The Pregnancy Plot. Carol Ericson

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СКАЧАТЬ grabbed the handle, pulled open the door and dropped onto the seat, smashing her fist against the automatic lock. The woman who’d been eyeballing her started her own car and pulled out, giving Nina full view of the end of the row.

      The slow-moving sedan showed up in the aisle, and Nina cranked on her ignition. If that car decided to follow her, she’d drive straight to a police station. If the driver was Simon, he’d get the picture soon enough that, baby or no baby, she’d press charges against him for stalking if he kept up this cloak-and-dagger stuff. All he had to do was call her.

      Her car’s ignition clicked, but the car didn’t start. She tried again, clenching her teeth against the grating sound coming from her car. She didn’t need car trouble now.

      She cut off the unresponsive engine, took a deep breath and turned the key one more time. Again, the engine failed to turn over.

      The black car had turned around on the next level and was heading back toward her again. A cold fear seized her. She didn’t know if it was Simon or someone else in that car with the tinted windows, but she sensed a powerful evil heading in her direction.

      She cupped her hands over her barely discernible belly, and a surge of protectiveness rushed through her body. She removed her key from the ignition and pressed the red panic button on the remote.

      Her car alarm blared alternately with her honking horn as she slid down in her seat.

      With her nose just above the steering wheel, she watched the car zoom past her.

      A minute later, a man and a woman were knocking on her car window.

      She buzzed down the window, and the woman poked her head inside the car. “Are you okay?”

      Nina’s heart slowed its gallop. “I’m fine. I...I was trying to start my car, and I hit the alarm on my remote by mistake.”

      No point in revealing her emotional instability to anyone else. That’s all it was—pregnancy hormones running amok.

      The woman stepped back. “We saw you slip down in your seat and thought you were having some kind of medical emergency.”

      “No. I’m fine.”

      The man shrugged and turned away, obviously less interested than the woman, concern still creasing her face.

      “Can you start your car now?”

      Nina turned the key and got the same noise. “I guess not.”

      “Can you get a ride?”

      The man glanced at his watch.

      “I have an automobile club service. I’ll call them.” Nina popped her door handle, since she had no intention of waiting for the tow truck in this rapidly clearing parking lot.

      The woman smiled. “You take care now.”

      Nina slung her purse over her shoulder and trudged back to the elevator, periodically glancing over her shoulder to look out for the black sedan.

      Was it just a coincidence that her car broke down at the very same time a mysterious vehicle seemed to be shadowing her in the parking structure?

      Maybe, maybe not, but the scare had just sealed her fate.

      She was leaving LA for Break Island, Washington, sooner rather than later.

      * * *

      JASE FLIPPED UP the collar of his jacket and shoved his hands into his pockets, as the ferry chugged into port. Who the hell would leave sunny Southern California for this godforsaken island in the middle of Puget Sound at this time of the year?

      Crazy pregnant lady.

      When Jase reached land, he ordered a cup of coffee from the window next to the ticket office. He balanced the cup on the edge of a planter and pulled out his phone.

      Jack Coburn picked up on the first ring.

      “Jack, I made it to Break Island. I have no idea why anyone would want to open a bed-and-breakfast on this rock. No wonder the place closed down.”

      Coburn cleared his throat. “Fishing, sailing, hiking, bird-watching at the sanctuary, and ferries to Vancouver and Seattle. The Moonstones B and B didn’t close down for lack of business. Nina Moore’s mother became ill and passed away. After her mother’s death, her stepfather committed suicide.”

      Coburn always did his homework. Jase had known all that about Nina Moore’s tragic history, but he’d been too busy arguing with Coburn about this babysitting job to really take note of her background. Sad stuff—and she didn’t even know about her ex-fiancé yet.

      Coburn read his thoughts. “You would’ve remembered all that if you hadn’t been so intent on protesting the assignment. I need you focused, Bennett.”

      “I’m on it, boss. Protect the pregnant lady.”

      “We have to cover all our bases. We don’t know what’s going on right now or what to believe from Max Duvall’s crazy stories.”

      “The body of Nina Moore’s fiancé hasn’t turned up yet, has it?”

      “Nope.”

      “Maybe he’s not even dead.”

      “Maybe not, but that doesn’t change our mission.”

      “Protect the pregnant lady.”

      “Exactly.”

      Jase ended the call and squinted through the gray haze that enveloped the small town rolling out in front of him. Maybe the pregnant lady had escaped to Break Island to hide her condition from her ex-fiancé. He snorted and snatched his coffee from the planter.

      Wouldn’t be the first time a woman had tried to hide a pregnancy from a man.

      He checked into a small motel in the center of town and returned to the office to get to work. He touched the bell on the counter, and the motel’s proprietor came out from the back.

      “Everything okay in your room?”

      “Everything’s fine.” He picked up a flyer about the island’s bird sanctuary and tucked it into his pocket. “Maisie, right?”

      “That’s right.”

      In true small-town fashion, Maisie had introduced herself when he checked in. “On my way in on the ferry, I noticed a B and B on the shore. It looked kind of rough but still open. Any chance the owner needs some help fixing up the place? I’m looking for a little work, and that’s right up my alley.”

      “I don’t know if Nina’s looking for help, but she should be. Moonstones has been empty for a few years now and could sure use some TLC.”

      “Thanks, Maisie.” He rapped his knuckles on the counter. “I think I’ll head over there and see if I can offer Nina some TLC.”

      Once outside, Jase adjusted his shoulder holster beneath his blue СКАЧАТЬ