Fatal Vendetta. Sharon Dunn

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      “You’re not going to have any tea?”

      “I’m the giver of hot beverages, not the drinker,” he said.

      She took a sip, allowing the warm liquid to flow down her throat while the minty flavor lingered on her tongue. “Nothing like tea to soothe the rankled soul.”

      He nodded. “I suppose.”

      The reporter in her really wanted to know what he was hiding. She studied him long enough that he started to fidget. He burst up from his seat opposite her, turning his back to her and shoving his hands in his pockets.

      “So have you ever had to fend off the press?” she finally asked.

      He offered her a nervous smile. “Don’t go all journalist on me, Betsy. I thought we had a pretty good start on being friends.”

      Friends? She hadn’t thought about that possibility.

      He stared out the window. “Looks like Gwen is gone.”

      His changing the subject told her she’d pushed a little too far. “I should be okay here alone.” The idea caused a new wave of fear to crash over her.

      “You’ll be safe from the reporters, but...”

      He seemed to understand her trauma in a way that others would not have been so sensitive to.

      “Tell you what, why don’t you try to sleep,” he offered. “I’ll grab my laptop and get some work done.”

      Zach seemed completely trustworthy, but trusting too easily was what had gotten her in trouble in college. “Really, you’ve done so much already.”

      “It’s not that big a deal. I was only going to go home and sit with my laptop there.”

      She did want him to stay. She wasn’t ready to face being in the house alone. “I don’t know if I could sleep, but maybe both of us could get some work done.”

      “All right, then.” He moved toward the door but stopped when something on the entryway table caught his eye. “You’re going to the Waltz by the River Ball?”

      She rose to her feet. “Yes, part of being a good reporter these days is keeping in touch with the movers and shakers.” Badger was a community of fifty thousand, so there weren’t that many muckety-mucks, as her father used to call them, to rub elbows with.

      “If you could swing me an invitation, I’d consider us even. Since you’re so convinced you owe me,” he said.

      “Sure. Actually, I need a date.” It was hardly a fair trade, considering he’d saved her life. “Why do you want to go?”

      “You get better stories when people recognize your face,” he said. “Since I’m new in town, I’ve got to start making connections with those people.”

      So he had an in with the first responders, but not the power brokers like she did. She chided herself for thinking in terms of them competing, though it came so naturally. She walked across the floor and placed her teacup on the counter. “You do realize this is a formal party.”

      “I can rent a tux.” He stroked his five-o’clock shadow and yanked open the door.

      “You’ll have to locate a razor, too.”

      “Yeah, yeah.” He stepped outside after offering her a playful backward glare.

      Shaking her head, she watched him stride toward his car. He came back a moment later holding his laptop. They sat on opposite sides of the living room, the tapping of the keys the only sound in the house. Though they were working on separate projects, the sense of companionship was kind of nice. After about twenty minutes, her eyelids felt heavy. She placed the laptop on the side table. “Maybe I’ll just rest my eyes.”

      “Sleep is the best thing for you now.” His voice was soft and far away.

      She heard him get up, and a moment later, the creamy softness of the couch throw enveloped her.

      As she drifted off, she wondered why a man who seemed so forthright like Zachery would have something to hide.

      She felt herself falling into a deeper sleep. Images of the abduction blasted through her dreams. She awoke with a start, jerking into a sitting position.

      Zach seemed alarmed. “Everything all right?” His voice filled with sympathy.

      She rose to her feet and turned away. “I’m fine.” What a lie. Her abductor’s threat to lure her to another news story so he could take her again made her throat go tight and her heart race. She wouldn’t be safe until he was caught.

       FOUR

      Despite the warm summer air, a chill crawled over Elizabeth’s skin as she got out of Zach’s car. Seeing the crowd moving through the parking lot toward the country club where Waltz by the River was being held only made her more anxious. This was the first public event she’d been to since her abduction. Her stomach knotted. All these people. Any one of them could be the man who’d kidnapped her.

      Zach came up beside her, pressing his shoulder against hers. “Lots of hoity-toity people.”

      The warmth of his voice calmed her. “Yes, I’m amazed they let the likes of us in.” She glanced over at him, clean-shaven and wearing a tux. Though his blond hair still looked a little out of control, he did clean up nicely.

      His hand lightly touched the middle of her back. “Let’s go mingle, shall we?”

      His touch made her afraid and excited at the same time. She’d given up on dating after what happened her senior year of college. But she found herself relaxing around Zach. “I’ll introduce you to the mayor.” She lifted the skirt of her gown as they both ascended the wide staircase.

      Music spilled from the open doors of the country club, which looked out on a river on one side and was surrounded by a golf course on the other three.

      Tension twisted around her chest as the noise of people in party mode grew louder. She studied each face. What was she looking for anyway? Some sign of guilt? Maybe there was nothing to find. The man might have already left town. Yet, his threat to lure her to a story to get another shot at her fed her paranoia.

      She wasn’t here to cover a story. Her boss at the station had given her a week off to recover from the trauma. Other than to get groceries, she hadn’t left the house at all. Her heart raced as a man she knew loomed toward her.

      Richard Drake, owner of several businesses, held out his hand. “Elizabeth, so good to see you.”

      An uncomfortable silence filled the air between them. She saw in his eyes that he knew what had happened to her. Even though she’d followed Zach’s advice and not done interviews, her story had been in print and on the local news. Only Zach had chosen not to write about it.

      Elizabeth took Richard’s hand. “So good to see you here.” She turned СКАЧАТЬ