Valerie Hansen - Detecting Danger

“That’s a lame excuse if I’ve ever heard one,” Daniella said. Hoisting a bulging tote bag, she sighed as she started for the door. “I won’t be responsible if you develop an infection. Let’s go.”

Following her out the apartment door and waiting while she carefully relocked it, Isaac couldn’t help feeling relieved and more than a little glad. She was finally thinking more clearly. That was a definite plus.

Now all he had to do was take a small enough dose of painkiller to allow his own brain to function properly and they’d be a formidable team.

Visualizing himself and Daniella as a team caught him by surprise. They had little if anything in common, so why was he seeing her as part of his work, let alone his life?

Because the effects of this injury have addled me , he concluded. That aberration would surely pass.

His smile waned. It had better. In his line of work, letting a pretty face distract him could be fatal.

* * *

Since there was a logo on the door of the SUV that matched the patches on Isaac’s uniform shirt, it was easy for Daniella to tell which official vehicle belonged to the K-9 cop. None of the responding agencies had pulled into the apartment driveway. Consequently, the street was blocked both ways.

She looked to him as they walked. “How did you know to park so far away?”

“I didn’t. I moved my car for safety when I put Abby inside.”

“Oh. I thought for a second...”

“That I was part of the plotting against you?”

“I never considered it seriously,” she alibied. “I’m just jumpy.”

“That’s perfectly understandable.”

“What else can you tell me about my father? You’re absolutely positive he’s out of prison?”

“Yes. His attorney filed an appeal and got his sentence reduced because of some glitch in the gathering of evidence at the crime scene. He pleaded guilty to providing the plans for the explosive device but insisted some of his cronies had actually made, planted and detonated it because they wanted to get rid of him , not your mother.”

“Then why did he send me into the house at just the right moment to save my life?”

“He claimed it was a coincidence.”

That statement gave her pause. Finally, she said, “If that’s true, you know what it means, don’t you?”

Isaac nodded as he opened and held the passenger door for her. “Yes. If he was being honest about his innocence, he wasn’t showing his love, like you thought, by keeping you away from your mother’s car.”

As she slipped into the seat, she wished there weren’t unshed tears threatening to trickle down her cheeks.

Daniella waited until Isaac was behind the wheel before she commented further. “Dad set that bomb. I know he did. The expression on his face wasn’t surprise or shock after it went off, it was victory.”

She sniffled and swiped at her damp cheeks. “He killed Mom as surely as I’m sitting here.” Sighing, she stared out the SUV’s window.

“That doesn’t really explain why he’d be causing you trouble after all this time,” Isaac offered.

“Sure it does. That man never forgave a soul. After I testified against him he swore he’d get even. That’s why I agreed to go into witness protection in the first place.”

“You believe he meant what he said?”

Daniella huffed and set her jaw. “Oh, yeah. Of all the things he ever told me, that’s the one promise I know he intends to keep.”

“I’m sorry,” Isaac said.

She knew she’d start to sob if she saw pity in the officer’s eyes, so she kept staring out the window.

The voice on the phone had been unmistakable. Her father was on her trail and closing in. Every moment that passed was one more she had managed to eke out.

And brought her one more breath closer to her last if Terence Fagan had his way.

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