Scared to Death
Debby Giusti

To Tony

My husband, my hero

To Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary

I am so proud of each of you

To Darlene Buchholz, Annie Oortman,

Dianna Love Snell and Sharon Yanish

Good friends and great critique partners

To Krista Stroever

For your suggestions and guidance

To Jessica Alvarez

For your help throughout the editing process

Contents

Chapter ONE

Chapter TWO

Chapter THREE

Chapter FOUR

Chapter FIVE

Chapter SIX

Chapter SEVEN

Chapter EIGHT

Chapter NINE

Chapter TEN

Chapter ELEVEN

Chapter TWELVE

Chapter THIRTEEN

Chapter FOURTEEN

Chapter FIFTEEN

Chapter SIXTEEN

Chapter SEVENTEEN

Chapter EIGHTEEN

Chapter NINETEEN

Chapter TWENTY

Chapter TWENTY-ONE

EPILOGUE

ONE

“Kate. I need your help.”

The urgency in the caller’s voice made Kate Murphy’s heart race. “Who…Who is this?”

“It’s Tina.”

Kate flinched at the name she hadn’t heard in three years. Images of death and betrayal flashed through her mind. Images Kate wanted to forget.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have called.” Tina’s words were clipped, her tone wary. “It’s been so long, but—”

Cupping a free hand over her ear, Kate tried to drown out the whirr of the centrifuges that filled the medical research lab where she worked.

“Wait, let me step into the hallway. I’ll be able to hear better.” Static crackled across the line as Kate changed locations. “Still there?”

“I know this sounds crazy, but I stumbled across something in the woods and need your medical expertise. Remember when you used to joke about what would happen if the bad guys ever unlocked the secrets of science?”

“Yeah?”

“I think they have.”

The tone of Tina’s voice made Kate’s skin crawl.

Her former friend was right. The whole thing did sound crazy. “How’d you find me, Tina?”

“Your name was in the paper. The article said you worked at Bannister Scientific in Atlanta.”

Kate raked a hand through her hair. She had only given one interview and suddenly she was front-page news. “I can’t leave. I’m in the middle of a project.”

No reason to mention her research had been put on hold. Tomorrow started her two-week probation while Bannister Scientific decided whether she’d keep her job.

“It’s Friday,” Tina pleaded. “Surely you get the weekend off? I’m only living two hours away.”

“I…I may be on call.”

“Growing up you said you’d always be there for me, Kate. I don’t have anyone else. We’re kind of kindred spirits in that regard.”

“What about your mom?”

“She died last Christmas.”

A lump formed in Kate’s throat. “I’m sorry, Tina.”

“So am I. You deserve an apology. What came out after Eddie’s death…I should have believed you.”

The last thing Kate wanted was to open old wounds concerning Tina’s brother. “Where are you?”

“Mercy, Georgia. About two hours north of Atlanta. I’m a housekeeper for a man named Nolan Price and his teenage daughter. I needed a job. Nolan was kind enough to take me in.”

“Listen, Tina, I don’t think—”

“Remember your grandfather’s cross?”

How could Kate forget? Of all things to give Eddie as a token of her love, handing him her most cherished possession three years ago had been the most foolish.

“I found the cross in Eddie’s safety-deposit box,” Tina said. “Just like my brother to tuck it away.”

Kate’s shoulders slumped with relief. The cross hadn’t been destroyed in the fire.

Her grandfather’s face floated through her mind—the man who’d loved her, raised her, taught her about a God she had eventually shut out of her life.

“I’ll give you the cross tonight. You can stay the weekend and see for yourself what I’m talking about.”

Kate shook her head ever so slightly. “Sounds like you’re trying to blackmail me into visiting you.”

Tina laughed, a self-deprecating sound that for an instant touched Kate’s heart. “Call it a bribe, okay?”

Kate sighed. Bribery or not, she needed the cross back around her neck. Sure, Tina could mail it to her, but Kate wouldn’t risk losing the cross again.

“Give me directions,” she finally said.

“Take the connector to 400 North.”

Jamming the phone between her ear and shoulder, Kate reached into the pocket of her lab coat. She pulled out a small tablet and ballpoint pen and jotted down the instructions.

“Tell me what you think you discovered, Tina.”

“Not over the phone. You’ve got to see it. With your scientific background, you’ll know if it’s worth my getting worried.”

You already are, Kate wanted to say. “Surely there’s someone else who can help you.”

“I don’t know who to trust.”

“The police?”

“No!”

“You’re scaring me, Tina.”

“Yeah. I know. That’s the way I feel. Scared to death.”

Kate hadn’t wanted the phone call from Tina, hadn’t expected it. Yet, here she was zooming along a desolate back road, heading into rural North Georgia on the coldest day in February to meet a woman she never thought she’d see again.

Dark clouds rolled across the evening sky and added to the anxiety eating at her ever since she’d heard Tina’s voice. Usually the levelheaded pragmatist, Kate had done an about-face. Driving into an approaching storm to revisit a friendship that probably should remain dead didn’t make sense.

Her cherished cross was the only reason she had agreed to meet Tina. Ever since she’d given it to Eddie, her life had fallen apart, as though God had left her when she’d parted with the necklace. Maybe retrieving the cross would turn her life around. Right now she’d do anything to get back on track.

She looked at the empty can of diet soda perched in her car’s console. Too much caffeine and too little sleep over the last few days working on her research project had taken its toll.

Now she had two weeks to kill.

She’d meet Tina, get the cross and find a B and B on the way back to Atlanta. A good dinner and a soak in a hot tub sounded like a fit ending to a long day. About twelve hours of sleep were just what she needed.

Kate reached into her handbag and grabbed a bottle of antacid tablets. She could imagine her boss’s voice. “You’ll kill yourself before your thirtieth birthday.” Jason Bannister often teased her about her marathon work habits. Probably the most savvy scientist Kate had ever worked for, Jason had hired her six months ago for research and development, confident she would succeed.

The partnership study with Southern Technology would have put Bannister Scientific on the map in diabetes research and ensured the two companies merged into the largest laboratory in the southeast.

Except the clinical trials hadn’t supported Southern Technology’s data. The newspaper article only compounded the problem.

Kate shouldn’t have talked to the reporter. She’d had a lapse in judgment, which was something she didn’t accept in others, and certainly not in herself.

She shook her head. She and Tina were exact opposites in that regard.

Tina saw the good, ignored the bad. Maybe that was why it hurt so much when her once-upon-a-time friend had cut Kate out of her life.

Kate glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror. Even Tina’s raven-black hair and voluptuous Latina body contrasted sharply with Kate’s rather average looks. In Kate’s opinion, her only attributes—and that might be stretching the point—were her fierce determination and blue eyes. Right now those eyes were bloodshot-red.

A roll of thunder forced her attention back to the road as twilight faded into night. Kate switched on the Mustang’s headlights and took a left at the four-way stop. So far, she’d had no problem following Tina’s directions, but the descending darkness and plummeting temperature threatened to make the last segment of the journey more challenging.

What had brought Tina to this isolated spot? A job? Nothing indicated the area was inhabited other than a few mailboxes by the side of the road and driveways that twisted into oblivion behind the tall pine trees.

Lightning flashed across the sky. Seconds later, a crash of thunder sounded as if it hit the edge of the road. All around her the pine trees danced, their groans mixing with the whistling wind.

A fine mist turned to drizzle. Kate clicked on the wipers and checked to make sure her window was closed tight, then shoved the heater knob to high.

A road sign warned of a sharp curve. Kate downshifted and felt the powerful engine slip into Second. From what Tina had said, a bridge crossed Mercy Creek just ahead.

