Family in the Crosshairs Read online

  Dr. Lamb had taken Joy’s body away in the coroner’s wagon, promising a speedy investigation. There hadn’t been anything more to do. After the police had gone, Leon had secured Joy’s house, feeling that pang of sorrow again for the woman who had been almost a friend. As he was leaving, Bungee had emerged from the undergrowth and, scooping the fluffy ginger tom cat under one arm, he’d taken him home with him. He had no real expectation that the cat would stay, but it felt like one final thing he could do for Joy.

  Flora had accepted the offer of a lift to the daycare center from Laurie. Leon had watched her as they drove away. He could have kept his eyes on Laurie or Joe Nolan, but, for some reason, all his attention had been focused on Flora. She’d had quite the introduction to a new town and the impact was plain. Her face was pale and, when she lifted that glorious mass of hair back from her neck with one hand as the police cruiser drove away, he could see her trying to process what was going on.

  Because what the hell was going on? If someone knew Joy had been stabbed, why all the mystery of the strange calls to the police and the medical examiner? The answer seemed obvious, but it still left too many unanswered questions. Had the person making the calls murdered Joy? If so, why would he, or she, be in such a hurry to let them know about the death? It was as if the killer, or someone linked to them, was determined to flaunt their crimes.

  Leon had spent the morning puzzling over those questions in between seeing patients. He also devoted a considerable amount of time to wondering how Flora was bearing up. Finding an excuse to call her had taken a strong grip on his imagination and he was annoyed with himself. He didn’t do this. Didn’t do other people. Didn’t do caring. Not anymore.

  When you’ve been responsible for the death of your wife and your unborn child...well, I guess you’re allowed to say to hell with the rest of the world.

  Within a few minutes, thoughts about the previous day were put to one side as he pulled up outside the low-level, white-painted daycare building with its brightly colored railings. He winced as he left his car and the sound of screaming greeted him. If the decibel level was any indication, a nasty injury awaited him. He followed the noise around to the rear of the center.

  One of the daycare assistants unlocked the gate to admit him, and he took in the situation with a swift glance. A child was lying on the ground with his arm wedged under the climbing frame. A woman sat beside him, rubbing his back and talking quietly to him. The screams weren’t coming from the kid who was stuck. Another boy, identical to the one who was trapped, had his arms wrapped around the woman’s neck. This child was the source of the high-pitched wailing.

  Daisy stood nearby, watching the scene with a blank expression that Leon could only attribute to panic. Her staff, apparently taking their cue from the boss, also seemed to be in shock. They wandered around helplessly. The other kids were either crying or dashing about overexcitedly.

  Leon took charge. He loosened the screaming boy’s grip on the woman’s neck and, keeping hold of his hand, took him to Daisy. “Get this little guy away from here. Make sure he can still see his mom and his brother so he knows they’re okay, but distract him.”

  “Cookies will do it.” Now she had emerged from under the stranglehold, his suspicions proved correct. It was Flora. She spoke directly to her clinging son. “Mommy will be right here with Stevie. He’s going to be just fine, Frankie.”

  Her son’s cooperation hung in the balance briefly, but he looked up at Daisy, the tears suspended. “Cookies?”

  “Cookies.” Daisy seemed to regain some of her composure. “The ones you like with the chocolate chips.”

  Leon glanced over his shoulder as he knelt beside the climbing frame. “Maybe you could get the other kids out of the way as well?”

  Daisy nodded, signaling to her staff. The whole group followed her inside.

  “Thank you.” Flora gave a relieved sigh. “Stevie’s staying very calm, but the noise and the audience weren’t helping.”

  Leon observed that she’d removed her light-weight jacket and slipped it under Stevie’s head so the rough surface of the play area wasn’t too uncomfortable against his skin.

  “Do you want me to deal with this?” The daycare center always called him if there was a medical problem, but this was an unusual situation. Flora was a doctor herself and more than capable of caring for her son.

