Chapter 17
Seventeen
Martin was well aware just how much renowned heart surgeon Dr. Kurt Trenton savored his Sunday afternoon tee times.
No appointments, no surgery schedule—selecting patients and dates for surgery was among the perks of having reached prominence in one’s chosen field.
Sunday mornings were spent in church with the wife and children, but Sunday afternoons were his alone.
Sheer ecstasy for Kurt Trenton.
When on the green with his favorite driver in hand, he let go the stress of life-and-death situations. Valve repairs and heart transplants were far from his thoughts.
But Martin thought of those things often.
Very often.
He and Deirdre had discussed every article written about the great Dr. Trenton and his astounding medical feats. Even on Sunday afternoons while he watched Dr. Kurt Trenton prepare for his one o’clock tee time, Martin thought of those miracles. And he pondered the hazards of the journey.
UNOS, United Network for Organ Sharing, was not as fair as it could be when it came to doling out those life-saving organs.
It wasn’t supposed to be so, but there were ways to get your name higher up on the list. It wasn’t really the organization’s fault; it was all the middlemen, so to speak.
The ones that entered the data. All it took was money and the right connection.
Part of the problem was that the number of needed organs far exceeded the number of donors.
A sad, sad fact. If a patient was fortunate enough to survive until his or her name came to the top of the list, then all hope shifted into the capable hands of the surgeon.
As with all else in life, one generally got what one paid for. Some surgeons were mediocre, while others were quite good. And, once in a great while, a truly gifted surgeon like Kurt Trenton came along.
Martin had done his research, as he did in all things.
Trenton was the absolute best, bar none, in the entire country.
If a patient were lucky enough to have been granted that golden second chance with a call from UNOS, having Dr. Trenton perform the surgery was guaranteed success.
A rescue from the very clutches of death.
As dedicated and esteemed as Trenton was, he still had his faults. Along with his fame had come a kind of arrogance that had hardened his heart . . . perhaps rendering him in need of a new one. Martin often mulled over that notion as well.
At nine tomorrow morning, the illustrious Dr. Trenton was scheduled to lead one of his miracles on the honorable Garrett Shelby, one of Alabama’s most beloved former governors.
As Ronald Reagan had been to California, Garrett Shelby was to Alabama.
The whole state would be watching the news tomorrow for word on his condition.
Prayers would be offered, but no one would really be worried about his survival. Dr. Kurt Trenton never lost a patient.
Before he left the elite clubhouse today, Trenton would receive an unexpected call urging him to rush to the prestigious UAB Hospital where his wife hovered near death after a tragic car accident.
Trenton would, of course, dash to his Tesla Roadster, forgetting his beloved tee time.
He would arrive at the hospital, and no one would have the foggiest idea what he was talking about.
He would call his wife’s cell phone and discover that she was fine, shopping with the children at the Summit.
Then, bewildered and angry, he would return to his car, left where he always parked in the dimly lit basement garage.
His emotions would prove far too distracting .
. . he wouldn’t see the danger until it was entirely too late.
Trenton had a date with destiny. As Martin’s grandmother would have said, the good doctor was in sore need of a humbling experience.
For as much as Trenton would love to believe otherwise, he was not God.
Yes, he made life-and-death decisions every day, except Sundays, but he most assuredly was not the Almighty.
He needed to learn that . . . He needed a simple lesson in how it felt to be vulnerable and helpless.
His fame and wealth had long ago relegated those two emotions to a place so distantly out of sight and mind that he had completely forgotten they existed.
Tonight he would remember both well.
His lesson would prove a truly newsworthy challenge for McBride.
The timing was, as usual, perfect, though Martin had been forced to move things up one full day.
Martin had simply worked around tee time.
The world would be watching. Would McBride be able to save Trenton in time to lead that rare, life-saving surgical procedure on the beloved Garrett Shelby?
So much would be at stake. Those FBI rats would surely see just how badly they needed to have Agent McBride on their team once more.
The world needed heroes so very desperately.
Perhaps Martin and his dear Deirdre would have a special place in Heaven when the time came, for proving what a great man McBride was.
For now, it was time for Martin to do his part.
Time to show them all.