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“Was anything missing other than the appointment book?” He turned slowly, still gripping the trash can behind him.
“Not that I could tell. Are you okay? Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea for you to be crouching over for an hour cleaning up with that head injury.”
He plowed a hand through his hair, careful to avoid his bandage. “I’m starving. How about you? Do you want to join me for lunch?”
“Sure, but let me pay since you helped me out here…and for last night. I can’t face Antonio’s. Can we walk down the street a little to the Chinese place?”
“It’s a deal.” He peeled off the gloves and dropped them into the trash.
When Nick opened the office door for her, the cop on duty stepped to the side, still talking to Petra. Petra’s gaze darted between the two of them, a red tide washing across her face.
“I didn’t know you were in there, Dr. Marino. Since we don’t have any patients today, I figured I’d return some calls and phone in a few prescriptions. I’m just taking a break.”
“No problem.” He shrugged out of his lab coat. “Can you hang this up for me when you get back to the office? Lacey and I are grabbing some lunch.”
Hugging the coat to her chest, Petra raised her brows over a pair of inquisitive blue eyes that Lacey could feel burning into the back of her head until she turned the corner to the elevator. Nick generated a lot of interest and speculation among the women at the office and the hospital.
Well, let them speculate. The least she could do was to buy him lunch. He came to her aid last night and helped out again today. Who would’ve suspected Dr. Marino of having a chivalrous streak?
They trudged uphill on the damp sidewalk, and a slice of blue San Francisco Bay rewarded their efforts when they got to the top. Last night’s rain rinsed the sky clean, leaving a few puffy white clouds tumbling in the breeze.
The afternoon lunch rush had long since cleared out, and only a few tables of tourists remained in the restaurant when they got there.
Keeping that chivalry thing going, Nick pulled out her chair. It had been a while since a man pulled out her chair on a date. Who was she kidding? It had been a while since she’d been on a date. Not that she considered this a date.
“Do you like it spicy?”
He quirked a brow, looking ten kinds of suave, and warmth flooded her cheeks. Good thing this wasn’t a date.
“The food…I mean, do you like spicy food?”
“Yeah, I do.” He shook open the plastic menu. “I’ve never been here before. What do you recommend?”
She rattled off a few dishes, careful to stick to the lunch menu. Either he took the hint about her budget, or his mama raised him right, because he ordered one of the cheapest lunch specials.
She poured tea for both of them. “Did you grow up in the Bay Area or are you a transplant like so many others?”
“I’m afraid I’m a transplant but an early one. I moved here when I was eleven. How about you?”
“California native. My parents moved here from Chicago.”
“Does your family still live here?”
“No. My mom died almost a year ago, and my brother, Ryan, is a marine stationed with a peacekeeping force in Kosovo.”
He put down his teacup, keeping his hands wrapped around it. “I’m sorry about your mom. What about your dad?”
She’d never met a man who asked so many questions, especially a doctor. Usually they blabbed on about themselves and their marvelous achievements.
“Do you really want to hear my sad story?”
“Only if you want to tell it. I respect people’s privacy. That’s part of my job.”
She looked into his dark eyes, eyes that invited confidences but gave nothing back. Eyes that encouraged patients to open up about their fears and insecurities about their looks and their deepest desires for love, acceptance and eternal youth.
“My dad was having an affair, and when my mom got sick he just up and left us for the other woman. Then he moved to Florida with the other woman and started a whole new family with her.” She paused as the waiter set down their dishes. “Mom was a nurse and Dad’s a doctor.”
“Oh. Do you want to share entrées?” When she nodded, he served her first and then himself. “When did your father leave? You said your mom died a year ago.”
“My dad left when my brother and I were teenagers. Guess he figured he’d owe less child support. Mom was diagnosed with cancer then, went into remission and had a relapse two years ago.”
“Ah, that explains the specialty in palliative care.”
“Am I that transparent? Why did you become a doctor?”
“The usual reasons.” He lifted a broad shoulder. “I know the nurse who runs your program, May Pritchard. How do you like it?”
And just like that, he had her describing the program and explaining how she was a medical assistant and decided to return to school. By the time she paid the fifteen-dollar bill plus tax and tip, she realized she didn’t know a damn thing about Dr. Nick Marino other than the paltry facts that he moved to California when he was eleven and became a doctor for “the usual reasons,” whatever that meant—probably money, judging by his specialty and lifestyle.
