Page 40 of The Doctor

Once Martin had pickpocketed the woman by bumping into her and causing a scene while pulling her key fob from her pocket, we had everything we needed. We wandered around the mall for a little longer before we made our way to the cheap piece of shit.

We knew our contact would tell us when the kid was outside again. We didn’t expect it to be so soon, but apparently the mother suggested he take a break.

As soon as we had the go signal, we’d made our way around the front of the police station and did what was necessary. I still wasn’t sure if I was successful, but if not, I would try again.

There was no way that kid was going to testify. By the time we made it to our hotel in the posher side of town, at least an hour had passed and I figured we would hear something with the next news bulletin.

In the car there had been two news blasts and not one of them mentioned the shooting at the police station.

I checked the television schedule and saw I had some time before the next scheduled bulletin. Marina De Ferrier wasn’t big enough to make the major news stations, but anytime a police station was targeted, it made the news. That was what I was hoping for. And since no one saw who was in the car, I could not be implicated. Not at all.

I had just finished in the shower when Martin knocked on the door and poked his head in without waiting on my answer. “The news is on.” I wrapped a towel around my waist and stepped out of the bathroom. I switched on the TV and waited for news about the shooting.

The presenter spoke of the incident in a modulated tone. Two things struck me. One good and one fucking bad.

The bad news was that on the screen was a sketch of Martin. The kid knew what he looked like. But more importantly, he was now a known suspect in a shooting, killing at least one teenager.

I let out a sigh of relief. I had no idea how they got the sketch. I thought we squashed it and I was pretty sure our lawyer could refute it. More importantly, I’d hit my mark. Dominic Bayers was dead.

Before I had a chance to celebrate, Martin’s phone rang.

He picked it up. “It’s my sister.” He swiped the screen and answered. “Hello. Yes. What do you mean not to worry? My face is all over the news. Every cop in the county will have my face.”

There was silence and Martin nodded as the other person spoke. “Okay. Yes, I’ll let him know.”

He disconnected the call and looked at me.

“What is it?” My voice held more than a little irritation. I wasn’t in the mood for Martin and his family’s theatrics.

“It’s a smoke screen.” He looked at me with concern. “Dominic Bayers is not dead. They just want us to think that.”

23

LOGAN

Nick walked me through the four-bedroom house. “I made sure you had a fourth bedroom. A teenager can’t be expected to share with a baby and a toddler.” He lifted a brow. “At some point, Dom’s going to want a little privacy.”

Yeah, he was not being subtle. Not that Nick ever was.

I decided to put him out of his misery. I smirked. “Stop fishing. You are well aware that Bex and I are sharing a bed.”

“Yeah, I didn’t really need to know that.” He winced and shook his head. “I just need to know all of you are happy and safe

“Nick.” He knew he crossed a line. Still, I had to reiterate that what was happening between Bex and myself was our business and we would do things at our own pace. Not at a speed her older brother thought was appropriate. “I am going to marry your sister. If everything works in our favor, we’ll adopt all three kids. This may be a safe house for now. But it will be our home one day.”

My friend nodded. For as long as I could remember, he was like a big brother to me. He was the one I went to for advice. Not girl advice, but other stuff. I knew when I left without much of a goodbye at the end of senior year, it had hurt him and the rest of his family. Especially Mason. But I had to do what Bex neededfrom me. I needed to make Dom’s adoption mean something and follow my dream to be the best ER doctor I could be.

“So, you’re really staying this time?”

“Nick. My scholarship was for Columbia.” He already knew what I was going to say but it needed to be said. “There was no way I could get the education I needed without help. Or student loans. I chose the scholarship. If USC had offered me a full ride, I would’ve stayed and commuted if I needed to. But only the East Coast was offering what I needed.”

In reality, I had applied to all the universities in California along with the Ivy Leagues. As it turned out, I only received scholarships to Columbia and Princeton. And, well, as Bex had already dumped me, it seemed I didn’t have much reason to stay in California. And then by the time I finished med school and my residency, she was engaged to that douchebag and it made more sense to stay where I was. Once she broke up with Curtis, I knew it was my chance to make my move.

As soon as I could, I applied for a job at a hospital in San Diego and handed in my resignation. As it turned out, there was a vacancy and I moved within a month. When they needed more hands at the Satellite medical center in MDF, I was more than happy to volunteer. It meant less of a commute and that I could settle in my hometown. I still took the occasional shift in San Diego. But once I was appointed as head of the ER in Marina De Ferrier, that would come to an end. Except under extreme ‘all hands-on deck’ circumstances.

Nick’s phone rang and I saw Bex’s photo flash across the screen. I wondered why she would be calling her brother instead of me.

I was anxious to know how Dom’s interview was going and expected to be her first call once it was finished. It was just about the time I expected her to be done and had been waiting for hercall. She knew I was waiting. Which meant if she was calling her brother, something was wrong.

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