The rain strengthened. Fat drops splashed against the windshield. A blast of wind hit full force. Kate gripped the wheel to keep the car from crossing the yellow line. As the wind surge died, she flipped the wipers to high and scanned the road for the bridge. The turnoff to Tina’s should be on the far side of the creek.

From out of nowhere, a deer charged into the beam of her headlights. Kate pushed in the clutch and stomped on the brake while her hand shoved the gear into First. The tires squealed in protest as the car skidded across the road.

The animal hit the front bumper with a loud thump, soared in the air and crashed against her windshield.

The massive carcass blocked Kate’s view. Instinctively, she turned against the skid. The deer shifted to the passenger’s side, smearing a bloody trail along the windshield.

Her heart slammed against her chest.

The Mustang was headed for the creek.

The car broke through the guardrail. A jagged edge of steel grated against the door, ripping a gash in the passenger side. For half a second, the auto teetered on the edge of the bridge, then plunged into the raging current below.

Kate screamed. Ice-cold water rushed in like a tsunami, flooding everything in its path.

She floated somewhere outside the realm of consciousness until a searing pain in her leg and bone-chilling cold snapped her back to reality. Where was she?

Try to think. The car, a deer, the bridge…

Oh, dear God.

Water swirled around her knees. She couldn’t feel her left leg, couldn’t move it. The right one throbbed with pain.

Get out. Kate unbuckled her seat belt and pushed on the driver’s door. Locked. She reached for the button to release the latch, grabbed the handle and shoved. Nothing budged.

She tried the automatic window. A grinding noise filled the car, and the glass lowered ever so slightly.

“Help me,” she shouted through the crack. The wind caught her words and erased them from the night.

She wanted to cry, but she was too terrified, and there was no time. She had to free herself.

Dipping her hand into the swirling eddy, she grabbed her cell phone from the console and shook out the water. Kate pushed the power button. No light. No start-up jingle.

The rain pounded against the car with an unrelenting fury. The water continued to rise. Waist high. Cold. Dark. Her teeth chattered as she gasped for air. Don’t panic.

She smashed the cell phone against the window, hoping to break the glass. Crash-resistant silicon proved stronger than cellular technology. Enraged, Kate threw the phone against the far window and heard the plunk as it dropped into the pool of water filling the car.

The horn.

She hit the center of the wheel. A momentary blare erupted, then sputtered out like a dying engine.

This couldn’t be happening.

“Oh, please.” She pushed on the door with all her strength, but it wouldn’t move.

A sound cut through the storm.

She strained to hear. The wind howled and thunder rumbled.

Nothing.

Maybe a hallucination from hypothermia.

Numb. That was how she felt. Not cold. Not hot. It wouldn’t be long. As much as she needed to hold on to hope, death seemed inevitable.

But giving up had never been her style.

What had she read? People didn’t respond to calls for help.

“Fire,” she screamed through the opening in the window as she continued to push against the door. “Help me. Fire. Help me. Fire.” She repeated the sequence until her voice cracked and finally gave out just like the horn.

Tears streamed down her face and mixed with the water now at chest level. Soon her mouth would be covered, then her nose. How long before death would take her? Two minutes? Three?

God, help me.

A speck of light flickered through the darkness.

“Here I am,” Kate cried out, her voice weak even to her own ears. She hit the horn. Nothing.

The light zigzagged through the tall pines. Too far away to see her. She had to make some sound.

Her right leg broke free from the tangled metal of the brake pedal. She raised her foot and strained to reach the shoe that slipped through her outstretched fingers. She lunged. A driving pain sliced through her left leg. Kate shoved her hand deeper into the water and caught the heel of her pump. Raising the shoe to the windshield, she pounded against the glass.

A dull thud filled the night. Would anyone hear her signal for help?

The light disappeared.

Water lapped around her neck, but she wouldn’t give up. Over and over again, she slammed the shoe against the window.

Slowly, warmth engulfed her, as if the water temperature had risen twenty degrees. A sense of euphoria swept over her. She was swimming in her old neighborhood pool. Tina sat on the edge of the deep end next to Eddie with his broad shoulders and lifeguard tan. Kate smiled, waved and…

Something jarred her. The door wrenched open. Hands touched her.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you now.”

A man pulled her from the car. Her head fell against his shoulder.

“Hold on, honey.”

Instinctively, she clung to him. “Eddie?”

They were moving. Going through the water, but Kate felt nothing except the strength of his embrace. She wanted to drift to sleep in his arms.

“Stay with me,” his voice warned.

Suddenly, she was lying on the cold, hard ground. Rain pelted her face.

She blinked her eyes open.

Eddie hadn’t saved her. Someone else had.

He dropped to the ground beside her and lifted her into his arms.

“I know this hurts,” he said.

She pushed her hands against his massive chest, but he drew her closer. “No!”

She couldn’t move. With one hand, he held her tight against his body. With the other, he reached for something. A heavy wool coat wrapped over them, and he hunkered down under its protection.

A siren wailed in the distance. Kate heard it, or thought she did. Only partially aware of the sound, she was totally aware of the man holding her close.

Her eyes were heavy. She wanted to sleep, but his gentle voice urged her to stay with him.

“Don’t leave me,” he said over and over again, as if they were a team working together to keep her alive.

A chorus of voices broke through the night.

“Over here,” he yelled. “North side of the creek.”

Help was coming. But Kate didn’t want to leave the protection of his embrace.

“What happened?”

“She went off the bridge. Hypothermia. Keep her warm.”

Blankets covered her. Kate felt their weight at the same time he pulled out of her grasp. She shivered, unable to control the spasmodic jerking of her muscles.

“She’s in shock.”

He touched her hand. “I’ll follow the ambulance to the clinic. Is there someone I can call? Maybe a relative?”

She swallowed, tried to speak. Her voice came out a whisper, cracked. “Call Tina Esp—”

He gasped. “Tina Espinosa?”

Kate nodded.

“Later.”

She shook her head. “Now. Let Tina know I’m hurt. She’ll help me.”

“Tell her, Price,” a voice demanded.

Price? The man Tina worked for. Kate latched on to his arm and wouldn’t let go.

Another voice chimed in from the foot of the stretcher. “Truth is, ma’am, Tina—”

Sounds swirled around Kate. What had he said?

“Hush!” Nolan glared at the person who had spoken.

Kate gripped her rescuer’s hand even tighter. “What happened to Tina?”

Nolan bent down, his face close to hers. Dark eyes, brow wrinkled with concern.

“Tell me,” she pleaded.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” he finally said. “They found her a few hours ago. Tina’s dead.”

TWO

Nolan Price would rather be anywhere than outside Mercy MedClinic’s emergency room. Hand him a financial portfolio to study or a corporate merger to broker and he was home free. But tubes pumping blood and oxygen into dying patients gave him the creeps.

Maybe it was the memories. Eight months and the pain hadn’t gone away. He doubted it ever would.

He glanced at his watch—10:00 p.m. Over three hours since he’d pulled the woman from the creek. Surely medical science, even in this rural facility, could determine the extent of her injuries in that length of time.

Kate Murphy. He’d finally learned her name.

Nolan shook his head. Too much had happened in one afternoon. The phone call about Tina, and then her friend had almost died in his arms.

God had a strange sense of timing.

Of course, he’d found that out with his wife’s tragic death.

At least he still had Heather. Not that raising a fifteen-year-old single-handed was anything but tough. Every time he thought he was making headway, she retreated into her shell. He couldn’t relate to his daughter no matter how hard he tried. Or prayed.

Maybe they should have stayed in Los Angeles.

