Cast into Doubt by Patricia MacDonald

Author:Patricia MacDonald
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Severn House Publishers Ltd
Published: 2011-07-10T07:10:19+00:00

EIGHTEEN

In the morning, she hedged the truth. She told Jeremy that Daddy had gotten hurt in the car, and had to go to the emergency room. Jeremy, whose playtime mishaps had landed him in the emergency room himself several times, found nothing to question in this. When he asked, ‘Is he still there?’ Shelby said that the doctors were making him stay a while until he got better.

When she deposited him at preschool Darcie asked, ‘Does he know about the accident?’

‘As little as possible,’ said Shelby. ‘Let’s keep it that way for now.’

Darcie nodded agreement.

As soon as Shelby got back into the car, she phoned Perry at Markson’s.

There was a slight delay, and then Perry got on the line.

‘Perry,’ she said breathlessly. ‘A few things have happened that I think you should know about. There may be no connection—’

Before she could get any further, Perry cleared his throat and said, ‘Shelby, listen . . .’

Shelby heard the apology in his tone. She frowned and waited.

‘I am truly, truly sorry about this, but I am not going to be able to go any farther with this.’

‘What do you mean?’ Shelby asked. ‘Why not?’

Perry hesitated. Then he said, ‘Apparently the Sunset Cruise Line contacted Elliott Markson. Told him that his security chief had been asking questions about your daughter.’

‘Oh no,’ said Shelby.

‘He blew up when he heard about it.’

‘I was afraid of that when you said you would do this on company time.’

‘Mr Markson would have wanted me to try to help you.’

Shelby sighed. ‘Well, it’s a new era. A new Markson. Look, Perry, I can pay you under the table. Can you continue on your own time?’ she said.

There was a silence at Perry’s end. He cleared his throat again. Then he sighed. ‘He basically said that he doesn’t want any trouble with the cruise lines. There may be corporate conflicts of interest.’

It was Shelby’s turn to be silent.

‘Shelby, I am really sorry. But I can’t afford to lose my job over this. With my daughter’s condition, we need the health insurance. And my hours here are flexible so I can help my wife to manage her care. Elliott Markson gave me a direct order to drop the matter. I’m afraid if I defy him . . .’

Shelby took a deep breath. ‘I understand, Perry.’

‘I can recommend some people to you who might be able to help.’

Shelby’s heart was filled with outrage at this new management that had replaced Albert Markson’s good manners and compassion with a flinty attitude of distrust and hostility. You could run a business and be decent to your employees at the same time. But then she forced herself to let it go. There is no time, she reminded herself, to worry about feeling angry or betrayed. ‘That would be great,’ she said, ‘email them to me,’ although she felt little optimism at the prospect of hiring another detective. It seemed as if she alone cared about the truth of what happened to Chloe. She couldn’t think about it right now.

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