The Phantom of Black's Cove by Jan Hambright

Author:Jan Hambright [Hambright, Jan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780263882407
Amazon: 0263882403
Publisher: Mills & Boon
Published: 2010-06-18T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Jack stared at the lakefront cottage less than a hundred yards from the main house. He’d chosen to give her a space of her own. She’d accepted his ultimatum on the surface, but underneath he’d tapped into her resentment. She hated being trapped, feeling helpless…and scared. That wasn’t his goal, to frighten her, but if it worked to keep her safe, it was a tactic he felt compelled to employ.

He glanced at the thick file in his hand and took the steps off the terrace. Maybe having access to Ross’s medical information would alleviate her distress. Convince her the clinic had done everything short of curing him. Maybe then she’d consent to leaving Black’s Cove for good.

Regret ticked along his nerves and matched the beat of his footsteps through the rose garden and onto the porch of the cottage. His approach alerted Gunner, his German shepherd, and he immediately rushed toward him, tail wagging.

Jack patted the dog’s head and raised his hand to knock.

The door opened before he could rap on it.

“I saw you coming.” She turned away leaving the door open for him to enter.

The sway of her hips in her blue jeans made his jaw clench and he pulled in a deep breath before crossing the threshold into the land of temptation.

“I have something for you.”

She stopped, turned and plopped down on the couch, a devil-may-care grin on her face. “You’re going to free me from this exquisitely decorated prison?”

A knot swelled in his chest. He lowered himself onto the chair facing the sofa.

“It’s Ross’s medical file.”

She dropped the contrivance she’d wrapped herself in and sat forward. “You would give that to me?”

“Yes.” He watched disbelief pull her eyebrows together as she studied him, her intense blue-eyed gaze never leaving his face.

“It’s that simple. You give me the medical file, I read through it, determine if the clinic is responsible for his present medical condition and I’m good to go?”

“Something like that.”

The briefest flash of acceptance flitted across her pleasing features and he moved in for the kill.

“There’s one condition. You leave Black’s Cove immediately and you leave its secrets behind when you go. You’ll have the answers you seek about Ross and I’ll have my anonymity. There will be no exposé. Do we have an agreement?”

Reluctance kept him out of her mind. Any trail of thought she went down could only lead him back to his belief that she thought he was a freak and she’d love nothing better than to expose him as one.

Olivia stood up, her nerves a jumbled mass of short-circuiting bio-matter. What Jack was asking was career suicide for her, a lethal dose of unemployment. A journalist who couldn’t dish was dead. Was she willing to trade the story of the century for a manila file with her brother’s name on it?

Remnants of guilt surfaced in her mind, dragging her toward a decision. She stared at the folder Jack held so casually. He had her recompense in his hands. The absolution of her guilt for causing the accident that injured Ross.

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