by Dawn Eastman
“Yeah, I remember him. Skinny with big ears?”
“That’s him. I took his sutures out today,” Katie said. “Nice work, by the way; it looks like he won’t have much of a scar.”
“Good. He had quite a laceration.”
“That’s what I wanted to ask you about. Did he tell you what happened?”
Matt glanced at the ceiling, thinking. “I think he said he fell while running, although it didn’t seem like that’s what happened. He had the beginnings of a black eye, but no scrapes on his hands or knees like you might expect with a fall.”
Katie nodded. “Hmm. He told me he walked into a door.”
Matt shook his head. “Not unless it was a really sharp door.”
“Did you know he just got out of prison?”
“I heard something about that.” Matt tugged on his ear and focused on his pile of charts. “But I’d think he’d be better off now. He doesn’t look like the kind of guy that would survive prison very well.”
Katie pressed her lips together. “Maybe. Unless he has more enemies on this side of the prison gates. I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something off about him.”
“Ten years in prison might do that to a person.” Matt pulled his jacket from the back of his desk chair and slung an arm over Katie’s shoulder. “Are you interested in dinner at Riley’s?”
Katie shook her head. “I have my Gabrielle dinner tonight.”
“Oh, right. Forgot,” Matt said. He gave her shoulder a squeeze and pulled his jacket on. “Maybe tomorrow?”
“Sounds good.”
4
Katie pulled into her driveway a half hour later and vowed never to schedule a dinner with Gabrielle on a Tuesday. At least not one where Katie was supposed to cook. Gabrielle was due in fifteen minutes and Katie needed to get ready.
Gabrielle Maldova was Katie’s best friend. They’d met during residency on the obstetrics rotation. Katie had been a family medicine intern and Gabrielle had been one year ahead doing her OB/GYN residency. They’d bonded during late nights and long days. When their schedules got so crazy that they hardly ever saw each other, they’d instituted monthly dinners. The problem was that they were both competitive, and a contest had cropped up. They alternated hosting the dinners, and every six months they voted on the best one. The winner got the trophy—a plastic model of the gastrointestinal system permanently “borrowed” from a drug rep.
This month was Katie’s turn. She took a moment to shift from work mode to home mode. Climbing out of her car, she looked at her house and let out a sigh of satisfaction. She’d fallen in love with her house on first sight. It had a big front porch, lots of trees in the yard, and enough room for her and Caleb. And more work than the former apartment dweller had expected. She’d moved in at the beginning of the summer and still felt as if she would never be settled. At least she’d finally purchased real furniture and not the student-housing cast-offs she’d used in her first months. But it was hers and she loved it.
Katie opened the back door that led into the kitchen and set the Riley’s takeout bag and her purse on the counter. She went into the dining room to see if there was any quick tidying to do and gasped when she saw the room.
“Hey, sis!” Caleb said from the head of the table, which was covered in papers, pens, and various computing devices. Caleb was in the end phase of designing a gaming app that he planned to launch on Halloween. Katie had grown used to the idea of eating her meals from a small, cleared space on the otherwise occupied dining room table.
“Hi, Caleb,” Katie said, tentatively. She walked slowly into the room. It was okay. This could all be cleared away. “You remember I’m having Gabrielle over for dinner tonight?”
Caleb groaned. “I forgot. I asked the gang over to test out the new app. I’m having trouble with midgame crashes. It will only be three or four guys. I think they’re bringing pizza and beer if you want to join us.”
Katie narrowed her eyes. “You’re kidding.”
Caleb smiled. “Yup. I’ll get out of your way in ten minutes.”
Katie gestured at the table. “Will all your stuff get out of the way, too?”
“You’re so picky,” he said.
Katie waited.
“Yes, I’ll clear it up,” he muttered.
