Conflict of Interest

Adrienne rocked her soothingly, an instinctive movement that somehow seemed appropriate. “So was I, sweetheart.”

Fear was rapidly changing to anger for her. That moron in the red car could have killed them! And he hadn’t even stayed around to see if anyone was hurt.

The vehicle she’d heard approaching stopped at the traffic light, then turned to slide in behind her car. She wouldn’t have to ask anyone to call the police, after all. The police had already arrived, she thought, relieved to see the marked patrol car. She was even more surprised to recognize the officer who exited the vehicle and moved toward her. He was the same man she’d almost bumped into that morning when she and Gideon left the diner.

“Are you all right, ma’am?” he asked her in the rough-edged drawl she remembered from earlier.

“Yes, we’re okay. Just shaken.”

He studied the crumpled rear of the nondescript compact. “What happened? Did you hydroplane?”

Her temper flared again. “Some jerk in a red sports car ran a red light right in front of me! If I hadn’t practically stood on the brakes, I would have slammed right into him.”

The officer’s cool gray eyes narrowed. “A red sports car?”

She nodded, uncertain whether he believed her or not. “He was driving like a maniac—speeding and swerving. He didn’t even slow down to see if we were okay.”

“You didn’t get a look at the license plate, did you?”

“No. Everything happened too quickly.”

“Doesn’t matter. I know who it was. Not much I can do about it without another witness, but you can bet I’ll let him know I heard about this.”

She doubted that would accomplish much, but she supposed she had little recourse. She couldn’t even tell him the make of the vehicle, and he couldn’t go around questioning everyone in town who drove a red sports car, even though he seemed to think he already knew who’d been driving like such a maniac. A repeat offender, apparently.

“You’re both getting wet in this mist. Why don’t we sit in the patrol car while I fill out the accident report and call for a wrecker?”

“You really think a wrecker is necessary?”

“Ma’am, you won’t be driving that car anywhere. The back fender is crumpled all around the rear tire.”

She sighed. Terrific. She hoped her insurance company and the rental car service would be able to work all this out without much trouble. Running a hand over Isabelle’s damp hair, she moved toward the cruiser. “I appreciate your assistance, Officer…?”

“Smith, ma’am. Dylan Smith.” He touched the brim of his hat in a rather charmingly old-fashioned gesture.

“I’m Adrienne Corley.”

“Yes, I know. You’re Gideon McCloud’s agent from New York. Heard all about you from Carla at the diner this morning.” He opened the back passenger door of the patrol car. “Your pretty little friend can sit in the back seat while you and I fill out the accident report in the front.”

“Would you like to sit in the police car, Isabelle?”

The child looked intrigued. “Okay.” She climbed obligingly into the car, leaning over the front seat to study the dashboard and radio.

“I suppose I’ll need my identification and insurance policy number. Would you mind keeping an eye on Isabelle while I get my purse?”

“Not at all, ma’am.”

As Adrienne made her way across the slick pavement toward the crumpled car, she wondered if Dylan Smith deliberately tried to act the stereotype of a drawling Southern cop. She still didn’t know the root of his antagonism toward Gideon, or vice versa, since Gideon hadn’t mentioned the encounter again after leaving the diner, but Officer Smith had been pleasant enough to her. Apparently he didn’t hold her association with Gideon against her.

She had just reached the front of the rental car when her foot came down on an oily pool of rain water. The slick sole of her loafer offered absolutely no traction. Her leg flew out from under her, and she felt herself falling.

All she could do was brace herself for the impact with the hard, wet pavement.

Gideon’s sneakers slapped hard against the floor tiles of the Honesty Medical Clinic. Staff and patients alike moved swiftly out of his path as he charged down the hallway to the emergency examining room. No one dared interfere with his progress.

Sitting on a padded bench in the hallway outside the closed door of the examining room, Isabelle was happily listening to her own heartbeat through a stethoscope as a brightly uniformed young brunette hovered nearby. The child smiled broadly when she spotted her brother. “Hi, Gideon.”

He knelt in front of her, his hand on her knee as he looked for injuries. “Are you all right?”

She nodded. “We had a wreck, but nobody got hurt, and then Miss Corley fell down and Officer Smith brought us here, but Miss Corley’s going to be okay and Miss Nancy’s letting me listen through a stefascope.”

“It’s a stethoscope, Isabelle,” the young woman corrected clearly.

“Stethoscope,” the child parroted carefully.

Nancy beamed at Gideon. “She’s so bright. I can’t believe she’s only—”

“Where’s Adrienne?” he broke in, having reassured himself that Isabelle was unharmed.

Nancy’s smile faded a bit in response to his curt interruption. “She’s in there with the doctor. But you can’t—”

Gideon pushed open the examining room door and moved through it, leaving Nancy sputtering behind him as the door swung closed in her face.

Wearing a hospital gown with a thin robe belted over it, Adrienne sat at one end of a paper-covered examining table, her bare feet dangling over the end. Her right foot was strapped into a black brace, her bare toes notably swollen. Two women stood at one side of the room studying a chart; Gideon recognized one as the doctor and assumed the other was a nurse.

