Thread Of Revenge. Elizabeth Goddard

Чтение книги онлайн.

       TWO

      In the hospital room being treated for hypothermia, Sadie counted her blessings and watched Aunt Debby pace the small space. The woman had raised Sadie and her three siblings when their parents died over a decade ago.

      “Jonna called to say she would come see you later today,” Aunt Debby said.

      Sadie’s sister Jonna ran a lodge on the coast. It would take her an hour to get here if she could even get away.

      “Why did you call her?” Sadie repositioned her pillow. “I don’t want anyone to worry about me. I’m okay. I didn’t die out there.”

      Aunt Debby started wringing her hands. Sadie wished she would sit down and relax.

      “No, but you came close.” Aunt Debby probably still grieved her sister and brother-in-law’s deaths, even after fifteen years. “I tried to contact Cora, but she works on that research vessel and all I could do was leave a message.”

      A marine archaeologist, Sadie’s sister Cora explored shipwrecks. Admittedly, that made Sadie envious at times. And her DEA agent brother Quinn... Aunt Debby didn’t even mention him. Nobody had heard from him in far too long. He preferred it that way.

      Regardless, Sadie definitely didn’t want her siblings involved because that could put them in danger, as well.

      Though she hated causing her aunt more distress, the woman needed to know.

      “Someone tried to kill me,” she said.

      Concern rippled over Aunt Debby’s features and she slowly sat on the bed. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

      “Because I didn’t want you to worry.” Not yet. Not until she spoke again with Gage Sessions. She still struggled to grasp he’d been the one to rescue her. Save her life.

      On the Coast Guard cutter that brought her to safety and the Coldwater Bay Hospital, Gage had been more than reassuring when he’d wrapped the blanket around her. Then at the hospital, he’d suggested she rest. She might remember more about what happened so she could answer the questions when someone came to investigate.

      Sadie had last seen Gage in college over seven years ago. They’d been close friends then. He’d cared about her as more than a friend, she’d known, but she hadn’t felt the same because she had been in love with someone else. Would the outcome have been different today if it had been a stranger rather than Gage risking his life to save hers?

      Aunt Debby pressed her hand on Sadie’s forehead as though checking her temperature, unease still evident in her eyes. “And you’ve told the sheriff?”

      “I told the Coast Guard and someone is letting the sheriff’s department know for me.”

      “Good. You’ve been through a lot. Just get some rest and once your core temperature is back up, they’ll release you. I’ll take you home and take care of you. Remember, you’re not in this alone, Sadie.”

      “I know.” And Sadie thanked God for her family.

      She closed her eyes and rested on the pillow. She wished she could remember everything that had happened. One minute she was at Karon’s house. The next she was on that boat fighting to survive. Who did the boat belong to, anyway? With it hidden in the depths of the Pacific, would she ever find out?

      If only she could remember more. Was hypothermia messing with her memories? When she’d woken up on the boat, she’d been extremely groggy with the world’s worst headache. That hadn’t been hypothermia. No—she’d been drugged.

      A flash of a memory zinged back to her.

      Sadie glanced down at her hospital gown. “Aunt Debby?”

      “Yes, sweetie?”

      “Where are my clothes?”

      Her aunt chuckled. “It’s customary to wear a hospital gown in the hospital. Don’t you remember changing?”

      Vaguely. “No, I mean, what happened to them after I changed into this?”

      “Oh, I took them home to wash and dry them.”

      Oh, no. “Could you do me a favor? I need you to go through the pockets of my hoodie. I found something on the boat. It could be important.” The pendant was a link, the proof she needed that Karon had been on that same boat. Possibly evidence that Karon’s killer was now after Sadie.

      A chill crawled over her that had nothing to do with her recovery from hypothermia.

      Aunt Debby agreed to search her pockets back at the house and left Sadie alone with her thoughts, which turned out to be a bad idea. She couldn’t exactly rest like everyone insisted when someone had gone to such trouble to attempt to kill her.

      She СКАЧАТЬ