His fist raps against my door, more firmly this time. “Dr. Davis?”
I take a deep breath and unlock the door. I can’t very well pretend I’m not home. He could probably see me through the windows. I throw open the door and channel my father’s incredible charisma.
Please let him not have found that hand…
“Hello, Detective,” I say.
“Dr. Davis.” He tips an invisible hat at me. “Sorry to bother you so late…”
“May I help you?”
I stare at him, waiting for him to whip out a pair of handcuffs.Nora Davis, you’re under arrest.But instead, he smiles at me, the skin around his eyes creasing. “Actually, now that your lawyer isn’t around, I just wanted to apologize.”
My breath catches. “Apologize?”
Is this a trick? But no, if he spotted me at the Carl’s Jr., he wouldn’t have to trick me. He would have everything he needs to arrest me.
He scratches at his gray crew cut. “Yeah. See, I’m passionate about what I do. I would think as a surgeon, you would understand that, Dr. Davis. And I just want to find the bastard who killed those girls. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I nod.
“Anyway,” he says, “it was wrong of me to make assumptions about you based on your father. You don’t deserve that. So I wanted to say I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it, but my heart was in the right place.”
“Yes, well…” My knees almost buckle with relief. “I accept your apology. And I also hope you find whoever did this terrible thing.”
He has no idea how much I hope that.
“Yeah…” He smiles at me again. “Again, sorry to bother you so late. I came by your office, but they said you were home sick. But then I came here, and you weren’t here either.”
“I must have been asleep upstairs,” I say.
“Right, but your car wasn’t in the garage. I could see it was empty through the side window.”
I frown. This detective is a dirty liar. He didn’t come here to apologize. He came to find out where the hell I was all day. And I can’t exactly tell him I was visiting my father. Although if it comes down to it, it will be easy enough for him to find out about my plane flight. But I’m not going to serve it to him on a silver platter.
At least he didn’t see me at the garbage dumpster.
“I went out to get some chicken soup,” I finally say.
Lying gets easier every time.
“Oh.” He nods. “Well, that makes sense. Are you feeling any better, Doctor?”
“Much better. Thank you.”
And now we’re just staring at each other. Another staring contest. He should know by now he’s not going to win that one.
“Anyway…” Barber raps his fist against the door frame. “I said what I had to say. So I’ll let you get some rest. I hope you feel better.”
“Thank you.”
I watch him go down the steps to my front door and off to his unmarked vehicle. I watch him get inside and drive away. But even after he does, my knees are still trembling. He might be gone for now, but he’s going to be back. I better be ready.
I don’t know who is killing those girls, or why they’ve decided to try to ruin my life. But I’m not going to let them get away with it anymore.
Chapter 37
Thankfully, I have a busy morning of surgeries the next day to distract me. I had been hoping to spend the afternoon doing leisurely rounds in the hospital and finishing my dictations, but instead, I’ve got to rush back to the clinic to see some of the patients that Harper rescheduled for today. It’s going to be a very long day, but I welcome it.
