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“I’m always right.”
I snorted. “Sure. Let’s go with that.” I let my eyes drift close.
CHAPTERFORTY-TWO
ALEXEI
Iwoke up before Nora in the morning and crept out of bed, being sure to leave her wrapped up and warm in a cocoon of blankets. She made a protesting noise, and I froze, but she did not wake.
As quietly as I could, I took a shower and then got dressed in the sweatpants she’d laundered for me. I tiptoed out of the room, wanting to see her grandmother before she woke up. As expected, Carmen was sitting at the dining table, drinking tea. I joined her, pulling out a chair to sit at the table.
“Good morning,” I said as I sat down.
She looked up and nodded. “Morning. How did she sleep?”
I shrugged. “Fitfully. I think she might rest a bit this morning, which would give us some time to make arrangements for you.”
She peered at me from atop her spectacles. “Are you sure about this?”
I had a feeling she wasn’t just asking about the appointments. “Yeah, I am.”
I fished out my phone and made some calls. The head of the cancer department at St. Mark’s was a good friend of mine. His brother had been caught up with drug dealers, owing them more than he could repay, and I bailed him out.
Dr. Drake owed me.
He was happy to repay the favor by canceling his early morning golf game to see Carmen.
“What will I tell Nora?” She wrung her hands with worry.
“I’ll leave a note for her that I’ve taken you to the hospital to see the body.”
“Right. I suppose that’ll work. Let’s go right away before I lose my nerve.”
I wrote the note and left it on the bedside table. Carmen and I took off in my car to the hospital. The sun was just rising in the horizon, so traffic was fairly light. We arrived by seven a.m. Dr. Drake was waiting for us in his office and ushered us in at once.
“I can wait in the—” I began to say but Carmen grabbed my hand.
“No! Stay. Please. I don’t want to be alone.”
I sat down next to her in the doctor’s chair. Dr. Drake flicked me a curious glance. Obviously, Carmen was not one of my usual companions so I knew he must be wondering how we knew each other.
Still, he was a professional and turned to her at once, giving her his full attention. He took notes as she spoke, telling him how she had been feeling extra tired and attributed it to grief. But then she had a fall, and the bruise just would not heal, so she went to have it looked at. Long story short, they did tests and found the lymphoma, but insurance declined to pay for treatment.
Dr. Drake nodded. No doubt he’d heard these stories before.
I leaned forward. “I will be covering all her bills. Just invoice me.”
The oncologist nodded and proceeded to examine Carmen. By the time we were through with examinations, tests and had been scheduled for the next phase, an hour had passed. I checked my phone for messages.
Omw to you. Meet at the morgue?
My heart skipped a beat as I checked the time stamp. I heaved a sigh of relief as I saw she’d left no more than ten minutes ago. I turned to Carmen. “We should head to the morgue now. Nora’s coming.”
I texted Nora back that yeah, she should meet us at the morgue, and we went down in search of Jodie Hunt. Her eyes widened as she saw me, and she rose to her feet.
“Mr. Levin, the body you—” Her eyes fell on Carmen who was behind me, and she fell silent. “Lita… what?” She looked from Nora’s grandmother to me in some puzzlement.
“She would like to see her granddaughter’s body, if you will be so kind.”
