Florence Case - Deadly Reunion

“You’re wrong,” Angie said, her eyes flashing furiously.

“I am?”

“You’ve been wrong before.”

Boone knew she was right. He considered apologizing, for thinking the evidence had disappeared because of her negligence. But he’d played the murder case the way he needed to in order to free an innocent man. He couldn’t apologize for that.

“That doesn’t mean I’m wrong now. Making faulty assumptions could get you killed. How about if I keep my opinions to myself and tag along with you anyway?” he asked.

She frowned. “Why would you want to?”

Boone considered his answer carefully. Because he owed her. Because he thought she was wrong about the threat to her life and didn’t want her to be dead wrong. Because…

“Because I missed you.”

favorite novels in her preteen years were the Dana Girls and Nancy Drew series about teenage sleuths solving mysteries, and Grace Livingston Hill’s inspirational romances. Her first work of fiction was in fifth grade—a two-page mystery, which the teacher loved. She kept writing during her teenage years, earning her B.A. in German, marrying her wonderful husband and moving from New Jersey to the Deep South. The birth of her beloved son with his mental handicaps and autism, and all the struggles of raising him, drew her closer to God, and she felt called to write for the Lord. In addition to writing, she teaches the adult Sunday School class in her church and works the soundboard for the singing group her son belongs to, which visits nursing homes. You can contact Florence through www.shoutlife.com/FlorenceCase.

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Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

—Ephesians 4:32

Thank you to my support ladies: Misty,

Barrie, Kathy, Alli, Danita and Maureen,

who hung in there with me.

Above all, a special thank you to my editor,

Melissa Endlich. I am still in the clouds.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

EPILOGUE

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Seeing the dead body of her friend and mentor two days ago had been bad enough—seeing her ex-fiancé’s alive and breathing one in less than a minute was going to be torture. But Angie Delitano had examined the situation she suddenly found herself in from every angle, and out of all the people she couldn’t trust right now, Boone Walker was the only one she was certain was not involved. So here she was, going to a man who had betrayed her for help.

How dumb was that?

Resting her hand on the knob that would open the door to the Walker law firm, she took a deep breath. What to say? How to act? Six months ago, after he’d shredded her reputation—and her heart—she’d left Boone’s engagement ring on the witness stand in front of a packed courtroom, vowing never to lay eyes on him again. But earlier today, she’d found out she no longer had the luxury of that choice.

Someone had threatened her life.

So now her insides were doing jumping jacks, and her emotions were on the verge of boiling over. Having to go to Boone for help made her want to hit something. He’d been willing to wreck her reputation to defend a suspected wife-murderer, forgetting all about how he supposedly loved her. Worse, Boone’s expert defense of the man—who she still believed with all her instincts and heart had murdered his wife—had freed the creep…who was now dating her sister.

“Cope,” she ordered herself. She willed the tears burning behind her eyes to go away. Luckily she was a cop and had plenty of practice in appearing cool and detached, even when her heart was breaking for a victim. She would need that facade in front of Boone. She couldn’t let him think she might actually still care about him.

Because there was no way she could, right?

Resolutely, Angie turned the knob and opened the door, once again the in-control, never-say-die police officer. Her sister’s life—and maybe her own—depended on her getting Boone as a backup this morning. After that, she could really walk away and pretend he didn’t exist.

Which suited her just fine.

What on earth…? Boone Walker watched his former fiancée launch herself into his office for the first time in months. Thanks to years in the courtroom, where the unexpected often happened, he was able to sit back calmly and pin his well-cultivated, steady stare on her, concealing the confusion her sudden appearance caused inside him. After she’d left his ring on the witness stand, Angie hadn’t answered his phone calls or shown any signs of wanting to talk things over—so why now? It didn’t make sense.

Unless…something was terribly wrong and she was desperate. Or maybe…she was finally ready to talk?

His new secretary, Karen, appeared right behind Angie with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I asked her to let me announce her, but she said there was no need, you knew who she was.”

“Don’t worry about it. Tornadoes are hard to stop,” Boone said. His secretary sent him a faint smile, but Angie kept her cool, “can’t touch me” look.

Waving Karen out, he waited until she closed the door, then turned his attention to the woman he’d almost married. He thought of a hundred things to say. “Are you okay?” “Am I under arrest?” “Funny seeing you here.” But he lost his mind and instead said, “I missed you.”

For only a few seconds, her pine-green eyes, shaded by thick black lashes, softened. She splayed her fingertips through her chin-length, pale blond waves, a sure sign she was flustered; Boone watched her in fascination, like he’d always done. He doubted she realized how much she’d captivated him from the moment he’d first seen her well over a year ago. Or how much it bothered him to do what he’d had to in court months later.

The uncertainty in her eyes was either that she didn’t believe he’d missed her at all, or that she was second-guessing herself for coming here. It couldn’t be the last part—Angie Delitano hadn’t had an indecisive moment in all the time he’d known her. Not even in the courtroom that day. She’d left his ring behind and, just like his mom where his dad was concerned, never looked back.

He needed to remember that.

“Talk to me, Angie.”

“Things have happened this week,” she said. “Bad things.”

“I heard about Cliff Haggis’s suicide.” Boone never would have guessed the seasoned detective, Angie’s mentor at the station, capable of suicide. But neither was he surprised. Being a cop was hard anywhere, and Copper City, even though it was a lot smaller than nearby Cincinnati and had a lower-than-average crime rate, was no exception.