Page 54 of The Library on Plum Island
“Why the rush to get married?” Meg asked.
“We’re not rushing,” Daniella said, not sure how to answer. “I suppose it can be seen that way. We want to get married before Alex starts filming the second season of The Cobble Cove Mysteries.”
“So you didn’t get a rushed marriage license?” Meg was not letting that go.
“Did the person pretending to be me tell you that?” Daniella’s frown deepened, and she suppressed a shudder, thinking about someone listening in on her conversation. The lie slipped casually from her lips: “Because we’ve had the license for a while now.”
“Yes,” Meg admitted. “At first, I thought it might be because you were pregnant. Now, that would’ve been a great story.”
“One that isn’t true,” Daniella told her. “I’m nearly forty-eight.”
“But didn’t you get some of your eggs frozen?” Meg’s question shocked Daniella.
“Where did you hear that?” Daniella spluttered.
A year before Tom died, they had decided to freeze Daniella’s eggs in case they wanted to have another child later in life. Daniella had actually forgotten about them in the midst of her grief, Emily nearly dying and losing her hearing, and then being stalked by Doctor Jackson.
“I can’t reveal my source,” Meg told Daniella.
“That’s rather private information,” Daniella pointed out. “It can get the clinic where my eggs are stored sued and shut down. So I suggest you tell me, or I’ll have you investigated along with it.”
“You can’t do that,” Meg sounded confident but soon changed her mind. “Can you?”
Daniella wasn’t too sure, but Meg didn’t sound sure either, so Daniella used the woman’s uncertainty to get the information. “Trust me, I have an attorney you don’t want to mess with. As you write for a celebrity gossip magazine, you may have heard of Paige Garland.”
“P…Paige Garland isyourattorney?“ Meg didn’t sound convinced. “She only represents celebrities.”
“My cousin is a celebrity, and Alex is an A-lister…” Daniella’s voice trailed off for effect, and let that sink in.
“Revealing where I got the information from could get me fired,” Meg told Daniella.
“Not revealing it to me can landyouin hot water as I’ll assume it wasyouthat somehow got into my personal medical records.“ Daniella did knowthatwas illegal without the patient’s consent. “That is illegal, and of that, I’m certain, being a medical doctor.”
“Okay!” Meg breathed. “This morning, I received a package addressed to me that was delivered to my office. Inside were two large envelopes with information about you and Alex Blackwell.”
Daniella’s eyes widened, and her heart lurched. “What sort of information?”
“Your file had an old address, where you used to work as a surgeon, and information about your late husband.” Meg’s voice dropped. “I’m sorry about your husband. I, too, lost my husband in the line of duty. He wasn’t in the army, though he was a policeman.”
“Oh!” Daniella’s eyes widened, and she was attacked by even more guilt over misleading Meg. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.” Meg cleared her throat. “The envelope contained your medical records and your daughter’s. I’m so sorry about what happened to her as well. How awful.” She paused for a few moments. “Actually, you know what, Daniella. You have been through so much…”
Daniella’s skin started to crawl, and her chest rose and fell as her stomach knotted in a ball of anger laced with fear. “What else is listed in the file, Meg?”
Daniella heard the sound of papers being shuffled. “Oh!” Meg breathed. “I… Uh…” There was more rustling. “The file on Alex isn’t as in-depth, but it has a few articles about him and some information about a court case that was thrown out when a woman tried to sue Alex sometime last year.”
Daniella’s eyes widened, and her heart lurched.No, it couldn’t be!“Meg, what else is in my file?” She asked, turning Meg’s attention back to Daniella’s file as she made her way to the garage through the interconnecting door.
“It’s just a document from the investigator who gathered the information,” Meg answered.
Daniella stopped on her way to the storage boxes lined up against one wall of Uncle Sam’s garage. “Does it have the name of the PI?”
“Yes, Stanley Wells,” Meg read the name. “And he was hired by… Uh…”
“Don’t worry. I think I know who hired the PI to investigate me,” Daniella said, her voice dropping. She clenched her jaw. “What about the file on Alex? Was it also information gathered by Stanley Wells?”
“Uh… yes!” Meg confirmed. “Only this document lists you as the client for whom the information was gathered.”
