by Kate White
“I don’t know what to say,” she said. “I mean-”
“There’s no need to say anything at the moment. We can cross that bridge later. The thing we need to deal with right now is your situation with Levin and Sherman. There’s obviously been some kind of terrible misunderstanding and we should clear it up. I’d be happy to intervene.”
Lake shook her head emphatically.
“Thank you, but once I get the letter from Levin and have a chance to digest what he’s saying, I’ll make my case with him myself.”
“Is there anything I can do, then?”
Should I tell him? Lake wondered. What if she enlisted him rather than Maggie to search through the files? But despite how genuine he sounded, she felt a lingering suspicion about him. And she needed to stick with the plan she worked out with Archer.
She glanced at her watch. She wanted to position herself near the coffee shop at just a little after noon so as not to risk missing Maggie.
“No, Harry, but thank you. Look, I have an appointment and I need to get back.”
“I’m off for the rest of the afternoon, but I’ll be at the clinic tomorrow,” he said. “Let me know how it goes, okay?”
“Will do.”
They stood and walked back toward the entrance. Two boys, nine or ten years old, whooshed by them on skateboards, their faces tight with concentration. One made Lake think of Will, pinching her heart. At the same moment she felt a cloud pass over the sun and she glanced up instinctively. She quickly said goodbye to Harry and hurried home.
Back in her apartment, she made coffee and paced. She felt outraged about the approach Levin was taking-telling people that she’d engaged in some kind of espionage for another clinic. Word would get around in her professional circles and the story could dog her for years, perhaps even ruin her business. Was this Levin’s backup plan? If he couldn’t manage to kill her, he’d destroy her reputation?
If, of course, Levin was the one behind it all. What if someone else at the clinic was the mastermind of the embryo stealing? Maybe it was Sherman, in cahoots with Hoss. Or, if he’d found the right person in the lab to assist him, even Steve might have been able to pull it off. It would be in his interest, too, to keep the clinic’s success rate high. If it was someone else, that person could have convinced Levin that Lake was stealing information-while also arranging to have her attacked.
She hailed a cab at 11:40 and was outside the coffee shop by 12:05. She felt exposed standing right in the front of the restaurant, so after a few minutes she ducked into the doorway of the shoe store next door, where she’d still be able to see Maggie coming. As she waited, she rehearsed what she’d say to Maggie. She would have to sound very credible, especially if Maggie had been told that Lake was a spy.
By 12:40 Lake started to worry. Based on her routine, Maggie should have been there by now. Maybe, in light of everything going on, Maggie felt the pressure to stay close to base. Lake shifted her position again and again because her body still ached from last night. Please, please come, Maggie, she pleaded in her head.
And then Lake saw her. She’d made the turn onto Lexington and was hurrying up the block, her shoulders slumped and her face blank. She was wearing another pretty dress today and carrying the same tiny summer purse-the reason she’d left Keaton’s keys in her desk.
“Hi, Maggie,” Lake said, stepping out from the doorway. “I hate to interrupt your lunch today but I was hoping I could sit with you for a few minutes.”
Maggie shook her head back and forth.
“That’s not-that’s not a good idea,” she said.
“Could I just talk to you out here for a few minutes, then?”
Maggie looked off, refusing to make eye contact.
“I’m sorry-I can’t.”
Lake’s heart sank.
“But why not, Maggie?” she asked. “What have I done to upset you?”
“It’s not me. It’s what you’ve done to the clinic. Dr. Levin told me all about it. He said you’ve been giving another clinic confidential information of ours-information about the techniques we use.”
“Maggie, I need you to understand the truth. Yes, I did look through a few files but not so I could pass the information to other doctors. I think the clinic is transferring some couples’ embryos to other women without anyone’s permission. That’s the real reason they want me out of there.”
Maggie’s brown eyes flashed with anger.
“That’s not true,” she said defiantly. “Dr. Levin is an amazing man-he’s a miracle worker really. All he wants is to help people.”
“I’ve spoken to a patient whose embryos were probably stolen,” Lake said. She could hear desperation beginning to seep into her voice and tried to squelch it. “And last night a man attacked me. I’m almost positive he was hired by the clinic.”
Maggie shook her head again.
“I don’t believe you,” she said. “That’s ridiculous.”
“But why would I just make all this up? What would I have to gain from it?”
Maggie raised her chin and looked Lake directly in the eye.
“Because Dr. Levin caught you stealing. And you need to cover your tracks.” There had been a slight hesitancy in her words, as if a part of her was still weighing what Lake had said.
“Maggie, over the last few weeks you’ve gotten to know me a little. Do you really think I’m capable of that?”
Maggie bit her lip. Have I made a dent, Lake wondered?
“I have gotten to know you a little, but I know Dr. Levin much better,” Maggie said. “And he’s the one I trust.”
She started to turn. Lake couldn’t believe it. This had been her chance and she’d blown it.
“Maggie, please,” she said. Lake reached for the nurse’s arm and grabbed it at the wrist. A man walking by with a bulldog caught the gesture out of the corner of his eye and swiveled his head in their direction. Lake dropped Maggie’s arm. “I can prove to you that what I’m saying is true-you just need to do one thing to help me.”
