Debby Giusti - Countdown to Death

Luke stuck out his hand. “Good advice, Vic. Fact is I’m planning to make a trip into Sterling today. There’s someone I want to see.”

The sheriff raised his brow. “You don’t need more trouble.”

“You should talk to Cooper Wallace about causing trouble.”

“You’re a friend, Luke. But that wasn’t the reason I didn’t arrest you. You know there wasn’t enough evidence. Despite our friendship, and no matter how cold that case might be, if something concrete shows up that ties you to the crime, I’ll haul you in faster than a hawk sweeping down on its prey. You understand me, son?”

The front door opened, and Luke turned to see Allison standing on the porch, her eyes wide, brow furrowed with question.

The sheriff tipped his head. “Ma’am, I’ll keep you posted on what I find out.”

He slapped Luke’s shoulder, then turned and headed to his squad car.

From the confusion Luke saw written plainly on Allison’s face, he wondered if she’d heard the sheriff’s comment. She didn’t need anything else to carry on her slender shoulders.

Talk of arson and a cold-case crime was enough to send her scurrying back to Atlanta, where, he had to admit, she’d probably be safer. After everything that had happened, Sterling was anything but safe.

Why was Luke staring at her with such a strange expression on his face? Evidently she’d interrupted a personal conversation he’d been having with the sheriff.

She would have stayed in the house, but Bett and Shelly had gone out the back door to the garden, and Allison had needed to grab her cell from the cabin and call the lab before she headed to town. Although with the medication still in her system, she wondered if she should drive. The muscle relaxers had taken the edge off the pain, but they made her feel like she was moving in slow motion. Add to the mix that she was still struggling to understand everything that had happened last night. If what Sheriff Treadwell said was true, someone had tried to kill her. Surely he was mistaken. She didn’t know anyone in Sterling who would want to do her harm.

Squaring her shoulders, Allison walked down the steps to where Luke stood. “Bett said you could give me directions back to town.”

Luke nodded. “I can do better than that. I’ll drive you there.”

He certainly aimed to please. “Don’t you have work to do?”

A lazy smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Yes, ma’am, but it can wait.”

Okay. She’d accept his offer. “Give me ten minutes to make a phone call.”

Allison picked her way along the path to the cabin, feeling Luke’s eyes following her. Opening the door, she glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see him still standing in the driveway, but he’d disappeared from sight.

A feeling settled over her. Relief or disappointment? She wasn’t sure.

Closing the door behind her, Allison found her cell and punched in the number to the lab.

“Magnolia Medical, research department.” Denise Ryan, the lab secretary, answered on the third ring. Once she heard Allison’s voice, she sighed deeply.

“I was worried. The morning news mentioned a fire. Sounded like the place where you were staying.”

“I’m fine, Denise. A very nice woman and her nephew took me in.”

“Oh-h?” She exaggerated the word into two syllables. “And just how old is this nephew?”

Allison couldn’t help but laugh. Denise loved to play matchmaker, and she’d offered Allison more than a few names of eligible bachelors. None of whom Allison had been interested in meeting. “My guess, early thirties.”

“And you turned twenty-nine on your last birthday. Sounds perfect.”

“Enough of that. I need to talk to Veronica.”

The secretary lowered her voice. “I think she’s gotten some flack about those units you quarantined yesterday, especially with the shortage we’re having statewide.”

Denise had reached out to Allison when she’d first received funding for her research. Always one to know the latest scuttlebutt, the secretary had quickly clued her in to Veronica’s insistence on perfection. Something Allison couldn’t fault.

Laboratory testing required precision and accuracy. When someone’s life hung in the balance, there was no time for second-guessing. That was exactly why Allison was in Sterling. She believed her results were valid.

“Have you talked to any donors yet?” the lab manager asked as soon as she got on the line.

“That’s what I plan to do today. I’ll let you know what I uncover.”

“The board expects a detailed explanation on why those three units are being held in quarantine. Bottom line, they don’t want surgeries canceled because of a lack of blood.”

“And I don’t want someone to come down with a fatal disease post-transfusion from a unit that may be infected.”

Veronica sighed. “Of course we have to err on the side of caution. I’ll type up a report and present it to the board as soon as I hear back from you. Oh, and by the way, Allison, your dad called to talk to you this morning.”

“My dad? Did he say what he wanted?”

“Evidently he got wind of your research. You didn’t tell me you were Dr. Philip Stewart’s daughter. He’s one of the leading surgeons in this part of the country. Invite me to lunch next time he’s in town.”

“His schedule keeps him rather busy.” Allison wouldn’t mention their father-daughter estrangement to Veronica.

“I hope you don’t mind, but Denise forwarded his call to me. I told him you’d hit a slight blip in your test protocol that might put your research on hold.”

The positive test results were not a blip. And there was no reason her father needed to be told his daughter was less than successful. He’d figured that out long ago.

Of course, she wouldn’t mention that to Veronica, either.

“Call me when you have something,” her supervisor continued. “There’s another South Georgia blood draw in less than two weeks.”

“Ten days to be exact. I’ll find the reason for the results as soon as I can. Just be sure the board doesn’t release those three units of blood.”

Allison hung up, feeling anxiety eat at her esophagus. She had to focus on the task at hand or all the work she’d done would go up in smoke.

Not a good analogy.

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