Double Jeopardy by Bobby Hutchinson Read Free Book Online

couldn’t explain. Normally she threw on coveralls or jeans or walking shorts and a shirt without any fuss at all.
    “Ms. Cardano, good to see you.” He smiled at her, and she smiled back.
    “Hello, Dr. Halsey.”
    He took the chair opposite, a match to the torturous one she sat in. A small, scarred round table stood between the chairs, instead of a desk. If that was an attempt to make the office more like a living room, it failed miserably, Sera thought. The place could do with a coat of paint in a more cheerful color than this dull mushroom shade, and lordie, Halsey needed to spring for different chairs. He also could use a few big green plants to give the room more of a feeling of tranquility, she concluded. The art on the walls was excellent, however.
    She’d noted the unusual drawings immediately, charcoal sketches of almost grotesque faces that drew the eye and held it. Each stark drawing emphasized one feature, an unusual nose, or one ear larger than the other, or a dominant mouth. Only one sketch was more conventional, a free form drawing of a small boy with impossible hair, devilish eyes and a rogue’s grin.
    Probably Halsey’s son, Sera decided. Halsey wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, but lots of people didn’t these days. Or maybe he lived with someone.
    “Gemma’s coming along really well. I’ve scheduled her surgery for the twenty-third,” he remarked.
    Sera glanced over at the calendar on his wall. Today was the seventeenth.
    “It can’t be too soon. She’s almost out of her mind about the way she looks.” Even that was an understatement; Gemma had been so hysterical when she first saw her ravaged face she’d had to be sedated all over again, and since then, she’d alternated between bitter rage and depression.
    “That’s quite usual. She’ll feel much more optimistic when the reconstruction is done and the swelling subsides enough for her to see that she looks normal again.”
    “She will, won’t she?” Sera gave him an anxious glance. “Look normal again?” He’d assured them all that the chances were good that Gemma would look the same as she always had, but as each day passed, it became harder to believe. Her sister’s face was shockingly disfigured, to the point where it made Sera nauseous to see her. Sera needed reassurance almost as desperately as her sister.
    “Absolutely.” He didn’t even make his usual careful qualifications. Instead, he smiled, and she noticed how kind his smile was, and how it extended to his eyes. Behind his round, wire rimmed glasses, those clear green eyes crinkled at the corners, filled with warmth.
    She’d seen him numerous times in the past few days, coming or going from her sister’s room. He’d always stopped and taken the time to fill Sera in on any changes in her sister’s condition, even though she knew he’d already gone over every detail with her mother and father, and probably, as well, with the hordes of Cardano relatives who flowed in and out of the Intensive Care unit.
    She’d seen him talking to Jack Kilgallin once or twice, too. Jack was a constant visitor now that others were allowed in Gemma’s room. He brought small bouquets of flowers, and tapes for the player Sera had transported in.
    Her sister seemed barely to notice his presence, but Sera had concluded that Jack was a kind and considerate man.
    Ben Halsey was also kind. The difference was, Sera found Halsey sexy, as well. She couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was; no woman with breath in her body could miss it. He was deeply tanned, with an athlete’s body, broad shouldered, not extraordinarily tall. Not an extra ounce of fat was visible beneath the checked short-sleeved shirt and tan slacks he was wearing today.
    His dark brown hair was beginning to turn prematurely gray at the temples, and although it was thick, he wore it cropped close to his well-shaped head. He had a strong, straight nose, and the round glasses emphasized beautiful green eyes and long