Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Harlow pressed her lips together tightly and glanced at Wilder. Yeah, whatever they were about to tell her wasn’t good news. It felt as if every single day something terrible was happening. That storm she sensed weeks earlier had arrived in full force. She sent up a silent prayer that nothing had happened to Chelsey, but she didn’t insist they get to the details fast. She was reluctant to know.
“Sonny invited Chelsey to go with him on a vacation somewhere in Oregon. She was very excited and agreed to go. In the meantime, Judy and Tom asked if a friend of theirs, who traveled from San Francisco, could stay in the tiny house that’s right next to the house they rent out. The tiny house shares a small garden and patio with the guesthouse. Chelsey agreed,” Rainier continued.
“Are Chelsey and Sonny all right?” She had to ask. It was both of them. Two of her friends. She might not be super close to them, but she knew and liked them.
“Yes, both are fine. Chelsey called Judy to ask if she would water her roses, which were in pots on the back porch. Judy’s friend Edith Shumaker volunteered to do the watering. She told Judy and Tom she liked to sit outside in the early morning and enjoy her tea and would be happy to water the roses on Chelsey’s porch,” Rainier continued.
Harlow took a deep breath, her gaze clinging to Wilder’s. He didn’t look away, allowing her to use him to steady herself.
“Ms. Shumaker was found unconscious in the garden by the stairs leading up to the porch where the roses grew. She exhibited the same symptoms as Lawyer had, but whatever got her took her much faster. She never regained consciousness and died within three hours of being brought to the hospital.”
“Why wasn’t I called? They should have called me,” Harlow said, jumping out of her chair to pace the room. “I’m a trauma nurse. I work the ER. They should have called me.”
“What could you have done that Vienna and the others couldn’t do?” Rainier asked.
She tried not to resent his calm logic as her mind was going crazy the way it always did, trying to fit pieces of a puzzle together when there were still too many fragments missing.
“I don’t know, Rainier,” she answered, backing away from him to stare out the large bay windows of her studio. “Something. Maybe if I saw her, I could figure out what is killing these people. That could have been Chelsey, Judy or Tom. One or two deaths, we can put down to something random, but four?” She turned around to face the two men. “Four? Do you think that’s just some coincidence?”
“Baby.” Wilder’s voice was gentle. Too gentle.
If he didn’t stop, she would end up in tears. Crying wasn’t productive in the least. He just couldn’t be nice to her, or she was going to go to pieces. What was wrong with her lately? She had always kept her emotions strictly under control. Her therapist had told her that it wasn’t good for her. Right now, the woman would be very happy that Harlow had turned into a weeping ninny.
“No, do you? Do either of you think it’s a coincidence that four people have died, all with similar symptoms, but we don’t know what killed them? Does that make sense to you?”
She made it a challenge. She knew something was wrong. Gut level, she knew. The trouble with being emotional and acting hysterical is that you won’t be taken seriously. She wanted someone to listen to her. “Raine,” she murmured aloud. “She’d hear me.”
“We both hear you, Harlow,” Rainier said. “But you haven’t told us what your theory is. It is obvious you have one, and it’s distressing to you.”
She glared at him, hands on her hips. “I know darn well Shabina tells you just about everything we talk about.” She didn’t want to give voice to the serial killer theory. What if that made it real? What if they agreed with her?
“Including your extremely inventive plans to break Raine out of the medical facility.” There was the slightest trace of humor in Rainier’s voice.
Wilder raised his eyebrow. “Am I going to have to have a separate account for bail money?”
“It would be a good idea. I tried to tell you what you’re getting into and to think long and hard before you take on a woman in their little circle, because you’re taking on all of them if you claim one. Poor Sam has gray hair already.”
Harlow rolled her eyes. “Poor Sam has no trouble getting all of us in line when he wants to. He has this steely look he gives us…” She broke off laughing. “Okay, you’re right. Sam has been putting up with us for years. We aren’t easy, especially when we go out for a girls’ night and he has to be the sober driver.”