Page 40 of A Guardian for Christmas

As we’re rounding a corner, with her humming along to the holiday music, she spots the display of Christmas ornaments and shrieks in delight. Meanwhile, I spot the New Jersey Nets jersey. That’s not a thing around here.

I glimpse the side of his face and know it’s him. Stalker.

I sidle up next to him, both of us pretending to be super interested in the giant flats of Duke’s mayonnaise, just out of Esme’s earshot. “Talk to me.”

Esme looks over at me from where she’s putting boxes and boxes of ornaments in the buggy and smiles. I wave at her.

“Dr. White?” I say.

Stalker scoffs. “Yeah, I would say the word ‘doctor’ is a bit of a stretch.”

“What do you mean?”

“He used to own a so-called healing center in Georgia that went belly up after he failed to pay taxes. Then he registered as a practitioner in North Carolina, same thing.”

“Go on,” I say, not wanting to alert Esme that I’ve put this questionable friend of mine on the case to investigate Dr. White.

“Get this. Both of those retreat centers used to be family homes belonging to rich women, and both built by someone called Zane Cowen. The Georgia one was a widow who Whitesomehow hooked into marrying him. When she died, the estate was given to the ‘good doctor.’ The one in North Carolina was a spinster, and same thing. A crazy-expensive retreat center and full control of the woman’s finances after she became so sick with dementia that she gave him power of attorney.”

I look back at Esme and make sure she’s not listening. Zane Cowen…that’s the contractor she’s using now. How did it come to this? Who the fuck knows, but clearly the two of them are working together.

I need to break all this to her gently. “He’s been giving her beta blockers and a bunch of herbal shit that my GP says she shouldn’t be taking at the same time. Honestly, I don’t think she needs ’em.”

“Your guy is a piece of work.”

Just then, my phone pings with a Venmo notification. I open it up to find that Stalker has returned to me the $400 with a note that reads, “Forget about it. It was fun. Omnes enim amor.”

All for love.

That’s all it took for him to see it—the way Esme and I looked at each other like idiots in love. Who knew a hardened criminal could be such a softy.

Chapter Nineteen

Esme

I spend the week at Sagan’s house, waiting on test results and avoiding my house.

The voices have stopped completely, but I’m still seeing the disturbances at night.

Frye isn’t happy that I’m absent the week before Christmas, as the chairpeople of my family’s many foundations have endless dinners and galas and fundraisers scheduled. All of which I will not be attending nor hosting, until my medication is sorted out.

For once, other people take charge, and I’m pretty damn happy about that.

After my test results come in, Sagan and I sit down with Dr. Allen.

“Dear, you do not have a heart condition,” the doctor says. “And furthermore, this Doctor White is not a medical doctor. He’s a registered homeopath in the state of Georgia, but hehas no business prescribing beta blockers. Anyone can hang a shingle and call themselves a homeopath, but it takes a formal complaint for him to be investigated to find out whether he even attended school for that. I found out that he lost his certification in Georgia and then got recertified in North Carolina. He’s not licensed to practice anything at the moment.”

My blood runs cold at this news. And then Sagan drops the bomb.

Dr. White has been befriending rich women for decades and is sought after because he does house calls. “He tricks vulnerable people into handing over valuable real estate for his scam courses and retreats. Meanwhile he’s nothing but a snake oil salesman.”

I turn to the doctor. “I don’t understand. Why have I been seeing ghosts? Why did he hear them?” I ask, pointing to Sagan. He rests a hand on my lower back.

“I can’t explain why he heard things, but I can tell you that the blockers can cause hallucinations in some people, as well as depression. You are also functioning from severe executive dysfunction.”

“You can diagnose that?”

She smiles. “I sure can. I’m a real medical doctor.”

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