Page 35 of Ground Truth

He’d watched her flailing in the water until she sank. He’d waited a good long time for her body to bob up. It had not.

Days later, she was officially declared lost at sea.

Of course, so was he.

And he was right here, right now, still living.

But Brand had cheated death only with Hedinger’s intervention. Greta absolutely could not have done the same. She couldn’t possibly have pulled it off.

So what the hell?

Her body could have been washed hundreds of miles from where she went down. She would have been gnawed by sea creatures of all sorts. Finding identifiable remains of her after all these years was simply not possible.

Which had been the beauty of his solution to the Greta problem in the first place. The plan had worked flawlessly.

Greta could not possibly be alive.

Of course she couldn’t.

Which was what he’d planned to tell Hedinger early this morning.

“We have a new client. Brace yourself,” Hedinger had said when Brand answered. “He’s insane.”

“Aren’t they all?” Brand replied, wiping his sweaty face with the damp bedsheets.

“Well, yes. I suppose they are. Fortunately. Or do you grow weary of your luxurious lifestyle,Doctor?” Hedinger laced the title with disdain, as he always did. “You can return to working at the university hospital anytime. Endless red tape while you hold the wringing hands of pitiful supplicants who have great needs but no cash. You can wipe the tears of their families when your patient dies because no matching donor can be found. Would you prefer that,Dr.Brand?”

Brand sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hands, listening to the cruel but true words Hedinger had uttered many times. Brand had never been altruistic in any way, and he was way too old to change, even if he wanted to.

Which he definitely had no desire to do.

He’d become a doctor to get rich and he’d finally discovered a decent payoff. He would never revoke his membership in the billionaire’s club. Not for Greta Campbell or anyone else. No chance.

When Hedinger reached the end of his litany of horrors, Brand replied truthfully as he always did. “I’m perfectly satisfied with my life the way it is. How can I be of service to you?”

“As I said, we have a new client. An extremely powerful man. You will recognize him instantly when you see him.” Hedinger paused. “He demands anonymity. I’ve agreed.”

“It’s not an easy request, but we’ve done it before. We’ll do what’s necessary to prevent disclosure while he’s here,” Brand replied.

The client’s identity made no difference to the quality of the health care Brand’s hospital delivered.

But securing the anonymity of a recognizable face meant extra security and private nursing and longer hospitalization, all of which raised costs exponentially.

More challenges brought more money. Why would Brand object?

“He’ll arrive later today. Our courier will deliver the documents and the donor to you personally. Surgery is tomorrow. Be prepared,” Hedinger demanded curtly.

In light of this new client and his complications, Brand lacked the courage to mention Greta.

“Yes, of course. No problem at all.” Brand held his finger poised to close the call a moment after Hedinger disconnected.

Instead, the old bastard continued loudly breathing a few moments longer.

“I assume you know I have traps on private and government databases around the world,” Hedinger said, softly ominous. “We scan for all sorts of triggers. Such as names or search types or the identity of individuals making certain inquiries.”

Brand’s internal threat meter jumped up all the way into the red zone. The needle held there as if it were glued in place.

His sweaty face heated another couple of degrees and his heart pounded wildly in his chest.

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