He sighed, then pulled his cell from his pocket, hit the home listing and listened as the phone rang and rang.

The answering machine clicked on. “I’m sorry we’re unable to take your call. Please leave a message….”

Why wouldn’t she answer?

“Heather, I know you’re there. Pick up the phone.”

No response.

“I’m not mad.” Anymore, he wanted to add.

If only Olivia were alive.

“Make sure the doors to the house are locked, and don’t open for anyone. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

Nolan snapped the phone shut and shoved it back in his pocket as the sheriff pushed through the emergency-room doors. Early forties, tall and lanky, Wayne Turner was a pack-a-day smoker with a habit of poking his nose into everyone else’s business.

“Doc said he’d be finished with her soon. Lady’s lucky. Tore one of her knee ligaments. That’s the extent of it ’cept for a few cuts and scrapes.”

Nolan nodded. No reason to encourage Turner. Tonight of all nights, he didn’t feel like making conversation.

“Must be quite a lady from what the EMTs said.” The sheriff stuck his chin in the air. “What’s your take?”

“Last I saw, she was bone cold and struggling to survive. We didn’t have time to exchange pleasantries.”

Turner shoved his hand in his pocket and rattled his change. “Lucky you found her. The way your house sits back from the road, no way you could have heard the crash. How’d you happen to be outside on a night like this?”

A vision flashed through Nolan’s head—Heather’s boyfriend running through the woods.

“I was on my way back from talking to Wade Green over at the funeral home about how to handle Tina’s arrangements,” Nolan said, purposely not mentioning the boy. “That’s when I saw the break in the bridge.”

Turner sniffed. “Sorry about your housekeeper. Guess we owe you. Would have been two dead-on-arrivals if you hadn’t happened by in the nick of time.”

Nolan leaned against the cold tile wall. He hadn’t thought of saving anyone when he’d raced after the boy. Then he’d seen the car, realized someone was trapped inside. Thankfully, he’d had his cell phone and the EMTs had answered his call for help or Turner’s statement might have proven true.

The Good Lord supposedly didn’t give you more than you could handle. Heather was the problem. Tina had filled a portion of the void Olivia left. His daughter confided in the housekeeper, trusted her. Now that Tina was gone, Heather might withdraw even further from him.

“Shame that housekeeper of yours had a flat on Old Man Hawkins’ dirt road. Pretty isolated stretch. No one to help her.” Turner shook his head. “Allergic to latex. Who’d figure? Not the way I’d wanna die.”

Doc Samuels had filled Nolan in earlier. Changing the tire had brought Tina into contact with something that had triggered an anaphylactic reaction.

Ignoring the sheriff, Nolan turned to face the doc as he pushed open the ER doors.

Short, stocky, with a receding hairline and a small birthmark over his left brow, Mercy’s sole physician stuck out his hand. “Thanks for staying, Nolan.”

He returned the handshake. “Lloyd.”

“Good job with the accident victim. Few seconds longer and she’d be in the morgue instead of the treatment room. Keeping her warm did the trick.”

“Hypothermia’s easy enough to spot.”

“Yeah, but you reacted.” The doc pointed to the doors he had just stepped through. “That little lady owes you her life.”

Nolan shrugged off the praise. “Right time, right place.”

“She tore her ACL. Probably won’t need surgery, but her leg’s too swollen to be sure. She’ll need an MRI once the swelling subsides. Right now, I’ve got her in a knee immobilizer, but she has to stay off her feet for a few days. Problem is her insurance won’t cover keeping her here all night. Closest hotel’s in Summerton. Don’t know if driving over the mountain would be the safest bet.” He looked at the sheriff.

“Rain turned to sleet about an hour ago,” Turner said. “Highway patrol plans to close the pass to Summerton. The way the temperature’s dropping, we’ll be iced over for the rest of the night.”

“Would Edith mind if—”

Turner held up one hand, palm out. “Count me out, Doc. Edith’s spending the night with Ms. Agnes. That handicapped daughter of hers took a turn for the worse. Edith’s helping out.”

Nolan let out an exasperated breath. Last thing he wanted was a stranger underfoot, but the woman needed a place to stay.

“Kate Murphy knew Tina. Heather and I can put her up until the storm passes.”

“Appreciate it,” Lloyd said, slapping Nolan’s arm. “I gave her something for the pain. She’s a little groggy. Check on her occasionally in the night.”

The doc turned to the chief. “Ms. Murphy asked about her car.”

Turner whistled. “Boys are still trying to pull that sucker out of the water. Probably late morning before the roads improve so they can tow it over to Mercy Automotive. Mind if I get a little info from the patient, Doc?”

Lloyd nodded and pointed the sheriff toward the treatment room.

When Turner was out of earshot, Nolan said, “I talked to the funeral director earlier this evening. Wade said to ask you when Tina’s body would be released.”

“Already done. Wade picked her up about an hour ago.”

“Thanks, Lloyd.”

The doc pointed to the ambulance entrance. “Pull your car around. I’ll have the nurse escort Ms. Murphy out in a few minutes.”

Nolan parked his Explorer in front of the ER. The sleet had stopped, but ice covered the landscape. Talk about a night to remember.

He left the engine running and the heater on high. Rounding the vehicle, Nolan waited until the automatic doors opened and the nurse wheeled her patient into the cold night.

Wrapped in a white thermal blanket with her left leg propped up, Kate Murphy reminded him of a rag doll that had lost part of its stuffing. She was pale skinned and blurry eyed, as if the life had drained from her.

He opened the back passenger door.

“Can you lift her?” the nurse asked. “I’ll stabilize her leg.”

Nolan slipped one arm around Kate’s shoulders, the other under her knees and raised her from the chair. Light, maybe too light.

She stiffened in his arms and groaned.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

The nurse climbed into the SUV and supported the braced leg as Nolan positioned Kate on the seat.

He could only imagine how she felt.

Hurt. Alone. In the arms of a stranger.

“My daughter’s at home,” he offered as reassurance, though he felt certain Lloyd had explained the situation. “There’s a guest room on the first floor.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

The nurse wrapped a second blanket around Kate’s body, then stepped out of the car, slammed the door and handed Nolan a typed form. “That leg will bother her for a few days. Ice should help. Everything’s in the discharge papers.”

“Right.”

Nolan climbed into the driver’s seat and glanced at his passenger huddled in the rear. As soon as possible, he’d send Kate Murphy back to Atlanta.

He didn’t want to be responsible for another woman with what was happening in Mercy.

Kate wrapped the hospital blanket around her shoulders and tried to settle into the backseat of the SUV. Her leg burned like fire, and her body ached as if she’d done a mega workout and pushed every muscle to the limit.

She caught Nolan glancing back at her in the rearview mirror. Dark eyes, pensive, brooding.

“Warm enough?” he asked.

“I’m fine.”

She yanked the blanket higher. Her wet clothes were piled in a plastic bag on the floor along with a very soggy wallet someone had found wedged in her car’s console. The hospital gown afforded her some modesty, the blankets provided warmth and her credit cards weren’t floating downstream. At least there were some things for which to be thankful.

She flicked her gaze back to her rescuer. He appeared tall with jet-black hair, cut close, and piercing eyes that seemed to burn into her whenever he looked her way. He wore a pullover sweater and jeans, and from the looks of his dry clothes, he’d evidently changed after his dip in the creek.

Glancing down at her blanket-swathed body, she was grateful ERs didn’t provide mirrors for their patients. She’d hate to see herself. Limp brown hair, faded hospital gown, bags under her eyes, no doubt. Whatever the long-term diagnosis, she knew it wasn’t pretty.

