Danger in a Red Dress by Christina Dodd

Author:Christina Dodd [Dodd, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, General, Man-Woman Relationships, Romantic Suspense, Texas, Romantic Suspense Fiction, Secrets, Suspense, Treasure Troves, Older People, Secrecy, Family Secrets, Nurses, Maine
ISBN: 9780451226266
Publisher: Signet
Published: 2008-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

Gabriel walked into B’wiched in New York City and headed right for the table where, almost a year ago, Carrick had first shown him Hannah’s photo. Gabriel didn’t sit there because he had any sentimental attachment to Hannah. Quite the opposite. He sat there because he preferred to sit with his back against the wall. That way, no one could sneak up behind him and blindside him.

Once was enough.The waitress hustled over. “I’m Asta.” She was new, young, with hair dyed black-hole black, and she was looking him over.

He didn’t care. He’d been burned. He wasn’t about to step back into that fire. “I want iced tea—black, not sweet, not flavored. Please.” He added the please because when he’d lived with the Prescotts, he’d learned good manners, although lately, even the starkest civility had seemed too much trouble.

“Right away.” Asta leaned over to put a menu on the table, giving him a clear shot right down the front of her black blouse to a pair of smooth, perky boobs. “If you need anything else, anything at all . . .”

“There’ll be two of us for lunch.” He took another menu, and waved her away.

That was what civility got him. A waitress who wanted to chat when Gabriel wanted to get this business with Carrick over with at last.

Carrick stepped through the door. It was the first time Gabriel had seen him since that god-awful night last year. Carrick hadn’t changed; his appearance was as polished as ever . . . although perhaps he was a little thinner. Certainly, a haunted expression had etched a few lines around his mouth.

But then, his mother had been killed last year in circumstances that had sent Gabriel into a fury of anguish and pain. Gabriel had spent four months tracking Hannah Grey through twelve states. In Becket, Massachusetts, he’d located the fat head who, based on his belief that anyone who wore a fur coat and drove a Mercedes couldn’t lie, had reissued her a money card for her account, even though she had no ID. In Philadelphia, Gabriel had located that very fur coat on a homeless woman. In Chicago, he’d located the stripped remnants of the Mercedes. Then, in Minneapolis, he’d lost Hannah’s scent. All trace of her had disappeared.

He hadn’t given up. He would never give up. He would find her and bring her to justice for what she’d done to Mrs. Manly, to Carrick . . . and to him.

Because for a few brief, glorious moments, he’d forgotten she was a suspect, and trusted her. Loved her. Loved the illusion of who she was. She’d made him a failure, she’d made him a fool, and she’d broken his heart.

No, not his heart—his dreams.

He would never forgive her.

Now he sat in this chair, in this restaurant, again, to say what he could no longer put off.

I’m your brother.

I’m your half brother.

I’m one of your father’s bastards.

“Hello, Gabriel.” Carrick offered his hand, and in a somber voice, said, “I’m glad you called. I hope this means you’ve finally gotten over what happened last autumn.

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