Elisabeth Naughton - Wait for Me

“Kate?” The intercom buzzed. Jill’s voice chimed through the quiet. “Heads up, Tom’s on his way—”

Her office door pushed open before she could respond, and Tom Adams strode in without knocking.

“You dodging me?” he asked.

Kate stood. Ryan rose too, eyeing her managing editor with suspicion. He obviously recognized Tom from that day at her house when he’d come to talk to her and had learned about Reed. So much for avoiding anyone at the office. “Tom Adams,” she said, making introductions, “Ryan Harrison.”

“Jesus,” Tom muttered. “It’s true.”

“I’m not staying today, Tom. I know the office is in an uproar, so I’ll get out of your hair. I’m just looking for something.”

“Looking for what?”

“An article about a cancer drug tested in Canada.”

The color drained from his face.

“Son of a bitch.” Ryan stepped around Tom and closed the door. Then he glanced at Kate. “I think we just found our link.”

Tom Adams’s Victorian row house sat on a quiet street in Pacific Heights. Ryan tapped a hand against his knee as he and Kate waited in the immaculate living room. Wide windows looked out over the city. Trees swayed gently in the afternoon breeze.

Kate caught Ryan’s tense shoulders, his tight jaw. “Relax, would you? You’re stressing me out.”

He shot her an irritated look and went back to tapping.

Kari Adams came down the stairs with Tom at her side. Her face was drawn, the swell of her very pregnant belly protruding from her slim body. “Sorry we kept you waiting.”

Ryan tensed at Kate’s side, but she ignored him. “It’s all right. I’m sorry we’re bothering you. I know how tired you must be.”

Kari smiled, running a hand over her belly. “I’m not able to sleep much these days.”

“Practice for B-day,” Tom said, his fingers skimming their baby.

“Look.” Ryan shifted his feet. “I don’t mean to be rude, but we really need some answers. The first of which is why you dragged us all the way over here when you could have answered our questions at Katie’s office.”

Kate slanted him a warning look, which he ignored. The man had no tact when he was on a mission.

“That’s my fault.” Kari sank onto the floral couch. Even with her pregnant belly, the couch seemed to gobble up her petite body. “Tom knew I’d want to be involved.”

“I’m not following you.” Kate sat in a plush, cream chair across from Kari. “How do you have anything to do with a medical study?”

“Do you recognize me at all?” Kari asked.

“No, should I?” Worry tickled the back of Kate’s throat.

“I suppose not. We only spoke a few times when I was in the nursing home, but I could never forget your eyes.”

Kate glanced up at Ryan. His jaw twitched. Kari Adams. Why hadn’t the name clicked when she’d looked at the list from Janet Kelly’s house?

Tom stepped behind his wife, rested a hand on her shoulder. “Kari had ovarian cancer. We decided to try experimental treatments after we’d exhausted all other avenues.”

“I didn’t think I’d make it,” Kari said, looking down. “But Dr. Alexander was so optimistic, he gave us hope. The treatments lasted over six months. I was in and out of the nursing home, being monitored by the staff there. That’s when I met you.”

Kate’s eyes widened. “I was awake?”

“Some. You’d been in a car accident, were in a coma for several months. Your husband…” She glanced at Ryan. “Dr. Alexander, I mean, had you relocated to the nursing home so he could keep an eye on you since that’s where most of his patients were. After your baby was born, you woke up, but you were in and out of consciousness for quite some time. One day you’d be up and moving around, the next completely out.”

She’d been awake. She’d been moving. Which explained why her recovery hadn’t been so extreme. Why her body had bounced back relatively quickly. People had seen her, talked to her. And she couldn’t remember any of it.

“Go on,” she said, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Jake said he was my husband?”

Kari nodded. “Yes. Another doctor was overseeing your care. I didn’t know his name. Tall, dark hair, the lightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. They seemed to know each other well. I think it must have been his nursing home—or he knew the person who owned and operated it.”

“Reynolds.” Kate glanced at Ryan again. He’d been right. Her Houston doctor had been involved. Had probably been killed because of that involvement.

“What was the name of the experimental drug treatment?” Ryan asked.

“Amatroxin,” Tom said. “It completely cured Kari’s cancer. A handful of other patients were taking it as well. Last year, Dr. Alexander compiled a list of research and he and another doctor published this article in our medical journal.” He handed Ryan a journal from the table behind him.