“I can’t,” she said. “I want you to leave me alone.”
Maggie rushed past her, started to enter the coffee shop, and then changed course, continuing north on Lexington. She obviously didn’t want to take the chance of Lake following her inside and pleading with her further.
Lake glanced around to make sure no one was watching her. Then she hailed a cab.
Now what, she wondered? letting her body sink wearily into the backseat. She’d banked everything on Maggie, which in hindsight was a stupid plan. Yes, Maggie seemed like a decent person, and, yes, Maggie had clearly liked her, but Maggie was also young and naïve. And probably fearful of getting involved in any way.
At home Lake poured a glass of wine and drank it with a piece of cheese-the only edible thing she had in the fridge. As she paced up and down the long hall in her apartment, she mentally ticked through the clinic’s other staff, wondering if she dared contact any of them for help.
Steve. He was her friend’s brother, the whole reason Lake was at the clinic to begin with. But as far as she knew, he might very well be in on things. Plus, she couldn’t ignore the fact that he hadn’t called to hear her side of the story or to ask if he could help. Which made her think of Harry. But she still didn’t know if she could trust him.
She glanced down and saw that she had drained the entire glass of wine. I need to get in touch with Archer and come up with a new plan, she thought. As she set her wineglass down, she heard her BlackBerry ring in her purse. Grabbing it, she saw to her shock that it was the number of the clinic. Could it be Maggie, she wondered, having a change of heart?
“This is Lake Warren,” she answered.
“It’s Rory,” the voice on the other end said, nearly in a whisper. “From Advanced Fertility.”
“Yes?” she asked. It was the last person she expected to hear from.
“I know something,” Rory said. “I think you should know it, too.”
25
L
AKE CHECKED THE surge of hope that had already begun to build in her. She’d had a similar call hours earlier from Harry. And though he’d disclosed Levin’s latest tactic against her, it hadn’t been the kind of information she’d needed.
“What’s it about?” Lake asked. “I assume you know I’m not with the clinic anymore.”
“Yes, I know that. Everyone does. But”-and she lowered her voice even more-“I overheard Maggie talking to Chelsea. I know what you told her.”
“Yes?” Lake asked quietly.
“It made me think. You see, something funny happened here recently. Something maybe you should know about.”
Lake wondered if this was finally it-the break she had desperately longed for.
“What happened?” Lake asked. She realized she was whispering, too.
There was a pause. Lake sensed that Rory had turned around and checked behind her.
“I’m afraid to talk about it right now. I can’t believe I’m even calling you from here-someone might overhear.”
Quickly, Lake tried to think of a plan. “Do you want to come to my place? After work. We could talk here.”
“No. I can meet you after work, but I don’t want to go to your place. Someone from here might see me going into your building.”
“Your place, then?” Lake asked. She remembered that Rory lived north of the city; Lake could drive there.
“That’s too far,” Rory said. “I’m all the way up in Bedford Hills. Oh gosh, I don’t know. Maybe I-”
“I’ve got an idea,” Lake said, her mind forming the plan as she spoke. “There’s a little piano bar in the Eighties. It’s not far from the clinic, but no one on staff would ever go there. Why don’t we meet there when you finish up today?”
Rory sighed. Lake bit her tongue, afraid of pushing too hard.
“Okay,” Rory said finally.
Lake gave her the name of the bar-a place she used to go with Jack to hear music-and they agreed to meet at six-thirty.
Next she called Archer to fill him in on her conversations with Maggie and Rory.
“Sounds like we might be in luck. When are you going to speak to her?”
“At the end of the workday.”
“Call me, okay? As soon as you’re done talking to her.”
For the next hour she sat in her home office, trying to concentrate on the rest of her consulting business, which she’d almost totally ignored lately. She hadn’t read her emails in days, and there were dozens and dozens of them, many of which should have been answered immediately. She responded to the most urgent ones, including one from a prospective client wondering why she hadn’t yet received a proposal from Lake, and then she just couldn’t concentrate any longer. Her assistant was due back next Wednesday, and she could help get things under control. But Lake couldn’t imagine how she’d function normally in front of her with everything that was going on. Plus, would Lake be putting her in danger?
Suddenly she felt overwhelmed with fatigue. But she didn’t dare take a nap like yesterday, in case it would be hours before she woke. Instead she showered, turning the water to cold before she finished. As she toweled off, she mentally prepped for the meeting with Rory, urging herself not to seem desperate like she had with Maggie. She winced at the memory of her grabbing Maggie’s wrist. This was a different situation, of course. Rory was coming to her. But she could sense that Rory was a reluctant witness and that she’d have to be careful not to frighten her off.
Lake made sure she was at the bar fifteen minutes early. She found a table toward the back, with a view of the door but away from the windows. It was too early for the first piano player of the evening, though people were already gathered at the bar, a few in groups. She ordered a glass of red wine and folded her hands on the table. Let this be something, she thought.
When Rory entered the bar, Lake almost didn’t recognize her. In her floral dress she looked far more pregnant than she did in her white uniform jacket. Her blond hair was wavy from the humidity and pinned back on one side with a barrette.
