“It’s a long story,” Veena said. “I am happy to tell you, but first I need to tell you something about myself and my family so that what I will tell you subsequently might make some sense.”

“You have my full attention.”

“What I’m going to tell you will bring great shame to my family, but it is no longer a secret. My father abused me throughout my childhood and I did nothing to stop it.”

Jennifer recoiled as if Veena had slapped her.

“You may wonder why. The problem is I live in two different worlds, but mostly in the old. In the old India, I am duty-bound to respect my father and obey him no matter what. My life is not for myself. It is for my family, and I’m not to talk about things that would bring shame, like revealing his bad behavior. My father also told me if I did not obey, he would turn to one of my sisters.” Veena then went on to tell the whole story about shady Nurses International and the promise to move to America. She told about stealing the patient data and how it turned out to be too good.

“It was at that point that Cal Morgan decided to change what we nurses were doing,” Veena explained. “And he told me that he could make sure my father behaved himself with me, my sisters, and my mother forever and bring me to America for a new life if I would do something special for him.”

Veena paused and stared at Jennifer. The pause’s duration stretched out as Veena tried to find the courage to continue.

“What did Cal Morgan want you to do for him in return for freeing you from the clutches of your father?” Jennifer asked. She was becoming incensed as the minutes ticked by. She was beginning to fear what she was about to learn.

“He wanted me to kill Maria Hernandez. I killed your grandmother.”

Jennifer recoiled for the second time, although this time it was a lightning bolt of pure anger. For a nanosecond she wanted to leap to her feet and strangle the woman in front of her. She’d been correct about her granny’s death, and here was the perpetrator within arm’s reach. But then somewhat cooler thoughts flooded into her consciousness. Here was a young woman caught in perhaps the worst psychological trap that Jennifer could imagine, especially from having experienced it to a degree herself, but with no chance of freedom.

Jennifer took a series of deep breaths to get herself under even more control. “Why did you save me tonight? Guilt?”

“To some degree,” Veena admitted. “I regretted what I did to your grandmother. I even tried to commit suicide, but Cal Morgan saved me.”

“A real attempt, or a gesture?” Jennifer asked with little sympathy and some skepticism.