It was the uniformed police officer hovering very close to Adrienne’s side, smiling at her and being smiled at in return, who sent Gideon’s blood pressure soaring.

He knew he was glowering when Adrienne looked his way, but she didn’t seem particularly intimidated by his forbidding expression. Her smile turned rueful. “I’m afraid I’ve done something stupid.”

Gideon moved to Adrienne’s side, effectively stepping between her and Dylan Smith. “Are you all right?”

She gestured toward her injured foot. “The good news is that my ankle isn’t broken, only badly sprained. And Isabelle is fine.”

“Yes, I saw her out in the hallway. What happened?”

“Someone ran a red light and almost caused a collision, then took off without stopping. I went into a spin and hit a streetlamp pole.”

“That’s when you hurt your foot?”

Glancing down at her hands, she cleared her throat. “No. I, er, slipped and fell on the wet pavement, landing with my foot twisted beneath me.” She raised her eyes to smile gratefully at Dylan, who had stepped back but still stood nearby. “Officer Smith handled everything beautifully. He called for a wrecker, then brought me straight here without alarming Isabelle. I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t come along when he did.”

Something about the way she smiled at the officer made Gideon’s hands itch to curl into fists. He glared at the other man. “Shouldn’t you be out arresting someone for causing an accident and then leaving the scene?”

“I wish I could,” Dylan replied evenly. “Unfortunately, Ms. Corley was the only witness, and she didn’t get a good look at the other vehicle.”

“All I saw was a speeding red sports car,” Adrienne confirmed. “Everything happened too fast for me to get a license plate number or even the make of the car.”

“A red sports car?” Gideon turned to Dylan again. “You’re telling me you don’t know who that was?”

“You and I both know it was probably Kirk Sawyer,” Dylan answered with obviously forced patience. “But he doesn’t drive the only red car in town. Without a license plate number or some identification, my hands are tied.”

Gideon made a sound of disgust. “Figures.”

Dylan’s eyes narrowed in corresponding anger. Adrienne spoke quickly. “Officer Smith has done all he can to help me, Gideon. I’m very grateful to him.”

Dylan faced Adrienne, deliberately turning a shoulder to Gideon. “I’m glad I was able to help, ma’am. You be sure and call me if there’s anything else I can do for you while you’re in town.”

Gideon was disgusted by the way Adrienne seemed to be taken in by the other man’s exaggerated Southern charm. “Thank you, Officer,” she said sweetly.

He nodded and donned the hat he’d been holding. “Take care of that ankle, ma’am.” Turning toward the doorway, he raked Gideon with a cool look. “McCloud,” he muttered in lieu of a more civil leave-taking.

Gideon focused on Adrienne again, effectively dismissing the departing officer. “When can you leave?”

The doctor stepped forward then, having discreetly stayed out of the way during Gideon’s terse conversation with Dylan. “She can go as soon as she’s dressed and I’ve talked to her a bit more about the care of her ankle. I’m lending her a pair of crutches she can use for a few days just to make walking more comfortable.”

Gideon glanced at Adrienne. “I’ll go wait with Isabelle while you get dressed.”

“Be sure and let her know I’m fine, even though I’ll be using crutches when I join you. I don’t want her to be worried.”

“I’ll tell her.” Nodding toward the doctor and nurse, he turned and left the room, impatient to get out of this place and back to his own house.

Isabelle was still sitting on the bench with the young clinic employee, this time playing with a tongue depressor. “I saw her tonsils,” she announced proudly to Gideon.

“Congratulations. You seem to be well on your way to becoming a doctor.” He sat on the bench beside his sister and directed a faint smile at her companion. “Thanks for keeping her entertained. I’ll take over now so you can get back to work.”

The brunette nodded. “Okay. ’Bye, Isabelle. You’ve been a very good girl.”

Isabelle flashed her numerous dimples in one of her particularly endearing smiles. “’Bye, Nancy.”

And then she turned to Gideon. “Where’s Miss Corley?”

“She’s getting ready to go home with us.”

“Is her leg okay? She fell and hurt it and Officer Smith carried her to his police car.”

The image of Adrienne being carried in Dylan’s arms almost made Gideon scowl again. He kept his expression bland only because he didn’t want to upset Isabelle. “Adrienne hurt her ankle, and she’ll be wearing a brace until it heals. She’ll walk with crutches for a few days to keep her weight off the injury until it feels better.”

Isabelle looked concerned. “Does it hurt?”

“I’m sure it’s uncomfortable, but she was smiling when I was in there with her.” Mostly at Dylan Smith, he couldn’t help remembering with another ripple of irritation.

Isabelle seemed to be reassured. “I can take care of her when we get to your house,” she offered. “I can bring things to her so she won’t have to walk on her hurt foot.”

“Adrienne will appreciate your help.”

He was startled when Isabelle suddenly climbed onto his lap and rested her head on his chest. “I’m kind of tired,” she murmured with a little sigh.

Awkwardly patting her back, he wasn’t surprised that she was worn-out. She’d had a long, eventful day.

He was beginning to feel rather drained himself.

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