“Walk the other way,” I say fervently. “Quick!”
“And go where?”
“Don’t know. But we need to escape. She mustn’t see me.”
“She already has seen you,” points out Joe.
We both watch as Lacey pauses to take a photo of the landscape. She shouts something, and Joe waves cheerfully back.
“Don’t wave to her!” I mutter.
“I can hardly ignore her.” Joe gives a sudden snort of laughter and I glare at him.
“You think this is funny?”
“Effie, you can’t hide forever,” says Joe patiently. “Why not use this as an opportunity to come out from the shadows?”
“Not like this,” I say desperately. “Not like this.” Then a sudden realization comes to me. “Wait. Lacey doesn’t know what I look like. OK, this can work. I’m not Effie, I’m someone else. Got it?” I turn to him with urgency. “Got it?”
“Effie.” Joe exhales. “This is ridiculous.”
“It’s not! I can’t have Lacey running off to Krista and telling her I’m here. It would just be…” I shudder. “I can’t. I’ll be a friend of yours. OK? We’re on a morning stroll. Having a chitchat. Whatever. We’ll say hello and you introduce me as…as Kate. Then I’ll go.” I break off, breathing hard. “Please, Joe? Please?”
Joe gazes at me incredulously for a moment, then sighs. “Fine. You’d better put these on.” He hands me his shades. “Otherwise your Talbot eyes will betray you.”
“Don’t give me away,” I mutter as we draw nearer to Lacey.
“I won’t!” says Joe—then raises his voice. “Lacey! Lovely morning, isn’t it?”
“Gorgeous! I’m taking a few shots for Instagram. And who’s this?” she says, in the most insinuating voice possible, her eyes running swiftly over my drab jeans and T-shirt combo.
“Let me introduce Kate,” says Joe dutifully. “A friend of mine. Kate, this is Lacey.”
“Hi,” I say, lifting my hand in a greeting, trying to keep my face averted. “I’d better go—”
“Nice to meet you, Kate!” Lacey holds out her hand to shake mine. Damn. I can’t really avoid it. Gingerly, I approach her and shake her slim hand as quickly as possible.
“A friend, Dr. Joe?” Lacey raises her eyebrows suggestively. Honestly, she’s got a one-track mind.
“Colleague, actually,” I say in brisk tones. “I’m also a doctor. I was in the area, so I just popped along to give an update on a patient.”
Ha. Brilliant improvisation, though I say it myself.
“Very considerate of you, Kate,” says Lacey, in a tone I can’t quite read. “Very thoughtful to pop round like that. And how’s the patient?” She gives a sudden dramatic gasp. “Don’t tell me they died.”
I feel a prickle on Joe’s professional behalf. Of course his patient didn’t die.
“No, the patient’s much better, thank you,” I say pleasantly. “Anyway, we’re pretty much done, so I’ll be off. Nice to meet you, Tracey.” I deliberately get her name wrong, which is another masterstroke, and I’m already turning away when Joe suddenly says, “Oh, Kate, I didn’t ask. What were the patient’s levels like this morning?”
I swivel back, aghast, to see Joe regarding me with a bland, innocent expression. He thinks this is funny?
“They were satisfactory,” I reply after a pause. “Broadly speaking. So that was good. Anyway, I’ll be off…”
“Satisfactory?” He raises his eyebrows, and I silently curse him.
“Satisfactory,” I repeat, nodding. “Actually, I texted the levels to you,” I add in sudden inspiration. “They’ll be on your phone. Have a look.”
“I must have missed your text.” He blinks back at me, deadpan. “Remind me? Just a ballpark figure.”
I will kill him.
“Well.” I swallow. “This morning, the patient’s levels were at…” I grasp for a number. “They were at a solid thirty-five. Whereas during the night she was more of a twenty-one, twenty-two.”
“As low as that,” says Joe gravely.
“Yes. We were concerned, obviously. But then she rallied. So.”
“Yay!” exclaims Lacey, who has been following our conversation with bright, avid eyes. “What does that mean to a layman?”