Page 134 of Clinically Delicious
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gabriel
“You’re telling me they hired a private investigator to follow my wife and daughter to the park?” My voice was level. Controlled. The same tone I used when informing a patient that their surgery would be more complicated than anticipated.
But my hand was gripping the phone hard enough that the case creaked.
“Two investigators, actually,” Anthony Gallagher said on the other end of the line. “Rotating shifts. They’ve been on you since the day after our meeting.”
I was in the clinic’s conference room. Fitz, Nathan, Hayden, Quinton, and Julien had been reviewing surgical schedules when Anthony called. Now they were all watching me with varying degrees of concern.
“How long have you known?” I asked.
“I confirmed it this morning. My guy ran the plates on the vehicle that’s been parked outside your house for the past week.” Anthony’s voice was matter-of-fact. “Richard Castellano doesn’t mess around. He’s building a case.”
“By stalking my family.”
“By documenting your family’s daily activities, yes.” A pause. “It’s legal, Gabriel. Unethical as hell, but legal.”
My jaw clenched. “And what exactly are they documenting?”
“Everything. Where Cate takes Megan. Who she talks to. How long she’s at the park. Whether she’s on her phone instead of watching your daughter.” Another pause. “They got photos of her with Fitz at the playground yesterday.”
Fitz’s head snapped up. “What?”
“You were jogging,” Anthony continued. “Stopped to talk to Cate while Megan was on the swings. Sat close on a bench. Laughed together. To someone who doesn’t know the context, it could look... friendly. Very friendly.”
“Bloody hell,” Fitz muttered. “I was just—we were just talking. I was trying to calm her down. She was spiraling about the custody case.”
“I know that. You know that. But Richard Castellano is going to spin it however benefits his client.” Anthony’s tone sharpened. “Which is why I need you all to be extremely careful about how you interact with Cate in public. No touching. No sitting too close. Nothing that could be misinterpreted as inappropriate.”
“This is insane,” Nathan said.
“This is family law,” Anthony corrected. “And Richard Castellano is very, very good at it.”
I stood, pacing to the window. Outside, the parking lot was full of cars belonging to patients who trusted me to fix their broken bones, their torn ligaments, their shattered joints.
I could fix those things.
I couldn’t fix this.
“How is Cate handling it?” Anthony asked.
“She’s not.” My words came out harder than intended. “She won’t leave the house.”
“What?”
“Since the park incident, she refuses to take Megan outside. Not to the playground. Not to the store. Not even to the backyard.” I pressed my palm against the window, feeling thecool glass. “She’s terrified of being watched. Of making a mistake that could cost us the case.”
“Gabriel.”
“My house looks like a craft store exploded in it,” I continued, my voice tight. “There are baked goods on every surface. Megan’s glitter drawings are taped to the walls. There’s a teepee made out of bedsheets and balloons in my dining room. Yesterday I came home to find them building a fort out of couch cushions in the living room. The day before that, Cate had turned the kitchen into a ‘science lab’ and they were making volcanoes out of baking soda and vinegar.”
Fitz was trying not to laugh.
I shot him a look that could have performed surgery.
“It’s not funny.”