Outside the car window, ice covered the trees and shrubs, every leaf and branch frozen in place. Another time and the landscape would have seemed magical. Like a winter wonderland. But not tonight. After all that had happened, there was nothing magical about Mercy.

The doctor had assured her she’d be comfortable staying at Nolan Price’s home. A widower with a teenage daughter. The man Tina had mentioned. Nice of him to take her in. Still, she’d give anything to be home in Atlanta.

Her eyes grew heavy. The doctor had given her something for pain. “To take the edge off,” he’d said.

She needed to ask something before she fell asleep. “What…What happened to Tina?”

Intent on driving, Nolan apparently hadn’t heard her, and she was too tired to repeat the question.

She closed her eyes, and her body floated as if she were in the creek again. This time the sun was shining down, warming her. She drifted….

His hands nudged her.

She opened her eyes.

“Easy does it,” he said, hoisting her into his arms. A sharp jab cut through her leg.

A large forbidding structure loomed ahead of them. Two-story. Brick. No light inviting them in from the cold.

Trees crowded around the house and creaked in the frigid air like old bones dancing in the night.

Kate shivered. This wasn’t the welcoming lodge she’d envisioned.

She closed her eyes. A key turned. She blinked. A young girl peered around the open door.

“Kate, this is my daughter, Heather.”

Shoulder-length blond hair, petite, big eyes that stared back at her.

“Heather, Miss Murphy’s staying in the guest room.”

Kate opened her mouth to say hello, but he rushed her past the girl too quickly.

A bed, blankets…Kate snuggled down in the warmth, vaguely aware of her host bustling about to get her settled.

Eventually, he placed a pillow under her left leg and a plastic bag filled with ice on top.

Cool, soothing.

“Call me if you need anything,” he said.

“Thanks.” She tried to smile.

A light flicked off. Darkness enveloped her. She closed her eyes….

Later, the door clicked open.

He bent over her, removed the melted ice bag and replaced it with a fresh one.

She slept again.

Her grandfather’s face floated through her dreams. “No coincidences,” he told her. “Only God-incidences.”

She wanted to laugh.

Had God brought her to Mercy to find the cross? Or to find Tina?

Then she remembered.

Tina’s dead. The words hammered through her brain.

Her eyes flew open. A girl’s voice cut through the night. Heather sounded as if she was standing directly outside Kate’s room.

“Is she taking Tina’s place?”

“I told you, she’s only staying a short time.”

“But when I tell you something you never believe me,” the girl threw back at her father.

“You know the rules, Heather. No one comes into the house when I’m not home.”

“Jimmy stayed outside.”

“Then why’d he run away?”

Maybe all families were the same. Kate and her dad had had their share of problems before he’d walked out of her life.

The irony was she was still waiting for him to return.

“I love you, honey.” At least Nolan was trying.

“You didn’t love Mom.”

“Heather, please—”

Too private for Kate’s ears. She cleared her throat, hoping they would hear her and take their discussion elsewhere.

“I told you not to leave.” The girl’s voice was edged with pain. “I knew something bad would happen.”

“Your mother’s death wasn’t my fault, Heather.”

“No? Then whose fault was it?”

THREE

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Kate opened her eyes to the gray winter light peering through the curtain, turned her head on the pillow and squinted at the travel alarm perched on the bedside table. Her temples throbbed in sync with the ticking clock.

Eight-fifteen. Later than she’d slept in the last six months.

So why’d she still feel groggy? Probably the drugs Dr. Samuels had given her yesterday at the clinic.

She closed her eyes and started to drift back to sleep. Visions flashed through her mind—the deer, the bridge, the raging water rushing in around her.

Her eyes jerked open. The water receded, replaced by the memory of Nolan’s powerful arms and warm embrace. If he hadn’t saved her—

Don’t go there. Nolan had saved her.

Thank God.

She shook her head ever so slightly. Far as she was concerned, God had nothing to do with it.

But Tina? Tears stung Kate’s eyes. She blinked them away.

Heather’s angry voice echoed in Kate’s mind.

Had she imagined the father-daughter spat? Maybe a dream?

A widower trying to raise a teenage daughter had to be tough. Yet, he’d taken Kate into his home.

As much as she appreciated his hospitality, she needed to get up, assess her situation and head back to Atlanta. Back to—

She sighed. Back to an empty condo and two weeks of worry. Until the board of review made their decision.

No telling the outcome.

Headstrong. That was what Jason had called her. Talking to the reporter had been a foolish mistake. She’d put her position and the lab in jeopardy.

Don’t cry over spilled milk. Her grandfather’s words flowed through her consciousness. Grandda with his Old World practicality. He’d be the first to tell her to focus on the problem at hand.

Cautiously, she eased her arm from under the down comforter and rubbed her forehead. If only the jackhammer pounding through her brain would stop.

Mouth as dry as cotton batting, she ran her parched tongue over chapped lips as her eyes swept the room in the half light.

Oak dresser. Ladder-back chair. A roughly hewn wooden cross nailed to the wall next to an oval mirror.

Closet and two other doors. One hung open, exposing a porcelain sink and shower stall, as inviting as a desert oasis.

She threw back the covers, rolled to her side and gasped. A jolt of white lightning sliced through her left leg.

“Argh!” Falling back on the bed, Kate fought the wave of nausea that rolled over her along with the frigid morning air.

An empty stomach and pain medication didn’t mix. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast yesterday—one low-fat granola bar washed down with coffee.

Sucking in a few shallow puffs of air, she waited until the pain subsided, then slowly rose to a sitting position and examined the immobilizer secured around her left leg with Velcro straps. A torn ACL.

Kate didn’t have time for another problem.

Determined to push through the pain, she eased herself to the edge of the bed and carefully lowered her feet to the cold hardwood floor. Putting weight on her good leg, she stood upright.

The room faded into darkness. Kate grabbed the nightstand and waited for her sudden drop in blood pressure to pass. Poised precariously like a flamingo on one foot, she winced as her hurt leg fought against her effort and blinked the room back into focus.

She wouldn’t run any marathons today. Five hops to the bathroom might be more than she could manage.

Trading the support of the nightstand for the dresser, she inched across the room. With every movement, her leg screamed in protest. Finally, she reached the bathroom, slumped against the sink and held her breath until the stabbing pain eased.

Kate glanced at the face looking back at her from the mirror.

Sunken eyes. Pale skin. Twisted matt of hair.

She flipped on the wall switch and sighed when the light failed to work. Electricity must have gone out in the night.

Reaching for the faucet, she turned on the water, lowered her head and gulped the cool liquid pooled in her outstretched hand.

A travel kit of wrapped toiletries sat on the basin. She jabbed a fingernail into the cellophane, grabbed a pocket comb and raked it through her hair, then brushed her teeth, scrubbed her face and toweled dry. What she wouldn’t give for a shower.

Her eyes once again connected with the stranger in the mirror. Not her best day by a long shot.

A white terry-cloth robe hung on a wall hook. Kate snuggled into the thick cotton, left the bathroom and hobbled to the guest-room door.

What would she find on the other side?

Sucking in a fortifying breath, she reached for the knob and pulled. Stairs climbed upward directly outside her room. She grabbed the banister for support and examined the hallway around her.

Photos hung on the wall. Nolan arm in arm with his daughter. A second picture of Heather when she was a little girl. A third of Tina and Nolan sitting side by side at a kitchen table.

Older, more mature, but Tina still flaunted the flirtatious smile and laughing eyes.

A life cut short. Why? Kate’s mind swirled. So senseless.

She let go of the stair railing, reached for the wall and misjudged the distance.

