Carol Ericson - A Doctor-Nurse Encounter

“It must be someone who’s familiar with the office. How would he know about Debbie and where she lived?” Lacey stopped wearing a hole in the carpet and clutched her stomach. “He’s watching me, too.”

“Someone’s watching you?” Chu asked.

“The eyes.” She waved her arms. “The eyes on my car last night.” She turned to Nick. “You did bring that piece of paper back up to Detective Chu after I left last night, didn’t you?”

Nick nodded. Even though he didn’t want to show those eyes to Chu, he’d given him the note.

“I’m going to be sick.” Lacey’s creamy complexion turned a waxy white as she clutched her midsection.

“Sit down.” Nick took one flailing arm and led Lacey to a chair. “I’ll get you some water.”

As Nick filled a disposable cup from the water dispenser, Detective Chu said, “We don’t know that, Lacey. That paper with the eyes could’ve come from anyone. We don’t even know if those were supposed to be eyes.”

She thanked Nick for the water and took a sip, the whiteness around her lips receding.

“They looked like eyes to me, Detective.” She shook her head, her silky dark hair falling over one shoulder. “He plans to watch me just as he watched Debbie, like he’s probably watching Jill. Am I next?”

“That depends on what you know, or what he thinks you know, and we’ve already contacted Jill Zombrotto to tell her to be careful.”

“This is all just speculation.” Nick jumped up between Detective Chu and Lacey. He had to stop this line of questioning. “It could just be some nut job, a disgruntled patient or the relative of one. Maybe Dr. Buonfoglio gave some woman a younger face and a breast augmentation and she left her husband for the cabana boy. Now her husband’s taking it out on the doctor and searched the office to make it look like a burglary.”

Detective Chu’s eyebrows shot up and Lacey’s jaw dropped as she stared at him. Okay, maybe he should back off, or he’d have Detective Chu investigating him. And he couldn’t have that. Ever.

“I think you’re stretching it, Nick.” Lacey’s brow creased. “What did Jill have to say? Did she seem to think Dr. B had something to hide?” Lacey’s knee bounced up and down, the water sloshing over the side of the paper cup and onto her jeans.

Chu’s lips twisted. “Actually, she had the same response as Dr. Marino—disgruntled patient.”

Nick massaged the back of his neck. Either that nurse had an active imagination or she had as much to hide as he did.

Detective Chu finished questioning Lacey, but she had nothing to add to the speculation.

Nick’s pulse quickened when Chu asked her about the special patients who slipped in and out of the office incognito.

“I don’t know much about them….” She stopped and smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand. “I forgot. The guy broke into Dr. B’s locked filing cabinet, the one that contained the files for those special patients.”

The blood pounded in Nick’s ears as his heart hammered. He turned his back on Lacey and Chu and got some water, schooling the tension out of his tight face.

Chu asked, “Was anything missing?”

“Not that I could tell, but Deb…I mean Jill will have a better idea.”

Closing his eyes, Nick gulped the water and then took in a deep breath. Even though Dr. Buonfoglio lived life on the edge, there was no way he’d keep sensitive files in a locked filing cabinet in his office. Why had he kept those records at all?

“Can you do another search of Dr. Buonfoglio’s files to see if anything’s missing? We’ll have Ms. Zombrotto come into the office tomorrow and check out that filing cabinet. Maybe between the two of you, we can find out what this guy’s after.”

“C-can you offer any protection, Detective Chu?”

Lacey’s wide green eyes got wider, and her hands gripped the arms of the chair as if she was ready for takeoff. Nick’s gut twisted. Those bastards ruined lives, but he’d be damned if he’d let them touch anyone close to him again.

“I’m afraid we don’t have the manpower for that.” He stuffed his notebook back in his pocket. “Just be aware of your surroundings. Get the security guard to escort you down to your car. Officer Bennett will be stationed outside the office until you and Ms. Zombrotto finish your search of the files.”

Nick jumped to his feet. As if an unarmed security guard could protect her. He’d have to take his own measures. “If you’re ready to leave now, Lacey, I’ll walk you down.”

Her gaze darted around the room, and she pressed her fingers to her temples. “I think I will leave now. I’ll come back in tomorrow when Jill’s here, and we can look through Dr. B’s stuff together.”

After she locked her desk and gave Chu the inventory, they stepped into the hallway and Officer Bennett secured the door behind them.

“Wait here while I check in with my office.” Nick held up his hand, and then jogged to his office.

Zoe, his receptionist, looked up as he burst through the door. “Dr. Marino, are you coming back in? I canceled all your appointments.”

“No, I’m not in to see patients, but I’ll be back up to do some work and you can put calls through.” He strode to his office and slammed the door behind him. He plucked his jacket from the hook on the back of the door and shrugged into it. Then he crouched behind his desk, unlocking it, and pulled open the bottom drawer. He didn’t even check to see if the gun was loaded before slipping it into the pocket of his jacket. He always kept a loaded gun with him. Old habits died hard.

“I’ll be right back.” He waved to Zoe on his way out the door.

His shallow breathing returned to normal when he saw Lacey talking to the cop in front of Dr. Buonfoglio’s office. She obviously had no clue about the types of surgeries her boss occasionally performed, but the surgical nurses knew.

How long before the remaining nurse, Jill Zombrotto, spilled the beans to the cops, or worse, the FBI? She’d be in hot water herself, so maybe she’d decide to take her chances with the other side. Nick couldn’t allow her to take any chances.

He might just have to pay a visit to Jill Zombrotto himself.

LACEY STACKED THE LAST of the dinner dishes for one in the dishwasher and dried her hands. She left the pot of chili on the stove to cool off. Lifting her tea bag from her cup, she watched the droplets splash into the amber liquid as she inhaled the cinnamon scent. She eyed the open books on her kitchen table, and then skirted the table on her way to the worn, comfy sofa. She had to do some advance reading for her next class, which started in a week, but had zero concentration.

Just like that, half of the people she worked with were dead. Why? What secrets did Dr. B have that warranted murder?

Lacey curled her legs beneath her on the sofa as she wrapped her hands around her warm cup. Dr. Nick Marino had secrets, too. His dark eyes told a different story from the attractive, easygoing, playboy bachelor about town. They held wariness and pain.

She snorted into her cup. Like Dr. Perfect needs tea and sympathy from you. The wariness probably came from being on guard against lusty, gold-digging women. Now that she’d met Nick and broke bread with him, she totally got those women—not the gold-digging part but the lusty part.

When he walked her to the parking garage this afternoon, he dipped his head, his lips hovering so close to hers she almost expected a kiss, and despite her previous disdain for him, she wouldn’t have minded one bit.

At lunch he showed more humility than she expected. He spent the entire lunchtime questioning her, and didn’t once mention his burgeoning practice or his graduation from Stanford Medical School at the top of his class.