he’d sent before. Because he blamed Nina for his daughter’s death.
Just like Nina’s father blamed her for Rachel’s.
Nina gasped and threw down the mental gates on her thoughts. Where the hell had that thought come from? She hadn’t talked to her father in months, but their relationship was fine. Sure he’d been upset with her when she’d left Charleston, but that had only proved how much he loved her. He didn’t blame her for Rachel’s death. Not really. Those things he’d said to her twenty years ago had been said in grief. He’d apologized again and again. And Nina had forgiven him. She’d forgiven herself—
She jolted at hearing her own labored breaths and at feeling the sting of tears in her eyes. Angrily, she swiped them away. It was a major failing of hers that she cried easily. Stop it right now, Nina. You’re letting your thoughts get away from you. Lester Davenport’s card shook you more than you anticipated, that’s all. But he’s done what he needed to do. She would do the same.
She’d been happy before getting that latest card. And she’d been content with her job before Karen had started riding her about the MHIT program.
She’d call Karen back and arrange to have drinks, she decided. But she wouldn’t back down about the job. She’d committed herself to the shadow program for the upcoming week but after that it would be business as usual. She’d find her peace and contentment again.
No one, not Karen, not Lester Davenport and not even Detective Simon Granger, was going to stop her.
CHAPTER TEN
LESTER DAVENPORT PICKED up his pace as he walked down the hospital corridor. In one hand, he held a bouquet of flowers. In the other, a stuffed puppy doll. He smiled as he imagined Beth’s joy upon seeing his gifts. He imagined her throwing her arms around him. And he imagined her telling him she loved him.
“I love you, Daddy.”
She hadn’t said the words in so long. Not since she was a little girl. Certainly not since her mother had left him. And especially not since her mother had died.
She’d blamed him for that. Even though Nadia had been diagnosed with cancer well after she’d divorced Lester, Beth had still blamed Lester for her mother’s illness. She’d told him so herself and she’d said other hateful things. Things that had made Lester say hateful things back. Things that, at one point, had even goaded Lester into slapping her.
But he’d apologized for that. Over and over again, he’d apologized. Beth had never said she’d forgiven him. Before she could, Nadia had died. And after that, Beth had gotten sick, too. She’d begun to hurt herself, saying she wanted to join her mother. Then she’d been admitted here. To this hospital.
At first, Lester hadn’t liked it. Hadn’t liked the staff, especially Beth’s doctor, who’d asked questions suggesting Lester was to blame for his daughter’s illness. But eventually, Beth had started talking to him again, and Lester’s feelings about the hospital and Beth’s doctor had changed.
When Beth’s doctor told him Beth was doing better, he started making plans to bring her home. He was going to throw a big party for her, to celebrate their fresh start. They were going to be a family again and Beth would forgive him for everything. She’d tell him she loved him again, he just knew it.
He was still smiling as he approached the nurses’ station outside Beth’s room. As he got closer, however, his gait slowed. People were shouting. Medical personnel were scrambling around. There were police there, too. And was that...?
Yes. Yes, it was. Leo. Beth’s boyfriend. But what was he doing here?
The punk was sitting in a chair, sprawled out disrespectfully. When he caught sight of Lester, he grinned, waved and then pointed his finger at something.
With a feeling of dread, Lester’s gaze followed the line of his finger.
Shock slammed into him like a ton of bricks. His stomach heaved with nausea and his fingers grew numb. The bouquet of flowers and the stuffed puppy doll fell. As soon as they hit the ground, the flowers withered and died, but the puppy doll came to life. The puppy began running around Lester’s legs. Barking. Nipping. Trying to get his attention.
But Lester’s attention was too focused on the horrific sight before him.
Beth hung right in front of him now, suspended by a pink ribbon tied to the ceiling. Her eyes were open but empty. Her head lolled to the side as if she no