Nica, page 6
Because secrets had a way of coming to light at the worst possible time, and she found herself praying that she would be able to convince her family she’d kept this one for a good reason.
Shaking her head, she knew that she was deluding herself. The longer she held onto the truth, the easier it was for someone to torment Gabe with exposure. No, it was time, past time, to tell her momma and dad everything.
She only hoped Shiloh Springs was ready for the explosion sure to come when they found out.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The anonymous call came at 2:17 a.m.
Gabe had been staring at the ceiling for hours, sleep evading him like it had for the past several nights, pretty much ever since the calls had started. The anxiety of getting the calls at work every couple of days was taking a toll on his nerves. It had helped talking to Nica about everything, even telling her dad, but that didn’t keep the mechanical, anonymous voice’s taunts from playing in his head repeatedly, like a bad movie soundtrack.
He didn’t jump when the phone vibrated on his nightstand, he’d been waiting for it. Beside him, Nica slept peacefully, her blonde hair spilled across the pillow, one hand tucked beneath her cheek. Three months of marriage and shifting between his apartment and hers—because they still hadn’t told anybody about their elopement, and he still couldn’t believe she was his. That he had the right to sleep beside her every night, holding her, letting her simple presence keep the nightmares at bay. He still couldn’t believe someone so vibrant and full of life had chosen him, broken pieces and all.
He slipped from the bed and padded barefoot to the bathroom, closing the door before answering.
“Dr. Summers.” His voice was steady, clinical, masking all emotion. If it was the person who’d been calling the clinic, he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of showing their taunts were having their desired effect. Instead, he kept things unemotional, using the voice he used to deliver bad news to patients.
“Hello, Gabriel.” The electronically distorted voice slithered through the phone, raising chill bumps along his skin. “Trouble sleeping? Guilty conscience keeping you up?”
Gabe leaned against the cool tile wall, forcing himself to breathe evenly. “What do you want?”
“Just checking in on Shiloh Springs’ favorite new doctor. How’s small-town medicine treating you? Quite a step down from Stanford, isn’t it?”
His jaw tightened, and he took a moment to force himself to take a couple of deep breaths before responding. “If you have something to say, say it.”
“Rebecca Fontaine. Ring any bells?”
The name hit him like a physical blow. A thirty-two-year-old mother. Stage three breast cancer. She’d responded well to treatment initially, then developed complications, and he’d been called in for a cardiovascular consultation. Her attending physician wanted him to check out what he thought might be a heart murmur.
“Of course I remember her.”
“You recommended an angiogram and a CT scan with contrast, followed by a cardiac bypass. She died eight days later.”
“Her cancer was aggressive. We discussed all her options, the risks—”
“Thomas Winters. Sixty-seven. Another cardiac patient.”
Gabe closed his eyes. “Stop.”
“Martin Chen. Olivia Davis. I can continue if you need more reminders?”
Each name was a knife twisting in his gut. He’d lost patients. People whose faces visited him in dreams.
“Their deaths weren’t your fault, were they, Gabe? Just like Melissa Carpenter wasn’t your fault? Just that unfortunate business with the ketamine? Such a convenient excuse for blundering your way through a procedure you should have been able to do in your sleep. Oh, wait, you were practically asleep at the wheel, weren’t you?”
Melissa Carpenter. Her case had nearly destroyed him. The operation he’d performed while unknowingly drugged by a disgruntled former colleague. The patient who’d died on his table, with his hands deep inside her abdominal cavity.
“A thorough investigation cleared me. The surgical board of the hospital cleared me, as did the Medical Board of California.” He practically spat out the words, ones he’d said far too many times since that fateful night Melissa Carpenter died. The words sounded hollow even to his own ears.
“Yet here you are, hiding in a backwater town, married to a local girl, playing country doctor. Think the local yokels would look at you like their medical savior if they knew how many patients you killed in California?”
Gabe’s blood ran cold. “Leave my wife out of this.”
The voice chuckled. “Ah yes, the lovely Nica Boudreau. Or should I say, Nica Summers? Boudreau-Summers? Has she taken your name? Tell me, does her family know about your elopement? Tsk, tsk, Dr. Summers. Too ashamed of what they might think, so you had to marry in secret? Then again, did your precious Nica know she was marrying damaged goods?” A distorted chuckle emerged from the phone, and Gabe breathed through the dread coiling deep in his gut.
His fingers tightened around the phone until his knuckles turned white. “How do you know about Nica and me?” They’d been so careful, all through their meetings in College Station and ever since they’d been together in Shiloh Springs. If this person knew…knew they’d kept it secret…it could spell disaster.
“In our lovely technological age, Gabriel, there’s really nothing that is hidden that can’t be known. Do you know how easy it is to watch someone even from thousands of miles away? With a few taps on a keyboard, I can find out anything I need to know. And I know the truth about you, my dear Gabriel. I think the world should know it too. I wonder what your new patients would think if they knew about Melissa Carpenter? Or the rest of the poor unfortunate souls who placed their lives in your hands?”
“Is there a reason you’re calling, other than to taunt me? What do you want?” Gabe repeated, forcing the words through clenched teeth.
