Page 122 of Undeniably Enemies

He helped me remember I’m a phoenix, but now he’s burning in my flames.

And fucking Dr. Marshall is a pig. He’s swine. A grabby-handed, womanizing, philandering?—

I bolt upright and shoot out of bed, grabbing my phone as I go into the living room.

It takes three rings before his gravelly voice hits my ear. “Wren?”

“Hey, Vander. Yeah. God, am I glad you never sleep.”

He chuckles. “Is everything okay?”

“I need a favor.”

“Sure. What’s up?”

I go through an account of everything that’s happening, ignoring his laughter and his “I knew it” when I tell him I’m with Jack. With what Vander does both for a living and in the shadows of that living, it doesn’t surprise me he saw things my brother and the other guys didn’t between us.

“I need you to get everything you can for me on Dr. Harrison Marshall.”

“What makes you think there’s anything to be found?”

“I don’t know if there is, but my gut is telling me there might be. He’s got a penchant for wandering hands and eyes. Even my adviser said something about him and how he was relieved I wasn’t working with him. But if you mention his wife, he jumps like someone branded his ass with a red-hot poker. It is like he’s afraid of her or afraid of her catching him doing something he shouldn’t, even though, at that moment, he and I were just talking.His reaction was extreme. I don’t know. I might be grasping at straws, but something doesn’t feel right about him. He’s too charming, if you know what I mean.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” he says, and I hear clicking in the background. “How fast do you need this?”

“Before eight this morning,” I snort sheepishly.

“Shit, Wren. That’s not a lot of time, even for me. I’ll do what I can.”

“Thanks, Van. I really appreciate it, and I owe you a big one.”

“Jack’s a good guy. I’m happy to help if I can.”

I disconnect the call and go back to bed, curling in beside Jack, who is tossing and turning, half asleep. I close my eyes and will myself to fall asleep along with him. Only sleep doesn’t happen, and I get up early and shower, anxious to get out the door. I don’t tell Jack about my call to Vander. It’ll likely lead to nothing, and I don’t want to get his hopes up or stress him out more.

I decide as I walk into the hospital that I’m going to attend the board meeting with him. It will make what he’s saying sound stronger if I’m there by his side through it, and fuck it, I’m a Fritz. I know every member on that board because they all attend Abbot-Fritz charity events, and my family donates millions to the hospital. If Vander can’t come up with anything, that’s how I’ll help Jack.

As I walk into the hospital, my phone rings, and I nearly trip over my feet and drop the device in my attempt to get to it.

“Van? What’s up?”

“Oh, Wren, you weren’t wrong about him.”

*Back at the water*

“What just happened in there?Why were you there, and why didn’t you say anything to me about doing that?” Jack asks, his wild eyes all over me.

“After you fell asleep, I called Vander and asked for a favor.”

“Vander?”

“I didn’t know if anything could be found on Dr. Marshall, so I didn’t say anything to you about it this morning. My plan was to meet you at the board meeting and sit by your side so they knew it wasn’t just a fling or you taking advantage of a student. But then Vander called me, and I went straight up there.”

“What did he find?”

“Marshall has a history of sexual assault in college. He and his buddies took advantage of a stripper at a party, and she went to the police. He was arrested but made a deal that involved his parents paying her off and no jail time, unlike his other buddies, who served three months each. In med school, there were formal complaints made of sexual misconduct and harassment with fellow students, but no charges were filed, and he wasn’t kicked out. His school did, however, receive a nice endowment from the Marshall family.”

“So his family covered his tracks. At least twice.”

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