Harlequin Romantic Suspense December 2020 Box Set

by Addison Fox, Cindy Dees, Justine Davis

  Until now.

  Now she was face-to-face with reality.

  It was true. It was really true.

  She was going insane.

  Just like her father.

  CHAPTER 4

  Brady didn’t think he had ever seen a more devastated pair of eyes. The vividness of the green faded just as the color she’d regained in her face did. In mere moments she seemed a pale shadow of herself. She moved, reaching out, and he reacted instinctively, only stopping himself from grabbing her when he realized she was reaching for the dog.

  She hugged the animal rather fiercely. Cutter let out a small, low sound that was half whine, half growl. But he didn’t move, and there was no aggressiveness in his demeanor, so Brady just kept an eye on him.

  Eventually the dog stood, and Ashley’s arms slipped back to her side. She was trembling slightly, shaking her head as if in denial. Or exhaustion, he thought as he looked again at her eyes. They were bright, but not in color as they had been. It was the gleam of tears, which made his stomach knot. He was no good with crying women. Hadn’t Liz proved that to him?

  But the change in this woman, after she’d faced death with such calm and nerve, was really getting to him.

  Then Cutter turned and sat at Ashley’s feet. The dog looked up at Quinn and Hayley, standing a couple of feet back. No, not just looked. He was staring. Fixedly. Pointedly?

  “Yeah,” Quinn muttered. “I figured.”

  “You already knew?” Hayley asked, which made no sense to Brady.

  But right now he wasn’t thinking about the couple or their dog. He was trying to figure out what he was going to do about the fact that he never, ever got involved in the cases he came across, he always stayed a step back, but… Ashley Jordan was breaking his heart.

  He would bet his badge that she’d been completely convinced the car she was driving had snow tires, so much so that she hadn’t even looked. And if she hadn’t lived here long, if she wasn’t a mountain resident, he supposed she should get some credit for even knowing about snow tires. But that didn’t explain much.

  “Who put the tires on for you?”

  “I don’t know.” Her voice sounded as dull as she had suddenly become. He drew back slightly.

  “Ashley,” he prompted gently, “I need some answers here.”

  She appeared to make an effort, but the gutsy, steady woman he’d pulled out of that car was nowhere in sight now. “It’s my mother’s car. She had them installed yesterday. She told me this morning before she left for her office.”

  She said it as if reading dry, emotionless words off a page. As the meaning registered, he groaned inwardly. Great. Now he was going to have to deal with Mayor Alexander directly and personally to get to the bottom of this. So much for his until-now successful effort at flying under the woman’s radar.

  “Why did you keep going after the car started to slip back there on the bridge?” She blinked, giving him a puzzled look. “I was behind you on the road,” he explained. “Since the falls.”

  And he hadn’t seen anything to bother him about the way she was driving for a couple of miles, but there had been a small patch of black ice on the bridge over the creek, and the way the rear end had slipped just slightly had gotten his attention.

  “I noticed it, so I slowed down a little more, but when it didn’t happen again, I thought it was just because of the bridge.”

  So she knew that was a common problem, that black ice developed on bridges. What had at first seemed like a straightforward conclusion of driver ignorance was getting more than a little cloudy. He should have known the minute he realized who she was that this wasn’t going to be that simple.

  The dog made a low sound, a sort of half whine, half rumble. It pulled Brady out of his inner whining, and he stood up.

  She had to tilt her head back to look up at him. “Still no dizziness, even with your head like that?” he asked.

  “No, none. What…happens now?”

  “They’ll get you to the clinic, and you can call your mother to come get you, since it doesn’t look like you’ll need to stay.” He didn’t think he mistook her wince at the mention of her mother. “She going to be upset about the car?”

  “Yes,” Ashley said with a sigh. “But then she’ll be impossibly kind and understanding.”

  Not words he would have applied to the status-conscious Mayor Alexander, but he was glad to hear that apparently her daughter got different treatment. That, at least, was as it should be.

