Chapter 7 7

The examination table was cold through the thin paper gown.

Claire lay back, her knees bent, her feet in the stirrups that the nurse had adjusted with practiced efficiency. The overhead light was too bright. She raised her arm to shield her eyes, and the position made her feel more exposed, more vulnerable, more like a specimen than she already did.

Dr. Anya Sharma was Indian, middle-aged, with kind eyes and hands that moved with the confidence of someone who had done this ten thousand times. She snapped on a glove, applied gel that warmed slightly before contact, and began the examination.

She stopped. Her eyebrows drew together. She made a small sound-not quite a gasp, more a sharp intake of breath that she tried to hide.

"Ms. Doe," she said. She removed her hand, stripped off the glove, and moved to Claire's side, looking down at her with an expression that managed to be both professional and deeply concerned. "I'm going to ask you a question, and I need you to answer honestly. Are you in danger? Has someone hurt you?"

Claire's face burned. She shook her head, not trusting her voice.

"This is not-" Dr. Sharma paused, choosing her words. "These are not normal injuries. There is significant tearing. Soft tissue damage. You need to understand that this was not a minor incident."

"I understand," Claire whispered.

Dr. Sharma studied her for a long moment. Then she sighed, a sound of resignation and something else-pity, maybe, or the exhaustion of someone who had seen too many women make too many excuses.

"I am prescribing antibiotics. Pain management. And I need you to listen carefully." She held Claire's gaze, refusing to let her look away. "No sexual activity. None. For a minimum of two weeks. If you ignore this, you risk permanent damage. Scarring. Fertility issues. Do you understand?"

Claire nodded. She understood. She understood that her revenge had cost her something she hadn't known she was gambling with.

She dressed in the small changing room, moving slowly, carefully, like she was made of glass. The nurse had left a paper bag on the counter-prescriptions, instructions, a sample of the antibiotic. Claire tucked it into her purse, behind her wallet, where no one would see.

The reception area was empty when she emerged. She crossed to the desk, her credit card ready, her eyes on the floor.

The door opened behind her.

"-completely overreacting, it's probably just a rash, you know how these things-"

The voice cut off. Claire's heart stopped. She turned, slowly, knowing before she saw him exactly who it would be.

Pierce Huxley-Davenport stood in the doorway, his arm around a woman in a dress that left nothing to imagination, his expression shifting from annoyed to surprised to something far more dangerous.

Recognition dawned. His eyes widened. His mouth curved into a smile that showed too many teeth.

"Well," he said. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the Ice Queen herself."

He disengaged from his companion and crossed the room in three long strides. He was tall, lean, dressed in a suit that cost more than Claire's monthly rent, with the particular tan that came from winter weekends in St. Barts. He smelled of money and bad decisions.

"Claire Page," he said, drawing out each syllable like he was tasting it. "Ellsworth's little robot. His perfect assistant. What on earth brings you to a place like this?"

"Annual exam," Claire said. Her voice was frost, was steel, was everything she'd learned to project in seventeen years of being looked through. "If you'll excuse me."

She turned back to the receptionist. Her hands were shaking. She pressed them flat against the counter.

Pierce didn't move. She could feel his eyes on her back, on her posture, on the way she was standing-too straight, too careful, like any movement might break her.

"Annual exam," he repeated. "At eight-thirty on a Tuesday night. In the rain." He laughed, a sound like breaking glass. He moved to the counter, leaning his elbows on the marble, positioning himself between Claire and the exit. His gaze swept over her, taking in her pallor, the subtle tremor in her hands, the almost imperceptible stiffness in her walk. "Darling, I'm not stupid. I'm just curious."

He smiled at the receptionist, a woman in her fifties with dyed blonde hair and the hard eyes of someone who had seen every kind of human behavior.

"Margaret, sweetheart," he said. His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "What's wrong with my friend here? Is it serious? Should I be worried?"

The receptionist-Margaret-shook her head firmly. "Mr. Huxley-Davenport, you know I can't disclose patient information. It's against the law."

"Of course, of course." He reached into his breast pocket and withdrew his wallet. It was alligator, monogrammed, disgusting. He counted out five hundred-dollar bills, folded them neatly, and slid them across the counter. "For your trouble. And your memory."

Margaret pushed the money back toward him. "I'm sorry, sir. My job is worth more than that."

Pierce's smile tightened. Frustrated, his eyes darted around the desk and caught a glimpse of a patient file left slightly ajar. A string of diagnostic codes was visible on the top sheet. He didn't know what they meant, but he memorized the sequence. He looked back at Claire, a new, predatory gleam in his eye. He saw the prescription bag in her hand, the way she clutched it like a lifeline.

"Fine," he said, his voice turning silky and dangerous. "Keep your secrets." He leaned closer to Claire. "But whatever happened, it looks like it hurt. A lot."

Claire walked out. She didn't run-running would confirm everything, would make her the story he was already writing in his head. She walked, her heels clicking on the marble, through the door, into the rain, into the dark.

She didn't see him pull out his phone. She didn't see him type the diagnostic codes into a medical search engine. She didn't see the results that made his eyes widen with vicious delight. She didn't hear him dial. "Ellsworth? We need to talk. Now."