by Erin Wade
“Katie.” Shay dropped to her knees and pried Katie’s hands loose from the grip she had on her legs. “It’s okay, Katie. I’m here. Everything’s okay.”
Katie’s eyes opened wide. She gasped and threw herself into Shay’s arms. The doctor held her tightly, soothing the distraught woman.
“He was here, Shay,” Katie whispered.
“Who was here?” Shay stood, pulling Katie to her feet.
“David,” Katie sobbed. “He broke into my apartment. You saved me.”
Shay led Katie to the sofa then closed and locked the apartment door. There was no evidence of forced entry.
“How did he get in?” Shay asked.
“I . . . I don’t know. I was in the bathroom. I had showered and blow-dried my hair, so I couldn’t hear much. I had just finished applying my makeup when I heard someone moving around the kitchen. I hid in the closet. Shay, I was terrified. Thank God you were on your way here.”
Shay handed her a tissue. “It’s okay now.”
“I need to call the police,” Katie said, still sniffling. “I must report him.”
“Katie, did you actually see David?”
“No, but he wears a very expensive cologne. I could smell it. I’d recognize the scent anywhere. Who else would break into my apartment?”
“There’s no evidence of a break-in,” Shay pointed out.
“He can pick a lock. I’ve seen him do it.”
Katie choked back a sob, trying to gain control of her emotions. “You don’t believe me! You think I’m making this up, don’t you?”
“No! No.” Shay slipped her arm around Katie’s shoulders. She felt so small and vulnerable. “I . . . I believe someone entered your apartment, but I’m not sure it was David.”
“I’m positive it was him,” Katie insisted.
“Katie, I was at dinner with David,” Shay muttered. “He couldn’t have gotten here ahead of me.”
Katie pulled back from Shay as if she were dangerous. “You need to go,” Katie said. “I want to be alone.”
“Are you sure?” Shay asked.
“No.” Katie began sobbing again. “I’m scared, Shay. You’re my only friend, and you’re consorting with the enemy. I have no one to trust.”
“You look gorgeous, by the way,” Shay said softly, trying to get Katie’s mind off the break-in. Whether it happened or she was hallucinating, the woman was terrified.
Katie ducked her head. “Thank you.” A sly smile played on her lips. “I wanted to look nice for you.”
“The chocolate chip cookies smell heavenly,” Shay noted. “Am I still welcome to cookies and coffee?”
“Of course.” Katie wiped her nose with the tissue. “Why don’t you pour the coffee while I visit the bathroom. With all this ridiculous crying, I’m certain I look like a raccoon.”
Shay laughed out loud. “A little,” she teased.
##
When Katie returned from her bedroom, she looked even more beautiful. Shay placed the coffee cups on the table and sat down. “These cookies look delectable.” She grinned. “I can’t remember the last time I had homemade cookies.”
Katie watched as the doctor bit into the dessert.
“Oh my gosh,” Shay murmured. “This is pure heaven. So good.”
Katie beamed. “I’m glad you like them.”
“Like them?” Shay laughed. “I love them. Thank you for this.”
Katie stirred sugar and cream into her coffee. “Do you take anything in your coffee?”
“No. The stronger and blacker, the better,” Shay answered. “Doctors learn to worship strong coffee during their internships. They’re brutal.”
Katie nodded. “I remember.”
“Katie, David said you filed for divorce,” Shay blurted.
“Yes, I did. I must get out of his clutches as soon as possible. I don’t want him to have any legal rights where I’m concerned. You saw how he tried to commit me to Glencove the moment you turned your back.”
Shay nodded but said nothing.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Katie murmured. “I didn’t think it’d matter to you.”
“Katie,”—Shay shifted in her chair— “David and I were discussing marriage before you showed up in the emergency room. I never knew he had a wife. He led me to believe he was single. I’d never date a married man.”
“I didn’t know,” Katie gasped. “I never dreamed you were in love with him.”