“You’ll find out soon enough. Just wanted you to know I’m watching. Sleep well, Dr. Summers.”
The line went dead.
Gabe stood motionless in the dark bathroom, the phone clutched in his hand. Heard Nica’s soft breathing through the door, could picture her curled on her side of the bed, trusting and vulnerable.
Coming to Shiloh Springs hadn’t been to escape his past, at least not the only reason. He’d been ready to settle in one place, instead of being a nomad, moving from city to city, trying to escape the ghosts of his past. Shiloh Springs had seemed like the perfect place to start again, to rebuild his life and his career. To prove to himself that he was still a good doctor, despite everything. In California, before the nearly career-ending debacle with Dr. Richardson, Gabe’s star had been on the rise. When there were difficult or tricky cases, he was the first cardiothoracic surgeon they called. Now, he rarely performed any surgery more difficult than an appendectomy.
Meeting Nica had been unexpected—falling in love with her, even more so. He’d tried hard to stay away from her. The age difference played a part, he admitted, but it wasn’t so large as to be insurmountable. The fact he was their family physician, had helped take care of her father when he had a heart attack, had been another factor to keep himself on a strictly family friend basis. But when he’d ended up in College Station, she’d been one of the first people he’d seen, and he kept finding reasons to run into her. It had been no accident that he’d seen her around town, because he’d found out where she liked to go. His Nica wasn’t a big party girl, instead mostly joining her friends for a single glass of wine before heading back to her apartment just off the college campus.
Their hasty, secret wedding three months ago had been impulsive, but neither wanted to wait. They’d planned to tell her family after her graduation, but outside things snowballed with family members, and the time never seemed right.
Now this phantom from his past was threatening everything.
The phone in his hand vibrated again. A text message this time.
Maybe the local Shiloh Springs paper would be interested in the attached?
Gabe opened the attachment and found a photo of his and Nica’s private wedding ceremony in the courthouse in Brazos County. The only picture they had from their wedding, taken by the officiant after the service. It wasn’t the best quality photo, taken with a cell phone, but he couldn’t help wondering how the caller had gotten a copy, since as far as he knew, the only one was on his phone. If their secret was exposed before they talked to Douglas and Ms. Patti, not only would it cause the entire Boudreau family to despise him, but the knowledge of Nica eloping would break Ms. Patti’s heart. Especially if she heard it from somebody other than Nica and Gabe. He didn’t even want to imagine the fallout that would cause.
Dawn found him in the small kitchen, a cup of cold coffee forgotten on the granite island in front of him. He still hadn’t decided what to do—except to tell Nica about the early morning call. No more secrets. That had been his promise, and he meant to keep it.
“Gabe?” Nica’s voice was thick with sleep as she stepped into the kitchen, wrapped in his discarded flannel shirt. “You’re up early. Did the hospital call?”
He turned to face her, drinking in the sight, tousled hair, sleepy eyes, bare legs. His wife. The one good thing he couldn’t bear losing.
“Couldn’t sleep.” He forced a smile. “What are you doing up so early?”
She leaned into him, and he wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair, inhaling the vanilla scent of her shampoo.
“I woke up and you weren’t in bed with me. I missed you.” she murmured against his chest. “You worried about Mrs. Lassiter?”
“Something like that.” The lie tasted bitter.
Tell her. You just told yourself there’d be no more evasions, no more secrets. You need to tell her parents about the elopement. If you don’t, you’re going to lose her.
Nica pulled back slightly, studying his face. “You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?”
He opened his mouth but before he could answer, his phone rang. They both looked at it, sitting beside his cold cup of coffee.
Rafe Boudreau’s name flashed on the screen.
“Your brother,” Gabe said, picking up the phone. “Probably about poker night.”
But even as he answered, he knew better. The sheriff calling at 6 a.m. wasn’t about their weekly poker game.
“Gabe.” Rafe’s voice was grim. “We’ve got a situation at your clinic. Break-in overnight. Place is torn apart.”
“Was anything taken? Did you check the drug cabinet?” Gabe asked, his mind racing.
“First thing we checked. It’s hard to tell yet, but it doesn’t look like it’s been breached. But somebody spray painted on your office wall: ‘Ask Dr. Summers about Melissa Carpenter’.” He heard Rafe sigh. “I’m at the station, but I should be back at the clinic by the time you get there.”
Nica was watching him, concern darkening her eyes. Gabe made his decision.
“Can you wait at the station? I can be there in twenty minutes,” he said to Rafe, then ended the call.
“What’s wrong?” Nica asked.
He took her hands in his. “I need to go. Clinic emergency. Somebody broke in and trashed the place. I’m going to meet Rafe there. I’ll be back soon.”
She frowned, clearly unconvinced. “Gabe—”
“Everything will be fine.” He kissed her forehead. “I promise.”
But as he drove through town, Gabe knew he needed help. The caller knew about Nica, about their marriage. Knew where they lived, where he worked. This wasn’t just about tormenting him anymore—it had escalated into a viable threat to everything and everyone he cared about.
