Dark Guardian. Jan Hambright

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СКАЧАТЬ the best looking thing she’d seen in this town to date. She stared at his broad shoulders as he turned, jaywalked across the street and disappeared into the Gazette office.

      “Refill?” the waitress asked, holding a half-full coffeepot in her hand.

      “Sure.” Olivia slid her cup to the edge of the table. “That’s a pretty great car, don’t you think?”

      Glancing up at the young woman, she held her breath. The ploy was lame, but if it got her a name, then the benign question was worth it.

      “That’s Jack Trayborne’s car. You should see his red convertible.”

      “I bet it’s even better.” She pulled her full cup back and reached for the sugar. So this was the infamous Jack Trayborne? “He’s easy on the eyes, too. Is he single?”

      The waitress’s cheeks pinked and she was about to reply, when an older woman waved at her from behind the counter. “Your order’s up, Emily.”

      She nodded and turned around.

      Olivia smiled to herself, pretty sure the young woman was nursing a crush. She could almost do the same, if she didn’t think Jack Trayborne was hiding secrets.

      She had half a mind to march over to the Gazette and confront him face to face, but taunting the tiger before the cage door was all the way shut could get you bit. She loved risk, but not risk without a cause.

      After last night’s freaky encounter in the basement of the clinic, she planned to lay low, blend in, ask the locals about Trayborne and hope to get some answers that would put her investigation back on track. Because at the moment, she didn’t have squat.

      The front door of the newspaper office pushed open and he stepped out onto the sidewalk.

      Olivia focused on his dark good looks, enjoying the way the morning sun glinted off his coffee-colored hair. He was decked out in a charcoal gray business suit and much younger than she expected, midthirties she guessed. He didn’t look like a threat, but she couldn’t keep a sense of foreboding from coasting over her nerves.

      An elderly couple paused to speak with him. He smiled at something they said, nodding his head in agreement. They waved before moving down the street, arm in arm.

      Jack Trayborne crossed the road, a hint of a smile still bowing his sexy mouth. He reached his car, pausing next to it to raise his cell phone to his ear. He glanced over the car’s roof as he spoke, meeting her gaze with deep blue eyes and a placid expression.

      A jolt of attraction zapped her. Her throat constricted and the heat of embarrassment rushed into her cheeks.

      She broke the connection first and picked up her cup, bringing it to her lips in a nonchalant manner she didn’t feel. He’d set her damn nerves on fire and she was blowing it. There wasn’t much incognito about gawking at her enemy.

      Chancing another look, she almost choked. In the instant between realization and reality, he’d slipped away.

      She set down the cup, tossed a couple of bucks on the table and left the café.

      Looking both ways, she crossed the street and entered the Gazette, determined to forget about the odd encounter. This was one strange town; it only stood to reason that Jack Trayborne was odd, too.

      “Miss Morgan,” the receptionist said, looking up from behind a high counter positioned between the public and the newsroom, visible behind a half wall of glass. “How can I help you?”

      “I’d like to use the archives for a couple of hours this morning.”

      “I’m sorry, that’s not possible.”

      A zing of caution wiggled up her spine. “Is there a problem?” She glanced at the sign-in sheet on the counter. It was blank.

      “No. No problem. The exterminator is coming in to spray this morning. Everything has been draped. No one is allowed down there right now.”

      Arguing didn’t appear to be an option. Anyway, who could argue for exposure to chemicals.

      “When can I get into the archives?” she asked, picking up the morning’s edition of the newspaper from the desk. The headline leaped out at her. Phantom Saves Elderly Couple from Plunge off Hwy 21.

      Couple claims they never saw the man who saved their lives, but they don’t dispute that the phantom played a role in their miraculous rescue and they believe he exists…

      “At the end of the week.”

      “Hmm?” She snapped back into the conversation, still pondering the ridiculous article.

      “I’ll come back then. Thanks.” Olivia put the newspaper down, turned and left the office, pausing on the sidewalk to get her irritation under control before she crossed the street again and headed for her car. Up until this point, the Gazette had been her only source of information. She’d used archived articles to establish a time line on the clinic and its nefarious activities, but she still had to obtain Ross’s medical file.

      An involuntary shiver crept over her body and bloomed on her skin as goose bumps. If she had an explanation for what had happened last night she’d feel better, but the unknown aspects left her nerves in tatters. Things definitely went bump in the night around here.

      Had she simply walked to her car and climbed in without being aware? It didn’t make sense, but neither did any of the things that had taken place in that creepy basement.

      Strolling at an easy pace, she headed for her vehicle.

      In the distance, a siren howled and a police cruiser whizzed past, lights flashing. It turned right onto a side street.

      Somehow, the commotion seemed out of place in the sleepy town of five thousand residents, where everyone seemed to know everyone else.

      Curiosity zipped through her. The police car was headed in the same direction as her hotel.

      Picking up her pace, she reached her car, pulled her keys out of her pocket and climbed in. She fired the engine and pulled out onto the main drag.

      At the intersection of Main and 10th, one block up, she took a left, then another, finally turning onto 9th street, headed for her hotel. Up ahead, she spotted flashing emergency lights.

      Caution stirred in her blood. They looked like they were corralled in front of her hotel.

      Olivia pushed down on the gas pedal, an extension of her need to get to the scene as soon as possible.

      She pulled into the parking lot on the side of the Emory Hotel and climbed out of her car. Moving quickly, she entered the main entrance, noting a couple of officers standing at the front desk speaking with the clerk. There didn’t appear to be anything urgent going on. She headed for the elevator. Lights and sirens usually spelled trouble for someone.

      The elevator glided to a stop, illuminating the number 4 above the door before it dinged and the doors slid open.

      Olivia exited into the hallway and stopped. At the end of the corridor two more uniformed officers milled around, another cop with a notepad appeared to be questioning a guest. Realization СКАЧАТЬ