Page 42 of The Chance

Aubrey stepped into the hallway, the door to her office clicking shut behind her. No one else had an office down this far. Caine’s was clear across the hospital. But Aubrey liked it that way, it was quiet and it gave her a place that was hers. Where she could think.

This part of the hospital was always quieter than the rest. There were no patient rooms on this part of the floor. The adminhall was behind a secure fire door. And it was late. Jordan Carrington had an office six doors down from hers, and he often spent time in there when he was trying to escape Caine’s wife—she loved to push her father’s buttons—but his door was closed today. The light was on, though. That man rarely slept, Aubrey was sure of it. He took running Carrington Medical Group very seriously.

He was another she respected. Him, his son Dathan, Caine, Chad, Guthrie’s brothers…and Guthrie. Maybe she was healing now. Letting people in? Possibly.

She wanted what the future could bring. She’d stopped off and held baby Max and baby Mira that morning before they had been released. They’d named that precious baby girl after Aubrey. She would never forget how that felt. She wanted children and she wanted a man to look at her the way George Hiller had looked at his wife. Period.

But first, she wanted to get home, and lure Guthrie to her cave. Just like Genny had said Guthrie was wanting to do with Aubrey himself. That sounded like a good idea to her—onlyshewas going to lurehimfirst.

The faint scuff of shoes on tile pulled her attention. Her steps slowed as she glanced down the hall. Dr. Howard emerged from around the corner, his shoulders rigid and his face shadowed by the angled light.

She stopped. Dr. Howard’s office was on the fifth floor, two doors down from Guthrie’s. Internal Medicine was on the same floor as Obstetrics. “Dr. Howard, is there something I can help you with tonight? I was just on my way out.”

She was the only one he could possibly be looking for down here. The only other offices were Jordan’s—and the head of dietary services.

“Dr. Fisher, we need to talk.” He just stared at her from those green eyes of his that had always reminded her of cold glass. Hescared her. He always had. He was a good twenty years older than Guthrie, and had been at the hospital longer than she, Genny, and Guthrie had been combined. Something about him had always made her anxiety rise in a way she had never fully identified.

She debated—go toward the main lobby and hope he followed her, or head back down the hall. Toward Jordan’s office. And hope Jordan was in there.

Aubrey stopped. “About what?”

“I think you know exactly what. Everyone knows you’re behind all of it. You and those Laughlin brothers, digging into everything. Ruining everything.”

Ten and his brother Thoreau. They were on a very specific mission here at the hospital. And if they were circling around Dr. Howard, there was a reason. “If this is about the compliance audit, I can assure you?—”

“This isn’t about compliance. This is about you. About the mess you’ve made of my life.”

Her fingers flexed against the strap of her bag. “You’ll have to be more specific. How have I messed with your life?”

Her fingers slipped into her bag. Wrapped around her phone.

Howard stopped just a few feet from her now, his presence heavy and oppressive in the otherwise empty hallway. “Laughlin has been digging into my records. My billing. He’s going back years—decades. And we both know why.”

Aubrey tilted her chin up, her voice steady. “If Thoreau Laughlin is reviewing your records, it’s because he found a reason to. You’ll need to take that up with him. I have nothing to do with his investigation. I’m working with his brother Tennison on something else.”

Thor was digging into the billing fraud cases brought to light during what had happened with Wallace Henedy. Thor’s brother was working on the drug audits. The two… weren’t workingtogether. If Thor had come up against Howard… Howard was probably doing something he shouldn’t.

And that was what scared her the most. She knew exactly how violent someone could be when they were trying to protect their secrets.

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Justin replayedeverything he’d said or done that would possibly draw Aubrey’s attention even more as he headed back to his department. He took a hard left when he saw Fields and Hiller coming up the hallway together again.

Those two assholes were always together. Always had been. And now he’d heard Hiller’s little sister that Doug had wanted so badly was going to marry Fields as soon as they could possibly make it happen.

Damned prick. He understood why Doug hadn’t liked him. And being that Justin and Doug had been friends and together almost as much as Fields and Hiller—people were going to be watching Justin now. It was just a given.

Mandy met him in the hallway outside his office. “Dr. Precious is really pushing things with her little audit, isn’t she? Does she get under your skin?”

He told her a two-word suggestion. He didn’t want to deal with Mandy’s petty bitchiness tonight. Now, if she were to bend over his desk—he could find a use for her. He always could. This woman turned him on, no denying that. Maybe he just had a thing for bitchiness and not the sweet-as-sugar type? Maybehe’d marry a woman like that nurse Eva and keep a woman like Mandy on the side?

He could make it work. And it would be fun to try. Up to a point. He was thirty-four years old. Maybe it was time he did the whole wife and kids thing? Settled down and built the future he wanted? “You want kids someday?”

The words just came out. And hell, she was getting older. She had to be twenty-seven or twenty-eight. She wasn’t getting any younger. Wouldn’t be able to get what she wanted from a man by shaking her tits and ass in his face forever. “Do you?”

“Haven’t really thought about it. But probably one or two. Why? You feeling all domesticated?” She ran her fingers over his chest, toying with the buttons. “Do you love me, baby?”

Hell no. A man would have to be stupid to fall in love with this bitch. But he understood her. And when it came down to it, he wanted what was best for her.

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