When they stepped off the elevator on their floor, Lacey extended her hand. “I’m going the other way to hit the ladies’ room. Thanks for all your help, Nick. I’ll probably be back in here a few more times, and then I’ll leave Dr. B’s office for his daughter to settle. Maybe I’ll see you around the hospital.”
“I hope so, Lacey.” He squeezed her hand and then disappeared around the corner.
She fished the key to the ladies’ room out of her purse and slid it into the lock. “I hope so” didn’t sound very promising, but then what did she expect? He probably listened to her go on about the nursing program because he felt sorry for her, or worse, he had an interest in May Pritchard, an attractive redhead.
As she washed her hands, the door swung open and Petra stepped into the restroom.
“How was your lunch?”
“It was fine. I wanted to repay Nick for coming to the rescue last night and helping me out today.”
“Just be careful.” Petra’s eyes met hers in the mirror.
“Be careful? I don’t have anything to worry about. I didn’t see the intruder’s face. I can’t identify him, and I doubt he could identify me.”
Petra rolled her eyes. “Not about that. I mean watch yourself with Nick. He’s a player. Total love-’em-and-leave-’em kind of guy. He’ll date a woman two, maybe three times, and that’s it. Nobody gets close to Dr. Nick Marino.”
“I’m safe.” She swiped her lipstick across her lips with an unsteady hand. “I’m not interested in getting close.”
Lacey shoved out of the ladies’ room. The last thing she needed was another arrogant doctor in her life. She chose nursing because of Mom, but vowed not to make the same mistake as her mother by dating doctors. She worked with them—that’s it.
She turned the corner to find a cluster of people at the office doorway. Detective Chu and Nick looked up at the same time wearing matching frowns, only Nick looked more serious than the detective.
Lacey’s heart skittered in her chest, and she took a deep breath. Detective Chu probably just wanted the list of missing narcotics, but why had he shown up in person to get it?
“Did you come by for the inventory, Detective?” Lacey crossed her arms, hugging her purse to her chest.
“I’ll take it, but I think the killer may have been after more than drugs, Lacey.”
Her gaze darted to Nick, who stood stiffly beside her, his own arms crossed over his chest.
“H-how do you know?”
Detective Chu rubbed his jaw and expelled a breath. “Someone murdered Debbie Chase this morning.”
Chapter Three
“M-murdered?” Lacey took a step back and held up her hands, as if to ward off Detective Chu’s words…and their meaning.
Nick dug his fingers into his arms to keep from reaching out and holding her. Both she and the detective would find his response unwarranted and over the top, but Lacey didn’t know the menace that threatened her, and neither did Detective Chu. He had to keep her in the dark for her own safety.
Could he protect her and his brother, too?
“Oh, my God.” She covered her face with her hands. “How did Debbie die?”
“She was strangled.” Detective Chu lifted the police tape and ushered Lacey through, her fingers tracing the bruise on her throat. “Let’s go in here to discuss this.”
Nick followed them. He had to find out as much information as he could. Lacey’s life depended on it, and so did his brother’s.
“What does he want? It can’t be the drugs.” Lacey paced the carpet, twisting her hands in front of her.
“I’m not sure, but he’s definitely looking for something, and he’s desperate to find it. He tore apart Debbie’s house.”
“I guess he didn’t find it in the appointment book.”
Detective Chu looked up from his notes. “Appointment book?”
Nick sucked in a breath. How far would this investigation go? How far could he let it go? He didn’t want any more people to suffer, but he didn’t want the cops to get any more leads. He had to do this on his own. If only Dr. Buonfoglio’s secrets had died with him, but someone out there believed at least one of his surgical nurses shared those secrets. And what about Lacey?
He watched her as she told Chu everything she’d discovered today—the missing appointment book, Dr. B’s ransacked desk and the full inventory of drugs. She didn’t know anything, and Nick intended to keep it that way.
“So I thought it was odd. If the guy wanted drugs, why did he smash everything? What’s he looking for?” She spread her arms wide.
“Did the doctor have any enemies, any lawsuits going on? Any botched surgeries?” Chu tapped his notebook.
Snapping his fingers, Nick said, “Sometimes a patient believes something went wrong with the surgery, but doesn’t have a case for a lawsuit. Cosmetic surgery is subjective in many instances. It could be a patient, dissatisfied with his surgery, trying to get something on him.”
He wanted to steer Chu in as many wrong directions as possible. If he could just buy some time, he might be able to salvage the situation and protect everyone involved. Then he’d give the SFPD and the FBI just enough information to bring the killer—and those who hired him—to justice.
