Page 86 of Gone Before Goodbye

“You said it wasn’t a coincidence I was chosen to do Oleg’s surgery.”

“Right.”

“It also wasn’t a coincidence you were at the house for Oleg’s party.”

Lockwood grins in the dark. “Didn’t you say it was a ball?” His hand goes up. “Kidding, kidding. Just looking to add a bit of levity here.”

“Yeah, pretty hilarious.”

“I’m trying, Maggie, because this story is grim, and it gets grimmer.” He runs his hand through his hair. “Or maybe, I don’t know, maybe there’s hope at the end of this too.”

“Hope how?” Maggie thinks about what she heard before she fellasleep, about Trace searching for Marc. She knows, of course, that it’s impossible. But the fact that he would voice that…“And what did you mean about Trace searching for Marc?”

He takes a few moments. His hand is on his chin. Exhaustion emanates from every part of his body. “Let me tell it my way, okay?”

She doesn’t reply. She just waits.

“You want to know why I was at Oleg’s, but you’ve probably figured it out by now.”

“You’re investigating him.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re, what, undercover?”

“That makes it sound sexier than it is. But yes. I am a physician from a rich, well-connected family. It’s easy to pass me off as a ne’er-do-well who relishes the Russian party life. Do you know that was the first time Oleg Ragoravich has had any kind of event in the past three years? He’s been ultra-secretive about his movements. He’ll show up somewhere, like in Dubai, but he never lets anyone know ahead of time. I’ve been on this case for the past two years, and I’ve still never seen him in person. Not even at that crazy ball.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“Not sure. There are rumors of bad health. There are rumors he pissed off some powerful people and fears assassination attempts.” Then: “Can I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“When did Marc give you my number?”

“He didn’t.”

“How did you get it?”

Maggie wants to get information, not give it. “Maybe we could start with how you knew Marc.”

Charles nods—this is going to be a bit more give-and-take than he’d expected.

“Marc realized that they were in way over their heads with no way out.”

“Because of the money laundering?”

“That was part of it, but do you want to know a hard truth?”

“Sure.”

“I don’t think Marc cared all that much about the laundering. I don’t think any of you did. All three of you are brilliant surgeons and researchers. You all also have, sorry, a bit of a god complex. Sure, Marc wanted to save lives and all that. But I also know he—and let’s be honest, you and Trace too—have the surgeon’s ego. You are ends-justify-means types. A lot of do-gooders are. That’s just a fact. So my guess is, if it was simple money laundering, Marc would have used all the justifications I just gave you and looked the other way.”

“You’re saying it didn’t stay that way?”

Charles smiles but there is no joy in it. “Nothing ever stays stagnant in life. The world is in constant motion. Corruption, like everything else, either gets worse or it gets better.”

“And this got worse?”