Her right knee buckled. She tumbled forward.

From out of nowhere, arms grabbed her. Pulled her upright.

Kate twisted and stared into Nolan’s dark eyes.

He raised an eyebrow. “You should have called for help.”

“I didn’t expect another crash. Seems you’ve saved me a second time.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “You prone to trouble?”

“Not usually.” She found her footing, straightened her shoulders and tried to gracefully extract herself from his hold. “I’m fine.”

“Really? Looks to me like you’re ready to keel over.”

Exactly how she felt. Her blood pressure must be ninety over fifty, the way her head was swimming.

His hands continued to steady her. “Lean against me for support.”

Embarrassed to appear so needy, Kate put weight on her injured leg, then gasped as a hot slice of pain shot through her knee.

Swallow your pride, Kate.

If Nolan wanted to help, why not let him? The world could use a few more heroes.

His arm slid around her waist. “Easy does it.”

Slowly, he guided her through the doorway and into the welcoming interior of the great room. A blazing fire crackled a greeting from a massive stone fireplace on the far wall.

Nolan lowered her into a leather chair, warm from someone’s previous body heat. A half-full cup of coffee sat on the side table. Nolan’s chair.

“Listen, I don’t want to take your—”

“Would you please sit down?” His tone was firm. Then he smiled. “You always so obstinate?”

“My grandfather called me stubborn.”

“I’d have to agree with him.”

Kate wiggled back into the deep cushions as Nolan raised her left leg to the ottoman and covered it with a chenille throw he grabbed off the couch. He tucked the covering around her bare foot before he stood and surveyed his patient.

A sense of gratitude spread over Kate. “I can’t thank you enough. You saved my life last night. Then you took me in. Now you’re waiting on me hand and foot.” She glanced down at her injured leg. “Literally. I’m not used to such treatment.”

“Chalk it up to Southern hospitality. Which reminds me, how do you take your coffee?”

“A little sweetener.”

“Sugar okay?”

“Of course.” She wove her fingers into the folds of the throw. “I really do appreciate your generosity.”

“Not a problem. Besides, you knew Tina.” He shook his head and swallowed. “Still can’t believe it. Tina was a good employee and a friend to Heather.” He sighed. “My daughter and I are both having a hard time.”

“Death’s tough on everyone.”

Nolan’s eyes softened. “Were you and Tina old friends?”

“Since grammar school. The Espinosas lived next door.”

“Guess you heard, Tina’s mom passed away last December. No other living relatives. Her brother died three years ago.”

“I knew about Eddie.” Kate lowered her gaze, hoping her eyes didn’t reflect the pain written on her heart.

“Funny, Tina never mentioned having a friend in Atlanta.”

Kate pulled in a steadying breath. “We’d been out of touch for a few years.”

“Bad timing, huh?”

She jerked her head up. “What?”

“Arriving in town the day she died. Must be tearing you apart.”

How did she feel? Regret? Sorrow? Three years and Kate couldn’t get past the rejection.

“So what brought you to Mercy?” Nolan asked.

“Tina had something that belonged to me. Did she ever mention a gold cross?”

“Not that I recall. Then again, she kept personal matters to herself. Lived in the apartment over the garage.” His eyes flicked over Kate’s injured leg. “Stairs are steep. Don’t suggest you go poking around up there.”

“Of course not.” Had Tina told Nolan about what she’d seen in the woods? She’d said she didn’t trust anyone. Did that include her boss?

“I’ll talk to Heather. Maybe she’s seen the cross. If we find it, we’ll be sure to give it back to you.” Nolan pointed toward the kitchen door. “I’ll get that coffee now.”

Kate watched him leave. On the surface, he seemed like a nice enough guy, and he’d saved her life, for which she’d be eternally grateful. But she needed to be careful. People weren’t always who they seemed.

She shook her head. Lighten up, would you?

Better to focus on the positive.

Kate gazed around the room. Framed photos of Heather sat on the mantel. Tough raising a child alone.

Even harder for a girl who needed a mother’s love. Kate should know. God had robbed her of that luxury, too.

Maybe that was why Tina’s mom had played such an important roll in Kate’s life.

Until the fire had changed their relationship forever.

Kate shook her head, blocking the memory from returning full force. Not today. She had too much to deal with as it was. No need to dredge up the past.

She glanced at the windows to her right. Thick burgundy drapes, held back with tassels, let in a glimpse of the frozen world outside.

In front of her a leather-bound Bible lay open on the coffee table as if Nolan had stopped midverse to tend to her needs.

A door creaked. Kate turned at the sound. Nolan entered the room, along with the mouthwatering smell of sausage and eggs. He set the tray on the coffee table. “I kept breakfast warm for you. Hungry?”

“A bit. Thank you.”

She accepted the plate he offered. A wedge of melon, two sausage patties, scrambled eggs, biscuits. Not her usual fare and far more appealing than a dry breakfast bar. “You must be a miracle maker. Isn’t the power out?”

“I’ve got a gas stove. Comes in handy in this type of weather. And a small generator that works the water pump. I keep a stove-top coffeemaker for these occasions, as well.” He placed a glass of orange juice and mug of coffee on the side table.

The rich aroma made her stomach churn, reminding her she hadn’t eaten in over twenty-four hours.

He shuffled his feet and glanced at the door he’d just walked through. “Holler if you need anything. I’ll be in the kitchen cleaning up.”

Kate reached for the silverware as he left the room and shoved a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

“Mmm.” The man could cook.

When she finished, she placed the empty plate on the table, closed her eyes and dozed until a knock caused her eyes to fly open. She straightened in the chair and listened.

Heavy steps crossed the hardwood foyer. A door opened.

“Doc.” Nolan’s voice. “Didn’t think you’d be able to make it over this morning. How’re the roads?”

“Could be better. Thank goodness for four-wheel drive.”

“Let me hang up your coat.”

Fabric rustled. She envisioned the doctor shrugging out of his wrap.

“How’s my patient?”

“Resting. She ate breakfast earlier.”

Kate glanced at the side table. The dirty dishes had been replaced with a second glass of juice.

“Still deathly pale,” Nolan continued, his voice drawing closer.

She raked her hand through her hair, a bit self-conscious at being the topic of their discussion.

The door to the foyer opened. Lloyd Samuels burst into the room, bringing a rush of cool air with him.

“Morning, Kate. Looks like Nolan’s taking good care of you.”

She glanced from the doctor to her host and smiled. “He’s been very kind.”

“The nurse forgot to give you these last night.” He placed the wooden crutches he carried on the floor beside her chair. “Should help your mobility. Glad to see you’ve got that leg elevated.”

Reaching for the chenille throw, he asked, “Mind if I take a peek?”

“Not at all.” Kate flipped the cover off her left leg and looked up.

Nolan’s eyes locked on hers. She flushed and looked away.

“I’ll give you two some privacy.” Nolan stepped toward the kitchen door. “Coffee, Lloyd?”

“Sounds good. Add a little cream, if you’ve got it.”

The doctor bent to examine Kate’s leg. Unfastening the brace, his fingers probed a tender spot. She drew in a sharp breath.

“Sorry. Swelling’s about the same. Use the crutches and keep your weight off that leg for a few more days.”

“I need to get back to Atlanta.”

“Not until the swelling goes down.” He reconnected the immobilizer, then fished a plastic bottle from his pocket and placed it on the table. “Pain medication. I called in a prescription to the pharmacy. These’ll tide you over until the roads clear. Sheriff said the electricity should be on later this evening. By tomorrow morning, things should be back to normal.”

