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“They said today or tomorrow at the latest. I’ll call McDonald back and tell him we’ll be by tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Lara said and exhaled. “Do you want me to call them?”
“No, I can do it. I don’t want to seem like I’m not cooperating. But hey,” I said, thinking about Derek. “Have you had any luck contacting Derek Richardson? He could back me up that he offered for me to be a regular in their play, but I refused.”
“No,” Lara said, her voice sounding hesitant. “I haven’t been able to track him down. I’ve contacted someone I know who works in Kuala Lumpur to try to find him, if he’s in Malaysia. Derek is free to do whatever he wants whenever he wants. He’s hands-off when it comes to the business so he might be traveling, according to his manager of US operations.”
I sighed. “Okay. We’ll have to deal with the dates alone, I guess.”
“Yep,” Lara said and I heard the papers shuffle some more. I knew she was busy getting ready for court and felt bad I was bothering her. “I can go over around eleven. We should meet first and talk about the past few years. Get things straightened out. Bring your calendar if you have one. Bring your surgical calendar as well so we can know when you were in surgery, and when you had office or clinic hours.”
“Will do. Shall we meet at your office or the coffee shop?”
“Oh, let’s go to the coffee shop. I’ve got cabin fever, after working for weeks on this other case. I’ll have my own little black book of information since I was your pimp, so to speak.”
“I appreciate it, Lara. You’re a godsend.”
She laughed lightly. “That’s why you pay me the big bucks.”
I ended the call and turned to Kate, who watched me with raised eyebrows.
“So?” she said, waiting for me to fill in the blanks. “What did Lara say?”
“We’re meeting tomorrow at 10:00 and will go to the precinct at 11:00. I’ll call McDonald and let him know.” She nodded and kissed me before I stood up. “I’ll go into my office.”
“Okay,” she said and forced a smile. “Come back when you’re done and read the paper. I’ll make some regular coffee for you.”
I nodded and left the room, returning to my office and the business card Detective McDonald gave me with his direct line at the precinct.
I made arrangements and then joined Kate and Sophie in the living room, fresh cup of coffee in hand. I should have pushed thoughts of Lisa and her machinations out of my mind, and tried to enjoy my time with my beautiful wife and daughter, but I felt a sense of dread come over me at the prospect of yet another meeting with the detectives at the precinct.
I must have looked as dismal as I felt for Kate put her section of the paper down and turned to me. “Drake, you have to let it go. You did nothing wrong. I have faith that the police will soon clear you. They’re following procedures.”
“I know, I know,” I said with a sigh and ran my fingers through my hair. “It’s just that there have been people wrongly accused of murder, who’ve gone all the way to prison before they’ve been cleared, spending years in jail.”
She shook her head. “That’s not you. Those people were poor and uneducated, easily confused and with poor lawyers.” She frowned. “You’re a well-educated, wealthy professional neurosurgeon who has a great lawyer. There’s no way you’re going to spend a day in jail or even be tried. They’ll figure it out soon. Really,” she said and squeezed my arm. She gave me a small smile, as if she was trying to force it.
I kicked myself mentally for even talking about my anxiety. The last thing Kate needed was a husband worrying about being wrongly accused of a crime. I had to be strong for her. I wanted to be strong for her and Sophie, not weak or anxious. I couldn’t figure out why it was taking so long to clear me.
“Forget it,” I said and stroked her cheek. “Let’s go out and have a nice walk through the park after lunch. The snow’s stopped and I bet it’s beautiful.”
She smiled, a real smile this time. “That sounds wonderful. I love Central Park when the trees are all covered in frost."
The next day, I went to the coffee shop and sat down at a table at the back of the room across from Lara. The table was where we usually sat to avoid anyone overhearing our conversations. The table top was covered in papers, and Lara was on her cell. She stood and walked over to the far window and kept speaking, her voice soft. I tried not to listen, but couldn’t help overhear parts of the conversation.
“Yes, isn’t that interesting? What’s the connection again? Through an aunt?”
She stood looking out the window, her hand on one hip, the other cradling the cell to her ear. A waitress came over to the table to take my order. I asked for a latte and then scanned the papers Lara had spread out while she finished her conversation.
Dressed in a sober black business suit with her platinum blonde hair pulled back into a severe bun, she was a formidable looking woman. I’d be intimidated by her if I hadn’t been her friend for years and her once upon a time Dom-in training.
“That explains it,” Lara said. “They don’t want to think of their little girl doing anything on her own like this.”
I wondered if she was talking about Lisa, so I listened more closely.
“I will tell him. He’s right here, in fact. We’re getting ready to go to the precinct to speak with the detectives on the case.”
She turned and glanced at me, smiling briefly as if to reassure me.
