that flu outbreak, right here at Gilpin Hospital. Two of Dr. Kelley Stanton’s patients.
Did she know anything about that flu? Its origin? Whether it was actually an outbreak of Q fever, antibodies for which had been found in the blood of sheep on a ranch that had already been investigated by Colorado Confidential?
Finding out might help rescue a child even younger than her own sweet daughter. A child who had been kidnapped, whose mother had caught the flu and whose kidnapping could in some way be related to that very strange epidemic in Silver Rapids.
The lovely Dr. Stanton just might be in the middle of the whole thing.
Lovely? Hell, she was extraordinary-looking. Shawn had an urge not only to draw her caricature, but to paint her.
Nude.
He laughed ruefully aloud.
“What’s so funny, Shawn?” Jenny asked.
“I just thought of a joke.” Yeah. Very funny. He had a very sudden, very real urge to make love to this kid’s mother. A possible arsonist, of all people.
There was nothing he hated more than someone who set fires.
Someone like that had damn near ruined his life.
He turned to little Teddy, who sat at the table beside him.
“Here you are. Here’s your kitty and you, together.”
“Thanks!”
Shawn couldn’t help but feel a burst of pleasure at the honest wonder and gratitude in the little boy’s fervent exclamation.
“Me next,” chorused the other kids.
Shawn started on his next work of art. Maybe he’d found his way to manage this assignment after all.
He’d begun to make friends with little Jenny Stanton.
Now all he had to do was get to know her mother well enough to start asking questions. A lot of them.
And the fact this woman made his fingers itch to touch her… Hell, he’d just have to get over it.
Chapter Two
Despite the bustle of people hurrying by, Kelley walked slowly down the hall as she left KidClub, wondering whether she should go back. Check on Jenny.
Make sure Shawn Jameson remained in control of all those rambunctious young rascals in his charge.
Not that she had any interest in seeing the handsome caricature-drawing cowboy again. But she fretted about her daughter and Jenny’s transition back into day care, today and every day.
No, things would be fine. She had to stop worrying so much.
As if she could. About Jenny or anything else in her life lately.
Resolutely, she picked up her pace.
The scent of fresh paint still hung in the air. The repaired walls were a lighter shade this time, though still a pale peach. After the fire, they’d been smoke-stained and dark, and the place had smelled awful. Most of the signs and fixtures had had to be replaced, too.
She turned the corner at the end of the hall and nearly ran into a cart full of cleaning supplies.
“Hello, Dr. Stanton.”
“Good morning, Juan,” she said to the tall, thin man beside the cart. Juan Cortes was one of Gilpin Hospital’s janitors, a pleasant man in his thirties who always wore a toothy smile beneath his neat, dark mustache. He had a faint Spanish accent. Relatively new at the hospital, he apparently loved kids. Each morning, before most people arrived, he came by KidClub with sliced fruit plus a box of doughnuts, each carefully dissected into several pieces to appease parents’ concerns about too many sweets.
“I saw the treats you left on the desk,” Kelley told him. “Thank you. Again.”
“You’re welcome again,” Juan said. His grin sobered. “How is Jenny?”
Like the rest of the staff, Juan knew Jenny had been in the child-care center when the fire broke out.
Inside KidClub. That was what Kelley told everyone, to protect her daughter. The fire had at first been called accidental, but the official cause was later ruled arson. So far no one had been arrested. Kelley had no reason to think Jenny had seen what happened, but just in case…
“She’s doing better,” she told Juan, “but it’ll take time before she can put it all behind her.”
“Of course. Well, I made sure I got her favorite today, a twisty glazed doughnut. She can have the whole thing if she wants, not just a piece of it.”
“That’s sweet of you, Juan.” Kelley hesitated. She suspected that providing doughnuts and fruit every day might create a dent in the janitor’s salary. “How about if Jenny and I bring the treats tomorrow morning?”
“Well…” Juan didn’t look keen on the idea.
Kelley did not want to make him feel bad, though she had been meaning to make this offer for a while. “Another day, then,” she said quickly. “You know I always teach her to take turns. If you tell me what kind your favorite doughnut is, we’ll be sure to bring you one. Okay?”
“Maybe next week sometime,” he said without enthusiasm. But he added, “My favorite is chocolate with peanuts.”
“Good. We’ll work out when soon.” She should probably also find out what kind of treats Shawn Jameson preferred, she thought as she continued down the hall.
The way he looked, his preference in treats probably had nothing to do with sweet rolls.
She shook her head. Why was the new child-care attendant so much on her mind this morning?
She turned the corner to the main hallway and glimpsed the back of Dr. Madelyne Younger. The short, platinum-blond cap of hair over the signature purple lab jacket was a giveaway.
Kelley’s own lab coats were light in color. Conservative. Unlike Madelyne’s.
“Hey, Madelyne, wait up,” Kelley called, but not too loudly.
Though this was the administration wing, it was still part of a hospital.
Her voice had apparently been loud enough. Madelyne, an internist who specialized in infectious diseases as did Kelley, turned to face her. She didn’t have the same compunction about raising her voice, which boomed down the hall. “Hey, kiddo, how ya’ doing this morning?”
“Not bad.” Kelley, smiling, caught up with the older woman.
“Not good, either, I’d say.” Madelyne’s narrow face screwed into a frown as she studied Kelley. Lines radiated from the edges of her barely made-up eyes. She gestured for Kelley to join her at the hall’s periphery to let the crowd of hospital staff and visitors pass by. “What’s wrong, kiddo?”
Kelley