“This references a study in Canada,” Ryan said.

Tom swallowed. “Yes.”

“You published false data?” Kate asked.

Tom drew in a deep breath. “Yeah.”

“Why? Why didn’t you tell me any of this, Tom?”

Tom shifted his weight nervously, gripped Kari’s shoulder tighter. She reached up and grasped his hand in a sign of support. “Jake and I had an agreement. He let Kari into the research project, and I kept what I knew about the studies to myself. When the time came to publish the information, I’d help. We were desperate, and willing to try anything. After it cured Kari’s cancer, I owed him. He needed to show proof the drug worked; I knew it did. The way I looked at it, it didn’t really matter where the studies took place.”

“Tom didn’t know you were married before, Kate,” Kari cut in, her eyes shifting from Kate to Ryan. “What he knew was you were in the nursing home under Jake’s care, that you were his wife. Jake asked him to keep things quiet around you. He said that the trauma from the accident had been especially bad. Jake was very worried about your prognosis.”

Kate rubbed the scar on her head. So much of this still didn’t make sense. “And when I woke up, he arranged for me to do freelance work for the publishing house.” She glanced up at Tom. “You never questioned my background? What I knew?”

Tension gathered in fine lines around Tom’s eyes. “I didn’t know he was a McKellen until after he’d moved you to Houston. When I saw your name listed on one of your freelance articles, I contacted him. He said he didn’t like to use the McKellen name because of a falling out he’d had with his family. I believed him. He’s the one who set you up with the Dallas branch. I wasn’t in a position to question anything he told me. It made sense, and I was indebted to him. And then when I saw your work, I realized he was right. You’re more knowledgeable about geology than anyone I know.”

“You still didn’t say anything after Jake died. Why not? I was here in San Francisco. You knew I was looking for answers. You knew I’d been to that nursing home, but you didn’t say anything?” She stood, anger bubbling through her. Ryan reached for her arm to steady her.

“I don’t think you understand what’s going on here, Kate,” Tom said. “Someone doesn’t want you to find answers. After you called me and asked about a job here at the San Francisco branch, we started getting warnings.”

“What do you mean, warnings?” Ryan asked.

“Anonymous phone calls, mostly,” Kari answered. “They never referenced your name, Kate, but they said to keep what we knew about the nursing home to ourselves. That it would be in Tom’s best interest not to be involved if word of the study leaked.”

“Then why did you suggest I see a lawyer?”

Tom sighed. “I wanted to help. I saw how frustrated you were. I thought maybe if you could find the answers on your own, if I wasn’t directly involved, it wouldn’t hurt to give you a little push. I didn’t know the lawyer you picked was going to recognize you.”

So Kate was the link. If she hadn’t come to San Francisco, if she’d never called Simone and scheduled that appointment, if Simone hadn’t recognized her, it was likely none of this would be happening now. The lies would still be truth.

Ryan looked to Kari. “Did anyone else visit Katie at the nursing home, that you know of?”

Kari bit her lip. “There was another man, older, white hair, large build. And a young woman once that I remember. Other than that, I’m not sure. Kate was there for a long time, though.”

An older man and a young woman. That could be anyone.

“I’m not much help, I’m afraid,” Kari said softly. “My memories from that time are pretty vague.”

The anger seeped out, was replaced by a weary disappointment. Everything Kate discovered just seemed to confuse her more. She was learning the how but not the why.

“No.” Kate blinked back frustrated tears. “You’ve been a big help.”

“Kate.” Tom stepped around the couch.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kate caught Ryan’s tense shoulders, the way his arms dropped to his side in a protective measure. She held out a hand to stop him and glanced at Tom. “What?”

“If I’d known what was really going on, I wouldn’t have kept quiet. I thought Jake was on the up and up. After your press conference the other day, I knew I needed to find you. To tell you what I knew. I’ve been trying to get hold of you since.”

So many lies. Every time she turned around, there seemed to be one more, smacking her in the face. She wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. “I need to find the answers, Tom. I’m not going to stop until I do.”

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to her,” Ryan interjected firmly from across the room. “If anyone tries to hurt her, they’ll have to get through me first.”