“It must be someone who’s familiar with the office. How would he know about Debbie and where she lived?” Lacey stopped wearing a hole in the carpet and clutched her stomach. “He’s watching me, too.”
“Someone’s watching you?” Chu asked.
“The eyes.” She waved her arms. “The eyes on my car last night.” She turned to Nick. “You did bring that piece of paper back up to Detective Chu after I left last night, didn’t you?”
Nick nodded. Even though he didn’t want to show those eyes to Chu, he’d given him the note.
“I’m going to be sick.” Lacey’s creamy complexion turned a waxy white as she clutched her midsection.
“Sit down.” Nick took one flailing arm and led Lacey to a chair. “I’ll get you some water.”
As Nick filled a disposable cup from the water dispenser, Detective Chu said, “We don’t know that, Lacey. That paper with the eyes could’ve come from anyone. We don’t even know if those were supposed to be eyes.”
She thanked Nick for the water and took a sip, the whiteness around her lips receding.
“They looked like eyes to me, Detective.” She shook her head, her silky dark hair falling over one shoulder. “He plans to watch me just as he watched Debbie, like he’s probably watching Jill. Am I next?”
“That depends on what you know, or what he thinks you know, and we’ve already contacted Jill Zombrotto to tell her to be careful.”
“This is all just speculation.” Nick jumped up between Detective Chu and Lacey. He had to stop this line of questioning. “It could just be some nut job, a disgruntled patient or the relative of one. Maybe Dr. Buonfoglio gave some woman a younger face and a breast augmentation and she left her husband for the cabana boy. Now her husband’s taking it out on the doctor and searched the office to make it look like a burglary.”
Detective Chu’s eyebrows shot up and Lacey’s jaw dropped as she stared at him. Okay, maybe he should back off, or he’d have Detective Chu investigating him. And he couldn’t have that. Ever.
“I think you’re stretching it, Nick.” Lacey’s brow creased. “What did Jill have to say? Did she seem to think Dr. B had something to hide?” Lacey’s knee bounced up and down, the water sloshing over the side of the paper cup and onto her jeans.
Chu’s lips twisted. “Actually, she had the same response as Dr. Marino—disgruntled patient.”
Nick massaged the back of his neck. Either that nurse had an active imagination or she had as much to hide as he did.
Detective Chu finished questioning Lacey, but she had nothing to add to the speculation.
Nick’s pulse quickened when Chu asked her about the special patients who slipped in and out of the office incognito.
“I don’t know much about them….” She stopped and smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand. “I forgot. The guy broke into Dr. B’s locked filing cabinet, the one that contained the files for those special patients.”
The blood pounded in Nick’s ears as his heart hammered. He turned his back on Lacey and Chu and got some water, schooling the tension out of his tight face.
Chu asked, “Was anything missing?”
“Not that I could tell, but Deb…I mean Jill will have a better idea.”
Closing his eyes, Nick gulped the water and then took in a deep breath. Even though Dr. Buonfoglio lived life on the edge, there was no way he’d keep sensitive files in a locked filing cabinet in his office. Why had he kept those records at all?
“Can you do another search of Dr. Buonfoglio’s files to see if anything’s missing? We’ll have Ms. Zombrotto come into the office tomorrow and check out that filing cabinet. Maybe between the two of you, we can find out what this guy’s after.”
“C-can you offer any protection, Detective Chu?”
Lacey’s wide green eyes got wider, and her hands gripped the arms of the chair as if she was ready for takeoff. Nick’s gut twisted. Those bastards ruined lives, but he’d be damned if he’d let them touch anyone close to him again.
“I’m afraid we don’t have the manpower for that.” He stuffed his notebook back in his pocket. “Just be aware of your surroundings. Get the security guard to escort you down to your car. Officer Bennett will be stationed outside the office until you and Ms. Zombrotto finish your search of the files.”
Nick jumped to his feet. As if an unarmed security guard could protect her. He’d have to take his own measures. “If you’re ready to leave now, Lacey, I’ll walk you down.”
Her gaze darted around the room, and she pressed her fingers to her temples. “I think I will leave now. I’ll come back in tomorrow when Jill’s here, and we can look through Dr. B’s stuff together.”
After she locked her desk and gave Chu the inventory, they stepped into the hallway and Officer Bennett secured the door behind them.
“Wait here while I check in with my office.” Nick held up his hand, and then jogged to his office.
