Chapter Three
Sailor
“Please, Sara, you’re the only chance we have at finding out what we need to know.”
“Rather than good old-fashioned police work?” I countered, turning my back on Marshal Berkshire. I was too busy to entertain his ideas of espionage and intrigue.
“We’ve done that, but it hasn't yielded the results we were hoping for.” Reaching out, he placed his hand on my arm.
I stopped in my tracks, glaring at him. “For one thing, stop calling me by my birth name. You’re the one who insisted I change it, so why do you keep using it? Second, I’m not compromising my ethics for you when you refuse to do anything for me in return.”
“You wanna know what we’ve done for you, Sailor Wentworth?”
I hated the emphasis he added to my new name. As though it was somehow as tainted as I was.
“We put you through medical school. Do you have any idea how expensive that is? We’re just asking for a little return on our investment.”
“So the real reason the state paid for my education was to hold it over my head for the rest of my life? I’ll be happy to pay it back, then.”
I tried to ignore him, sorting the medication in front of me and checking it against the chart. My surgical rotation was due to begin the following week, and I couldn't wait to get out of the ER.
“We don't want money. We want results.”
“I have nothing to offer you,” I snapped, beyond exasperated. “I don’t owe you my morals, Berkshire. You won't even look further into the reason I became an orphan!”
“There’s nothing to look into. A deer—”
“We both know it wasn't a goddamn deer that killed my parents.” Breathing harshly, I focused on my task so I wouldn't hyperventilate. “I might have believed your lies at ten, but I’m not a na?ve little girl anymore.”
It’s not as if the scene didn't play out in my mind’s eye on a nightly basis.
The wounds in my father’s head were bullet holes.
My mother had been shot in the chest. The car was riddled with large-caliber dents and holes.
As a teenager, I’d tried to push away the obvious, but as a med student, the truth was undeniable.
Someone intentionally killed my parents. Whether they meant to kill me, too, or just hoped I’d die in the accident was debatable.
“Leave me alone.” Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath in through my nose. “Don’t come back here. I can’t get in trouble.”
The first time they’d asked me for help was four years ago. I was trying to do my job and narrow down my specialty when Berkshire tried to coerce me into spying on a patient. They weren't even in my department, and I would have had to do some seriously unethical things to access their information.
I refused, but that didn't deter them. Every year or so, they would pop back up, always the marshal and one other person. I suppose they used him as the ice breaker since I knew him.
And yet, this time I’d agreed. They’d finally convinced me, finally figured out what it would take to make me comply. It ate at my stomach until I was positive I was creating an ulcer, but it was too late to back out now.
For the first time, they were admitting there was something to investigate when it came to my parents.
I needed answers to what happened eighteen years ago more than I needed safety or the job I craved.
The only hurdle I hadn't expected was finding myself liking Benito Costa.
He was a criminal, and he didn't deserve my affection.
But the way he spoke up for himself had my admiration. When his son clearly tried to steamroll him, he advocated for himself. I would give him proper care because I believed wholeheartedly in my oath, and I couldn't allow him to suffer just because I couldn't get my priorities in line.
Besides, it was clear Benito wasn’t in charge. Nero—or Noah; I wasn't sure what to call him—was obviously in control of their business operations. He also thought he was in charge of his father’s healthcare and that he had the right to order me around.
And he apparently thought I wouldn't notice the car following me yesterday. I hope he enjoyed the detailed reporting of my grocery trip and the stop at the post office. I led an extraordinarily boring life.
Using the email server provided to me, I reported that I had nothing to report. However, I did tell them I was being followed so they wouldn't approach me in person. The last thing any of us needed was for our secret to get out.
I had no doubt the younger Mr. Costa would sooner see me dead than let me get in the way of whatever they did in the shadows.
It felt weird to go to the mansion across town instead of going to the hospital.
My days were normally packed with surgeries and paperwork, not spending an hour or less at a private client’s house before going back home to twiddle my thumbs.
I needed a better hobby than pacing my apartment and watching the clock, but they wanted me available at a moment’s notice if something went south with Benito’s health.
After passing through the security gates, I parked in front of the house and entered through the double doors held open by the same gentleman as the day before.
“Good morning,” I said as I passed him and the lion heads embedded in the massive wooden doors.
“Good morning, miss.”
I smiled as I approached Benito’s bed. His color was better, and he was using the incentive spirometer. “Good morning, Mr. Costa. How are we feeling today?”
His expression brightened when he saw me, and I felt a pang of guilt. “Call me Benito, dear.”
“I’ll have to get used to that.” Draping my coat over a chair, I picked up his chart and flipped through it. He had a private aide at night, but she was only qualified to make sure he didn't die while I was gone.
“I feel better this morning.”
Setting down the chart, I turned to look directly at him. “I can see that. You have some color in your cheeks.”
“I decided to start using this thing like you told me to.” Gesturing with the spirometer, he set it aside as I leaned closer to take his pulse.
“Good.”
Going through the motions, I took his vitals and wrote them down while he chatted.
“Mostly it’s because I want to prove my son wrong. Noah seems to think you’ll let me go downhill just because we’re not in the hospital. I told him he was full of shit.” He coughed lightly. “Excuse my language.”
“Not a problem.” I put away my gear and picked up his hand. “You can tell him you’ve already improved in the short time I’ve been your doctor.”
