Fatal Disclosure by Sandra Robbins Read Free Book Online Page A

she had to admit she was thankful he was there.
    She might have reservations about Mark as a person, but she knew he was good at his job. If someone did want to hurt her, she could do worse than have Mark Webber protecting her. Until they determined whether she was in danger, she would have to make the best of a bad situation and accept his help. With a sigh, she jerked the closet door open and began to pull out some clothes.
    Fifteen minutes later, Betsy pulled her rolling suitcase into the living room. Mark rose from the couch and came toward her. “I’ll put that in my car for you.”
    She smiled. “Thanks.”
    His eyes crinkled at the corners. “No, thank you.”
    “For what?”
    “For smiling. That’s the first time I’ve seen a glimpse of the Betsy I once knew since we met at Springer’s Point this morning. I always thought you had a beautiful smile.”
    His words stirred a warning in her, and she frowned. “I’m not the naive girl I was then, Mark. I’ve discovered that you can’t trust some people, and it’s better to be wary before becoming close to someone.”
    He exhaled and reached for the handle of her suitcase. “I’m sorry if I caused you to be cynical about people, Betsy. Your acceptance of everyone was one of the things I liked most about you.”
    She jerked the suitcase away and glared at him. “Did you think that because I chose to see the good in people I would keep quiet about illegal activities like drug dealing?”
    Mark glanced down at her hand clutching the handle of the rolling bag and flexed his fingers. “I told myself you wouldn’t, but you were always telling me how great Mr. Rousseau was and what a terrific boss he was. I could tell he was interested in you. I had to know if you were involved with him.”
    Even after all these years, the hurt she’d felt when she found out Mark had used her to crack a case resurfaced, and tears threatened to spill from her eyes. “Well, you were wrong. I was just a girl from a remote island who’d never been away from home, and I thought you were my friend. All I was to you was a means to an end.”
    The muscle in his jaw twitched. “That’s not true. I had a job to do, and I did it. You weren’t even arrested.”
    “No. I suppose I have your fellow officers to thank for that. Everybody else involved in the case knew right away I wasn’t involved. It was almost as if you were on some kind of mission to get the bad guys and it didn’t matter who ended up getting hurt.”
    “I was on a mission, but I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he insisted. “I called dozens of times afterward, but you wouldn’t listen to what I had to say.”
    Mark’s dark eyes flickered, and for a moment Betsy thought she detected a hint of sadness. She took a deep breath and shook her head. “This is getting us nowhere. We may never agree on what happened in Memphis. For now, though, it looks like we may be seeing quite a bit of each other for a while. Let’s try to make the best of it.”
    He nodded. “You’re right. Think of me as a cop who’s on assignment and wants to make sure a potential witness doesn’t get hurt.”
    Potential witness? The words jabbed at her heart like knife pricks. History was repeating itself. He’d once viewed her as an opportunity to break a case, and now he saw her in the same way. She’d been right about him. He didn’t care about anybody or anything except whatever case he was working on.
    She blinked back tears and lifted her chin. “I guess some things never change.”
    His eyes grew wide. “Betsy, I didn’t mean…”
    Her ringing cell phone interrupted her. She jerked it from her fanny pack and pressed it to her ear. “Hello.”
    “Hello, Miss Michaels. How’s your day going so far?”
    A chill flowed through Betsy at the raspy voice she’d heard once before when she thought it was a wrong number. This time, he’d called her by name. “W-Who is this?”
    “Just a friend checking in to see how you’re