All the Rage

"Because Dragovic may have something on him, some secret he's blackmailing him with. And he may already have coerced him into doing something illegal. I don't want to see him go to jail or get hurt."

As Nadia was speaking, Jack picked up on something: a timbre in her voice, a look in her eyes as she spoke about her boss at a job she'd had for only a few weeks. More than just a professional relationship here?

"Just who is this boss you care about so much?"

Nadia hesitated, chewing her upper lip, then shrugged. "Oh, hell. I've gone this far, I might as well tell you: his name is Dr. Luc Mo

"Like the painter?"

"Same pronunciation, but with a double n."

There, Nadia thought. I've told him. I hope I'm not going to regret it.

The last thing in the world she wanted to do was cause trouble for Dr. Mo

Relax, she told herself. Alicia had said she could trust this man. And Alicia Clayton's trust was not easily won.

But after the way she'd talked about him, Nadia had expected Jack to have a commanding presence, be six-two at least and built like a fullback. The man sipping coffee on the other side of her desk was a very average Joe—midthirties, good-looking but hardly dazzling, with brown hair, brown eyes, and an easy way, dressed like men she passed hundreds of time a day on the city streets.

I want the man I can trust with my life to be like Clint Eastwood or Arnold Schwarzenegger, she thought. Not a younger poor man's Kevin Costner.

But then she remembered Alicia's warning: Don't let Jack's mild Mr. Everyman act fool you; his bite is infinitely worse than his bark.

"I gather he's more than just a boss to you," Jack said.

The offenhandedness of the remark jolted Nadia. Is it that obvious?

She tried to make her shrug equally offhanded. "We go back a ways. He was one of my professors in medical school."

"The one who said, 'The future is steroids'?"

She nodded, glad to note that he'd been paying attention. "He inspired me to go into endocrinology. I owe him for that."

Jack stared at her, as if saying, Go on… I know there's more.

Oh, yes, there was. Lots. But Nadia was not about to confess to a stranger about the mad crush she'd had on Luc Mo

She'd seen herself entering his office and locking the door behind her. She'd never kidded herself that she had fashion model looks, but she knew she was no bowwow either. And on more than one occasion she'd caught Dr. Mo

And it had remained pure fantasy until one day near the end of the term…

Nadia shifted to banish the faint tingling in her pelvis. Doug Gleason was the man in her life now—now and forever.

"You owe him enough to play guardian angel?" Jack said.

"Curtis Sliwa I'm not. But what should I do when I think that the man who inspired me toward my life's work and gave me my first job is being coerced into doing something most likely illegal?"

"How do you know it's coercion?" Jack said.

"Come on. If a known thug is physically pushing him around, I've got to believe he's pushing him around in other ways as well."

Jack was nodding slowly. "Yeah. That would follow. So what would you like me to do about it?"

"A number of things." Nadia had worked out an algorithm for the Mo

Jack's eyes bored into her. "And if he's a willing participant in something illegal, with no coercion, then what?"

That was the final leg of Nadia's algorithm, a blank box she hadn't filled in. She hoped, prayed she wouldn't have to. She couldn't imagine Dr. Mo

But then she thought of the sleazy junk bond dealers in the eighties who'd ripped off hundreds of millions in a single year. But did they quit while they were ahead—way ahead? No. They wanted still more. The money itself had ceased to matter. It was the high from the risk that kept them pushing for more and more until finally they were caught.

Was Dr. Mo

This man sitting before her might come up with answers to questions she didn't want asked. But she had to do something. And she had to trust that an important person in her life did not have feet of clay.

She sighed. "I don't think you'll find that. But if you do, I'll make up my mind then."

"Fair enough," Jack said. "I'll need some addresses—his home, the company's corporate offices—phone numbers: yours, his, work, home, and so on."

Nadia pulled an envelope from her purse. "I've got them all right here. I've also written up what I know of his life, his training, his research, plus all I know about the company, GEM Pharma."

Jack smiled. "Efficient. I like that."

"There's just one problem," she said, feeling her stomach tighten. Alicia had told her about the Repairman Jack's usual fee. "Money."

"Yeah, well, I do charge for my services."

"Of course. I can't imagine you wouldn't; it's just that I'm only recently out of residency, and I just started this new job, and I was wondering…"

Jack hadn't moved, but she sensed that he'd somehow receded.

"If I'd cut my price?" He shook his head. "I don't haggle, especially when someone like Dragovic is involved. Sometimes I go on a contingency basis, but this isn't that sort of job."

Well, at least I tried, Nadia thought. "Ok, then, can I make time payments?"

He sat there staring at her for what felt to her like an eternity.

"Tell you what," he said finally. "Someone else contacted me about a matter involving Mr. Dragovic—just last week as a matter of fact. If I can find a way to work the two of them together, I may be able to give you a break on the fee."

"And if you can't?"

He shrugged. "I don't do time payments—a guy in my position has no legal means to go after a welsher. But since Alicia vouched for you, I'll make an exception."

Relief flooded her, "Then you'll do it?"

"I'll look into it; that's all I promise."

Nadia drew another envelope from her pocketbook and hesitated. Ten $100 bills crinkled within. A lot of money to hand to a man she'd met only moments ago. But despite his bland looks, she sensed a core of steely determination. All her instincts testified that he was the man.