Page 34 of Ground Truth

“Why not?” Flint asked, patting his pockets for more Tylenol.

“There were life vests in the boat. It was a rental, so the owner kept records,” Gaspar said.

“Lots of idiots go out in boats without life vests on. You know that.”

“Right. And the boat was never found. The owner said the life vests were accessible. He went over the safety protocols with Greta and Phillip before they set out,” Gaspar said.

“So the suggestion is that they could have had life vests on and could have survived.”

“It’s possible. That’s all he’s saying.”

“Did they find anything from the boat that might support his theory?”

“They did find some debris about a week later and about fifty miles south from where the boat is presumed to have run into trouble, yeah,” Gaspar replied. “And my source says that with life jackets on, they could have floated quite a ways from where they started.”

Flint shrugged, clasped the back of his neck in his palm and tried to knead the ache from his shoulders. “Let’s check all the financial records on this couple. If they staged this whole thing, might be easier to start with why they did it.”

“Already started,” Gaspar said. “And I’m running traces worldwide on the husband, too. He’s a doctor. If he’s resurfaced somewhere and is practicing medicine, we might find him in official licensing databases or something. With luck.”

“Good work, Gaspar. Like you said, makes sense to go up to Atlanta and check this guy out,” Flint said. “Keep in touch.”

He used the remote to turn off the pulsing television screen, rested his head back against the recliner, and closed his eyes to catch a few winks before Drake returned.

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Chapter 18

Atabei

Dr. Stephen Brand had observed his hands shaking during the morning’s heart transplant. Sweat popped out on his forehead, soaking his surgical cap during the early stages of the procedure, too.

He’d glanced at the team to be sure no one noticed. They seemed focused on the patient, not on the surgeon’s unusual bio-responses. As they should have been.

Brand could perform transplant surgery better than most other surgeons even on the worst of days. Of course, the procedure had been a success and the patient was doing well in recovery. He’d never lost a patient and he didn’t lose this one.

He exercised iron control at all times. But these vexatious symptoms suggested his control was slipping.

Physiologic tremors were temporary and harmless in most situations. In his case, the triggers were stress, fatigue, and anxiety.

Too much caffeine and missing his breakfast were contributing factors.

Brand diagnosed all these contributing factors as consequences of only one thing.

Greta.

When he saw Greta’s strange image on television, his first instinct was to ignore the situation.

Greta was dead. He’d watched her drown. Even though he couldn’t check her body to confirm, he was sure she’d died out there in the Gulf, as planned.

He’d left his old life behind in every way. And he’d slept well enough every night for the past four years, secure in the knowledge that his ex was no longer a threat to him or anyone else.

Until the woman he’d seen in that damned royal wedding video began to intrude on his sleep. And then interfered with his daily activities. And now she was causing tremors during surgery.

This had to stop.

He’d tried other remedies and now realized the only way he could get back to his idyllic life was to confirm Greta’s death.

Which was impossible.

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