take control of her life until she was living on the streets wrenched at her heart. The realization that Val had sold her body for a fix caused her mother to have a nervous breakdown at one point. Peyton had worked hard to help her mother recover. But Val’s disappearance from their lives hurt as much as if they’d buried her. Maybe more, because each day they lived with the worry of where she might be, if she was hurt or sick. If she might turn up dead in a ditch or an alley.
But she didn’t like to talk about her sister.
“No, no family, just me. I promised Mama I’d be there for her, and I intend to keep that promise.”
“That’s admirable.”
She cut her eyes toward him, almost believing him. But he was an expert at his job and although he hadn’t arrested her, the Miranda Warning she’d seen on TV crime shows echoed in her head. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law...
She jerked her gaze back to the road. She didn’t want to go to prison. Or for him to see that pain in her eyes. Pain she’d learned to live with. Pain she didn’t intend on sharing.
They lapsed into a strained silence as he veered past the turn to the heart of River’s Edge and followed the road leading to Golden Gardens. Nestled in the mountains, away from town, the facility offered privacy and serenity to its residents and patients. Its location and security gate also helped waylay passersby from venturing onto the property.
Her trust in strangers had been shattered five years ago. Not knowing who’d threatened her made her suspicious of every man she met.
Special Agent Maverick stopped at the gate, identified himself and was buzzed through. He followed the narrow road leading to her apartment complex in silence. The white brick building was flanked by giant live oaks and pines with the mountains rising behind.
Ever cautious, she scanned the property and was relieved to see her car still in its place. The fog thickened, enveloping her building in that same smoky gray that gave her a chill.
The agent parked, climbed out and came around to her door, but she’d already stepped from the SUV, anxious to escape his scrutiny.
His dark eyes narrowed as if he’d read her mind. “I’ll walk you to your door.”
“That’s not necessary,” Peyton said. “I have to relieve the nurse who took over my patients today and check on Mama. She’ll be wondering where I am.”
He stood ramrod straight, his look so intense that a shudder coursed up her spine. Then he removed a card from his pocket and offered it to her. “Ms. Weiss, please call me if you remember anything else about the night Inman’s wife died, or about the night of the fire.” His gaze settled over her, rattling her even more. “I know you want justice in both matters just as I do.”
Guilt nearly choked her, but she simply nodded and took the card. His fingers felt warm as they brushed hers, a sharp contrast to the coldness in his eyes. She wondered if he ever smiled.
It didn’t matter, she told herself as she unlocked her door and hurried to change into her scrubs. He was FBI.
As soon as she was dressed, she texted Joanna that she was back. She spent the next three hours tending to her assigned patients and doling out medications, then helping them to PT and to dinner. Her mother looked agitated when she joined her at their usual table.
“This strange man was here today,” her mother said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin.
Agent Maverick hadn’t spoken to her mother. He’d come straight to her place. “A man? Who was it?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice cracked the way it did sometimes when she struggled with her words. “But I didn’t like him. He smelled like cigarettes and sweat.”
Maybe her mother was just confused. Sometimes her memories blurred, and the past mingled with the present. Peyton’s father had been a smoker and died of lung cancer when she was just a kid.
“Did you talk to this man?” Peyton asked.
Her mother sniffed and pushed away her plate, her vegetables uneaten. “No, but he said he left something for you.”
Peyton went stone still. “For me? What was it?”
Her mother toyed with her napkin, folding it one way then another, as she did when she was agitated. “I don’t know, dear, but I was glad when he