As she made her way to Lake’s table, Rory searched the room with her eyes and then looked behind her before sitting down.
“Are you sure no one will see us here?” she asked worriedly as she sat across from Lake
“I’m positive. Would you like something to drink?” Lake asked.
“Drink?” Rory exclaimed, her pale blue eyes widening. “But I’m pregnant.”
“I didn’t mean a drink drink. Do you want a soda-or a sparkling water?”
“No, nothing.”
It was clear Lake needed to cut to the chase.
“I really appreciate your coming, Rory,” she said. “Why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind.”
Rory looked behind her once more before speaking.
“Like I told you on the phone, I overheard Maggie and Chelsea talking. Maggie usually eats lunch at this one coffee shop and she always takes the full hour, but today she went out and came back in ten minutes with just a sandwich from a deli. I saw her go into the kitchen to get something to drink and she seemed sort of flustered. Chelsea was already in there and I started to go in there, too, but then I overheard them whispering. Maggie said that she’d run into you and that you told her that the real reason you were fired was because you’d discovered something bad going on at the clinic-in the lab in particular.”
“Did she tell Chelsea what it was?”
“Not that I heard. She just asked Chelsea if she thought it could be true, if Chelsea thought something weird might be going on. And Chelsea told her that you were just trash-talking out of revenge. Of course, I’m not sure how Chelsea would even know, one way or the other. She’s really not that smart.”
“As far as you know, did Maggie say anything to anyone else?”
“I doubt it. Chelsea’s the only one she’s really close to.” Rory ran her eyes over Lake’s face as if she were searching for something.
“Rory, look-”
“Is there really something going on at the clinic?” Rory asked, her eyes narrowed in worry.
“Yes, I think there may be,” Lake said. “A former patient told me she believes that the doctors implanted some of her embryos into another woman-without permission from either one of them.”
“Omigod,” Rory said, instinctively curling her arm around her rounded belly. “They-they could get in so much trouble for that.”
“Have you ever witnessed anything that would make you think that they’re guilty of that? On the phone you said that something funny had happened.”
“I did see something funny,” she said after a moment. “But I don’t know if it has anything to do with what you’re talking about.”
“But it might,” Lake urged. “Please tell me.”
Rory took her arm from her belly and folded her hands on the table. Her hands were large and strong, fitting her body, but also perfectly manicured-with peach-colored nails.
“When I first got pregnant I felt really awful,” Rory said. “I have no clue why they call it morning sickness because I was sick all day long. One afternoon I felt so bad I didn’t know how I was going to be able to get on the train to go home. So after I’d finished with the last patient, I decided to lie down in Dr. Kline’s office for a while-he’s got a little love seat in there. It was about five-thirty and I only planned to rest for a few minutes, but when I opened my eyes it was almost seven. I couldn’t believe it. I was afraid that everybody had left and I was locked in with the alarm on. I walked down to the reception area and all of a sudden I saw Dr. Hoss standing there with a man I’d never seen before. She seemed really uncomfortable when she noticed me-like I’d caught her at something.”
“Maybe it was someone she was dating-and she felt awkward?”
Rory glanced quickly behind her again.
“Well, he had a silver container with him,” she said, her voice hushed. “The kind that’s used to carry eggs.”
“Eggs?” Lake said.
“Yes. And embryo
s.”
“Was he delivering eggs?” Lake asked. “From a donor bank?”
Rory shook her head.
“I don’t think so. I think he was taking some away.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I followed him.”
“Followed him?” Lake asked, surprised. “How did you manage that?”
“I left the clinic first. I could tell they didn’t want me there. But I waited down the street until the man came out. Like I said, the whole thing just seemed kind of funny to me, and I thought if I saw what kind of car or van he got into, it would help me figure it out. But he didn’t get into a car. He just started walking. I still felt a little sick, but I decided to follow behind. I knew he couldn’t be going very far because he had the cooler with him. And then just three blocks away he went into a townhouse. After about five minutes I went in and checked the name on the plaque. It said New Century Research.”
“So the eggs may have been donated for research? Isn’t that something the clinic does occasionally?”
“Some couples okay it but not very many. I certainly never would if I were in their situation. Besides, that’s not the name of a company the clinic deals with regularly. And, like I told you, there was something really funny about the way Dr. Hoss acted.”
Lake studied the table for a moment. It wasn’t the information she’d been hoping for, but it all might fit in. If the clinic had enough reckless disregard for someone’s embryos to implant them in another woman, they wouldn’t think twice about selling them for research.
But she needed evidence. She had to convince Rory to look through the patient charts. When she glanced back up, Rory was staring at her.
“Rory, I really appreciate your sharing this with me,” she said. “But now I need your help. Would you be willing to pull a few patient charts? I honestly think that the clinic is doing things that aren’t ethical, and the proof has got to be in the files.”
Rory shook her head quickly back and forth.
“Look, I told you what I know,” she said. “If there’s something weird going on, I want the doctors to be told they have to stop. But I don’t want to make trouble.”