He turned his truck toward the sheriff’s station. Rafe was more than Shiloh Springs’ sheriff. He was Nica’s oldest brother, and the last person Gabe wanted to confess to about marrying Nica in secret. Well, except for Ms. Patti. He’d rather sit in a bathtub filled with rattlesnakes than disappoint Nica’s momma.
But if protecting her meant facing Rafe’s wrath, so be it.
The station was quiet this early, just a deputy at the front desk who nodded Gabe through to Rafe’s office. The sheriff was hunched over his desk, his dark hair—so different from Nica’s blonde waves—falling over his forehead. He looked up when Gabe entered, surprise registering on his face.
“Thought you were meeting me at the clinic.”
“We need to talk first.” Gabe closed the door. “Privately.”
Rafe leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing. “Something you want to tell me, Doc?”
“Several things.” Gabe took a deep breath. “First, someone’s been calling me, threatening me. Making accusations about something from my past.”
“About the Melissa Carpenter thing on your wall?”
There was something in Rafe’s voice that had the little hairs on the back of Gabe’s neck standing at attention. Gabe’s head snapped up. “How much do you know about that?”
“Did a background check before you moved to town.” Rafe’s expression was unreadable. “Standard procedure for new doctors setting up practice here. At least it is now. You’re the first new doctor since Doc Jennings, and he’s been here since the biblical flood. I admit, I might have dug a little deeper than a routine check. Besides, I’ve got a couple of brothers who know a thing or two about background checks too.”
“Then you know I was cleared.”
“I know the official findings. Also know there’s usually more to stories like that than ever make the paperwork.”
Gabe fought back his irritation. “There was. A disgruntled colleague illegally drugged me before I performed a surgery. Patient died on the table. I almost lost everything. Decided I needed to make a fresh start and ended up in Shiloh Springs.”
“And now someone’s bringing it back up?”
“Yes. Other cases too. Patients I lost. I worked at a very large teaching hospital, so it’s not surprising I had a higher-than-normal number of patients succumbing, especially in my field of expertise. Now this anonymous caller is threatening to go to the press, to turn the town against me.” Gabe paused. “And they’re threatening Nica.”
Rafe sat forward, all business now. “How? What exactly did they say?”
“They know about her. About us.” Gabe met Rafe’s eyes. “About the fact that we’re married.”
For a long moment, the only sound in the office was the ticking of the clock on the wall. Rafe’s expression didn’t change, but something dark and dangerous flashed in his eyes.
“Run that by me again, Doc.”
“Nica and I got married three months ago. Eloped to the courthouse in Brazos County.” Gabe held Rafe’s gaze. “We were waiting for the right time to tell everyone. But your momma went missing, then there was the whole thing with Nick coming back from Australia, your dad’s health, and there just hasn’t seemed to be the right time.”
Rafe stood slowly, his palms flat on the desk. “My sister married you. In secret. Three months ago.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re telling me now because…?”
“Because whoever’s coming after me is now a threat to her too.” Gabe’s voice hardened. “If anything happens to me, she’ll need you. All of you. And you should know the truth.”
Rafe came around the desk, stopping inches from Gabe. Despite being the same height, the sheriff somehow seemed to loom over him.
“Let me get this straight. You married my sister without a word to her father or her mother. Didn’t say a word to the rest of the family. You brought some vendetta from your past to our doorstep. And now you want my help?”
Put that way, it sounded bad. But Gabe stood his ground.
“I want your help protecting your sister. My wife. Whatever this person wants, they’re willing to hurt her to get to me. I can handle myself, but if anything happens to her…”
Something in his voice must have reached Rafe, because the sheriff’s expression shifted slightly.
“You love her,” he said, not a question.
“More than anything in the whole world.”
Rafe stared at him for a long moment, then nodded once. “Tell me everything. Start at the beginning.”
So Gabe did. The calls. The threats. The names from his past being dragged into the light. By the time he finished, Rafe was pacing the small office.
“We need to tell Nica,” Rafe said finally.
“She knows everything already. There are no secrets between us.”
Not anymore.
“Gotta tell the rest of the family.”
Gabe winced. “All at once?”
“Rip the band-aid off, Doc.” There was the ghost of a smile on Rafe’s face. “Tomorrow. Sunday dinner. You get to explain to Momma why she missed her daughter’s wedding.”
The prospect drove a shaft of terror at the thought, and Gabe swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat and nodded. “Fair enough.”
“Meanwhile, we need to head over to the clinic, see the damage, and try to figure out who from your past might want to expose all your secrets. What they’ll accomplish besides embarrassing you publicly. I’ll have deputies drive by your place regularly. Look into these calls. Need to pull phone records, check security cameras around town.” Rafe paused. “And I want copies of all the documentation from the Carpenter case. Everything from the hospital investigation, the medical board. All the stuff they sent to Nica. Everything. No surprises.”
“You’ll have it.”
Rafe studied him. “One more thing. You’re sure there’s nothing to these accusations? No cases where you made mistakes, where patients died who shouldn’t have?”
The question stung, but Gabe understood it. “Absolutely. I’ve lost patients. Every doctor has. I’ve made calls I second-guessed later. But I’ve never been negligent or knowingly put a patient at risk.”