Katie shook her head and stomped back into the kitchen. Brothers. Caleb knew the best way to get her blood pressure up to stroke level, and he reveled in it. But she didn’t know what she would do without him. She and Caleb had had an itinerant childhood. Their mother had died when Katie was thirteen and Caleb was nine. Their father had found solace not in his children, but in bottles of whatever alcohol he could lay his hands on. The siblings had been shuttled around Michigan from one relative to another until Katie went off to college. Caleb had joined her when he graduated from high school, and they had been together ever since.
Katie occasionally wondered what would happen when either of them married, but she quickly changed the subject with herself.
She pulled the food containers out of the bag and got to work while tamping down a twinge of guilt. She’d tell Gabrielle it was takeout after they finished eating. Probably. Maybe. Unless Gabrielle didn’t notice.
* * *
The doorbell rang at exactly seven o’clock. Katie said her friend was OCD about promptness, but Gabrielle claimed she just liked to exercise some control over her time since she had zero control at work. She had a point. Babies were not known for their attention to the needs of others. And the preferred time to be born was still the middle of the night.
“I got it!” Caleb yelled into the kitchen.
Katie was pretty sure Caleb harbored a tiny crush on Gabrielle. Just about anyone who met her did. Katie gathered her supplies for the special cocktail she had planned and placed them on a tray. At least this part was “home-cooked.” She carried it into the living room and set it down on the new coffee table.
Gabrielle looked stunning as usual in skinny jeans, high-heeled boots, and a slouchy sweater. She had long dark hair and beautiful olive skin and always seemed to pick the perfect color to set off her complexion. She came forward for a hug, and Katie was enveloped in her spicy perfume.
“The place looks great!” Gabrielle turned in the room, taking in the new furniture. “I knew that coffee table would fit perfectly.”
“Come, sit,” Katie said. “I have a new drink to mix up.” She gestured at the sofa. She raised her voice and called into the other room. “Caleb, do you want to join us for a drink?”
“Whatcha making?” Caleb wandered in from the dining room and peered at the tray. “Looks kinda girly.”
Caleb had joined Matt in his love of whisky and now refused anything that might actually taste good.
“I’m not twisting your arm,” Katie said.
“Well, maybe just a little.” Caleb sat at the opposite end of the sofa from Gabrielle.
Katie rolled her eyes. There was a precise ratio of ingredients; didn’t he know she couldn’t just make a little? She carefully measured the vanilla vodka, Irish cream, and pumpkin-flavored liqueur into the shaker.
She poured out two glasses, plus “a little” for Caleb, and added cinnamon and nutmeg.
Gabrielle took a sip. “My weakness. Pumpkin spice. This is awesome.”
Caleb finished his in one swallow and pushed his glass toward Katie. “Is there any more in there?”
She poured out the rest for him. “Not too girly for you?”
“Oh, it’s very girly, but you women seem to know what you’re doing when it comes to cocktails.”
The three clinked glasses and sipped contentedly.
“What’s up with you, Caleb?” Gabrielle asked. “Is your app ready for downloading yet?”
“Almost. Just putting the final touches on it and trying to debug the code. I don’t want any of those nasty reviews saying it wasn’t worth the two dollars because it crashed or it was too easy.”
“You’ll get some of those no matt
er what you do,” Katie said.
“Yeah, but if I can catch a few errors before it goes live, then I won’t have to sweat an update immediately.”
He pulled out his phone and checked the time. “I’d better head out. I’m meeting with some of the beta testers in Ann Arbor.” He pushed his half-empty drink toward Katie, who shrugged and divvied it up between her glass and Gabrielle’s.
After the kitchen door banged shut behind him, Gabrielle said, “I have news.”
“I could tell you had something to say.”
She nodded and grinned. “I think I’m in love.”
This happened about once every six months. Gabrielle dated frequently, and every once in a while she’d meet a guy who was “the one.”
She held up a hand. “I know what you’re going to say. You’re thinking that you’ve heard this before, but this time I really mean it.”
“I’m very happy for you.” Katie smiled and leaned back in her chair. “Tell me everything.”
