Malpractice Makes Perfect

Chapter 12

          I glimpsed back toward the kitchen and calculated how long it would take him to come back...probably not as long as it would take me to check his texts. I knew the password. I knew how to maneuver his home screen. I knew...no, no, Evie. This is absurd. What did I think I'd find? Cheating? He wouldn't do that to me. He loved me...

          Unless...his little love declaration was a calculated maneuver to throw me off. Give me something to obsess about while he carried on with god knows who...

          But that's silly, right? Why am I questioning this? Why am I stressing and giving myself grief over a phone? I should just accept it like Alice said. He knows lots of people, he's on the phone all the time.

          But its screen-side down...

          When he walked back in the room with his fingers wrapped around a glass of cold water, he looked different to me than before. Was that scheming and not love I saw in his eyes? Or was I self-sabotaging because I couldn't handle his affections?

          That was probably it. It's me not him. I need to up my therapy sessions with Dr. Deb, not check his phone and watch him like a hawk. That's not healthy.

          I smiled as he set down his glass and retook his seat, seemingly oblivious. All that panicking for nothing.

          But then the phone was screen-side down...

************

          The next day I spent a little time running background checks on all my suspects—after I tried calling Henry to get his man opinion on the phone thing. He didn't pick up and I was being ridiculous anyway. I put it out of my mind and got back to business.

          Destiny and Malik were mostly spotless. Criminal was clean and financial pretty average for American lendees of their caliber. Destiny had gone to college for some kind of art thing, paid back her very expensive loan in full, married, divorced, and racked up some credit card debt that was small potatoes for someone who was reaping the benefits of alimony from her high powered attorney ex. The only question was why she chose to live in the manor when she had more than enough to have a decent sized house for her and the kids. Maybe she wanted to be near her mother when she passed. Or maybe she wanted access to kill her.

          Malik likewise went to school for business, paid those debts, and had a lucrative career climbing the corporate ladder with such impressive titles as CEO, COO, and Vice President. The most relevant of which was the turn he took as CEO of Dupont Cosmetics—nepotism if I've ever seen it, but I can't say I wouldn't do the same for my child...No marriages. No children. No criminal record of any kind. Not even a parking ticket.

          My other suspects didn't come out near as clean. Gabe—Gabe, Gabe, Gabe! The debts. How? Your mother was a millionaire. Your father wasn't far off either. So, someone tell me why is this man ten million in debt? He went to college like the others. Full ride, curtesy of mom and dad. But after graduation, there's nothing. No marriages. No children. No mortgage. No jobs. Just ever rising debt. And some of these lenders skeeve me out. Like interest rates that are borderline illegal, skeeve. Would he kill his own mother for the pay day? Would she even leave such an irresponsible child that much money? I wouldn't. He'd just blow it on drugs and hookers or whatever a shirking idiot squanders his opportunities on. Ugh, I'm mad just thinking about it.

          On the positive side, everything Margie told me tracked. It was Margaret Scott's name on the LLC, right next to Deirdre Williams—Diana's real name before the rebranding. They had started the company in 1983 and Margie had sold to Diana in 1988. Then she'd gotten a job with the city and everything after that is pretty average. Marriage, kids, debt—all appropriate and unsuspicious.