Dawn Stewardson Read Online Free Page A

worry. But I decided I had to, no matter how low the risk. So even though the chances of anything happening to you are awfully remote, you keep a sharp eye out, okay? And if anything makes you even the least bit anxious, call the police. Immediately.”
    She nodded. “I will.”
    Elliot gave her a forced-looking smile. “With any luck, the guy will be back behind bars in no time. He’s the kind who’ll spend most of his life in prison.”
    Her thoughts racing, Lauren walked Elliot out and gave him another hug—a long, hard one this time. “You take care,” she whispered. “You take really serious care.”
    When the door closed behind him, she looked over at the cat, half wishing he was a stray Doberman rather than a half-grown tom.
     

    “I SWEAR ,” S ULLY MUTTERED , “there should be a law against women like her.” He paced across the kitchen once more, then turned and looked back over to where Otis and Grace were sitting at the table.
    Listening to him rant and rave wasn’t part of the job description for either teacher or housemother, but he’d been so steamed when he’d left Manhattan that even the four-hour drive back up to Eagles Roost hadn’t completely cooled him down. And filling them in on his visit with Lauren Van Slyke had made him angry all over again.
    Maybe she didn’t care what happened to his kids, or to all the ones who’d be coming through here in the future—assuming he could keep the program going—but he sure cared. And he cared about what would happen to Grace and Otis, too.
    Back when he’d started the program, he’d been lucky that Otis had decided to pack in his inner-city teaching job and come to work here. He and Grace were a lot of the reason Eagles Roost was a success. And what did a couple in their late fifties do if the rug was suddenly pulled out from under them?
    “How,” he said, shaking his head, “could they appoint a complete incompetent as the director of a foundation? Even if she is family?”
    “Will you take it easy?” Otis said quietly. “You’re going to give yourself a heart attack.”
    “Take it easy? Otis, you weren’t there. You weren’t the one she conscripted to help catch a soaking-wet cat. You aren’t the one who’s got a ten-inch gash in his arm.” He brandished the scratch at them again.
    “We really should get that cleaned up,” Grace told him. “You don’t suppose there’s any chance of rabies, do you?”
    “It wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Actually, it wouldn’t surprise me if the woman had rabies, never mind her cat. I mean, she’s simply not a normal person. Who would think of bringing her cat to the office, let alone bathing it there?”
    “Well, it does sound peculiar,” Grace admitted. “But maybe she had a reason.”
    “Right,” Sully muttered. “The reason is that she’s a total wing nut. I’ll bet she’s lived her entire life without having a reason for anything she does. We’re a perfect example of that. She doesn’t have a clue what goes on up here, yet she merrily chops our funding.”
    “I thought she said the decision was the board’s, not hers,” Otis pointed out.
    Sully shot a glare in his direction. “Stop trying to be so reasonable. The woman’s a liar. She straight out denied having phoned you, and there’s no doubt she did, is there?”
    Otis shook his head. “I talked to her for a good half hour. And as I said at the time, the more questions she asked, the more it seemed she was trying to unearth problems.”
    “Exactly. Which tells us how much faith we can put in anything she says.”
    “Well, it doesn’t matter anymore,” Grace said, “because we’re obviously through dealing with her. But where do we go from here?”
    The worried expression on Grace’s face made Sully suddenly wish he’d soft-pedaled things. Eagles Roost was her home. And Otis’s, too, of course.
    “Maybe,” Grace murmured to Otis, “we should postpone our vacation for a while. Until we get this