Nothing to Fear by Karen Rose Read Free Book Online Page A

once today. She’d taken a plate back up to the boy, saying he was too tired to come down on his own. It wasn’t exactly normal, but by no means unusual. Jane would come around. Dana worried about Erik.
    “Well, all right,” David grumbled. “Before midnight’s not so bad.”
    “I’m so glad you approve,” Dana said dryly. Tonight she would go to the bus station in the middle of the night, but thought that best left unsaid. The woman who hadn’t shown on Thursday had called to say she was unable to escape, but that she was coming tonight. Dana didn’t believe she would, but would of course be there in the event that she did.
    David lifted his tea to his lips, then stopped, his gaze fixed over her shoulder. “Dana.”
    Evie stood in the kitchen doorway, her face carefully blank. The petite blonde standing beside her looked way too sober and Dana felt her knees wobble and her heart race.
    “Mia.” Dana’s voice was unsteady. It was never a good thing when old friends looked too sober, especially when those friends were homicide detectives. “What’s happened?”
    Dana and Mia had met years before, when Mia was a beat cop and Dana the new manager of Hanover House, and had quickly become friends. A good number of her clients had been referred by Mia over the years. Dana often wondered if Mia knew about the papers Dana provided, but if she did, Mia never said a word.

    Mia Mitchell hadn’t come on a social call. One look at Dana’s pale face told her that her friend knew it. Mia hated these calls. They normally started with I’m Detective Mia Mitchell and ended with I’m sorry for your loss. It was a hard enough conversation to have with a stranger. When it was a close friend . . .
    “Dana, I need to talk with you.” Mia glanced over meaningfully at the tall dark man wearing a tool belt. It was unusual to see a man at Hanover House. She didn’t think she ever had before. “Privately.”
    “It’s okay, Mia. He knows. David, this is Detective Mia Mitchell.”
    He reached around Dana to stick out his hand. “I’m David Hunter.”
    “Caroline’s brother-in-law,” Dana clarified.
    Mia’s brows lifted as she shook his hand. Max Hunter’s brother. She should have seen it immediately, but she was . . . distracted. She was about to deliver news that would tear Dana into pieces. “Dots connected. Good to meet you, Mr. Hunter. How is Caroline?”
    “It’s David and she’s as big as a house,” David answered quietly. “But healthy.”
    “I’m glad to hear it.” She straightened her spine. “I need to give you some news, Dana, and it’s not good. You might want to sit down.”
    Dana crossed her arms over her chest, resolute, but trembling. “I’ll stand. Who, Mia?”
    Mia sighed. “Lillian Goodman.”
    Over by the door, Evie gasped. “No.”
    Dana closed her eyes, the remaining color draining from her face. “When?”
    “Thursday. A squad car got a call to her mother’s apartment and found both Lillian and her mother dead.” Mia grasped Dana’s shoulders, squeezing hard. “I am so sorry, Dana. I wish I didn’t have to tell you this.”
    “How?” she asked, her voice harsh.
    “Her husband beat them to death. Both Lillian and her mother.”
    Dana’s throat worked viciously. “The kids?”
    “Both of them alive.”
    “They left here last Friday,” Dana murmured, looking away. “Lillian found a job. She was going to make it on her own. She lasted less than a week.”
    This next part, Mia knew, would be the hardest for Dana personally to bear. “One of the units responded to the kids’ 911. The oldest, Naomi, told the uniforms that she and her brother came home from playing at a friend’s house and . . . found her.”
    Dana slowly lowered herself into a chair. David Hunter’s hands covered her shoulders protectively. Evie, Mia noticed, hadn’t moved a step. She stood alone, apart, tears rolling down her face. Something was very wrong here.
    “Where are they now?” David asked,