A two-hour drive from Atlanta with a wrecked auto and injured leg, Kate doubted her life would be normal anytime soon. She’d give herself seventy-two hours max to recuperate here in Mercy. Then, she’d return to Atlanta one way or another.

Nolan returned with mugs of coffee and offered one to the doctor, who sipped the hot brew and smacked his lips. “Just what I needed.”

He downed another swig before looking thoughtfully at Nolan. “Where’s Heather?”

“Upstairs. She refuses to leave her room.”

The doctor nodded. “Kids have a hard time accepting death, especially when it’s sudden. I could prescribe something.”

“No.”

The sharpness of Nolan’s response surprised Kate, although she had to agree. Drugs wouldn’t help Heather deal with her grief.

“I know how much Tina meant to Heather.” Doc Samuels cleared his throat. “Like I told you at the clinic, Kate, folks in Mercy loved Tina. She was a committed Christian with a good heart.”

Last night, Kate’s mind had been fuzzy with pain medication. Had she told the doctor about Tina’s phone call? Surely, Lloyd Samuels wasn’t one of the people Tina had said she couldn’t trust.

The doctor looked at Nolan. “Wade said he talked to you about holding Tina’s service as soon as possible. That is, if the weather cooperates.”

Kate readjusted the throw and reached for the coffee Nolan had placed next to her chair.

“You mean Tina’s funeral?” she asked, the mug halfway to her lips. “Why the rush?”

“Another storm’s expected early next week,” the doc replied. “Plus, Mercy’s a small town. News travels. No need to wait for the obit notice in the paper. Most folks work during the week. More of them would be able to pay their respects tomorrow.”

Nolan raised his brow. “Tomorrow?”

“That’s right. Wade wants to take advantage of the lull between the storms.”

Kate slanted another glance out the window. “Isn’t the ground frozen?”

“Not a problem.” The doctor drank again.

She imagined the frigid air blowing over the grave-site. “But—”

He placed the mug on the table and smiled. “Cremation, Miss Murphy. That’s what Tina requested.”

Cremation? No way.

Blame it on a Hispanic upbringing, but cremation had never been an option for the Espinosa family. Eddie’s death had only driven home the point.

Never by fire. Never.

Kate needed to set the doctor straight. “Look, cremation’s not what Tina would have wanted.”

“According to Wade, it’s precisely what she did want,” the doctor insisted.

“You’re saying she prearranged her funeral?”

“Not exactly. But she and Wade talked once Tina realized her condition was life threatening.”

“Pardon?”

The doctor’s nostrils flared. “So Wade would know her preferences in case something unforeseen happened, Miss Murphy.”

His tone was sharp. Maybe he didn’t like his authority questioned.

“Tina was only twenty-nine.” And never one to plan for the future, Kate remembered, keeping the thought to herself.

Lloyd shrugged. “But highly allergic.”

“To what?”

“Latex, Kate. A growing problem. The incidence has increased significantly in the last twenty years or so.”

Kate knew the statistics. “Since medical personnel began wearing gloves on a regular basis. But that’s within the health-care community.”

The doctor turned to Nolan. “Didn’t you say Tina worked as a nurse’s aide out in California?”

“That’s where we met her.”

“Told me she’d had contact dermatitis for years,” Lloyd continued.

“Eczema,” Kate interjected. Tina had always been self-conscious of her rough red skin. An irritating condition but not the result of latex.

“The situation had progressed recently.” The doctor ignored Kate’s diagnosis. “Tina had been concerned. And rightfully so.”

“And that’s what killed her?”

“Seems her car had a blowout on one of the back farm roads. She tried to change the tire. Something triggered a reaction. Maybe the rubber in the tire—” He glanced at Nolan. “Latex is made from rubber.”

“A derivative,” Kate clarified.

The doctor raised a brow and smirked rather condescendingly down at her. “Sounds like you have a scientific background.”

“Chemistry.” She didn’t mention the completed credit hours for her Ph.D.

“Then you understand anaphylactic shock. Ralph Hawkins found her on his property, called the EMTs. Her heart had stopped long before she arrived at the clinic.”

Kate thought of Tina dying all alone on some isolated stretch of country road. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Friends for life. That was what she and Tina had promised one another so long ago.

The doctor reached for the bottle of pills he’d placed on the side table, shook one into his palm and held it out. “You’ve been through a lot, Kate. Take this caplet.”

She didn’t want the pill.

“Come on, now,” he insisted. “I can tell you’re upset. You need to rest.”

She looked from the doctor to Nolan warming himself in front of the fire, his expression impossible to read.

A shiver rolled down Kate’s spine as she recalled his daughter’s words the night before.

Wife dead.

Tina dead.

The common denominator was Nolan.

What had Kate stumbled into?

She grabbed the glass of juice off the table and threw the pill into her mouth.

The doctor turned to shake Nolan’s hand. “Keep me posted on the arrangements.”

“Will do. Appreciate your help, Doc.”

Without a backward glance at Kate, the two men walked toward the door.

As soon as they left the room, Kate spit the pill into her hand. She didn’t need medication to sleep. She needed to keep her eyes wide open. Tina’s death didn’t add up.

If not latex, then what had killed Tina?

FOUR

Nolan said goodbye to Lloyd, then climbed the stairs to the second floor and stopped outside Heather’s bedroom.

“Honey?”

He knocked twice, grabbed the knob and twisted.

Locked.

“Can I bring you something, Heather? A cup of tea? Maybe a sandwich?”

“I’m not hungry,” she said, her voice muffled by the closed door.

“The electricity will come on soon, but it’s cold up here. You don’t want to get sick.”

“I’m wearing my jacket.”

He pictured her sitting on the canopy bed, bundled in her peacoat and stocking hat, red-eyed and totally confused. Part child, part woman, she waged war with her emotions, trying to stay in control.

Just as she had when Olivia had died.

“I’ll make spaghetti for dinner.” Heather’s favorite. Hunger might coax her from her seclusion. “Why don’t you come down soon?”

No answer.

“You need to eat.”

“Not now, Dad.” Her voice cracked.

The sound slammed against his heart. His baby was too young to carry her cross alone. If only she’d let him into her pain.

Lord, let me be her Simon of Cyrene.

“See you soon, okay?” He listened for a minute, then turned and walked, heavy-hearted, down the stairs.

The door to the great room hung open. Leather chair empty. Crutches gone.

He knocked on the guest room door. “Miss Murphy…Kate, you need anything?”

A muffled “No, thank you,” reached his ears.

Two females in the house, both hiding behind closed doors. Could give a guy a complex.

“You’ll find some ladies’ clothing in the closet.” He cleared his throat. “A family lost their home in a flood, so Heather and I bought clothes for them. Seems to me, the mother’s about your size.”

“I couldn’t impose—”

“Nonsense. We can buy more next week.” He let out a frustrated breath. Hard to carry on a conversation through an inch and a half of hardwood. “The great room’s warm thanks to the fireplace. I could make a spot for you on the couch.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“You’ll find a quilt in one of the drawers.”

“Thank you, Nolan.”

If the woman wanted to hole up in a chilly bedroom rather than enjoy the comfort of the great room, so be it. “Let me know if you need anything.”

The bedsprings creaked.

“We’ll eat dinner about five. In the kitchen. The oven puts out a good amount of heat. That is, if you can sit at the table comfortably.”

“Thanks. I doubt I’ll be hungry.”

“Makes me think you’re worried about my cooking.” He forced a laugh, trying to lighten the mood. “I’m not a gourmet, but…well…”

Suddenly, he was a comedian?

No need to embarrass himself further. “See you later.”

