Deadline (Sandra Brown)

her back to Saint Nelda’s. Further, she didn’t want to leave the place where she’d last seen Dawson. She was entertaining a silly notion that if she stayed, he would soon return with a full explanation for his sudden departure.
    Now as dawn approached, her eyes felt gritty and dry. She longed for a shower. She had stinging scrapes on her right palm and elbow, which had borne the brunt of her fall when Dawson had pushed her to the concrete. But these physical discomforts were negligible compared with her emotional upset. She was desperate with worry over him.
    As Eva returned from a visit with Headly, Amelia lowered her cell phone from her ear and disconnected. “I’m not even getting Dawson’s voice mail anymore. How’s the patient?”
    “ Im patient. Cranky. Fretful. His blood pressure has gone up. The nurses are blaming it on pain, but I know better. Lying still, unable to move his arms is driving him crazy. He thinks we’re not telling him the truth about the paralysis being temporary. And every time I go in there, he asks me about Dawson.”
    Amelia looked at her wristwatch, running her finger around the crystal, remembering that it might never have been recovered if not for Dawson. “He’s been gone for hours. Why hasn’t he called me back?”
    “I’m sure there’s a good reason.”
    “I’m sure of that, too. But I’m unsure I want to know what it is.” The more she thought back onto their last conversation, the more convinced she became that Dawson had withheld something from her, not because he didn’t trust her but because he predicted a negative reaction. “Should I share my concerns with Agent Knutz? The detectives?”
    “What would you tell them?”
    “That he lied about where he was going.”
    “Men frequently lie to women about where they’re going.”
    “They would probably think he went out to buy drugs.” Quickly she added, “He only needed antianxiety pills to help him sleep, you know.”
    “I know.”
    “He hasn’t even had a drink in days.”
    “You’ve been a good influence.”
    “Me? No. I haven’t had anything to do with it.”
    Eva smiled knowingly. “In a very short period of time, you two have become remarkably close.”
    “One step forward, two back.”
    “Oh?”
    She hesitated. “Woman to woman?”
    “Anything you tell me will go no farther, Amelia. I promise you.”
    “Truth is, he makes my head spin.”
    The older woman laughed softly. “So there is an attraction.”
    “Definitely.”
    “That’s good, isn’t it?”
    “It would be, if he was consistent. One minute it’s like he can’t get enough of me. Then the next, he’s pushing me away, literally keeping me at arm’s length.”
    “Has he told you why?”
    “Is there a why?”
    “Obviously Dawson thinks so.”
    “Your husband says he regards himself a loner.”
    “We’ve tried to turn that thinking around.”
    “Headly told me that, too. But there’s more to this resistance than general self-denial. I think he’s resisting me for a specific reason.”
    “What makes you think so?”
    “I feel it. I believe it must have something to do with Jeremy.”
    Eva said nothing, just waited for her to elaborate.
    “Possibly with Jeremy’s PTSD, with him being who and what he is.”
    “Dawson would never lay your ex-husband’s sins at your feet. I know him well enough to assure you of that.”
    “No, I don’t believe he would either. I think…I think…Actually, I don’t know what to think.” She bent her head low and massaged her temples. “Where did he go? What could Glenda have uncovered that sent him flying out of here?”
    Earlier they had discussed the possibility of calling the researcher and asking her what she had revealed. But neither knew how to reach her or even what her last name was. They had decided to wait until morning and call her at the magazine office. Eva had cautioned Amelia against becoming too optimistic. “He’s relied on her for years. She’s like a secret weapon. I doubt his Glenda will betray his trust.”
    If the researcher was as protective of her sources as Dawson was, Amelia doubted they’d learn much from her, either. But she didn’t know where else to turn for answers.
    “For him to have left Headly tonight, it must have been something vitally important.”
    “He knew Gary was out of immediate danger.”
    “Yes. But still. He’d been agonizing over him for hours. What could possibly have prompted him to leave and not even to call to