EVERYONEâS AT RISK
Thereâs a murderer in the hospital, and nurse Tara Peterson is determined to prove it. With mysterious deaths in the cancer ward, anyone could be next. But no one wants to believe her...except undercover agent Zach Davis. The murderer wants Taraâs suspicions silenced, permanently. To protect Tara, Zach lets her in on his secret, and unwittingly into his heart. Tara and her three-year-old daughter are like the family he lost years before. Zach will risk everything to keep them safe, no matter the cost.
âWhat Iâm about to tell you is for your ears alone. Understand?â
A flicker of confusion crossed Taraâs face, but she nodded.
Zach glanced around to make sure no one was listening in. âMy name is Zach Davis.â
She glanced at his hospital badgeâZach Reynoldsâand scooted closer to her daughter.
âIâm a cop, working undercover to investigate the deaths you reported.â
âYou are?â she said excitedly. âWhy didnât Detective Gray tell me?â
âThe fewer people who know, the less likely my cover will be compromised. You are the only one at the hospital who knows why Iâm really here.â
âI wonât tell anyone. I promise. In fact, I can help you.â
âIâd appreciate that.â Taraâs inside knowledge could prove invaluable to closing this case quickly.
âCop,â Taraâs daughter Suzie parroted. With the purple crayon clutched in her chubby fist, she drew a circle on her paper, jabbed dots in the middle and scratched two lines from the bottom. âDak, cop,â she repeated gleefully.
Zachâs heart sank. This assignment had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.
SANDRA ORCHARD
lives on a small hobby farm in rural Ontario with her real-life hero husband and college-age children. Although she taught high school math before starting her family, her childhood dream of becoming a writer never strayed far from her thoughts. She dabbled in writing articles and book reviews, but for many years needle crafts, painting and renovating a century-old farmhouse satisfied her creative appetite.
Then she discovered the world of inspirational fiction, and her writing took on new direction.
In 2009 she won the Daphne DuMaurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, and the following year, on her âgraduation dayâ as a home educator (i.e., her youngest daughterâs first day of college), Sandra learned that Love Inspired Books wanted to publish her first novel. And so her Undercover Cops series began.
Check out her website, www.SandraOrchard.com, for interesting series extras. Sandra loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard or c/o Love Inspired Books, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279.
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
âProverbs 4:18
For Garth
THANKS:
As always to my husband and children
for their unwavering support and encouragement. Youâre the best!
To my critiquers and brainstorming buddies,
Eileen Astels, Laurie Benner, Wenda Dottridge and Vicki Talley McCollum for their encouragement and invaluable suggestions.
To my accountability partner Patti Jo Moore
for her cyber hugs, prayers and cheers.
To my wonderful readers, blog readers and Facebook fans who encourage and bless me in
so many ways. Your letters, posts, comments and âlikesâ spur me on in the face of uncooperative characters and plots.
And most important, thanks to my Lord Jesus
for the greatest love of all.
PROLOGUE
Strange. Tara Peterson stepped out of a patientâs room only to be greeted by yet another call bell. Except this one blipped off as quickly as it sounded.
It blipped again.
A malfunction?
Seeing no sign of the other on-duty nurse, she hurried down the hall to check on the cancer patient herself. Most days she loved being a nurse. But today, she wouldâve happily traded in her orthopedic shoes for a pair of sling-backs and a plush leather chair behind a computer monitor. Eleven and a half hours of racing from one call to another, a stack of charts awaiting her attention, made it easy to forget she hated sitting still almost as much as she hated paperwork.
She paused outside the room to ease a knot in her back and froze midstretch at the sound of something clattering across the floor, followed by a thud.
Tara threw open the door. âMrs. Parker, whatâs wrong?â
The frail young womanâs body stiffened, her hands contorting at an odd angle, her unseeing eyes rolling upward.
A sudden shove propelled Tara across the room. She grabbed the bed rail, twisting her arm as momentum slammed her knees to the floor. Her head clipped the corner of the bed frame and stars exploded in front of her eyes. Biting back a cry of pain, she glanced over her shoulder in time to see the tail of a white lab coat whisk out the door.