“His name is Russell Hunt, and he teaches sociology at the university,” Gabrielle said. Katie knew she meant University of Michigan. They had both become used to the pervasive idea in Ann Arbor that no other university existed. “He’s a little older, gorgeous, smart, and he’s never on call. It’s so nice to not have to coordinate call schedules just to plan a date.”
Katie nodded grimly. Matt was on call a lot through all of his locum tenens work. Between that and Katie’s call schedule, there was usually one day a week that they were both off. And it wasn’t always on a weekend.
Gabrielle continued to fill her in on the details while they shared another martini. They’d met when she had delivered his sister’s baby. Russell had come to the hospital to visit and happened to meet Gabrielle while he was there. He’d spent several days convincing his sister to give him her phone number. She was worried Gabrielle would be mad, but clearly that hadn’t been the case.
“It’s really nice to be with someone who doesn’t want to talk medicine,” said Gabrielle. “That orthopedic surgeon only ever wanted to talk about new surgical techniques and the latest arthroscope. When I go out, I want to get away from work.”
“Me too. The job is all-consuming as it is; I don’t want to talk about it on a date.”
“How do you and Matt avoid it? You guys even work in the same place now.”
Katie shrugged. “I don’t know, actually. The fact that he’s a doctor is the least interesting thing about him, so medicine hardly ever comes up. Or, if it does, it’s not all science-y.”
Gabrielle smiled over the rim of her glass. “I knew you two would be perfect together.”
“Yes, yes, you called it. I give you all the credit.” Katie flapped her hand at Gabrielle to brush away the self-satisfied smirk.
Gabrielle sat back on the couch, pleased to have won her point.
“Are you hungry?” Katie gathered the glasses and alcohol back onto the tray.
“Starved. And something smells amazing.”
She followed Katie into the dining room. Katie held up a hand when Gabrielle tried to follow her into the kitchen.
“Have a seat and I’ll bring everything out,” Katie said.
Katie went in the kitchen and sliced the pork tenderloin that had been resting on the counter. She poured the apple-and-brandy sauce over it and garnished it with apples. She took the bacon- and maple syrup–coated Brussels sprouts out of the oven and tipped them into a bowl. After delivering those to the table, she grabbed the garlic-mashed potatoes and joined Gabrielle.
“Okay, this looks fantastic,” Gabrielle said. “I thought I was a shoe-in for the trophy this time.”
Katie glanced at the side table that held the plastic model to avoid meeting Gabrielle’s gaze. “There’s still time. We don’t vote until January.”
Gabrielle stood up. “I just need to grab something from the kitchen.”
Katie stood as well. “I’ll get it. What do you need?”
“The truth,” said Gabrielle. She stepped past Katie and went into the kitchen.
Katie’s shoulders slumped and she followed.
Gabrielle pulled the Riley’s bag out of the trash and held it up. “I knew it!”
“I was going to tell you when we were finished,” Katie said.
Gabrielle narrowed her eyes. “Really? I’m not sure I would have.”
“Gabrielle! That’s cheating!”
“What do you call this?” Gabrielle waved the bag around again. “I go to Riley’s, too, you know. Did you think I wouldn’t recognize their new fall special?”
Katie grinned at her. “I kinda hoped you wouldn’t.”
Gabrielle laughed. “Maybe our contest has gotten a little too intense for you.” She crossed her arms. “Should we call it off?”
Katie shook her head vehemently. “I don’t want to call it off, unless you do.”
“Nope. Let’s just add a full disclosure clause. If you have to order out, you divulge up front.”
“All right,” Katie said.
They shook hands on the new bylaw and went back into the dining room to enjoy Katie’s fake homemade dinner.
They filled their plates and grew quiet as they enjoyed the food.
After a few minutes, Gabrielle said, “I was going to wait until after dinner, but there’s something else I have to tell you.”
Katie looked up and saw Gabrielle’s serious expression.
