Fox - Promise Me Eternity

### Product Description

Dr. Simon Patterson is a successful and well-respected neurosurgeon at Central Hospital in the town of Medford. Married, though without children, he keeps himself so busy that one day is not much different from another. Until, that is, he saves the life of the powerful mobster Carlo Vucci.
At a dinner in honor of Dr. Patterson, Carlo Vucci introduces him to his alluring wife Christine. Simon is entranced by her beauty.
Three weeks later, Christine shows up at the hospital, complaining of terrible headaches. Dr. Patterson offers to help her, but Christine did not come to see him just because of her headaches. A series of shocking events follow that turn Dr. Pattersons life into a nightmare. Among other things, he finds himself in court being accused of murder in the first degree

Author Ian Fox continues to surprise readers with his mysterious, intriguing plots that captivate you from the very first page and leave you stunned long after youve read the book to the end.

by

Ian Fox

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Ian Fox

Promise Me Eternity

Copyright 2011 by Ian Fox

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If you love life, dont waste time,

because time is what life is made of.

Benjamin Franklin

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Chapter 1

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Heavy gray clouds gathered and the wind blewin short, powerful gusts. Beneath the swaying tree branches, thelight was faint. A tall figure, sharply outlined by the thin light,stepped from the car, into the cold, dismal evening. Dr. Pattersonstood there a few moments waiting for his eyes to adjust to thetwilight, and then headed toward the road. The thoughts churning inhis head seared his brain and filled him with inexpressible fear.His heart pounded in his chest, deafening him. It was all tooterrible to believe.

Even before reaching the side of the road, heturned and looked back. He wanted to make sure he remembered how toreturn to his car.

In the dim light the doctor stumbled over athick, twisted tree root sticking out of the ground. Losing hisbalance he fell against a leafy branch that brushed his face withhundreds of tiny dewdrops. At once he wiped his face and moved onquickly.

But still he kept his right hand clencheddeep in the pocket of his blue velvet sports jacket, where he hadplaced a thin hypodermic needle that contained a large dose ofinsulin.

Murderer! The word echoed in hishead.

Clenching his jaw, Dr. Patterson shook hishead once and continued walking. I have to do this. This is forChristine and me. I have to save her.

Murderer!

No. Thats not true! Please, just leave mealone.

Youll be punished for what youre about todo.

He stopped. A thorny plant had caught on hispant leg. I know what Im doing. This will solve all myproblems. Theres no other way. He pulled his leg free.

To get rid of the troubling voice, he focusedhis attention on the horrific situation he was in. Theall-too-familiar dull ache spread like a weed through his gut andleft a bitter taste in his mouthan ache that signaled his fearabout what was going to happen. Ill go to prison. If I dont doanything, Ill go to prison. I have to do this.

For a moment, the voice grew still .

Ill be accused of a murder I didnt do.This is the only way to prove to them that I am not the one who didit.

Again, silence.

Dr. Patterson looked at the sky strewn withgray clouds and peered for a few seconds at the half-moon, whichdraped the woods in a faint silvery curtain of light. The tallpines and broadleaf trees swayed gently, as if whispering tothemselves. He lowered his eyes and stumbled onward. The closer hecame to the road, the more his legs shook.

He stood still, wanting to think it throughone more time. I have to stand at the side of the road and waitfor him. Christine said he would definitely stop. Once Im in hiscar, Ill inject him with the insulin. After that, nobody can helphim. It will all be very simple.

A gust of wind blew in his face, ruffling hishair. The doctor could hear a hollow rustling in the distance thousands of leaves quivering on their branches. He knew thisevening would be imprinted in his memory for as long as helived.

The narrow road where he waited was empty anddark, without a single light. Every now and then a car went by.Hungrily, he took a few deep breaths of damp air.

The doctor checked his watch. If whatChristine said is true, then Carlo should be driving by sometime inthe next half-hour.

He walked along the edge of the road andnoted the overgrowth of dense bushes.

He thought about Helen and felt sorry for hiswife. Why did I have to cheat on her? I should not have doneit. He wondered if it was really God inflicting this wretchedpunishment on him. Who is behind it?

For almost a minute no car drove past. He wastrembling now and his teeth were chattering. Never before had hefelt so much fear. Never before had he been in a situation where hehad to kill someone.

He slipped his hand beneath his undershirtand pressed it against his stomach, which had been protesting allthe while. He felt a little better as the pain eased for amoment.

The lone figure saw lights in the road thatwere rapidly approaching. He quickly pulled back his right hand andstuck it in his pocket. He stared into the blinding distance,listening to the sound of the engine and trying to guess what makeof car it was. The booming wind in the surrounding woods only madehim more nervous.

The next moment, white beams of intense lightdazzled him. He felt as if he were floating in empty space. Hewanted to look away but couldnt. The light, which was growingstronger and stronger, held him transfixed.

He heard a noise behind his back. Terrified,he jerked his head to see what it was, afraid it might be a wildanimal.

Seeing nothing unusual, Dr. Patterson lookedback toward the road. The sharp light had disappeared, replaced bythe roar of an engine as a car rushed past, leaving a cloud of dusthovering over the road.

Murderer.

I am not a murderer, damn it! Stop judgingme. Im going to do something good.

Go home!

I wont go home. I wont let you scare me.Leave me alone. This is the only way I can fix all my problems. Godwill thank me for this.

Again he saw lights slicing the darkness andwondered if this could be Carlo Vucci. Dread contorted his face andhe felt sick with fear. He strained his eyes as he peered into thelight, praying that everything would work out.

The light became whiter and more intense. Itburned his eyes but he did not want to look down. He knew this wasthe only way.

The car slowed.

Oh my God. This must be Carlo. What should Ido?

The roar of the engine overtook his senses.Seconds later the car slowly came to a halt.

Dr. Patterson knew he had to see it throughto the end. He had to kill this person.

Murderer!

Chapter 2

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Dr. Simon Patterson was a man of averagelooks, forty-two years old, with round horn-rimmed glasses anddark-brown hair, thinning a bit on top, which gave him a highforehead. He was five-foot-eleven, with a slender, firm build. Thelack of excess fat was only because he often got so caught up inhis work that he forgot to eat.