“I . . . I didn’t know about you.”
“I’m not surprised,” Katie replied. “He’s done a good job of making the world forget about me for the past five years.”
“What are your plans?” Shay asked.
“I plan to regain control of everything he’s taken from me,” Katie vowed. “I was more than willing to have an amicable divorce that would leave David a very wealthy man, but his blatant disregard for me and his moneygrubbing efforts to have me declared insane and leave me penniless have infuriated me. His recent attempt to kill me makes me know he will stop at nothing to retain the fortune he now controls.
“I hope you weren’t dating him for his money!”
Shay laughed. “No, I’m well-off in my own right. I was dating him because he is the kindest, gentlest man I know and an incredible physician.”
Katie sighed. “I realize it’s his word against mine, but I promise I’m not lying to you, Shay.”
Shay’s phone dinged, announcing an incoming text message. She glanced at the screen and David’s handsome face.
“Are you home?” David’s text read.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” Katie asked.
“Yes,” Shay whispered, as if David might hear her.
“He’s checking to see if you went home, because he knows you came here.” Katie sobbed. “If you hadn’t scared him away, I’d be dead. Don’t answer him. He’ll come back if he thinks you’re gone.”
Shay reached across the small breakfast table and took Katie’s hand. “Katie, it wasn’t David. He was with me. There’s no way he could get here and break in before I arrived. It had to be someone else.”
“Please spend the night here,” Katie begged. “I’ll sleep on the sofa, and you can have my bed.”
Shay chuckled. “I have a better idea. Why don’t we bag up these delicious cookies and spend the night at my house. You can sleep in the guest room, and we’ll both get a good night’s sleep.”
“I’ll be okay here by myself,” Katie said, sighing. “I have to learn to be alone if I’m to take control of my own life.”
“You win. I’ll sleep on the sofa,” Shay said.
“No, that wasn’t a ploy to get my way. I’m serious. I must learn to lean on Katie Brandt.”
Shay got up and pulled her chair to the door. “When I leave, wedge the back of this chair under the doorknob. Even if someone has a key, they won’t be able to open the door.”
“Good idea,” Katie said. “Now go get some sleep, Dr. Shay. You have patients to see tomorrow. I’ll be fine.”
Shay hugged her and was surprised at how good Katie felt in her arms. Something’s wrong with me, she thought.
“Text me so I’ll know you made it home okay,” Katie instructed as she bid Shay good night.
As soon as Shay left, Katie called the police and reported the break-in at her apartment.
Chapter 14
Shay texted Katie as soon as she entered her home. She felt uneasy about leaving her alone. She was also concerned about Katie’s claim that someone had broken into her apartment. There was no sign of a break-in, and there was no way David could be involved. A thought in the back of her mind refused to be silenced: she staged the break-in.
Shay hung her dress in the closet and brushed her teeth. She pulled on a soft T-shirt and a pair of comfortable jeans and then walked to her office to turn on her computer.
She checked her email before logging onto the hospital patient information for physicians. She checked the charts of all her patients and was about to tu
rn off her computer when Face2Face Messenger showed a communication from Katie.
Shay read it quickly, fearing something had happened to her patient.
“I wanted to thank you for all your help today,” Katie typed. “Picking up my car and saving my life tonight.”
“Happy to help,” Shay typed. “You’d do the same for me.”
“You’d be amazed at what I’d do for you,” Katie replied, adding the “lick” emoji.
Shay stared at the message, not certain what it meant. The “lick” emoji had several connotations. She decided to play it safe. “That’s what friends do for one another,” she typed.
“Mm-hmm,” Katie typed back. “Good night, Dr. Shay.”
##
During the following weeks, Shay didn’t see Katie as the scientist reestablished her presence in the high-tech world, but they communicated the first thing each morning and the last thing every night. Their conversations were light and happy exchanges.
