Gone Before Goodbye

One year later, Dr. Maggie McCabe stands outside Johns Hopkins’s Shriver Hall in Baltimore, Maryland, where a scholarship recognition event is being held in her late mother’s memory. Speaking to her husband, Marc, via a phone app, she admits that she does not want to attend. Marc encourages her to go. Inside, Maggie feels the stares of former classmates, judging her; her medical license has been suspended pending review after an unspecified incident.

Steve Schipner, a former classmate Maggie calls Sleazy Steve, reveals that he now works at Apollo Longevity in Dubai—an organization Maggie and Marc were once involved with. When Maggie tries to speak with a group of old friends, class president Bonnie Tillman pulls her aside and tells her she should not have come, calling her presence a blemish on her mother’s memory. Bonnie reveals that she will present the scholarship instead of Maggie.

Alone on the terrace, Maggie is approached by Dr. Evan Barlow, her former mentor and a billionaire cosmetic surgeon, who admits he came to the event specifically to see her. He reveals that he was in love with Maggie’s mother and asks Maggie to come to his New York office on Monday for a mysterious meeting. He refuses to explain why, offers her $20,000 just to attend, and asks her to tell no one. She sees what might be fear in his eyes and asks how he knew she would be at the event. He says she will find out on Monday.

Walking across campus, Maggie discusses Barlow’s offer with Marc on the phone. Marc researches Barlow and discovers that he is now a billionaire medical entrepreneur on Forbes’s list of the richest doctors. Marc notes that Apollo Longevity remains active, but WorldCures, the charity they founded with surgeon Trace Packer, no longer exists. He tells Maggie he has a bad feeling about the meeting.

At home, Maggie’s nephew Cole tells her that his mother Sharon is distressed. Maggie calls Marc’s father (known to everyone, including Marc, as Porkchop), head of the Serpents and Saints motorcycle group and owner of Vipers for Bikers, a bar in New York City. He answers the pay phone at Vipers, and the jukebox is playing a song that reminds her of her and Marc’s wedding. Porkchop says he will pick her up at the train station in New York.

Maggie finds Sharon surrounded by bills and an open bottle of wine. Sharon reveals that they are in so much debt that they have to sell the house. Maggie vaguely explains that she has a confidential job in New York that will take a week or two, refusing to provide details despite Sharon’s questions. Sharon mentions that Trace is believed to be in Bangladesh and announces she has joined a dating app.

Porkchop meets Maggie when her train arrives in New York. She tells him that she is staying at the expensive Aman hotel as part of her business meeting, but she insists on first visiting Trace Packer’s apartment to pick up his mail, an arrangement the friends have had for years. She gets onto the back of Porkchop’s motorcycle, and two Serpents and Saints members ride alongside them.

At Trace’s apartment building, the doorman gives Maggie his mail. She goes upstairs to his apartment and finds a model human heart beside the THUMPR7, a prototype artificial heart developed by their former charity, WorldCures. A war photograph on the wall shows her and Trace operating on soldiers in a helicopter; her patient died, and Trace’s survived. She remembers Trace taking her to distribute lollipops to local children after particularly traumatic missions. She reflects on the addictive nature of combat and how their humanitarian work allowed them to avoid mundane life.

Another photo shows young Trace with his mother, Karen, who wears the distinctive emerald ring Trace clutched at her funeral. Wine bottles remind Maggie of a drunken trip to Bordeaux with Trace and Marc. In the box of mail, she discovers a Wells Fargo bill for three safe deposit boxes—two small and one three feet by six feet—postmarked from San Francisco with no branch location listed. She texts a photo of the bill to Trace but receives no reply. Dr. Barlow texts, insisting on sending a car to pick her up for their meeting the next morning. Maggie tells Porkchop about the safe deposit boxes before they head to Vipers.

The next morning, Maggie wakes with a severe hangover from her night with Porkchop, haunted by memories of Marc and the patients she could not save. She reflects on a past issue with pills that she denies was addiction. A chauffeur named Alou picks her up with Dawn, her Barlow concierge. They take her to a secret facility rather than the practice’s public office. For security, Maggie must leave her phone in the car.

Dr. Barlow greets her in a luxurious 18th-floor office, explaining the extreme privacy measures as necessary for discretion. He asks why she did not fight the medical board’s malpractice charges and her license suspension; Maggie states that she is guilty. 

Barlow introduces Ivan Brovski, a liaison for a wealthy client, then leaves. Brovski demonstrates extensive knowledge of Maggie’s history and explains that his employer needs discreet cosmetic surgery on two people at a location near Moscow. He confirms that they know her license is revoked and calls her perfect for the job.

In exchange, Brovski offers to pay all Maggie and Sharon’s debts, settle her malpractice suit, arrange Russian medical licensing, and provide a fully equipped operating room. When Maggie negotiates, he offers $10 million—$5 million immediately, with the rest upon completion. Maggie agrees.

Maggie calls Sharon, who confirms by phone that her debts are already paid. Ivan shows Maggie her bank balance: The $5 million is already deposited. When she asks about backing out, his response suggests it would be difficult, making it clear that she is trapped. Porkchop calls and, on speakerphone, recites the car’s license plate as two bikers ride past—a warning to Ivan that Porkchop is watching to keep Maggie safe.

Maggie boards a lavishly converted Airbus A320. The flight attendant Hannah shows her the luxuries but says Wi-Fi is unavailable. Maggie falls asleep quickly and wakes 10 hours later, suspecting she was drugged. After landing at a private airport, a helicopter takes her over snow-covered forest to a remote, opulent palace.

Oleg Ragoravich greets her. He gives her a tour, displaying reproductions of the Gardner Museum heist paintings, claiming one is real. In a locked room, he presents three identical Mona Lisa paintings and spins an elaborate conspiracy theory that the Louvre’s is a forgery and one of his paintings is genuine, refusing to identify which.

After touring his car collection, Oleg takes Maggie to an indoor pool where a young woman named Nadia swims. Oleg identifies her as the second patient and requests breast and buttock augmentation. Maggie insists on examining both patients and obtaining Nadia’s direct consent. Oleg speaks to Nadia in Russian; she turns to Maggie and agrees. Maggie demands to examine Nadia alone.

The operating theater is an exact replica of Maggie’s operating room at Johns Hopkins, making her realize that the plan was set in motion long before Barlow’s offer. Oleg introduces her surgical team and announces that he is hosting a ball that evening that she must attend. Maggie warns him to eat and drink nothing by mouth after midnight for surgery. He leaves, telling her that Nadia waits in the adjacent room for examination.