Vanished in the Night by Eileen Carr Page B

what happened to your brother. If there’s anything you can do to help the investigation, we will ask. Until then, please stay out of it.”
    She hated to be sidelined, hated to sit around and wait for answers. But she could understand what he was asking. Nothing irritated her more than well-meaning family members getting in the way in her ER. She couldn’t count the number of daughters she’d had to ask to shut up for ten seconds so their elderly mother or father could answer a question.
    “I’ll think about it,” she said.
    “It’s a start,” he said, and unexpectedly flashed a big grin at her. Then he shut her door, giving her a tap on the roof as an all clear.
Zach watched Veronica Osborne drive down the street in her Honda. Frank walked up next to him. “I wasn’t sure if you two needed a room or a referee.”
    “I wasn’t, either.” Zach shook his head. Generally, he didn’t go for crazy; he didn’t want the drama. And he was pretty sure Veronica Osborne was packing a big ole suitcase full of crazy and bulging with drama. So why did he feel this little zing every time he lookeddown into those big brown eyes? It made absolutely no sense. “Did you learn anything back there?”
    Frank scratched his belly. “That the Kings suck, that nobody ever saw or heard from Max again after the goons hauled him away in the night, and that everybody and their brother blamed your girlfriend there for him being sent away.”
    Zach turned and looked at Frank. “Any particular reason?”
    Frank nodded and started walking back to the Crown Vic. “Yeah. She was the one who ratted out her brother. She found the Baggie of pot in his room and gave it to her father. That was the reason he kicked Max out of his house.”
    “Interesting,” Zach said as he climbed into the car. She probably blamed herself, too. A big pile of guilt on top of finding out that your brother had been dead for twenty years? That could make almost anyone act a little nutty.
Frank tossed the Sacramento Chronicle on Zach’s desk. “We dropped to page three of the Our Region section today. That nurse who got murdered last night is bogarting our spotlight.”
    “We need to take back our place, then. I keep hoping somebody will come forward. Somebody saw somethingor heard something, even if they don’t know it. They just haven’t made the connection. We need to keep this in front of people.” He tapped his pencil against his desk.
    “What are you thinking, Zach?”
    “I’m thinking we need to get the word out.”
    “How do you propose to do that?” Frank asked him.
    “What about a press conference?” You had to hand the reporters a story. They didn’t have the time to go digging stuff up anymore. Hell, they barely had time to write the articles.
    Frank snorted. “You hate talking to the press.”
    That was true. He also sucked at it. They tended to twist him around and make him lose his temper. “Not me. The sister.”
Veronica was coming back from the grocery store when she found Zach McKnight standing in front of her condo door. Sadly, even if your life was turned upside down, there was still a need for Diet Coke and kitty litter. Laundry also had to be done. It actually shocked her a bit that all the mundane little tasks were still there for her to do. Her brother was dead. Shouldn’t the world stop? Just for a moment or two? She paused, balancing one of the bags on her hip. “What is it that you need, Sergeant McKnight?”
    “I’d kind of like it if you’d call me Zach.” He flashed that grin at her again, the one that made his dimple come out.
    She found herself grinning back at him. Dammit. She’d spent a few years giving her heart away far too quickly. She’d learned the hard way not to do that anymore. Heaven protect her from a man with both good looks and charm, especially one who had already said that he wanted something from her.
    “You drove all the way over here to get me to call you by your first name? I’m pretty