  He looked over his shoulder to where the medic’s van was parked. “Whenever you’re ready, she can go,” he called out.

  “What about you?” she asked, startling him.

  Not sure what she was asking, he said, “I need some photos before the tow truck hauls the car up. You’ll probably need a copy of the report for insurance, so barring anything else coming up, I’ll get that done ASAP.”

  “I meant your injury.”

  He blinked. “What?”

  “The scrape on your cheek.”

  He flexed facial muscles, felt the slight sting on the left. He hadn’t even realized until she said it, but now a vague memory of dodging a jutting boulder on the way up came back to him. He’d been so busy holding on to her—and carefully not noticing how she felt in his arms—that he’d quickly forgotten.

  “It’s nothing. I’ll deal with it later.”

  She visibly drew in a long breath. “Then I suppose…all that’s left is to thank you. Again.”

  He smiled at her. “You’re welcome. You take care. And take it easy for a few days. You’ll probably be really sore after tomorrow.”

  He watched the medic van—with Ashley thankfully sitting in it, not needing the gurney—carefully negotiate the snow at the edge of the roadway and maneuver back onto the road, heading back toward Hemlock. The Foxworth dog was not happy at her departure and made it known with a series of protesting whines.

  “They’ll take good care of her, boy,” Brady said instinctively. Then, when Quinn and Hayley came up beside him, he asked, “Does he always get attached to people that quickly?”

  The couple exchanged another one of those looks he’d seen—and envied a little—from really close couples before. Then Quinn shifted his gaze to Brady. “You’ve got to wait for the tow truck, right?”

  “Yeah,” Brady said, puzzled.

  Quinn gave him a wry smile. “Then we have time to explain.”

  “Explain?”

  “About Cutter. And the Foxworth Foundation.”

  Brady drew back slightly. “The Foxworth Foundation? You’re those Foxworths?”

  “Guilty,” Quinn said, sounding cheerful.

  “Wait… Quinn Foxworth.” It should have hit him before. Must have been the adrenaline surge of the rescue. “You’re the guy who took down that cop killer, the case that just blew up all over again last month.”

  “That would be him,” Hayley said, and there was no denying the pride in the woman’s voice.

  “I looked you guys up when all that hit. The Foxworth Foundation, I mean. Or tried to. You’re pretty low profile.”

  “We work mainly by word of mouth and…a fairly new case finder,” Quinn said.

  “So you really do…that? Help people with problems no one else can or will?”

  “People with a problem we believe in, yes,” Quinn said. “Which brings us to Ashley Jordan.”

  Brady blinked. “Why?”

  “First,” Hayley said, “we have to explain—and you have to believe us—about Cutter.”

  The tale they told him then was, obviously, unbelievable. A dog who sensed people in trouble, he could buy that, it didn’t seem much farther out there than trained dogs who could sense illness, or impending seizures, or simply pets who knew when their owners were worried or upset and tried to comfort. But what they were telling him went
way beyond that. This was a dog sensing not physical things, but things he had no way of knowing or understanding. And that the animal had various ways of letting them know, and his sitting staring at them—and his vocal unhappiness when Ashley had been carted away—were definitely two of them.

  “We know how it sounds,” Hayley said.

  “And nobody was a harder sell than me,” Quinn added. “But his record stands. Sixteen months of cases now, and he’s never steered us wrong.”

  Brady had the feeling there was more, something they weren’t saying, but they probably realized he’d reached the limits of logical acceptance here. Actually, he had gone a little past those limits. But it was clear they completely believed what they were saying. And what he’d learned about Foxworth from his own sources added up to a stellar reputation. The only people who had anything bad to say about them were usually crooks, or even killers, who bitched from the wrong side of the bars of a cell.

  Then, belatedly, it hit him.

  “Wait…you’re saying when the dog sat there like that, in front of her, staring at you two…that was a signal?”

