Page 28 of Vanessa’s Bravery

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In the hallway, several feet away from the open door to the twins’ bedroom, Cole hit the answer button.

He already guessed why Drake was calling him.

“Doctor?”

“Where are you? Have you forgotten about your appointment? My contact has been waiting for you. He can’t wait much longer.”

Drake sounded utterly pissed off.

“Apologies. I totally got turned around in traffic with all these one-way streets. I’m only three blocks away now. Three minutes tops.”

“Fine, I’ll let him know. Just don’t make him wait any longer. He’s a busy man, and this might be your only chance to speak to him.”

“I appreciate it. I’ll be there in three minutes.”

He shoved the cell phone into his pants pocket and walked back to the open door.

Vanessa was rocking one of the twins in her arms. The sight made a warm feeling spread in his belly, while a completely unreasonable wish rose inside him: to see this woman rocking his child in her arms. He had to shake off the image, and instead lifted his hand to get Vanessa’s attention.

She cast him a quizzical look.

“Sorry, I have to leave. Can we talk tomorrow?”

“Of course. Everything okay?”

“Yes, no worries. I simply forgot something I needed to do.” He smiled. “Talk tomorrow.”

He rushed down the stairs, snatched his jacket from the railing, and left the house. Seconds later, he sat in his Aston Martin, the engine roaring as he drove down the street. He took the next left turn. He could already see Anza Alta Park and was looking for the stairs that led from the sidewalk up to the highest point of the park. Another right turn, and he spotted the stairs on the south side of the square. He brought his car to a stop right in front of them, killed the engine, and hopped out, his eyes already searching the stairs.

He saw nobody. Had Drake’s contact already left?

He hurried closer, walking up a few steps, while he let his gaze roam. All of a sudden, he heard footfalls. His heart pounding rapidly, Cole whirled his head in the direction of the sound.

A dark figure with a long leather coat emerged from the shadow beneath a tree and walked toward him. When he was able to see the man’s face, Cole instinctively reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, his fingers wrapping around the wooden stake.

The man was as tall as Cole, muscular, with long dark hair that reached to his shoulders. But none of these attributes sent fear into his bones. No, it was his face that made adrenaline spike in his body, demanding he make a decision between fight and flight, because one side of the man’s face was marred with a large, ugly scar that reached from his ear to his chin. It made him look like an enforcer for the Mafia, or for the Chinese Triad, though he was Caucasian and not Asian.

The stranger calmly walked toward him. “You must be Cole Whitlock.”

Swallowing the fear he’d felt only a moment earlier, he nodded. “Yes, Mr…? Dr. Drake didn’t mention your name.”

“I’m Gabriel.” He offered his hand and Cole shook it.

“Apologies for being late, Gabriel. Please call me Cole.”

Given the intimate nature their conversation would take inevitably, he preferred an informal address so he could at least imagine that he was talking to a friend.

“It’s nice meeting you, Cole. Shall we walk?” He motioned to a path that wrapped around the park after the first set of steps.

As they walked, Cole noticed that Gabriel had chosen to walk next to him with his good side exposed to him. Cole felt foolish having stared so overtly at Gabriel’s scar.

“Drake believes you may have the same problem as I do,” Gabriel started. “Tell me about it so I can be sure.”

Cole took a steadying breath. This wouldn’t be easy. “I’m not sure how to start, so here it goes. I have a large growth on my groin, right above my penis. According to all the doctors I’ve seen, it’s not cancerous. The biopsies came back negative.”

“Hmm. Have you tried removing the growth through surgical means?”