Chandler Davis placed a restraining order on David Brandt, preventing him from going near Katie. David had ranted to Shay about his wife’s childish behavior.
Katie reestablished her professional Face2Face page and was welcomed by scientists all over the world who messaged with her about problems they were trying to solve. Katie freely gave her peers answers that saved them millions of dollars and made them even more. Shay had followed her posts but understood few of them and soon tired of trying.
Shay noticed that only she and Chandler Davis were allowed in Katie’s private F2F profile. In some strange way, that made her feel special.
##
David was frantic, searching for a way to keep Katie from taking everything that he had manipulated into his name. Shay had gone out of her way to avoid him, trying to keep from being caught in the middle of the mess.
“Shay, I need you to cover two surgeries for me tomorrow,” David said as he sat down at her table in the doctors’ lounge.
“Tomorrow’s my day off,” Shay responded. “I have appointments.”
“Please, Shay? It’s a matter of utmost importance for me, or I wouldn’t ask you.”
“Okay. I’ll move my appointments, but you’ll need to take my surgeries the next day.”
“Yes, of course.” David sipped his coffee. “Have you seen my wife lately?”
“No,” Shay answered honestly. “I’ve been slammed at the hospital, and from what I’ve seen on the news, she’s been out of town.”
“Yeah, she’s peddling her new brainchild in Washington,” David mumbled.
“I guess.” Shay shrugged. “I better go. I’ll need to examine your patients and their charts before tomorrow.”
##
Shay tossed her keys onto the table in the entryway and kicked off her shoes in the hallway. She was exhausted and needed a good night’s sleep before her early morning surgeries. She showered and was slipping into bed when her cell phone rang. It was Katie.
“Hello,” Katie breathed into her ear. “Do you have time to talk?”
“I always have time to talk to you,” Shay assured her, propping her back on the pillows.
“I’ve really missed you,” Katie said. “Have you missed me?”
“So much,” Shay murmured. More than you can ever imagine.
“Are we still on for tomorrow?”
“Yes!” Shay said, trying to tamp down her excitement at the thought of seeing Katie.
“I’ll be later than I thought,” Katie informed her. “I won’t get in until around five. They added one more meeting I must attend.”
“Five is perfect. I’ve had two unexpected surgeries dropped on me tomorrow morning.
“But tell me how everything is going. Has your software tested out? Were there any glitches? Will the government expect—”
“Whoa, slow down,” Katie said, laughing. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow. You should go to bed now if you have early surgeries. I’ll call you when we take off tomorrow.”
“If I don’t answer, please leave me a message and your arrival time. I’ll pick you up.”
“I’d like that,” Katie cooed. “Good night, Shay.”
Chapter 15
Shay was thankful that the surgeries had gone smoothly, and she was hoping to leave the hospital by noon. She wanted to get home and shower before picking up Katie.
She returned to her office, turned on the TV, and opened her computer to fill in the information on the two operations she had just completed. The local news station was running a video of David walking down the courthouse steps with a bevy of attorneys behind him and Tucker Sandifer beside him.
“Dr. Brandt, can you tell us more about your wife’s illness and your efforts to assume complete control of Brandt Technologies and the social networking phenomena Face2Face?” the newswoman asked, pushing a microphone in front of David.
“What the hell?” Shay cursed as she turned up the volume.
“I have no comment.” David broke down but quickly regained control. “This is a very difficult time for Katie and me. We ask only for your prayers.”
“Why wasn’t Mrs. Brandt in court today?” the reporter pressed.
“You’ll have to ask her,” David muttered. “She has a habit of not showing up for court dates.”
Shay gritted her teeth as she wondered what David had filed in court and how successful he had been.
Shay knew she had no axe to grind in the fight between David and Katie, but she was aware an underhanded deal had just happened. She typed Chandler Davis’s name into the address bar of her computer and dialed the attorney’s phone number. The secretary put her through right away.
“Chandler, are you watching the news?” Shay barked.
