knock.
The door opened before he could rap on it.
“I saw you coming.” She turned away leaving the door open for him to enter.
The sway of her hips in her blue jeans made his jaw clench and he pulled in a deep breath before crossing the threshold into the land of temptation.
“I have something for you.”
She stopped, turned and plopped down on the couch, a devil-may-care grin on her face. “You’re going to free me from this exquisitely decorated prison?”
A knot swelled in his chest. He lowered himself onto the chair facing the sofa.
“It’s Ross’s medical file.”
She dropped the contrivance she’d wrapped herself in and sat forward. “You would give that to me?”
“Yes.” He watched disbelief pull her eyebrows together as she studied him, her intense blue-eyed gaze never leaving his face.
“It’s that simple. You give me the medical file, I read through it, determine if the clinic is responsible for his present medical condition and I’m good to go?”
“Something like that.”
The briefest flash of acceptance flitted across her pleasing features and he moved in for the kill.
“There’s one condition. You leave Black’s Cove immediately and you leave its secrets behind when you go. You’ll have the answers you seek about Ross and I’ll have my anonymity. There will be no exposé. Do we have an agreement?”
Reluctance kept him out of her mind. Any trail of thought she went down could only lead him back to his belief that she thought he was a freak and she’d love nothing better than to expose him as one.
Olivia stood up, her nerves a jumbled mass of short-circuiting bio-matter. What Jack was asking was career suicide for her, a lethal dose of unemployment. A journalist who couldn’t dish was dead. Was she willing to trade the story of the century for a manila file with her brother’s name on it?
Remnants of guilt surfaced in her mind, dragging her toward a decision. She stared at the folder Jack held so casually. He had her recompense in his hands. The absolution of her guilt for causing the accident that injured Ross.
“You know I have to take Ross’s file.”
“Yes, but why, Olivia? Why are you willing to risk your life for what’s inside this folder?” He held it out to her.
A lump formed in her throat. She reached for the information, but he pulled it back. “Why is this so important to you?”
The sting of tears blazed behind her eyelids. She wanted to run, wanted to escape his scrutiny as badly as she wanted to avoid her own.
“Because Ross’s accident was my fault. He was on my trike and I wanted it back, so I pushed him. He was two.” Her voice cracked and she turned loose of the pent-up pain festering inside of her.
“I was only four, for God’s sake! I had no idea hewould roll so fast into the street. My mother tried to catch him, but she couldn’t and then the car…”
Jack advanced on her and pulled her into his arms. She didn’t resist; she didn’t have the will to. She needed to feel his touch, his sympathy, his consolation and she wasn’t disappointed.
She listened to the drum of his heartbeat under her ear and closed her eyes, letting the tears come.
He brushed his hand over her head, pressing her tightly against him.
“You had no way of knowing what would happen, Olivia. Children lack reasoning skills and understanding of the consequences of their actions. Their cognitive function hasn’t fully developed at that age.”
His justification made perfect neurological sense, but there wasn’t much emotional solace in it.
She pulled back and dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. “I sabotaged my own childhood. From that day on, we traipsed around the country looking for help. Some miracle cure for his brain damage. My parents barely looked at me after that and never forgave me. They’re both dead now, my dad twelve years ago, and my mom a year ago.”
Her throat squeezed shut, and it took every ounce of strength she had not
The door opened before he could rap on it.
“I saw you coming.” She turned away leaving the door open for him to enter.
The sway of her hips in her blue jeans made his jaw clench and he pulled in a deep breath before crossing the threshold into the land of temptation.
“I have something for you.”
She stopped, turned and plopped down on the couch, a devil-may-care grin on her face. “You’re going to free me from this exquisitely decorated prison?”
A knot swelled in his chest. He lowered himself onto the chair facing the sofa.
“It’s Ross’s medical file.”
She dropped the contrivance she’d wrapped herself in and sat forward. “You would give that to me?”
“Yes.” He watched disbelief pull her eyebrows together as she studied him, her intense blue-eyed gaze never leaving his face.
“It’s that simple. You give me the medical file, I read through it, determine if the clinic is responsible for his present medical condition and I’m good to go?”
“Something like that.”
The briefest flash of acceptance flitted across her pleasing features and he moved in for the kill.
“There’s one condition. You leave Black’s Cove immediately and you leave its secrets behind when you go. You’ll have the answers you seek about Ross and I’ll have my anonymity. There will be no exposé. Do we have an agreement?”
Reluctance kept him out of her mind. Any trail of thought she went down could only lead him back to his belief that she thought he was a freak and she’d love nothing better than to expose him as one.
Olivia stood up, her nerves a jumbled mass of short-circuiting bio-matter. What Jack was asking was career suicide for her, a lethal dose of unemployment. A journalist who couldn’t dish was dead. Was she willing to trade the story of the century for a manila file with her brother’s name on it?
Remnants of guilt surfaced in her mind, dragging her toward a decision. She stared at the folder Jack held so casually. He had her recompense in his hands. The absolution of her guilt for causing the accident that injured Ross.
“You know I have to take Ross’s file.”
“Yes, but why, Olivia? Why are you willing to risk your life for what’s inside this folder?” He held it out to her.
A lump formed in her throat. She reached for the information, but he pulled it back. “Why is this so important to you?”
The sting of tears blazed behind her eyelids. She wanted to run, wanted to escape his scrutiny as badly as she wanted to avoid her own.
“Because Ross’s accident was my fault. He was on my trike and I wanted it back, so I pushed him. He was two.” Her voice cracked and she turned loose of the pent-up pain festering inside of her.
“I was only four, for God’s sake! I had no idea hewould roll so fast into the street. My mother tried to catch him, but she couldn’t and then the car…”
Jack advanced on her and pulled her into his arms. She didn’t resist; she didn’t have the will to. She needed to feel his touch, his sympathy, his consolation and she wasn’t disappointed.
She listened to the drum of his heartbeat under her ear and closed her eyes, letting the tears come.
He brushed his hand over her head, pressing her tightly against him.
“You had no way of knowing what would happen, Olivia. Children lack reasoning skills and understanding of the consequences of their actions. Their cognitive function hasn’t fully developed at that age.”
His justification made perfect neurological sense, but there wasn’t much emotional solace in it.
She pulled back and dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. “I sabotaged my own childhood. From that day on, we traipsed around the country looking for help. Some miracle cure for his brain damage. My parents barely looked at me after that and never forgave me. They’re both dead now, my dad twelve years ago, and my mom a year ago.”
Her throat squeezed shut, and it took every ounce of strength she had not
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