Page 29 of Gone Before Goodbye

“It’s not, not in the least, but fair enough.” Brovski checks his watch and feigns boredom. “We are in a bit of a rush, so let me cut to it. If you come with me to the airport right now, on top of getting you and your sister out of debt and settling your malpractice case, how about we pay you…” He pauses and looks up purely for effect. Then he just drops the bomb.

“… ten million dollars?”

If Maggie ever had a poker face, it’s gone now. He almost laughs.

“Five million put into your account at Merrill Lynch right now. The other five million when you’re done.”

Maggie is not sure she can speak. Ivan Brovski grins.

“So we have a deal?”

CHAPTER FIVE

Maggie stares out the window of what could inadequately be described as a “private plane.” Not that she’s had a lot of experience with private planes, of course. When she boarded, the flight attendant introduced herself as Hannah and then proceeded to give Maggie an orientation tour of a full-size 180-seat Airbus A320 renovated for private use. The new interior more resembles an upscale Manhattan penthouse than anything in the aviation family. The décor is gold with leopard prints. Flight Attendant Hannah leads her through a curving open floor plan with two lounges, a dining room, a gourmet kitchen,

a theater room with a 65-inch contoured TV (“One of our four large-screen TVs,” Hannah had told her), and a primary suite with a king-size bed and a marble ensuite bathroom, including one of those oversize rain showerheads.

In the primary bedroom, there is a Matisse oil of a woman reclining on a couch.

“Is this a real Matisse?” Maggie asks.

Hannah’s reply is a simple smile.

Two hours earlier, she and Ivan Brovski finish their meeting at Barlow’s, and Ivan leads her back toward the elevator.

“Before we leave,” Maggie tells Ivan, “I’d like to speak to Doctor Barlow.”

“He’s in surgery.”

The elevator opens. Maggie gets inside.

Alou and the Mercedes await them in the basement garage. Alou opens the back door. She slides in. Her phone is there. Ivan gets in the other door and sits next to her. She picks up her phone. No service in the garage’s underbelly. When the Mercedes finally reaches street level, six notifications for unanswered calls pop up, all from Sharon.

Ivan sees the notifications over her shoulder and smiles.

“What?” Maggie says.

“Your sister,” he says. “Call her back.”

She does. Sharon answers immediately, before the first ring finishes, and asks in a harried voice, “What the hell’s going on, Mags?”

“Meaning?”

“The bank called. My debts have been paid. All of them.”

Sharon keeps babbling excitedly as Maggie looks up at Ivan and that no-teeth grin.

When Sharon stops to take a breath, Maggie explains. “I was just hired for a job.”

That silences Sharon for a moment. Then: “And this job paid off my debts?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of job?”

“A high-paying one.”

“Well, I knew that already.”