  “Oh, yes.” Now he got a closer look, he could see she wasn’t quite as calm as he’d thought at first glance. She was doing that remarkable mom-thing of keeping it together for Stevie’s sake. “I would never try to treat my own kids. Not for anything big. The nerves get in the way, you know?”

  “Then let’s take a look at Stevie, shall we?” He had to lie at an awkward angle with his face up close to the little boy’s to be able to feel his way along the trapped arm. Huge blue eyes, just like Flora’s, regarded him with interest. “My name is Dr. Leon. How are you doing, buddy?”

  Stevie’s lower lip wobbled. “I’m stuck.”

  “So you are.” Leon turned his head to look at Flora. “I have no idea how he managed to do this. It must have taken some force to jam his arm under this bar.”

  “That was what I thought.” When she stopped biting it, her own lower lip trembled slightly. “Daisy said no one saw what happened. The only thing I can think is that he must have slipped and pushed his hand under as he fell.”

  Leon turned back to Stevie. “However you did it, I don’t think you’ve broken anything.” Fire chief Andy Mellor and his colleague Rick Morris approached at that moment and he spoke directly to them. “I’m going to need you to cut through the bar on either side of his arm so we can release him.”

  He made a move to shift out of the way to allow the firefighters to get in close with their hydraulic cutting equipment, but the fingers of Stevie’s free hand clutched the front of his shirt.

  “Dr. Leon, stay here.” His protective instincts were roused by the boy’s pale, determined features, which made him think of Flora and the way she’d dealt with Joy’s death. The boy had clearly inherited his fighting spirit from his mother.

  “Is that okay?” Leon asked.

  Andy nodded. “We can work around you.”

  Stevie was regarding the huge cutting shears nervously, so Leon decided to distract him. “Do you like ice cream?”

  The blue eyes swiveled away from the firefighters and fixed hopefully on Leon’s face. “I like choclit best. Frankie likes ’anilla.” The contemptuous tone told its own story of his regard for Frankie’s preference.

  “How about we get some ice cream once your arm is free?” He had to raise his voice above the noise of the cutters.

  “Frankie too?” Leon nodded. “And Mommy?”

  “We’ll all go.” He wasn’t sure how Flora would feel about that plan, but it was taking Stevie’s mind off the cutting operation and that was all that mattered.

  The giant shears cut through the bar like a hot knife through butter and Stevie was scrambling free a minute later. Flora caught him up into a hug, ruffling his curls, and the boy made a protesting noise as he squirmed in her embrace. Andy and Rick departed, having assured Leon they would tell Daisy to get the equipment checked before the kids used it again.

  “I’m going to need to get another look at that arm.” Leon didn’t think there was any real damage, but he wanted to be sure.

  Stevie stood still, watching Leon with interest as he checked the arm for signs of a break. Although the tender skin was red, there was no sign of swelling or severe bruising and Stevie could bend his arm and grasp Leon’s fingers without pain.

  “We’ll get a cold compress from Daisy, but I don’t think there’s any other treatment he needs.”

  “Thank you.” Flora’s sigh of relief seemed to reverberate right through her slender body. “When I saw him lying there...”

  “It must have been a shock, but he’s
fine.”

  “Ice cream.”

  Leon looked down at Stevie as the little boy pulled on the knee of his pants. It was a bittersweet reminder of the family he’d lost. The twins were nearly three and the child he and Karen had been expecting would have been about a year older.

  “Oh, hey, you really don’t have to—” Flora’s bright curls tumbled as she shook her head “—I can take them to the Ice Creamery.”

  “Dr. Leon come, too.” The grip on Leon’s leg tightened.

  “I did make him a promise. And I’d like it...if you don’t mind?”

  I don’t do closeness. I don’t do caring. How’s that working out for you?

  Leon was aware he was coming across more like a shy teenager on a first date than a professional doing his job. Or a man who kept a lock on his heart.

