Sandra Robbins - Dangerous Waters

SOME SECRETS ARE MEANT TO STAY BURIED

Laura Webber is determined to uncover the truth behind her parents’ murders. But after being interviewed about the unsolved case, she’s abducted and dumped in the Mississippi River with a warning to stop digging up the past. With her life in jeopardy, she knows that her former fiancé, Brad Austin, is the only person she can turn to for help. The cold-case detective has spent years trying to forget Laura, yet he can’t turn her away. But before Brad can wrap her in his protection, will their reunion be cut short by a killer threatening to silence Laura forever?

The Cold Case Files: Uncovering secrets of the past

Laura cast one last terrified glance around the parking lot and took a deep breath. “We’ve got to get out of here. They’re watching us.”

Brad’s frown deepened. “Who’s watching us?”

“The man who abducted me last night. He knew I’d been to the police, and he knew what I was wearing.”

Brad steered her back toward the car. “Get in the car, Laura. I need to get you out of here.”

Once inside he cranked the engine and roared from the parking lot. As he sped down the street, he looked in the rearview mirror from time to time. “I don’t think we’re being followed. I don’t know who these guys are, but we’ll do our best to find out. Until we do, I want you to lie low, and let us do our job.”

She stared out the window without answering him. For years she had convinced herself she could live with the unanswered questions about her parents’ deaths, but now she knew that was impossible.

The events of last night and today had propelled her past a point of no return, and now she wouldn’t give up until she had the answers she’d craved.

SANDRA ROBBINS,

a former teacher and principal in the Tennessee public schools, is a full-time writer for the Christian market. She is married to her college sweetheart, and they have four children and five grandchildren. As a child, Sandra accepted Jesus as her Savior and has depended on Him to guide her throughout her life.

While working as a principal, Sandra came in contact with many individuals who were so burdened with problems that they found it difficult to function in their everyday lives. Her writing ministry grew out of the need for hope that she saw in the lives of those around her.

It is her prayer that God will use her words to plant seeds of hope in the lives of her readers. Her greatest desire is that many will come to know the peace she draws from her life verse, Isaiah 40:31. “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.”

Dangerous Waters

Sandra Robbins

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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But I will hope continually,

and will yet praise thee more and more.

—Psalms 71:14

To my sisters Pam, Fran and Sandy for all your encouragement and support

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DEAR READER

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

EXCERPT

ONE

Even though Laura Webber had watched the prerecorded television interview on the six o’clock news, she couldn’t wait to see the repeat at ten. She’d spent the time between the broadcasts finishing up paperwork in her office at the hospital, and then switched on the television to catch it again on the late news. She stared at her pale face on the screen and wondered how her friend and roommate, Grace Kincaid, had ever talked her into doing that interview.

She’d promised herself when she’d returned to Memphis she wouldn’t dredge up the memories she’d lived with for the past nineteen years. And yet, there she was on the most watched television station in the city telling how her parents had died in a car bomb explosion when she was ten years old.

Grace, ever the professional reporter, stared into the camera to close the interview. “The deaths of Lawrence Webber and his wife, Madeline, are one of the many unsolved cases that have prompted local authorities to establish a new Cold Case unit within the police department. The Webbers are but one family who hopes they will soon have answers concerning the fates of their loved ones. I am Grace Kincaid reporting for WKIZ-TV. Thank you for watching.”

Laura pressed the remote to switch off the television, leaned forward and folded her arms on her desk. At first she hadn’t wanted to do the interview. The memory of seeing the car bomb explode and engulf her parents in flames still haunted her. Grace had reasoned with her that people needed to be reminded that a federal prosecutor and his wife had been murdered while his children watched, and she was right. It felt good to know she had told her parents’ story.

She glanced at the clock and jumped to her feet. Time to get home. If she was to make it to her early appointments with clients at Cornerstone Clinic in the morning, she needed some sleep. She grabbed her purse hanging on the back of her chair and slid its strap over her shoulder. A chill rippled down her spine as a thought flashed in her mind. The next hospital shift wouldn’t occur for another hour. The parking lot would be deserted this late.

Her chin dipped against her chest, and she covered her face with her hands. Through the years she’d thought of what she’d lost that summer day years ago when her parents’ car exploded, but it was what she’d gained that kept her awake at nights—the fear that someone was watching her and her brother, just waiting for the chance to annihilate her entire family.

After a moment, she took a deep breath, switched off her office lights and headed for the parking lot. Before stepping outside the hospital, she peered through the door’s glass at the dark shadows covering the asphalt beyond the exit. Several streetlights appeared to be out of order. She squinted into the distance trying to remember where she’d parked her car. With the lot filled when she arrived earlier this afternoon, she hadn’t been able to get her spot near the building. Scanning the area, she finally spotted her vehicle underneath one of the poles that burned brightly. The distance between where she stood and her car seemed to grow as she stared at it. After a moment she squared her shoulders, stepped from the building and walked toward her car. Her gaze didn’t waver as she moved.

Halfway to her destination, the sound of a car door closing echoed across the parking lot, and she froze in place. She cast a glance around but didn’t see anyone. A footstep echoed off the asphalt. Was it her imagination, or was someone out there?

She dug in her purse for her keys as she bolted toward her car. Without warning an arm circled her waist and squeezed the breath from her. A hand clamped a cloth over her mouth and nose, blocking the scream rising in her throat. Twisting and kicking, she tried to loosen her attacker’s grip, but it was no use. Dizziness swept over her, and she struggled against it. But there was nothing to ward off the darkness that enveloped her.