Page 98 of High Society

“No. He never met her. It was all done online via a remote key code entry for the door.”

“And there’s been no trace of her since?”

“Not electronically, no.”

“This isn’t good, Detective. Either Liisa has been abducted, and someone is impersonating her, or she is on the run. Which makes her behavior look particularly suspect with respect to Elaine and JJ.”

He tilts his head side to side.

“Are you going to put out one of those BOLO alerts?” she demands.

“We don’t have enough for that,” he says. “But we have opened a missing person’s file.”

“And what good will that do?”

“For starters, it’s already allowed me to access her electronic trail. It will also feed her information out to other police departments across the state. And to the public, through our department’s social media channels.”

Holly scoffs. “You think she’ll be found via Facebook?”

Rivers stares at her for a few seconds. “If Dr. Koskinen did disappear after leaving your office… then you might have been the last known person to have seen her.” He pauses. “Weren’t you also the last person to have seen Ms. Golding?”

“Elaine had been dead for hours when I got there.” She narrows her gaze. “What are you suggesting?”

“Only that the timing is coincidental,” he says. “Two unusual deaths in your practice. And then the person you think might somehow be responsible vanishes almost as soon as you report her.”

She gapes at him. “You think I’m involved in this, Detective?”

“You are involved, Dr. Danvers. One way or another. This all started with Ms. Golding’s allegations against you.”

“I… I was the one who came to you,” she sputters. “Concerned something wasn’t right.”

“I know. And as I keep reminding you, it’s too early to conclude anything.” He shows her another tight smile and then raises his phone again. “I also got a copy of Dr. Koskinen’s cell phone records.”

“And?”

“She hasn’t made many calls in the last few weeks. And most of the ones she did place were to her daughter and unlisted numbers. But then, two days ago, she did make a call that might interest you.”

“Why’s that?”

He glances down at his phone and recites a phone number.

Holly’s veins turn to ice. The invisible grip around her neck feels like a chokehold.

The detective looks back up at her. “Do you have any idea why Dr. Koskinen would’ve been calling your husband’s office?”

CHAPTER 49

Simon doesn’t even read the contract as he swipes his finger across the screen to sign it electronically. His lawyer assured him that the nondisclosure agreement with Kyla is as airtight as the previous one, though it’s going to cost Simon an extra five hundred thousand to forgo the written apology that she had been demanding. That doesn’t matter to him. He has more money than he will ever want or need. And besides, he has no family or loved ones to spend it on or leave it to. What the hell? Why not support these parasites in a lifestyle that would’ve otherwise been completely foreign to them?

While Simon feels relieved that Kyla now poses less of a threat to him, he can’t say the same for Dr. Danvers. That last ketamine session still eats at him. He can’t shake the feeling that Dr. Danvers didn’t share everything he had disclosed to her. And he doesn’t understand why she felt the need to erase his memory of it.

Moments after he emails the signed contract back to his lawyer, a group text pops up on his screen.

Salvador: CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE THIS?!?

Attached to the text is a link to a tweet from the Newport Beach Police Department. “#Missing. Newport resident, Dr. Liisa Koskinen. Age forty-eight. Last reported in Monterey yesterday.” It went on to list the department’s contact details and included a photo of Liisa. She is as unsmiling as ever in the shot, but her hair is longer. Simon can’t tell if it was taken in the last year or over a decade ago.

Simon: Why Monterey?