“I knew you were a good girl.” Benito patted the hand I held his with, and I felt my cheeks heat.
Inexplicably, tears clogged my throat. He wasn't anything to me but a patient, and I shouldn't light up under his praise.
Clearing my throat, I opened my mouth to ask a question when Noah stormed into the room, his voice raised in clear agitation.
“I told you I was to be informed when she arrived.”
Straightening my spine, I glanced over my shoulder and said, “Dr. Wentworth has arrived.”
Benito chuckled. “I instructed Bedford to let you know.”
“He did,” Noah said. “But I see he took his sweet fucking time with it.”
“I’ve only been here for a minute,” I said, still holding his father’s hand.
Noah’s height dominated the space around him, making me feel shorter than usual. Or maybe it was the aura of foreboding and distrust that made him appear taller than he really was. His mouth was pinched, his eyes narrowed as they zeroed in on me and Benito.
“Surely, flirting with your patients goes against some sort of code.”
“Noah, that's no way to speak to your guests.”
Those words were spoken by a newcomer; as he came into the den, his golden honey hair swept over his forehead, stopping just shy of being too long. The suit he wore was impeccably tailored to hug his body, compared to the more modest cut of Noah’s suit.
Stepping closer, this man held his hand out to me, his blue eyes dancing alongside his smile. “Giovanni Bianchi. Pleasure to meet you.”
If his goal was to force me to drop Benito’s hand to shake his, then he succeeded. “Dr. Sailor Wentworth.”
“You were right, Benito.” Leaning around me, he winked. “She’s a stunner.”
“I’m sorry, who are you?” I asked, pulling my hand out of his warm and lingering grasp.
“A friend of the family.”
“Soon to be actual family,” Benito interjected. “He's marrying my Vicki.”
“I see.”
I didn't actually see. Did that make him qualified to step in on these health matters? Or was he just riling up Noah? Either way, he was someone else I would carefully target.
“Vicki?” I asked Benito.
“My lovely daughter. She's the spitting image of her mother, God rest her soul. Younger than my boy here, and not afraid to speak her mind.”
“Talking about me behind my back?” a woman asked as she entered the room.
The way I managed to resist rolling my eyes should have won me an award. It looked like we were making it a party today.
“Just introducing Gio,” Benito responded.
“This the one?” she asked, ignoring what her father had said. “The doctor Noah doesn't trust?”
“Vittoria,” Gio chided.
Where I would have expected that type of censuring to come from her father, it came from her fiancé instead.
“What, I'm not allowed to say it out loud? We don't know anything about her.”
Lord save me, but this family was exasperating. As though I hadn’t already been through the same with her brother the day before, now the daughter wanted to put me through the wringer. “I'm more than capable of caring for your father, and in fact, he's better today than yesterday.”
“That's right,” Benito spoke up. “All the negativity you two are putting out is made-up bullshit.”
“Vicki, surely you can see that your father's face looks healthier today. His color has come back.”
She directed a rude noise at Gio. “Whatever good that does.”
I didn't like her, and I suspected that was by design.
Noah had stood silently by the door while his sister disparaged me, making it clear they'd discussed me after I left yesterday. There wasn’t much I despised more than being talked about behind my back, but I suppose it was no different than the hospital.
The only person here who trusted me was Benito, and since he was my patient, that would have to do.
Gio seemed more interested in keeping the peace than anything else.
I didn't get the impression his words were sincere.
“We're not doing this again,” Benito said strongly. “I ordered you to drop the matter, and I meant it.”
“Noah can attest to the fact that I'm not up to anything shady, can’t you?” He jolted when I said his name, his gaze narrowing in on mine. “What, you thought the man following me was discreet? He's not.”
I thoroughly enjoyed how red his face became. As I continued, he moved closer, but I would not allow him to intimidate me the way he’d done the day before. That was a mistake not worth repeating.
“What could he possibly have reported? Subject stopped at a grocery store on the way home, picking up kale and apricots. Her diet is unnaturally healthy and frankly suspicious.”
I shut up when Noah grabbed my shoulders, locking my jaw so I wouldn't bite my tongue when he shook me.
“You think you’re amusing, do you?” he shouted into my face.
“Take your hands off me,” I said through gritted teeth.
At the same time, Benito yelled at his son to let me go. Vicki’s hands flew to her mouth, but she stood otherwise frozen. Gio hovered, trying to speak in low tones to talk Noah down from his rage.
In his eyes, I saw the man he truly was. Murderous; vengeful. Hatred emanated from his pores, making it clear that he wasn't used to having anyone challenge him.
It wasn’t until Benito’s yelling caused a massive coughing fit that Noah dropped his hands. Spinning immediately, I supported Benito’s back and gave him his handkerchief. Noah tried to push me away, but I planted my feet.
“Dammit, boy, leave me alone!” Benito choked out. “What the fuck is the matter with you?”
His skin ashen, Noah backed up several paces before turning another vicious glare on me.
And in that moment, I knew I was nothing more than a target locked in his sights. Not a human being, but a faceless enemy. Was this what his rivals saw in the moments before they died?
“Noah, my man, let’s grab a drink and calm down.”
When Noah didn't respond to Gio’s words, Vicki clutched his hand and tugged hard. Eventually, Benito stopped coughing, and Noah released me from his heated gaze to leave with the others.
It had just become crystal clear to me that Benito Costa was no longer my mark.
Noah Costa was.