“What is it?” Katie set her fork down and leaned across the table to touch Gabrielle’s hand.
“Have you heard about the student who went missing over the weekend?”
Katie shook her head. She never watched the local news and hadn’t been on any news sites since last week. “No, what happened? Did you know the student?”
Gabrielle swallowed. “We both do. It was Taylor Knox.”
Katie sat back in her chair. She felt briefly dizzy and knew it was just the moment of shock.
Gabrielle volunteered in the student clinic on campus, and Taylor was one of her patients. Taylor was premed and wanted to be a family medicine doctor. Gabrielle had introduced her to Katie, and Taylor had spent two weeks in Katie’s clinic over the summer as part of a job-shadowing program.
Katie and Taylor had clicked immediately, and she had loved feeling like a mentor to the younger woman. Taylor was full of idealism and energy and wanted to work with Doctors Without Borders, the Peace Corps, and the Indian Health Service. Pretty much any underserved area was going to be Taylor’s mission. Katie knew some of that idealism would be stomped out of her during her training, but if Taylor met even one of her goals, she would make a huge difference.
“I … I can’t believe it,” Katie said. “When you say ‘missing,’ you mean they suspect foul play? She didn’t just go off with some friends for a few days?”
Gabrielle shook her head. “I don’t think so. I only know this part because of Russell, but her phone has been shut off, her computer is gone, and her roommates haven’t heard from her since last week.”
Katie pushed her plate away. She had lost her appetite. “I don’t understand what Russell has to do with it.”
“He’s one of her professors. She was taking one of his upper-level sociology courses.” Gabrielle hesitated. “He’s been questioned by the police. They’ve been retracing her steps, and his class was one of the last places she was seen.”
“What day did she disappear?”
“I think she was last seen on Sunday. Her roommates say she never came back from studying at the library.”
Katie cleared her throat. “I saw her on Sunday afternoon.”
“What? Where?”
“Here, in Baxter.” Katie put her head in her hands. She couldn’t believe this.
“What happened, Katie?”
“I thought it was a little strange at the time, but I was on call and we got interrupted. I had to go admit a patient.” Katie stopped, recognizing that she wasn’t telling the story very well. “Taylor texted me around five o’clock
and asked if I had a few minutes to talk to her. I told her she could meet me at my office.”
“And she never showed up?”
Katie took a sip of water. “We met in the garden near the hospital. I don’t know why, but I know she always liked it there.”
Gabrielle waited for Katie to continue.
“She asked me if I thought there was ever a reason to let someone get away with a crime.”
“What kind of a crime?”
“She didn’t say. She said she was struggling with what to do with some information she had. I told her I thought it would depend on the crime. I figured one of her roommates was smoking weed or something. I said that if the crime was not ongoing and no one had gotten hurt, maybe it was best left alone.”
“How did that go?” Gabrielle asked. They both knew that Taylor had a strong desire for justice and fairness.
“Not so good.” Katie shook her head. “Because next she said it was a serious crime and someone had already taken the blame. Again, I thought it was likely some minor thing. You know how she can be sometimes.”
“Well, I don’t know her as well as you do, but yes, she does like her causes.”
Katie took a shaky breath.
“So, after I got the call from the hospital asking me to come in, I told her she should do whatever felt right. That if she couldn’t live with what she knew, she should either confront the person or go to the police.”
“And you didn’t hear from her again?”
Katie shook her head. “I left her there in the garden and went to deal with my patient. What if my advice put her in danger?”
“I don’t know, Katie. I doubt she would have dropped it if you’d asked her to. We don’t even know that she is in danger. Russell said the police are just trying to track her movements.”
Katie bit her lip and looked away.
“Did he know anything about what was worrying her?” Katie asked.
“No. He said she acted like her usual self. She stopped to talk to him after class. He’d assigned this project where they have to research an old criminal case that got a lot of media attention. She was really into it, but she’d chosen a local case and wanted to be sure she was allowed to include interviews as well as just media articles.”
