Deadly Ties by Hinze Vicki

Author:Hinze, Vicki [Hinze, Vicki]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: suspense
Publisher: Multnomah Books
Published: 2011-02-09T06:00:00+00:00

15

M ark stood near the nurses’ station outside the ICU.

Detective Jeff Meyers stood next to him, his suit a little snug. He’d put on a couple of pounds over the winter, but tourist season always took it off. He’d be rail thin by its end. Passersby gave them a wide berth. Everyone working with them had scattered inside the hospital and out in the village, trying to scare up or run down leads.

So far, they all came up dry.

“Brought you some coffee from Ruby’s.” Jeff set a cardboard tray holding two paper cups on the ledge of the counter. The distinct scent of Ruby’s strong coffee filled the air.

Jeff’s pug nose twitched. “It’s pretty obvious Dutch is behind this. But it’s just as obvious that he didn’t act alone. It’d be easy enough for him to hire a couple of thugs to help him, but hacking into the hospital’s security system … None of the thugs around here is that smart and neither is he.”

“Dutch definitely had help. When Rose finally got him on the phone, he was in Georgia. Joe verified his location.”

“Where exactly was he?” Jeff pulled a cup free from the carton and passed it to Mark.

“In a hotel just across the state line.” Mark thumbed the tab and drank through the lid. “We faxed up a photo, and the clerk positively identified him.”

“So he hired professionals to assault Annie and abduct Lisa. Is that what you’re thinking?”

“Yeah.” Mark covertly scanned the area to be sure they wouldn’t be overheard. This was the first chance they’d had to talk one-on-one in person, and what he was about to say wasn’t the kind of thing you trusted to the phone. “I’m afraid it isn’t just professionals he hired, Jeff. It’s NINA.”

“NINA?” Jeff pulled his own cup from the holder and sent Mark a confused look. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” Boy, those were hard words to admit. “But Karl Masson was in the parking lot when Lisa was abducted.”

“Whoa.” Jeff scowled. “Think he’s back in the village for Kelly Walker?”

“Maybe, but I don’t believe that’s all of it. Why would he leave the hospital with Kelly still inside? Why abduct Lisa instead?” Mark couldn’t answer those questions with any degree of certainty, but the scope of this had to be wider than Masson’s killing Kelly. “I’m sure Masson wants Kelly neutralized, but this has to be a multipurpose visit. Taking Lisa was a deliberate act.”

Leaving the coffee untouched, Jeff stared off at the wall, then snapped his gaze back to Mark. “Had to be or Annie wouldn’t be here.”

Two orderlies walked by complaining about runny eggs in the cafeteria. Waiting for them to move out of earshot, Mark glanced over at a painting hanging on the wall. It was a serene landscape. Calm and tranquil—the antithesis of all he was feeling inside. He wished he could crawl into it and absorb some of its calm. Maybe if he got some of the knots out of his gut, his focus would get off of what could be happening to Lisa and on to finding her.

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.