To Trust a Cop. Sharon Hartley

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      “By who?”

      “That’s confidential.”

      He scrubbed his fingers against his chin, and Merlene heard an unmistakable scratch that meant he hadn’t shaved in a while. Long day?

      Wishing cops didn’t always make her uneasy, she studied the detective in the fading light. He had an angular yet handsome face, a strong, confident jaw. His nose featured a slight bump, and she wondered if it’d been broken in a fight on the job. From the way he dominated space in the Toyota, he had to be at least six-two. The cotton shirt across his torso confirmed an iron-flat stomach, not an ounce of fat anywhere on him, probably because he never ate junk food.

      Good for him.

      “Is something wrong, Mrs. Saunders?”

      Merlene jerked her gaze to Warren’s face. He watched her with a frown. Lord, what was the matter with her, checking out his body? She swallowed. “I’m wondering why the police are interested in Dr. Johnson.”

      Cody shook his head. “Mrs. Saunders, the Miami-Dade Police would greatly appreciate your discontinuing surveillance of the doctor.”

      “Why’s that?”

      “Let’s just say your presence here could jeopardize a lot of work. Interference with a police investigation is something we take seriously.”

      “By sitting here I’m interfering?”

      “Possibly.”

      “Are you going to give me any details?”

      “No, ma’am.”

      Merlene sighed, knowing she had to do as he asked. Her boss’s number-one rule was to stay out of the way of the police. She snapped the cover over the camera lens. “Sure, Detective, whatever you say.”

      He nodded. “Good.”

      Merlene stared through the windshield at the doctor’s house. “What did you do, you bad boy?” she asked softly, then picked up her notebook and entered the time.

      The detective planted one foot on the grass, preparing to exit, then paused. “Did you get anybody on tape tonight?”

      Merlene shook her head. “Nobody went in or out after I followed him home.”

      “All right. The sooner you leave, the better.”

      She smiled at his profile and tapped the pen against her cheek. “I’ll bet you’re worried that if he sees me following him, he’ll know you guys are onto him. Am I right?”

      Without answering, the detective pulled himself from the car and walked around to the driver’s window. He held out a business card. “If you get anything you think might be helpful, I’d appreciate a call. My cell’s on the back. It’s always on.”

      Merlene accepted the card. “If you won’t tell me what’s going on, how will I know what’s helpful?”

      His steely gaze bored into her. “I think you’ll know. Thanks for your cooperation, ma’am.”

      “Oh, sure. No problem.” She flipped the card against her thigh as he moved away. Why were the police always telling her what to do? As a child, they’d hassled her family with threats of family services and foster homes but never offered a bit of help.

      Merlene tossed the card onto her front seat and started the car. She knew better than to get in the way of the police. Besides, she had other methods to keep track of Doc Johnson.

      * * *

      SOMETHING WAS WRONG. Dead wrong.

      Cody couldn’t shake a gnawing feeling in his gut that he’d missed something important. Where was Dr. Richard Johnson?

      Months of work to make this case, to put away a dirty doctor who didn’t care who he prescribed narcotics to or what bogus diagnosis he made—not as long as he got a big check from an insurance company—and now the whole damn thing threatened to fall apart.

      Waiting for a traffic light to change, he wondered what hole Dr. Johnson had vanished into. Could his disappearance have anything to do with the Saunders woman’s surveillance? An image of the intriguing female private eye he’d encountered the night before flashed through his head. How could a woman who dug for dirt to pay the bills manage to look all wide-eyed and innocent?

      The check he’d run on her came back clean. No outstanding wants or warrants, and he wished his credit report looked as solid. She worked for D. J. Cooke Investigations, the man and the firm both reputable, and no one had ever lodged a complaint against her license. The licensing board promised to double check with Cooke and get back to him.

      Yeah, maybe her activities had nothing to do with Johnson’s vanishing act, but he didn’t believe in coincidences. A P.I. is on Johnson’s trail one day, and he disappears the next? Had to be a connection. He’d warned his lieutenant they needed twenty-four-hour surveillance to always keep track of the doc’s whereabouts. Damn budget cuts were undermining a lot of investigations these days.

      “What the...” He swore under his breath as he turned the corner, spotting the P.I.’s vehicle secreted behind a tree across from Nurse Cole’s apartment building. Merlene Saunders had inserted herself square in the middle of his case again. This time he’d question her more thoroughly.

      “Detective Warren,” Merlene said when he leaned in the passenger window. “We have to quit meeting like this.”

      He jerked open the door. “You and I need to talk.”

      “Have a seat,” she murmured.

      Feeling as if he were squeezing into a bulletproof vest, Cody eased into the small car.

      “You know,” she said, “it’s hard for me to blend into the surroundings when you’re always hanging around my stakeout.”

      He slammed the door. “Who are you working for?”

      She shook her head. “That’s confidential information.”

      “Must be the wife. She’s worried about the doc and Nurse Linda Cole, whose apartment you’re watching.”

      He studied Merlene’s face but wasn’t sure if he’d nailed her game.

      “So what can you tell me about Nurse Cole?” Merlene asked.

      He shrugged. “I’d rather hear what you can tell me about Dr. Johnson.”

      “Truth is...nothing. Yet.” She lifted a video camera from the backseat and aimed it at the apartment. A large emerald-cut diamond glittered on her right ring finger. “Haven’t got anything but test footage to prove I’ve been watching their sorry butts. Never have caught them together.”

      “How long have you been on them?” he asked.

      “How long do you think?” Merlene lowered the camera. A faint red mark encircled her eye where the camera had pressed into her pale skin, and Cody resisted an urge to touch the spot, wondering why he wanted СКАЧАТЬ