Killer Calories

life itself.”
    “Okay. No problem.”
    “No problem? That’s it? That’s all?”
    “You got it. One note, coming up.”
    Savannah waited until she had the precious bit of paper in her hand before she ventured onto more dangerous ground.
    “By the way,” she said as she walked toward the door, remembering halfway across the floor that she should be limping.
    “Yes?” He paused from scribbling on her chart and looked up at her expectantly. “You need a note to excuse you from drinking the green guck every morning, too?”
    “Wow, could you do that?”
    “No. The green guck is mandatory.”
    “Oh... then maybe you could just squelch a rumor that’s going around the spa.”
    “Which one?”
    “That Kat’s death wasn’t an accident. That she killed herself because she had breast cancer and didn’t want to have surgery.”
    There.
    A direct, unexpected jab to his solar plexus wouldn’t have garnered more spectacular results. His breath left him in a gasp and his face went a deathly shade of pale.
    She seldom used the “Hit ‘ Em Hard and Watch What Happens” technique. Mostly, because it ended a conversation so abruptly, and you couldn’t get anything more out of your subject.
    But she had seen Dirk use it numerous times, when all he needed was one good, solid, honest reaction. Observing the victim during the five seconds after the blow could often tell you what you wanted to know.
    Slowly, the color began to return to his face, but she could see his hands tremble as he clutched his pen in a tight fist.
    Finally, he found his breath and his voice. “I haven’t heard that rumor , Ms. Reid,” he said, each word clipped and deliberate. “But if I do hear it, I’ll tell the gossipmonger that it’s none of his... or her... damned business.”
    She gave him her cheeriest, most nonchalant smile. “You’re absolutely right, Doctor. And the next time I hear it, I’ll tell him... or her... the same thing. Thanks for the note.”
    She hurried out the door and closed it firmly behind her. One of the most important parts of the “Hit ‘ Em , Watch ‘ Em ” game was to get the hell out of Dodge as quickly as possible before physical violence could erupt.
    But her little doctor’s visit had been a smashing success. She had a note to keep her out of that damned exercise class. And she had a new bit of information for her mental notebook: Dr. Freeman Ross believed Kat Valentina had died at her own hand. Either that... or he had helped her along.
    There was no other reason for a man to turn that white.

CHAPTER TEN

    S avannah had only gone a few yards along the trail when |{ she heard, “Hey, Savannah , wait up!”
    Turning around, she saw Tammy, running toward her from the pool area, waving her arms to get her attention. So I much for a quiet, solitary walk among the daisies.
    Tammy was wearing a tiny, hot pink bikini and beach | sandals and had a Pocahontas towel draped around her shoulders. But, dressed for a nature hike or not, she seemed determined to tag along.
    “How’s your ... ah... ankle?” Tammy asked when she caught up to her.
    “My ankle? Oh, yeah, it’s better.”
    “It must be, if you’re going for a hike.”
    Savannah glanced around, but the only other living beings in sight were some crows in a nearby oak, and a small, brown lizard, sunning itself on a rock.
    Hopefully, she was still out of telescopic view from the nosy neighbor in the bell tower. “Actually,” she said, “I was coming up here to make a private phone call.”
    “A phone call?”
    Savannah pulled the cellular unit from her sweatpants pocket. “Thought I’d call Dirk and see if he’s finished running those names for me.”
    “Oh. Do you want to be alone so you can talk dirty to dumb ol ’ Dirk?”
    Savannah gave her a searching look to see if she was serious. But she couldn’t tell for sure.
    “I don’t talk dirty to Dirk, dumb, old, or otherwise.” Tammy fell into step beside Savannah , her sandals slapping her feet as they walked along, kicking up twin puffs of dust.
    “Are you telling me... ” Tammy said with a mischievous grin, “that you and Dirk never... you know...”
    Savannah laughed. “Why Tammy Hart, I’m shocked that you would even suggest such a thing.”
    “Is that a ‘no’?”
    “It’s a ‘it’s none of your business what I’ve done with whom.’”
    “That’s a ‘yes’! You’ve done it! You’ve done the nasty thing with Dirk! How revolting!”
    Savannah gouged her