Perhaps I was the one fooling myself, and everyone else saw the truth. My father was unlikely to gain his full strength back and would only be available for consultations regarding the business. I wasn’t just the interim don; I was his heir, the next in line, the face of the Costa family.
It just broke my heart to admit it.
Chapter Three
Sailor
“Please, Sara, you’re the only chance we have at finding out what we need to know.”
“Rather than good old-fashioned police work?” I countered, turning my back on Marshal Berkshire. I was too busy to entertain his ideas of espionage and intrigue.
“We’ve done that, but it hasn't yielded the results we were hoping for.” Reaching out, he placed his hand on my arm.
I stopped in my tracks, glaring at him. “For one thing, stop calling me by my birth name. You’re the one who insisted I change it, so why do you keep using it? Second, I’m not compromising my ethics for you when you refuse to do anything for me in return.”
“You wanna know what we’ve done for you,Sailor Wentworth?”
I hated the emphasis he added to my new name. As though it was somehow as tainted as I was.
“We put you through medical school. Do you have any idea how expensive that is? We’re just asking for a little return on our investment.”
“So the real reason the state paid for my education was to hold it over my head for the rest of my life? I’ll be happy to pay it back, then.”
I tried to ignore him, sorting the medication in front of me and checking it against the chart. My surgical rotation was due to begin the following week, and I couldn't wait to get out of the ER.
“We don't want money. We want results.”
“I have nothing to offer you,” I snapped, beyond exasperated. “I don’t owe you my morals, Berkshire. You won't even look further into the reason I became an orphan!”
“There’s nothing to look into. A deer—”
“We both know it wasn't a goddamn deer that killed my parents.” Breathing harshly, I focused on my task so I wouldn't hyperventilate. “I might have believed your lies at ten, but I’m not a naïve little girl anymore.”
It’s not as if the scene didn't play out in my mind’s eye on a nightly basis. The wounds in my father’s head were bullet holes. My mother had been shot in the chest. The car was riddled with large-caliber dents and holes. As a teenager, I’d tried to push away the obvious, but as a med student, the truth was undeniable.
Someone intentionally killed my parents. Whether they meant to kill me, too, or just hoped I’d die in the accident was debatable.
“Leave me alone.” Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath in through my nose. “Don’t come back here. I can’t get in trouble.”
The first time they’d asked me for help was four years ago. I was trying to do my job and narrow down my specialty when Berkshire tried to coerce me into spying on a patient. They weren't even in my department, and I would have had to do some seriously unethical things to access their information.
I refused, but that didn't deter them. Every year or so, they would pop back up, always the marshal and one other person. I suppose they used him as the ice breaker since I knew him.
And yet, this time I’d agreed. They’d finally convinced me, finally figured out what it would take to make me comply. It ate at my stomach until I was positive I was creating an ulcer, but it was too late to back out now.
For the first time, they were admitting there was something to investigate when it came to my parents. I needed answers to what happened eighteen years ago more than I needed safety or the job I craved. The only hurdle I hadn't expected was finding myself liking Benito Costa. He was a criminal, and he didn't deserve my affection.
But the way he spoke up for himself had my admiration. When his son clearly tried to steamroll him, he advocated for himself. I would give him proper care because I believed wholeheartedly in my oath, and I couldn't allow him to suffer just because I couldn't get my priorities in line.
Besides, it was clear Benito wasn’t in charge. Nero—or Noah; I wasn't sure what to call him—was obviously in control of their business operations. He also thought he was in charge of his father’s healthcare and that he had the right to order me around.
And he apparently thought I wouldn't notice the car following me yesterday. I hope he enjoyed the detailed reporting of my grocery trip and the stop at the post office. I led an extraordinarily boring life.
Using the email server provided to me, I reported that I had nothing to report. However, I did tell them I was being followed so they wouldn't approach me in person. The last thing any of us needed was for our secret to get out.
I had no doubt the younger Mr. Costa would sooner see me dead than let me get in the way of whatever they did in the shadows.
It felt weird to go to the mansion across town instead of going to the hospital. My days were normally packed with surgeries and paperwork, not spending an hour or less at a private client’shouse before going back home to twiddle my thumbs. I needed a better hobby than pacing my apartment and watching the clock, but they wanted me available at a moment’s notice if something went south with Benito’s health.