“Wait.” The door opened. Crutch in hand, Kate scooted forward, propped her shoulder against the wooden doorjamb and let out a ragged breath. Her hair framed her face, cheeks flushed from exertion, brow wrinkled.

“Sorry it took me so long to get to the door.” She glanced down at her injured leg. “I’m slow as a tortoise with this injury.”

“I shouldn’t have disturbed you.”

“You didn’t. Dinner at five sounds fine. Although after that huge breakfast, I should probably skip a meal or two.” She looked up. “You’ve been very kind.”

“All you’ve been through, the least Heather and I could do was offer you a place to stay. Plus, we have plenty of room.”

Kate glanced down the hallway. “And a beautiful home.”

He noticed a small puddle of water by the front door, which he pointed out to Kate. “Lloyd must have had ice on his shoes. Tina would have given the doc a piece of her mind for tracking up her hardwoods.”

A spark of amusement flickered in Kate’s eyes. “Sounds like something she’d do.”

“So Tina was a neat freak even as a kid?”

“And put me to shame,” Kate said with a laugh. “My idea of clean was to shove everything under my bed and hope no one noticed.” She looked at the picture hanging on the wall.

Nolan followed her gaze. Heather had taken the photo a couple weeks after they’d arrived in Mercy while Nolan and Tina had sat at the kitchen table.

“Looks like you two were having fun,” Kate finally said.

“Heather wanted to try out her new camera. That little skunk made faces at us until we were both howling with laughter.”

One of the first lighthearted moments he and Heather had shared after Olivia’s death. He had hung the photo to remind them life went on even after the loss of a loved one.

“Where’d you happen to meet Tina?” Kate asked.

“In California. When Olivia got sick, I needed someone to help with her care. Tina was looking for a new job.” He shrugged. “Win-win, all the way around.”

“I’m sorry about your wife.” She hesitated a moment, then asked, “Was it cancer?”

“Olivia died of an infection. She’d had surgery. I thought she was doing better, but…” He sighed, a heavy weight on his chest.

Suddenly, he was tired of talking. “You look like you need some rest. Probably that medicine Lloyd gave you. He’s quick to push pills.”

“So I noticed. A nap sounds good. See you about five?”

“I’ll keep the fire roaring. Come out earlier, if you get cold.”

She closed the door as he stepped into the great room and walked to the hearth. Grabbing the poker, he stoked the fire. The flames licked the logs, sending sparks dancing like fireflies in the air.

Once again, the memory of Olivia’s declining health swirled around him. Both of them had skirted the real issue of a Hollywood lifestyle gone amok.

Alcohol. Drugs.

Olivia had been so good at explaining away her symptoms that he’d turned a blind eye to the truth, especially when she’d promised the unexpected trip to India would be her last.

A fact-finding expedition for a documentary on the plight of India’s poor who sold their organs to rich foreigners—a transplant tourist racket she’d wanted to explore.

Nolan shook his head. Organs for a price.

For Olivia Price.

Only later, he’d learned the truth. She hadn’t gone to India to gather information. She’d gone to buy an organ.

He’d never suspected liver disease.

Nolan threw another log on the fire. To Olivia, time was money and too precious to be spent waiting for a donor through normal channels in the States.

So she’d found another way. The unscrupulous physicians at the Beverly Hills Specialty Center had claimed the procedure was as safe abroad as in the U.S. Olivia’s mistake had been to trust the upscale medical facility that catered to the rich and famous. Too late, she’d learned they covered up the high rate of complications that often led to death, just as it had with Olivia.

Fisting his hands, anger swelled up in Nolan anew.

Why hadn’t she told him the real reason for her trip? Probably because by that point their marriage had been a sham.

On the exterior, they had looked like the perfect family. Except he and Olivia had been living a lie.

Nolan shook his head, sorrow overwhelming him. Justice. That was what he’d expected. Sanjeer Hira and the other physicians at the Beverly Hills Center had preyed on Olivia’s fear of not finding a donor in time, but no illegality could be found. Bottom line, the authorities’ hands were tied. Despite the dangers, private citizens were free to undergo medical procedures abroad.

Fingers pressed against the mantel, Nolan stared into the fire. When Olivia had told him about a pre-op stop she had made in Georgia, Nolan had realized he might have a way to bring down the Beverly Hills operation and the physicians involved.

A limousine had picked Olivia up at the Atlanta airport and had driven her to a VIP suite in a rural mountain clinic. There she’d received a special IV treatment exclusively for liver patients to increase the rate of recovery. Twelve hours later, she’d been whisked back to Atlanta and had boarded her flight to India.

The fact that the Beverly Hills physicians had insisted she use an alias during her Georgia layover raised a red flag in Nolan’s mind. A legit medical procedure wouldn’t require cash up front. Nor a fictitious identity for the patient.

Carrying a hefty load of grief and guilt, Nolan had moved to Mercy after Olivia’s death. If he couldn’t get to the Beverly Hills Center through the front door, he’d go in the back way. Surely, someone in the small Georgia town had made or would make a mistake, exposing a crack in the seemingly flawless Beverly Hills facade.

With dogged determination and hours of surveillance, pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, but the picture appeared more corrupt than he had even imagined.

Now Tina had died.

And her old friend was sleeping in the guest room.

Probably a mistake to offer Kate lodging. Although it had been the Christian thing to do. Besides, where else would she have gone? To a hotel in Summerton? The pass had closed, and the last thing Nolan wanted was an innocent woman out on her own.

Dropping into the leather chair, he pulled the Bible to his lap and let his fingers slide over the page.

Maybe he and Heather should shake the dust of Mercy from their feet and move on.

He sighed. Who was he trying to fool?

He couldn’t leave until he found a way to expose the transplant tourist racket that had led to Olivia’s death.

His eyes focused on a scripture verse.

“‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.’”

A warning?

Nolan stared into the fire.

Lord, I need your help to find the wolves. All of them.

Kate nestled down in the bed and pulled the comforter up around her neck. How could a quick trip to Mercy, Georgia, to retrieve her grandfather’s cross turn into such a disaster?

Tina was dead. The cross was still missing. And Kate was holed up in a house that lacked electricity, tended to by a kind and attractive man.

Not that she wasn’t grateful. Better here than out in the cold. Or in some lonely hotel room. Although as she recalled, Dr. Samuels had said Mercy didn’t have a hotel.

Small town. One physician.

And what about the doc? He insisted a woman she’d known forever had died of a long-term condition Kate had never heard Tina mention.

Add cremation to the mix. The idea of Tina—a live-for-the-minute type of gal—planning her funeral left a bad taste in Kate’s mouth.

Cremation…fire…

Kate’s stomach tightened. The memory of that horrible night three years ago returned unbidden. She closed her eyes, trying to shut out all that had happened.

Trusting and gullible, she had put her faith on the line…faith in a man who’d professed to love her…faith in a God who, she thought, would bless their love.

Only to have her hopes and dreams go up in flames.

Stupid to believe she and Eddie would live happily ever after. She’d learned the hard way fairy tales don’t come true.

She’d been blinded by love. Or had she ignored the signs, not wanting to believe the truth? Living a lie was so much easier.

Until she’d come face-to-face with the reality of his addiction.

The man she’d loved—had thought she’d loved—had transformed before her eyes into a junkie needing the next fix.

The cabin had been Eddie’s private retreat, but he’d begged her to drop by just this once. He’d promised to throw steaks on the grill and have her home by nine so she would be ready for work the next day.

That night with candles flicking in the darkness and the cloying, sweet smell of incense hanging in the air, she’d discovered the true Eddie.

She’d entered a den of evil. The words he’d screamed. The names he’d called her.