  “It was.” Hayley this time. “That’s his ‘fix it’ look.”

  “Meaning…?”

  “She has a problem,” Quinn said, deadpan.

  Brady looked toward the skid marks and the crumpled guardrail. “Ya think?” he said dryly.

  Quinn didn’t take offense—in fact, he smiled. “This is where it gets really strange.”

  “I think we passed that a while ago.”

  Quinn kept smiling, supremely unruffled. Brady had the feeling he’d been through this before. Perhaps often. Definitely often, if what he’d said about multiple cases was true.

  “To clarify, she has a problem Foxworth can help with.”

  He knew he was gaping at them now, but he couldn’t help it. “You’re saying your dog can not only tell when someone has a problem, but when it’s a problem you can fix?”

  “Pretty much.”

  He turned to look at the dog in question. Who sat watching him as if he somehow knew Brady was the one they were trying to convince. Watching him with those dark, gold-flecked eyes in a way that made him think of animals controlling huge flocks of sheep with the simple power of their gaze.

  Now you’re off the deep end, Crenshaw.

  “But,” Hayley said after a moment when he tried to stare down the dog and lost, “that doesn’t really matter yet. If nothing else, I get the feeling dealing with her mother the mayor isn’t something you’re looking forward to. Foxworth can help with that. We’ve got a bit of a record with politicians.”

  The rest of what he’d heard and read about them came back to him in a rush. Including the departure in shame of a governor he’d never liked or trusted in the first place.

  “Small-town mayor’s a bit below your weight class, isn’t it?” he asked.

  “That’s the best part of being Foxworth and independent. We decide who we help instead of having it decided for us.”

  He smiled at that. But shook his head. “Look, I appreciate it, but she’s just a pain, not crooked. She wants to make Hemlock a utopia.”

  “Utopia tends to be expensive,” Quinn said dryly.

  “Yeah. And Hemlock’s just a typical, decent small town. Nothing big enough to get you guys involved.”

  “We already are,” Hayley said, nodding at their dog.

  Brady’s brow furrowed. “Let’s put it this way,” Quinn said. “He will give us no peace until we help.”

  Brady shook his head again, but this time wonderingly. He just couldn’t reconcile this man with being controlled by a dog.

  He heard the rumble of a truck coming down the road, glanced up and saw the heavy-duty tow truck approaching.

  “Aren’t you curious about the whole tire thing?” Quinn asked.

  “Of course. I’m going to dig into that,” he said, feeling a tiny bit affronted that they’d think he wouldn’t. But they didn’t know him, any more than he really knew them. It was all first impressions, and as good as he was at that, he wasn’t perfect.

  “I guessed you would,” Quinn said, and the sting faded. “But I’m also guessing your department’s stretched a little thin, maybe, and you don’t have a lot of time for such things once the initial reports are done. We have resources at your disposal. And we can, perhaps, keep the mayor at bay if you end up treading on her toes.”

  That alone made it the most tempting offer he’d had in a while.

  “As soon as you’re done here, why don’t we go to the clinic and check on Ashley?” Hayley said. “Then we’ll go—or not—from there.”

  That couldn’t hurt, could it? Besides, he’d always had a gut-level feeling that talking to any politician without witnesses was not a wise thing to do.

  “All right,” he finally said as the truck slowed and began to pull over.

  Cutter barked. Short, sharp and sounding almost like he was indicating it was about time. Quinn saw his glance at the dog, and laughed.

  “My friend, this is only the beginning.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Brady was glad to see Ashley sitting in the waiting room when he and the Foxworths arrived at the small clinic in town. That she was already out here indicated they weren’t going to hold her. She was signing a form one of the staff had apparently given her, since a woman in the clinic scrubs was standing next to her with a clipboard.

