’d had to think long and hard about that. He sighed. He guessed on some level it was. On some level they all were. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t get personal satisfaction from exposing these criminals. But now, he felt partly to blame for the shooting. What was Ben trying to tell him? And what was the connection with Nina? He’d wanted to tell her the whole story, to discuss Ben’s note with her, but after her explosive reaction, he’d though it best to omit that piece of this rapidly expanding puzzle.

  He didn’t believe in his heart that Nina had anything to do with his case. Unfortunately his partner Andrew hadn’t been so convinced. He’d cautioned Wade that she could be the very criminal they were seeking. Wade knew viscerally that Andrew was wrong. She had been authentically stunned and affronted by the details of this case. There was no way she was involved. She’d saved Ben’s life. He pictured Ben’s lifeless body and balled his fist in anger; he was more determined than ever to find out who was behind this.