It was a huge letdown not knowing what any of it meant. Michelle moved the folders and got up as Harris walked to the elevator and pushed the button. "Thanks for your help," she said. "I'll keep you apprised."

"You promised Theo you'd let him see the contents of that package," Michelle reminded her.

The elevator door opened. Harris stepped inside and punched the button. As the door was closing, she flashed Michelle a smile and said, "I'll let him see the papers in twelve hours and not a minute before."

Michelle stood with her hands on her hips, shaking her head as the door closed. Megan came up behind her.

"What did you expect to find in that envelope?" she asked.

"Answers."

"When things settle down, will you tell me what's going on?"

"Sure," Michelle agreed. "If I ever find out what's going on, I'll be happy to fill you in."

"Your boyfriend's an attorney. He'll probably know what those numbers mean, and you know he's not going to let that detective get past him without looking. I'm going to take the stairs down to ER. I don't want to miss the fireworks."

Michelle had one more patient to check; then she would be finished. "Tell Theo I'll only be a minute," she called out as she turned and headed to CCU.

Detective Harris wasn't about to take the chance of running into Buchanan. She got off the elevator on the second floor and took the stairs to the first. Following the exit signs, she found a side door and slipped out without anyone seeing her. She circled the outside of the hospital and was running toward the parking lot with the envelope clutched to her chest when she heard screeching tires behind her. Harris swung around just as the gray Toyota bore down on her.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

The detective wasn't answering her cell phone, and Theo was furious. He tried twice, and each time he was transferred to voice mail. His messages were to the point. He wanted that package, and he wanted it now. He also left a message for her at her precinct and was just hanging up the phone when Michelle got off the elevator. Even though Theo had heard one version from Megan of what had transpired, he made Michelle go over it again as he followed her into the doctors' lounge to pick up her clothes.

"But you didn't see the papers?"

"No," she answered. "She wasn't about to let me touch them. She was worried about messing up fingerprints."

"The hell she was," he snapped. "She was playing you," he said. "She's determined to keep me out of her investigation."

"For twelve hours anyway," she said.

She had shoved her clothes and shoes into a plastic bag and was now standing at the door. Theo was reaching for the phone.

"I guess it's time to get tough," he muttered.

"Theo?"

He finally looked at her. "Yes?"

"I'm beat. I've got to get some sleep, and so do you. Can we please go home?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Give the woman twelve hours," she said. "You did promise." She yawned. "I know she doesn't want to cooperate with you

and that infuriates you, but I think you should give her a little slack. She has put in three years."

"I don't care if she's put in fifteen," he countered. "I'm not backing away."

He was getting riled up. By the time they reached the car, he was threatening to take the detective's badge. Michelle let him

vent his frustration without interrupting. When he was finished, she asked, "Feel better now?"

"Yeah, I do."

He handed her his phone. "Call your dad and tell him we're coming over."

"Could we stop by my house first so I can get a change of clothes?"

"Sure."

While she dialed, he turned the corner and entered Bowen. Now that he knew his way around, it didn't seem all that complicated, although he still believed the town could use a couple of signs.

No one answered at her father's house. Since he wouldn't use an answering machine, she couldn't leave a message. Remembering that John Paul had her cell phone, she dialed the number and waited.

"Yeah?"

"Is that any way to answer a phone?" Michelle asked.

"Oh, it's you," her brother said. "You okay?"

"Yes, but Theo and I are coming over. Where's Daddy?"

"Right beside me. We're on our way over to your house. Dad heard what happened last night and wants to see you to make sure you're okay."

"Tell him I'm fine."

"I already did, but he still wants to see for himself."

He abruptly disconnected his phone before she had a chance to speak to her father. She pushed the end button and handed the phone back to Theo.

John Paul and Jake pulled into the drive behind them. After Michelle calmed her father down, she packed some clothes and toiletries and they headed out. John Paul suggested they leave the rental car in the driveway and ride with him and Michelle's father so that if anyone came looking, they would see the car and assume Theo and Michelle were inside. Theo wasn't in a mood to argue with him.

The pickup needed new shocks. Michelle sat on Theo's lap by the window and had to duck down every time her brother sped over a bump. As they were crossing the junction, Daddy remarked, "You both have to be tuckered out, what with those terrible men shooting at you and chasing you half the night."

Big Daddy Jake had a sprawling home. From the front it looked like a tract house on a cement slab. John Paul pulled the truck around to the back, and Theo could then see the windows on a second level facing the water. There was also another room, obviously built on as an afterthought, jutting out on the back. Like Michelle, her father also had a big screened porch overlooking the water.

There were three boats, all small, tied to the dock.

Daddy didn't like air-conditioning. He had a couple of window units, but neither was turned on. The floors were old, worn hardwood, the boards warped in the living room. Braided oval rugs were strewn about the floor. It wasn't stuffy inside, though. The overhead ceiling fan made a clicking sound with each turn and helped carry in a breeze from the water.

Sunlight spilled in through the windows, casting a bright light on the old furniture. Theo carried Michelle's bag and followed her down a long hallway. He could see Jake's big double bed through the open doorway at the end of the hall. Michelle opened the door on the left and went inside.

There were two single beds with a nightstand between them. The window faced the front yard. It was stuffy and hot, but thankfully there was another air conditioner in the window. Michelle turned it on high, kicked off her shoes, and sat on the side of the bed covered in a blue-and-white quilt. Daddy didn't care about coordinating colors. The other bed had a red-and-yellow-striped quilt on it. Michelle took her socks off and fell back against the pillow. She was sound asleep in less than a minute.

Theo quietly shut the door behind him and went back into the living room.

An hour later, Daddy's booming laughter woke Michelle. She got up and was walking to the bathroom when Theo came around the corner.

"Did we wake you?" he asked.

She shook her head and backed up so he could get by, but he followed her until he had her pressed against the wall. Then he kissed her.

"That's the way to start a new day. Kissing a beautiful woman," he said, and went back into the living room.

She looked at herself in the mirror and was appalled. Time to bring out the makeup, she decided, and start acting like a woman. He'd called her beautiful? She thought then that Theo needed to wear his glasses all the time.

In a half hour, she was as good as she was going to get. She wished she'd packed a skirt, but she hadn't, and her only choices were a pair of navy shorts or jeans. Since it was hot, she opted for the shorts. There wasn't any choice for tops. She'd packed