  She stood up as the woman left, and he noted she did it easily, albeit carefully. Her forehead was furrowed, though, as if she was still upset. Understandable. Whatever the story was behind the snow tire mix-up, she’d had a hell of a ride.

  Then she looked up and spotted them. The smile that crossed her face then did crazy things to his pulse. Which made no sense. She was just another citizen he’d helped—there was no reason for her to have that kind of effect.

  “I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said when they reached her, and Brady didn’t think he imagined she was focused on him, although she’d nodded at the Foxworths, as well.

  “Just following up,” he said in his most professional tone. “They cut you loose?”

  “Yes. I’m fine. My mother is on the way. They said I should rest and take these—” she held up a small bottle with some pills “—for the soreness that will be coming.”

  “Do it,” he recommended. “It’s a lot easier to stay ahead of the pain than to knock it down once it gets a foothold.”

  She gave him another of those smiles. And it had the same effect, damn it. “Voice of experience?”

  “Yes.”

  A large knot of people came through the glass doors, and all of them seemed to be talking—loudly—at once.

  “I think I’d rather wait outside,” she said.

  “My feelings about any medical facility,” he said, and when that smile came yet again, he couldn’t help smiling back.

  “Now,” Hayley said when they were outside and she and Ashley had taken seats on the bench in the shelter of the portico, “is there anything you need at home? Do you have food that will be easy to fix for the next couple of days? Is there a place that delivers?”

  “Benny’s,” she and Brady said at the same instant. And they both laughed. She looked a little startled, as if she were surprised she was able to laugh.

  “I’ll be fine. My mother will help. And—” She stopped, turning her head slightly. He’d heard the same thing she had: the insistent barking of a dog.

  “That,” Quinn said, “will be Cutter. He’ll need to see for himself that you’re all right.”

  Ashley laughed again. And again seem surprised by it. Whatever had turned her ashen back on the road was obviously still eating at her.

  Quinn pulled out his keys and hit a button on the fob. The barking stopped. Seconds later Cutter was racing toward them. He must have raised the back, Brady
realized.

  The dog ignored his people and came to a halt in front of Ashley. He gave a low whine that managed to sound worried. “Oh, you sweet boy,” she crooned, leaning over as she reached to pet him. The moment she stroked the dark fur, her forehead smoothed out, as if whatever it was had receded, at least for the moment. Crazy, the effect the animal had. Petting any dog always made him feel better, but not to this extreme.

  She looked up then and seemed almost normal again. At least, as normal as anyone could be after having been through what she had today. “Thank you all for coming. I feel so much better.”

  Brady believed her, but better didn’t mean well, and there were still dark, ugly shadows in those green eyes. The whole snow tire thing had hit her hard, and that made him angry. If somebody here in town had ripped her mother off, telling her they’d installed snow tires when they hadn’t, then they’d be getting a visit from him. But he couldn’t imagine anyone in Hemlock being stupid enough to try a stunt like that on the mayor, of all people.

  A car in a hurry pulled in under the portico and stopped in a red zone.

  “She’s here,” Ashley said just as Brady recognized the woman behind the wheel. He supposed she could be forgiven the parking, given the circumstances. Oddly, he remembered something about her wanting a car and driver but having to forgo it for budget reasons. She must have borrowed this car, since hers was sitting at the tow yard on the other side of town.

  Mayor Alexander got out as soon as the car stopped. She was average height, slim, with jaw-length dark hair. Determinedly dark, he’d heard one of their dispatchers say once.

  Ashley stood up. And in the same instant, the Foxworths’ dog got to his feet. The animal was staring at the woman approaching. And then his head went down, his hackles went up and a low growl issued from his throat. And he moved slightly to stand between Ashley and her mother.

  “Well, well,” Brady heard Quinn murmur, almost under his breath.

  “Interesting,” Hayley seemed to agree.

  “It’s all right, Cutter, it’s my mother,” Ashley said. Brady thought it said a lot about her that she wanted to soothe the dog after everything she’d been through.