  “You may have no choice. They can be pretty determined.” Flora looked from her toddler’s upturned face to Leon’s with a smile. “It’s a family trait.”

  He’d told himself her smile couldn’t have the sort of impact he remembered. He was wrong. It wasn’t just the way it lit up her face. It was the message it gave. Flora’s smile inspired happiness and, once she got started, she was generous with it. That expression was the most beautiful thing Leon had seen in quite some time.

  He wanted to see more of it. As Stevie wrapped plump arms around his knee, it looked like he was going to get his wish...with a side order of ice cream.

  Chapter 3

  Since the Ice Creamery was just a block away, Leon left his car at the daycare center and they walked. Frankie, once he had been assured that his twin was okay, became jealous of the attention his brother was getting from this interesting new acquaintance. He was determined to make up for lost time. As a result, Leon had a twin clamped to each hand.

  “Call me later and let me know how he is.” Flora had thought Daisy’s pale face and worried manner had been out of proportion to the incident.

  “He’s really fine. Look at him.” Flora had attempted to reassure her as they’d left.

  “Just call me. Please?”

  “I’m surprised at the way it affected her. Little kids have accidents all the time,” Flora commented to Leon as they walked along the sidewalk.

  “They do, and Daisy usually deals with them calmly. She may be worrying about repercussions, even a possible lawsuit.”

  “Really?” She gave the matter some thought. “It was just a typical kid thing. No one was to blame.”

  “Since we both commented on the effort Stevie must have put into getting stuck, I expect Daisy will be relieved to hear you say that.” They reached the ice-cream parlor and Flora held the door open so Leon could walk through sideways without letting go of the twins. “Some parents might suggest there was a supervision issue.”

  That aspect hadn’t occurred to her but, now Leon had raised it, the prospect bothered her more than she liked. She handed her boys, her most precious parts of herself, over each day, trusting they would be safe in the care of Daisy and her staff. Was it possible Stevie hadn’t been watched carefully enough?

  She was conscious of Leon’s gaze on her profile. “Daisy has been doing that job a long time. Almost ten years. I’ve never heard of a problem at the center.” His voice was reassuring.

  Flora relaxed a little. “Stevie is like a whirlwind. They both are. I guess all it takes is for the adult in charge to look away at the wrong moment.” Even so, she would double-check with Daisy about supervision when she next spoke to her.

  They found a booth and sat down, the twins causing a distraction from more serious matters with their insistence that they both needed to sit next to Dr. Leon. It was a strange sensation. Normally Flora was the person they fought over. Now she was a spectator as, one on each side of him, they vied for Leon’s attention. He handled it well, with a combination of gentleness and firm good humor.

  “Do you have children?” The words slipped out before she stopped to consider whether they were intrusive.

  The question brought an abrupt end to his smiles. As he looked up from the twins’ chatter, she thought his eyes were the most intense she had ever seen them. They were dark green, reminding her of lake water in the early evening light. In that instant, their depths appeared to hold a world of pain and secrets.

  “No.”

  That curt negative was clearly all the response she was going to get. No additional information, no sense of how he felt about the question, no change in his facial expression.

  Then he smiled, his mood changing swiftly. “I’m informed that Stevie likes ‘choclit’ and Frankie likes ’anilla.”

  “And Mommy likes scotch,” Frankie said.

  “He means butterscotch sauce. I’m not an alcoholic.” Flora’s cheeks flamed as she realized what she’d said. “I didn’t mean...”

  She was still floundering helplessly when the waitress came to take their order. Lapsing into silence, she watched as Leon assured the twins they could have both sprinkles and syrup. He also chatted to the young waitress about how her grandmother was doing after her operation. It was as if he was going out of his way to demonstrate how to make polite conversation. Flora wanted to put her head in her hands and groan. She had just ricocheted right off the scale of tactlessness and now she had to find a way to make amends.

