Seed of Evil by Greig Beck (smart books to read TXT) 📗

but had a few flaws now. He reached up to his chest and shoulder to feel some of the most obvious shrapnel wounds; purple circles and strokes, and some surrounded with reddish flesh where the damage went deep and that still ached when he did bench press. As a physician, he knew what that meant; he’d pay for it when he was older. But that was something he’d worry about another day.

In another 30 minutes, he was pulling into the driveway of Melnick’s large house set on a huge expanse of very manicured lawn. Fruit trees lined the fence line, creating a never-ending bounty that glowed red, orange, and purple in the warm sunshine.

There was a good crowd already, and fronting up he spotted the town attorney, Ralph Gillespie, talking to Karen who stood beside a boy that looked remarkably like her, so it was safe to assume it was her son.

Mayor Melnick spotted him and waved. Though he felt like a bit of a small fish among the town heavyweights, he guessed as he was their soon-to-be doctor, he’d end up knowing all their secrets soon enough.

“Mitchell, glad you could make it.” Melnick toasted him with an iced cool-looking, highball-style drink and grabbed his arm. “Got some people for you to meet. Settling in? Found everything you need? How do you like Eldon so far?”

Mitch grinned, knowing all the questions probably weren’t expected to be answered. Just the obvious ones.

“I love it here. I’d say it’s just like home, except this is better.”

Melnick was extremely satisfied with his answer and grabbed his forearm, steering him toward a group of older people. At the same time, he motioned for a waiter to bring him a drink.

“They’re mai tais.” He winked. “My own recipe. Got a bit of a kick to them.” His laugh was a soft wheeze.

Karen caught his eye and he waved. She made a show of waving back and nodding, and she obviously used it as an excuse to extricate herself from Gillespie and headed toward his group, dragging her son with her.

Ralph Gillespie tagged along behind, but the look he gave Mitch said he didn’t care for the intrusion.

“Mitch, meet Benji. Benji, meet Mitch,” Karen said, looking from her son to Mitch. “Mitch is our new doctor.”

Benji stuck out a small hand and grinned. “Pleased to meet you, sir.”

Mitch gripped the small hand. “Likewise. And it’s just Mitch to my friends.”

The boy smiled and continued to study him for a few more moments before half-turning to his mother.

“He looks like Batman, doesn’t he, Mom?”

Mitch chuckled at Karen, who now also scrutinized him. Mitch knew what Benji was referring to. Just like Gladys had mentioned, many times in the past people had said he reminded them of a young Ben Affleck…except with a few scars. He could certainly live with that.

He leaned closer to Benji and put a finger to his lips. “That’s because I’m Batman. Just don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Great, we have a doctor who’s a superhero.” Karen grinned.

Mitch chuckled. “All doctors are superheroes—it’s lesson one at med school.”

He took another sip of his mai tai and grimaced. “Yech.” He stuck his tongue out, much to Benji’s amusement.

Karen laughed. “The secret Melnick recipe, huh?”

“Oh yeah.” Mitch toasted her. “And should have stayed secret.”

Mitch was enjoying himself and found Karen to be interesting and charming. He hoped she felt the same. But after another 30 minutes went by, Mayor Melnick moved in among them.

“Okay, Mitch, what have you done with him?” Melnick smiled good-naturedly, but it was clear that this entire expensive event was for Ben Wainright, so the guest of honor better front up. And because Mitch was the guy taking over the practice, Old Ben had somehow become his responsibility.

“Anyone called him yet?” Mitch asked.

“I’ll do it now.” Melnick pulled out a paper-thin phone and examined his contacts before letting it dial. He waited, and then his brows drew together. “That’s odd.” He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it. “It says the number is no longer in service—was canceled days ago.” He frowned. “He’s still in town, right?”

“Sure is, I just met with him yesterday morning,” Mitch replied. “I haven’t seen him since then, but he didn’t say he was leaving. Well, not immediately.”

Shelly, his receptionist barged in, having overheard. “He should be here. He’s usually very punctual.”

“Well, even if you’ve left town, you don’t cancel your mobile phone.” Ralph Gillespie had joined, and a small crowd was now gathering.

“He should be here.” Shelly folded her arms.

“Do you think he’s all right?” Karen asked.

Mitch felt in his pocket. “I’ve still got his spare house keys. I can take a quick run out there.”

“I’ll come,” Shelly piped up. “Maybe he just has car troubles, and now that his phone isn’t working, he can’t tell us.”

“That must be it,” Melnick agreed. “Mitch, go get him.”

“On it.” Mitch walked fast to his car, and though the party continued, it had formed into clumps only talking softly, and right up until he was driving away, their eyes were on him.

In the car, Mitch cracked the window to let in some fresh air and relief from the clouds of Shelly’s perfume. He half-turned. “Had Ben, Doctor Wainright, been feeling okay before he retired? Acting normally?”

She hiked her shoulders. “He didn’t talk that much to me in the office. But he was always polite, just a little sad, distant sort of.” She seemed to think a little more. “He was always quiet, except for the time we had the fire.”

“Fire? In the office?” Mitch’s brows shot up.

“Yeah, a few years back. Just after I started. The sandwich toaster overheated.” She grinned sheepishly. “And it was next to a stack of papers, files.”

“And they caught fire.” Mitch tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. “Shelly, was it your sandwich toaster?”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah, Ben made me do a lot of extra photocopying work of his records after that. Took me weeks.”

“And does Doctor Wainright have a no toaster