“Yes,” Chandler snorted. “I’ve called every number I have for Katie. I can’t reach her.”
“She’s in flight,” Shay informed him. “I’ll pick her up when she lands. What the hell is going on?”
“I received no notice of any court sessions,” Chandler said. “I called the judge’s office, and I’m trying to find out what this is all about. I’m headed there now.
“I’ll file a petition to stop whatever David has done. The court must respond to my petition. That will give us time to find out what he’s up to. When you pick up Katie, bring her to my office immediately.”
“I will,” Shay assured him.
Shay completed her reports and then went home to get ready. She hoped Chandler would reach Katie and fill her in on the details. She didn’t want to be the one to inform the brunette of her husband’s court appearance.
Shay wondered what had spurred David into action. She turned on the TV to watch while she put on her makeup. One of the cable news stations kicked off its show with the announcement that computer genius Katie Brandt was negotiating a multibillion-dollar contract with the military that would span ten years.
What could possibly take ten years? Shay wondered.
Her phone rang, and David’s face appeared on the screen. She debated not answering it but decided he might tell her what was going on.
“Shay,” David said, “I wanted to check with you and make certain the surgeries went okay.”
“Of course they did.” She tried to sound happy to hear from him. “How was your day?”
“Fantastic.” David’s euphoric tone made a shiver run through her body. “May I take you to dinner and tell you about it?”
“I’m afraid I’m not very good company right now. I have a blinding migraine. I was about to go to bed. Could we have dinner tomorrow night?”
“Sure,” he replied. “I’ll pick up your shift as we agreed, and you can get some rest. I hope you feel better, honey.”
“I’m sure I will,” she assured him.
“I have some fantastic news that will affect the rest of our lives.”
“I can’t wait,” Shay mumbled. She disconnected the call to accept one coming from Katie.
“It’s so good to hear your voice,” Katie said. “I have so
me fantastic news to share with you.”
Shay thought it ironic that both Katie and David had chosen the word “fantastic” to describe their news.
Chapter 16
Shay stood on the side of the tarmac as Katie’s Bombardier Global 7000 jet taxied to a halt and the stairs descended. She briefly wondered how Katie had managed to procure one of the luxurious jets. She’d read there was a buyers waiting list for the next two years.
As the stairs settled against the tarmac, Shay strode toward the plane. She stopped short when the most magnificent pit bull terrier she’d ever seen stepped from the open door, stood on the platform, and surveyed everything. Satisfied it was safe, he tugged on his leash and started down the stairs. The woman holding the leash was equally magnificent.
Shay waited at the bottom of the stairs to greet her friend. The pit bull stopped on the stairs and eyed her.
“She’s okay,” Katie said, and the dog walked onto the tarmac.
“Is it safe to hug you?” Shay cautiously moved toward Katie.
“Yes.” Katie laughed. “He’s a sweetheart unless I give him attack commands.”
“What’s his name?”
“Bear.” Katie smiled, amused by her friend’s obvious anxiety about the dog.
“Of course it is,” Shay quipped, leaning down to read what was written on Bear’s harness. “He’s your service dog?”
“Yes. And he does make me feel safe and at ease. I take him everywhere with me.”
“He’s magnificent. May I pet him?”
“Please do. He needs to get used to you.”
A man followed them to Shay’s Lexus and placed Katie’s luggage in the trunk. “When will we leave next week, Mrs. Brandt?” he asked.
“I’m not certain, Will,” Katie replied. “Not before Wednesday, so enjoy some time with your family.”
Will grinned, gave Katie a salute, and then headed for the terminal.
Katie opened the back door of Shay’s car, and Bear jumped inside. “Do you want me to put a blanket on the seat for him to lay on?” Katie asked. “I’ve got one in my luggage, but he doesn’t shed.”
“No, he’s fine.” Shay buckled her seatbelt. “Have you spoken with Chandler?”
