Nate changed the subject. “Hey, um, have you seen your brother lately?”

She looked at him, confused. “Ben? No. Why?”

“Well, you know, in case Josh needs a bone marrow transplant or a kidney or something.”

“That isn’t how this treatment works. They take Josh’s own blood cells and reprogram them.”

“I know, I was just thinking for the future.…”

Emma shifted in her seat. “I haven’t seen Ben in years. Since, God, I guess it was when I first started medical school.”

Nate shrugged and looked down. He tugged Emma’s socks off and started rubbing her feet.

Emma made a little sound of pleasure at the back of her throat. “That feels nice.”

Nate winced as pain shot through his fingertips. He adjusted his hands and instead rolled his knuckles over the arches of Emma’s feet.

Emma noticed the wince and scooped his hand into hers. “Oh my God! Are you all right?” She examined the dried crusts of blood along the cuticles, the bruises that had appeared under the nails.

Nate flushed and forced a wry laugh. “Kia slammed my fingers in the car door today. Hurt like hell.”

How many times had he made excuses for his bloody nails? Emma pressed her lips to his fingers, but he gently eased them away. He had the sense that she could see right through him, but when he looked up she was already distant and distracted.

The silence stretched for a long minute.

“Do you have a patient named Violeta Williams?” he asked.

Emma frowned. “The name sounds familiar, I think. Why?”

“We found a body today. Violeta Williams. She had a business card from your clinic in her back pocket.”

“That’s horrible! What happened to her?”

“We’re still investigating.”

“Care to elaborate?” she asked.

Nate’s hands stilled on her feet. “I think she may have been murdered.”

Emma sucked in a breath. “You think a business card will help you find out what happened to her?”

“Maybe. I’ll call the clinic and find out if she was a patient. There might be a connection.”

Emma gently shifted Josh off her lap and stood, reaching her hands to the ceiling as she stretched. “Well, I wouldn’t hold your breath,” she said. “All the doctors’ business cards are out at reception. Anybody could grab any of them.”

CHAPTER 21

I DROVE INTO THE parking lot of the Crescent Lake Costco, my whole body tense. My eyes swept the lot as I looked for the best place to park. I was a little early. Gabe had said to be here at one p.m., but I didn’t see any sign of him or Ben yet. I pulled into an empty space located on a slight incline at the side of the lot. It offered the best view of the parking lot.