He’d mocked her values and her morality, calling her a stupid prude who needed to be taught a lesson.

When he’d grabbed at her dress, she’d fought back, needing to escape.

Kate clenched her teeth, eyes scrunched shut as once again she relived the struggle.

Fear gripped her anew.

“Run, Kate, run,” an inner voice warned just as it had that night.

In her mind’s eye, she tripped, a table overturned. She crawled forward, struggled to her feet.

Somehow she found the door and ran. Ran from the cabin, from his shouts of protest. Ran until her lungs burned and her muscles ached and she gasped for air.

In that instant, she looked back.

The explosion ripped the night in two.

“Oh, God, no!” she cried into the folds of the comforter. The memory too real, too painful.

Tears spilled from her eyes. Her breath caught in shallow spasms. She raked her fingers through her hair and willed herself to gain control. But she couldn’t stop the tears.

She cried for all she had lost that night. For the dreams that had died with Eddie. For the life she’d wanted, had come to expect, that had ended with the fire. For the lie about love she’d believed too long.

She wasn’t worthy of love. Love was for those good enough and deserving enough.

She was neither.

Her father had walked out of her life.

Eddie had betrayed her.

She’d learned her lesson. She’d never love again. The pain was too great to bear.

And she’d carried it too long.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you now. Hold on, honey.” Nolan’s words when he’d saved her from the water slammed through her mind.

Where had that come from?

Crazy.

She pushed the thought away and pulled in another ragged breath.

She needed to escape from all the memories.

Sleep, Kate. Hopefully, she’d find solace in her slumber.

Unless Nolan found his way there.

No. She shook her head. She wouldn’t give him access to her dreams…or her emotions.

That was a promise she had to keep.

By 5:00 p.m., the pungent mix of sausage, tomatoes and Italian seasonings filled the kitchen. Nolan stirred the sauce simmering on the stove and waited for water in the large stainless steel pot to boil.

Dark skies hung outside the kitchen window as desolate as his mood. Ice that had begun to melt midday had refrozen with the evening drop in temperature.

Earlier, he’d walked the property, passed the creek where Kate’s car had broken through the guardrail then plummeted into the icy water below.

The Almighty had directed his steps. Thank You, Lord. Otherwise two women would need to be laid to rest.

Hard to believe Tina was dead. And from a reaction to latex. It didn’t make sense.

If only Tina had been more forthcoming about her condition. She’d been so private, and Nolan hadn’t wanted to pry.

Kate had questioned cremation. But Tina didn’t have much money, and cremation was a cheaper option for her. Nolan shook his head. Right now, he needed to focus on Heather.

With a heavy heart, he stirred the sauce and glanced at his watch. Thirty minutes ago, he’d rapped on Heather’s door and told her dinner was almost ready. Not that he expected his daughter to leave her room.

If only Kate would come out soon, trade her afternoon of seclusion for a good meal and a little conversation.

A smiling face sitting across the table might lift the gloom and help take his mind from all that had happened.

Trucks rumbled in the distance. County road vehicles probably laying salt. Main stretch to town should be in decent shape by midmorning. In time for church.

The good reverend would hold services no matter how many folks gathered for worship.

And Tina’s funeral?

The loss cut through him again.

Wade had insisted on holding the service tomorrow. But Nolan agreed with his houseguest. A bit too—

“Dinner smells delicious.”

He turned at the sound of Kate’s voice.

She stood in the doorway to the kitchen, crutches propped under her arms. Her hair was piled on top of her head, stray tendrils falling around her cheeks.

Still pale, she wore the sky-blue sweatpants and jacket he and Heather had bought at the local clothing store and looked like a teddy bear that needed a hug.

And a good meal. The velour hung on her slender frame.

“Let me help you.” He pulled a chair from the table and stepped toward her.

“I’ve been practicing in my room. Finally got the hang of it.” She hobbled forward, holding her left leg off the floor.

He touched her shoulder, the velour soft in his hand. “I’ll take these.” He grabbed the crutches and eased her into the chair. Once she was seated, he propped her injured leg on a footstool.

“How’s that?”

She grimaced as he scooted her closer to the table. “If I ignore my left side, I’m in good shape.”

“Would another ice bag help?”

She rubbed her injured leg. “Probably not, Nolan. But thanks. Just give me a minute.”

“I’ve got herbal tea brewing for Heather. How about a cup?”

Kate glanced at the pot on the counter and nodded. “Sure, that sounds good.”

He wiped his hands on his pants, suddenly at odds with what to do next.

Think, Price. Pour the tea. Stir the sauce. Cook the spaghetti.

Her eyes looked questioningly up at him. Big blue eyes edged with apprehension.

It must be disconcerting to have her life put on hold. And in Mercy, Georgia, of all places. He could appreciate her concern.

“Seems strange not to have Tina scurrying around the kitchen. South of the border was her specialty. Enchiladas, burritos, guacamole.” He noticed the moisture pooling in Kate’s eyes. “Look, I’ve upset you.”

She shook her head and sniffed. “I’m fine, really.”

He poured the tea and handed her a cup. “You and Tina were next-door neighbors in El Paso. If you don’t mind my asking, what brought you to Georgia?”

“It was purely economics. I’m a chemist and needed a job. A spot opened at Bannister Scientific about six months ago. Luckily, I landed the position.”

“Chemist, huh? Don’t know if you realized, but Lloyd seemed rather taken aback by your scientific expertise.”

“I noticed he doesn’t like his authority questioned.”

“Exactly.”

“And your line of work?” she asked.

“Basically, I help companies with their investment decisions. Mergers, consolidations, global expansion, that type of thing.”

“You’re a financial analyst?”

“That’s right.” Nolan stirred the pasta into the boiling water, thinking back to what he’d read about Bannister Scientific. “Wasn’t there something in the paper recently about that company of yours?”

Kate nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. The reporter did a bit of embellishing. Amazing how a quote can change after a little cut and paste.”

“Now I remember. The article had to do with transplants. That’s not what you’re working on, is it?”

“Matter of fact, it is.”

The back of Nolan’s neck prickled. “What—what type of transplants are you researching?”

“Pancreatic cells involved in insulin production. My grandfather was a diabetic, and—”

Nolan exhaled the breath he’d been holding. “Let me guess. Because of him you went into research?”

She tilted her head and smiled. “That’s right.”

“Made your parents proud, no doubt.”

Kate started to reply, then appeared to reconsider. She pulled the cup to her lips and took another sip.

Had he said something wrong? “Look, I—”

Water boiled over the edge of the pot and hissed as it hit the hot burner below. Nolan yanked the pot from the flame at the same moment the door to the hallway opened.

Heather stepped into the kitchen and glanced from Kate to her father. “Sorry to interrupt.”

“Dinner’s almost ready, hon.”

His daughter grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured tea into the cup as he drained the pasta into the colander in the sink. Steam rose in the air.

“I’m not hungry, Dad.”

Before he could respond, she turned on her heel and left the room.

“Heather?” Nolan called after her.

No response.

Seemed he was batting zero for two.

He’d struck out with his daughter, and from the look on Kate’s face, she probably wished she’d chosen another ballpark.

Not a good night for the home team.

And they were only in the first inning.

FIVE

A wave of raw emotion washed over Nolan’s face. He placed the empty pot back on the stove, raised his hands in the air and let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know what to do. After Olivia died, my daughter…”

He looked at Kate, pain and worry reflected in his eyes. “I didn’t know if she’d make it. Olivia’s death rocked us both, but Heather…” He shook his head. “Took her a long time to heal. Now with Tina gone—”

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