Cries in the Night by Debra Webb

Author:Debra Webb [Webb, Debra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488026706
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2004-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

The numbness had returned. In some ways Melany was thankful. She sat now, perfectly still, in one of the chairs around the small conference table in the makeshift command center at the Downtown Precinct.

Helen Peterson was dead.

Shot twice in the chest.

Murdered.

Before she could tell Melany what she desperately needed to know.

Bill and Ryan were arguing. She wasn’t sure about what since her brain had practically shut down an hour ago. Both had shed their jackets. They circled the room, growling at each other like male dogs marking their territory.

Bill mentioned the hospital administration, Lance Upton, and Mel’s senses perked up a bit, though she wasn’t sure it really mattered at this point. She could feel the depression, the desire to give up, bearing down on her. She didn’t want to believe it was too late…over…finished. But holding on to hope had grown so hard. She tightened her fingers into fists in her lap and forced herself to focus on the conversation around her that grew more heated with each exchange.

“There have been five other cases in the past four months,” Bill argued. “All low-income single parents who were fatally injured, and in each incident the child or children were killed, as well.”

Ryan threw his hands up. “What the hell does that prove? That low wage-earning single parents drive carelessly? If the accident was bad enough, nobody would be expected to survive no matter their income or marital status. Surely you’ve got more than that,” he snapped.

Bill glared at him for five full seconds. Mel recognized the strategy. He was cooling down, preparing for the next parley.

“This is personal, Ryan, I’ll give you that,” he said in a quiet yet lethal tone, “but I’m not going to make a mistake of this caliber even if it is personal.” He reached for his shirt pocket and swore. “I need a smoke.”

“You said you were quitting,” Ryan grumbled.

Bill exhaled a disgusted breath. “Oh, yeah.” He reached for a piece of the gum that was supposed to thwart his craving.

Mel shook her head to clear it. She’d missed the part about Bill taking this too personally or something similar. Apparently Ryan had accused him of falling down somewhere along the lines since this one was personal. She’d heard him toss that accusation at Bill a couple of times in the past two days. She hated the tension thickening in the room, between old friends. But what could she say to stop it?

“So what other relevant factors do you have?” Ryan’s voice sounded a bit calmer, as well. “We need a connection between Letson and Wilcox.”

Both men were on the edge. She couldn’t say how much sleep Bill had had, but Ryan hadn’t slept at all last night. She was pretty certain of that.

“I cross-referenced the MVA reports. What do you think I’ve had Carter doing? It was the same each time. The children appeared to be fine, and suddenly took a turn for the worst after being transferred to the pediatric ward.”

Mel snapped to full attention.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.