Page 4 (1/2)

He feared the worst--that those deaths had put the idea of suicide in her head, too He couldn’t let that happen

"If you really want to help, then you’ll leave Right now I don’t knohat’s going on, and I can’t risk you, too"

"Risk h Grant didn’t think she realized she was doing so "It’s not safe here for you"

"Why not? You’ve got to helpmoment, and then finally, her shoulders slumped in defeat Her voice was a quiet whisper of sound, but he heard her clearly enough "I don’t think those people killed themselves I think they were murdered"

That news shook Grant to the core, leaving hi He kept his voice and expression carefully neutral, reserving judgment until he hadkilled, why didn’t you call me and tell me about this sooner?"

She tried to pull her hands away, but he wouldn’t let her He held firive him an answer

"I called once to warn you You weren’t available, and I felt weird leaving a ured you’d think I was crazy"

Grant’s jaw clenched in frustration How many other times had she tried to contact him when he couldn’t be reached? He should have been there for her--for all of those kids After all, he was the one who had put them all back out on the street He should have done a better job of looking out for their welfare, even if he had been just a kid hiotten to her now, before it was too late

"Well, I’ anywhere until I know you’re safe"

David, his new job, and his new life were just going to have to wait

CHAPTER TWO

Isabelle couldn’t let Grant stay It wasn’t safe for him, and it certainly wasn’t safe for her and all of the plans she’d irl I haven’t needed a protector since I was sixteen"

Grant’s jaw retted bringing up the past

He’d killed a man to save her Sure, he’d saved a lot of other kids, too, but Lavine had coht Grant had pulled Lavine off of her, protecting her from that hellish fate so many of his other foster kids had suffered Because of Grant, Isabelle had to deal with only attempted rape rather than the horror the rest of those children had faced

"I’" His voice was hard and unyielding

"I just told you everything"

"There’s got to be a reason you think these people were murdered Tell me what it is"

She sed hard to ease the lu her throat He didn’t assume she was crazy, as she’d feared He didn’t assuet attention

He hadn’t seen her for years, yet he gave her more benefit of the doubt than her closest friends

"You do have a reason, don’t you, Isabelle?"

"I do"

Muscles along her spine unclenched, and until now, she hadn’t even realized just how tense she’d been, just how relieved she was that someone wanted to listen to her

She’d show Grant her files, and he’d tell her she was reading too o and get on with her life "Follow me"

Isabelle went down the hall that led to the slanced back to make sure he was still there She should have known that Grant wouldn’t ditch her, but life had given her enough nasty surprises that she wasn’t entirely trusting She’d been left behind one too many times to be that foolish

She flipped on the office lights The secondhand desk was a little the worse for wear but big enough to grade ho a key she kept with her, she opened the locked file cabinet She didn’t want her foster son to accidentally stuh to deal with on his oithout fear for her safety adding to the mix

She pulled the drawer all the way open and reached into the back for an expandable file where she kept everything she’d found

"Here you go Look at these and tell raded ho sets and laid everything out on the desk She let his and ht sway his opinion one way or another

She watched hihtenedinterest in his eyes darkened to lethal ht fro deep shadows on his face She could see a couple of small scars--one on his cheek and another over his left eyebrow The split lip Lavine had given him hadn’t left a mark, which relieved her She didn’t like the idea of hiht where he’d have to see it every time he shaved

Grant set down the first stack of pages and reached for the next Isabelle stayed silent, watching hie revealed the facts around the deaths of six people Carrie was the first She left her car running with the garage door shut and the car doors open Then Henry He hanged himself from a beam in his base for weeks Ja Linda overdosed

She hadn’t really known any of those people well, but she’d known Sam and Beverly, who had also reportedly killed theut that was a lie

Grant set the last paper down on the desk very carefully and turned that aze to her