you about your daughter, Elizabeth.”
Images from his nightmare once again swirled around him, making his stomach heave again. He swore he could actually hear that damn dog yapping. The pink ribbon hissing. He pulled himself up to a sitting position. “My daughter is dead,” he said.
“Yes, I’m aware of that, Mr. Davenport, and I’m very sorry for your loss. I’ve read the articles from three years ago. I know what happened.”
“Then why are you calling?”
“Because I was hoping you could give me some additional information that wasn’t in the papers. About what happened to your daughter. And about your daughter’s doctor at the time, Dr. Nina Whitaker. You told reporters that you blamed her for Elizabeth’s death.”
“That’s right,” he spat out. “She is responsible. I’m not retracting that statement, so if that’s why you’re calling you can—”
“Actually, that’s not why I’m calling. I’m calling because I believe you. And I’m afraid Nina Whitaker is going to hurt someone else. Because of her actions, a little girl named Rebecca Hyatt almost died the other day. The police are trying to make it seem like she actually helped the girl, but I think we both know that’s a lie. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes,” he said quickly, even though he had absolutely no idea what the guy was talking about. But of course Nina Whitaker had endangered another girl. After Beth, it had only been a matter of time. “Absolutely I agree. Tell me more.”
By the time Lester hung up the phone, he felt stronger. Between the drinking and his grief, he’d barely managed to hold on to sanity. But now things were different. The dream had been a sign, as had that phone call. He had a purpose now.
Damn Nina Whitaker. She obviously wasn’t taking his cards seriously.
She’d let Beth die. According to the reporter on the phone, she’d let her own sister die, too. Lester wasn’t going to let her endanger another girl.
Even if that meant he had to go to California to stop her.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
O N ANY OTHER S ATURDAY, Nina would have slept in and risen leisurely to have a cup of coffee on her back patio. Instead, despite a restless night, she woke at the crack of dawn, feeling aroused and surly. She immediately knew the cause: her dreams of Simon Granger. They’d plagued her all week, no matter how hard she’d tried to purge him from her thoughts. And even when she was awake, she thought of him often, and those thoughts were always accompanied by a vague feeling of anticipation.
Damn it, the man was sexy and intriguing and infuriating and he was going to be trouble. Moreover, she had no illusions that he was going to take the assignment to work with her sitting down. He was going to push back; it was only a matter of when and how.
Instead of sitting around and stressing about it, however, Nina decided to take a drive. Maybe to the ocean, she thought, which never failed to clear her head of troubling thoughts. She dressed, packed a day bag and had just poured herself a cup of coffee when there was a knock at her door. She frowned and again thought of Simon Granger.
It would be easy for him to find out where she lived. She’d suspected he’d push back against Stevens’s machinations. Had his offensive begun already?
Deliberately, she took a minute to fix her coffee the way she liked it. Then, bringing her cup with her, she looked through the peephole but saw nothing. She opened the door. There was an innocuous-looking letter sticking half out from beneath her welcome mat.
She seriously doubted Simon Granger would leave her a note rather than tell her face-to-face exactly what he thought of her and her proposed plans for the city.
With a sigh, she knelt down, picked it up and walked back into the house.
Juggling her coffee cup, she pulled the piece of white parchment paper out of the envelope, a small smile on her lips as she imagined it to be a love note from Simon. The kind that kids passed
Images from his nightmare once again swirled around him, making his stomach heave again. He swore he could actually hear that damn dog yapping. The pink ribbon hissing. He pulled himself up to a sitting position. “My daughter is dead,” he said.
“Yes, I’m aware of that, Mr. Davenport, and I’m very sorry for your loss. I’ve read the articles from three years ago. I know what happened.”
“Then why are you calling?”
“Because I was hoping you could give me some additional information that wasn’t in the papers. About what happened to your daughter. And about your daughter’s doctor at the time, Dr. Nina Whitaker. You told reporters that you blamed her for Elizabeth’s death.”
“That’s right,” he spat out. “She is responsible. I’m not retracting that statement, so if that’s why you’re calling you can—”
“Actually, that’s not why I’m calling. I’m calling because I believe you. And I’m afraid Nina Whitaker is going to hurt someone else. Because of her actions, a little girl named Rebecca Hyatt almost died the other day. The police are trying to make it seem like she actually helped the girl, but I think we both know that’s a lie. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes,” he said quickly, even though he had absolutely no idea what the guy was talking about. But of course Nina Whitaker had endangered another girl. After Beth, it had only been a matter of time. “Absolutely I agree. Tell me more.”
By the time Lester hung up the phone, he felt stronger. Between the drinking and his grief, he’d barely managed to hold on to sanity. But now things were different. The dream had been a sign, as had that phone call. He had a purpose now.
Damn Nina Whitaker. She obviously wasn’t taking his cards seriously.
She’d let Beth die. According to the reporter on the phone, she’d let her own sister die, too. Lester wasn’t going to let her endanger another girl.
Even if that meant he had to go to California to stop her.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
O N ANY OTHER S ATURDAY, Nina would have slept in and risen leisurely to have a cup of coffee on her back patio. Instead, despite a restless night, she woke at the crack of dawn, feeling aroused and surly. She immediately knew the cause: her dreams of Simon Granger. They’d plagued her all week, no matter how hard she’d tried to purge him from her thoughts. And even when she was awake, she thought of him often, and those thoughts were always accompanied by a vague feeling of anticipation.
Damn it, the man was sexy and intriguing and infuriating and he was going to be trouble. Moreover, she had no illusions that he was going to take the assignment to work with her sitting down. He was going to push back; it was only a matter of when and how.
Instead of sitting around and stressing about it, however, Nina decided to take a drive. Maybe to the ocean, she thought, which never failed to clear her head of troubling thoughts. She dressed, packed a day bag and had just poured herself a cup of coffee when there was a knock at her door. She frowned and again thought of Simon Granger.
It would be easy for him to find out where she lived. She’d suspected he’d push back against Stevens’s machinations. Had his offensive begun already?
Deliberately, she took a minute to fix her coffee the way she liked it. Then, bringing her cup with her, she looked through the peephole but saw nothing. She opened the door. There was an innocuous-looking letter sticking half out from beneath her welcome mat.
She seriously doubted Simon Granger would leave her a note rather than tell her face-to-face exactly what he thought of her and her proposed plans for the city.
With a sigh, she knelt down, picked it up and walked back into the house.
Juggling her coffee cup, she pulled the piece of white parchment paper out of the envelope, a small smile on her lips as she imagined it to be a love note from Simon. The kind that kids passed
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