Page 80 of Gone Before Goodbye
“It’s Evan Barlow,” Barlow says.
“Yes, I know. My phone has caller ID. What do you want?”
“I’d like to speak with Doctor McCabe for a moment.”
Silence.
“Hello?”
“She can’t come to the phone right now. Don’t call back.”
The call disconnects. Porkchop has Barlow try again. No reply. One more time, the same. Porkchop says, “Tell me everything.”
Barlow stands up and starts pacing. “Why are you so sure something is wrong?”
“Someone destroyed her phone.”
“How can you possibly know that?”
“I don’t want to waste time explaining this to you. Tell me what you know.”
“It’s not that complicated. Or uncommon. It’s like you said. Über-rich people come to me. They want the best, and they want full discretion. I’ve traveled on my own a few times. A Saudi prince once. Arich man in Brunei. They fly you in on private jets. They pay you a fortune. It’s all off the books.”
Porkchop nods for him to continue.
“I’m sorry about your son. I met Marc several times. He was a brilliant surgeon. And I know, well, when he and Maggie were together, you could feel the connection, you know what I mean?”
Porkchop gives him nothing.
“So when Maggie lost him and then her license… I wanted to help. She’s a brilliant surgeon too. You probably know that. I figured this was a good opportunity. They wanted the best plastic surgeon money could buy. Maggie needed money and wanted to get back in the game somehow.”
“What kind of surgery?”
“Cosmetic. There would be two patients, so at least two surgeries. The client’s mistress would be getting breast augmentation. And the client himself wanted some facial work. I don’t know the specifics.”
“Who was the client?”
Barlow shakes his head.
“What?” Porkchop says.
“I don’t know who the client is.”
“How can you not know?”
“That’s part of the discretion. They all have middlemen.”
“That was the middleman on the phone?”
“Yes. He calls himself Ivan Brovski. I doubt it’s his real name. He’s the one who contacted me. He’s the one who spoke to Maggie.”
“And you don’t know who he works for?”
“Right.”
“So before you send a doctor overseas like this, you don’t vet the client?”
Barlow says nothing.