  The waitress brought coloring pencils and dinosaur pictures for the twins. For once, they bent their heads over their task, both determined to do their best picture for Dr. Leon.

  Flora launched straight into her apology. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “Why not? You aren’t an alcoholic. I am. Well, if we’re going to be precise about terminology, I have PTSD that caused a drinking problem. I’m now in recovery from the disease.” She hated that she had triggered discussion of this battle. “Please don’t worry that my patients are in danger. Or anyone else.” His gaze went to the twins. “I’ve been sober for two years and I plan on staying that way. But my past is no secret. I’m sure the Stillwater scandal-stirrers have shared every fascinating detail.”

  The tone was brave, if self-mocking. But his half-smile and the hurt in his eyes...they were both prompting her in the same, unexpected direction. She wanted to move around the table and hug him. To try to take away some of the pain. Instead, she settled for a light touch on his wrist. Just the brush of her fingertips against his flesh caused a wildfire reaction, almost a jolt of static electricity, except this was internal. Starting deep inside and zinging along her nerve endings, it was raw, breathtaking, and unlike anything she had ever felt before.

  Probably just as well I decided against the hug.

  Leon’s indrawn breath told her the contact had affected him in the same way. Self-consciously, Flora withdrew her hand. This day was taking a series of unexpected turns. “I try not to listen to gossip. I know how much damage it can do.”

  Leon raised a brow. “That sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”

  “Our stories may be different, but they have both taken place under the glare of the public spotlight.” She regretted the words immediately. It was a long way from opening her heart, but it felt like too much. Cutting her gaze away from his, she fell silent. She still wasn’t comfortable talking about what had happened. Somehow, it felt like a betrayal to Danny.

  Flora was glad when any further conversation was brought to a halt as the waitress arrived with their order. By the time Flora had tucked serviettes into the front of the twins’ T-shirts, given reminders about the use of spoons instead of hands and warned Leon that he might want to get out of the firing line of food projectiles, she felt ready to change the topic.

  “I spoke with Dr. Lamb earlier. He is sending the autopsy report to the Ryerson Center. That should speed up the process.”

  Leon maintained eye contact while holding on to Frankie’s wrist as he tried to launch a spoonful of ice cream in
the direction of his twin. “Is there any service your center can’t provide?”

  Although there was a trace of bitterness, she sensed a genuine interest behind the question. She contemplated the best way to answer it, which was not an easy task when Leon was sitting opposite her looking so delicious.

  Even the blob of vanilla ice cream in the center of his blue tie couldn’t detract from the fact that he was easily the most handsome man she had ever seen. His looks had a bad boy edge at odds with his obvious desire to hide away and not draw attention to himself. Flora wanted to tell him it was never going to happen. With a face like that? Get used to it, Doctor. You are always going to attract attention. But she guessed he probably already knew that. It made her wonder all over again at his story.

  Wavy hair a dark, golden shade that could probably still just be called blond; angular, chiseled features; a perfect mouth with lips that looked like they had been made for kissing... She pulled herself back from the edge of that highly dangerous thought only to get lost in his eyes. They were mesmerizing, drawing her in and holding her in their depths.

  Focus. He had asked a serious question. “As you know, we aren’t equipped for major surgery—”

  “As I know? Why would I know anything about what you do?”

  Nature, as well as giving him so many gifts in the looks department, had also endowed Leon with an incredible voice. Warm, deep and rich. It was like warm honey poured over cream. Although it was the perfect doctor’s voice—soothing and reassuring—the things it was doing to Flora’s heart rate were definitely not medicinal.

  She realized an answer was required, but she was bewildered by the question. “Because of the partnership the Ryerson Center trustees suggested to Dr. Grayson. I know it was a disappointment to them that he didn’t think a merger between the two clinics was a good idea...” Leon was staring at her as if she had two heads. “You don’t know what I’m talking about.”

  “No. This is the first I’ve heard of it.”