Deadly Dose Read online

  Deadly Dose

  Number VI of Strong Women, Extraordinary Situations

  Margaret Daley

  Margaret Daley (2016)

  * * *

  Tags: Romance

  Romancettt

  Drugs. Murder. Redemption.

  From USA Today Bestselling author, Margaret Daley, is another romantic suspense from her series Strong Women, Extraordinary Situations.

  When Jessie Michaels discovers a letter written to her by her deceased best friend, she is determined to find who murdered Mary Lou, at first thought to be a victim of a serial killer by the police. Jessie’s questions lead to an attempt on her life. The last man she wanted to come to her aid was Josh Morgan, who had been instrumental in her brother going to prison. Together they uncover a drug ring that puts them both in danger. Will Jessie and Josh find the killer? Love? Or will one of them fall victim to a DEADLY DOSE?

  Strong Women, Extraordinary Situations books:

  Deadly Hunt—Book 1

  Deadly Intent—Book 2

  Deadly Holiday—Book 3

  Deadly Countdown—Book 4

  Deadly Noel—Book 5

  Deadly Legacy—Book 7

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Strong Women, Extraordinary Situations Series

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  More Books in the STRONG WOMEN, EXTRAORDINARY SITUATIONS Series

  About the Author

  DEADLY DOSE

  Strong Women, Extraordinary Situations

  Book Six

  Margaret Daley

  Deadly Dose

  Copyright © 2016 by Margaret Daley

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

  All texts contained within this document are a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons (living or dead), is entirely coincidental.

  Strong Women, Extraordinary Situations Series

  Deadly Hunt, Book 1

  Deadly Intent, Book 2

  Deadly Holiday, Book 3

  Deadly Countdown, Book 4

  Deadly Noel, Book 5

  Deadly Dose, Book 6

  Deadly Legacy, Book 7

  Chapter One

  Jessie Michaels stood in the middle of Mary Lou’s bedroom. The sound of the door clicking shut reverberated through her. She slowly rotated, taking in her best friend’s possessions that Rebecca Peters, Mary Lou’s mother, had begged her to box up. Jessie didn’t want to do this, but Rebecca hadn’t been able to go through Mary Lou’s belongings in the past two months since her daughter’s murder. For her own sanity, Rebecca wanted to pack up the house and move away from Pinecrest. Jessie hadn’t thought Rebecca would do anything with Mary Lou’s room but shut the door to avoid all the painful memories. That left Jessie to help her. Rebecca had no one else she trusted to go through her daughter’s possessions.

  “How am I going to do this?” Jessie whispered in the silence. A lump lodged in her throat, preventing her from talking any louder. The pain wasn’t going away. She missed Mary Lou every day.

  The sorrow and anger at Mary Lou’s senseless death held Jessie paralyzed and unable to make the first step to fulfill Rebecca’s request.

  The Pinecrest police had searched through her best friend’s belongings, and the evidence they left sent a surge of anger and bitterness through her. Jessie didn’t have any faith that they’d be able to solve Mary Lou’s murder. Since her death, the police had discovered only that she hadn’t been one of the victims of the serial killer who had plagued the town at the end of last year. At least he was going to prison for viciously slaying four people. But someone had wanted Mary Lou’s death to look like one of the killer’s causalities.

  But who? Why?

  Jessie sank onto the bed. Where should she start first? Her gaze lit upon the closet door standing ajar. A strong urge to begin there overwhelmed her. She finally pushed herself to her feet and covered the distance to a pile of cardboard boxes that Rebecca had brought in to use for Mary Lou’s belongings.

  Jessie grabbed one and swung the closet door wide open. The clothes hung neatly on the rod. She fingered a leather jacket that Mary Lou had saved for six months to buy. Working as a cashier at the grocery store barely left money for any extras, especially since she’d helped her mother with the bills. Jessie removed the black coat from the hanger and brought it to her face. As if a bouquet of roses had been used in its construction, the soft leather still held a light scent of Mary Lou’s favorite perfume.

  Rebecca stood in the doorway. “She’d want you to have the jacket. I hope you’ll take it and wear it like my daughter.” The last word came out mangled by emotions Mary Lou’s mother tried to suppress but never really succeeded doing.

  “I’d be honored to wear it. Thank you.” Tears swelled in Jessie’s eyes. She shut them. She didn’t want to cry anymore. She’d never get the job done.

  As Rebecca left the entrance, Jessie quickly folded the jacket and placed it by her purse then went to the next piece of clothing before her own emotions prevented her from completing Rebecca’s request. Twenty minutes later, the rod only held the hangers.

  When Jessie sat on the floor to go through the shoes, her attention focused onto the baseboard on her left—Mary Lou’s secret hiding place. Once, when Jessie had spent the night when they were in high school, her friend had shown Jessie the spot where she kept her most prized possessions to protect them in case they were ever robbed. Had she still done that? Jessie pried the six-inch wooden board from its tight fit. Mary Lou had cut out a space in the wall containing a flat box for her special items.

  Jessie wiggled it from the hole and lifted the lid. On top lay an envelope that had Jessie’s name on it. Her hand trembled as she picked it up and turned it over. Sealed.

  Why had Mary Lou written Jessie a letter? When had she? That wasn’t like Mary Lou.

  Jessie almost stuffed it back in the box, put the lid on, and set it aside for Rebecca. Almost. But Mary Lou had made it a point to write to Jessie. She had to know why.

  Her hands still shaking, Jessie carefully tore one end off and slid the sheet of paper out. The sight of Mary Lou’s beautiful handwriting jumped out at Jessie, and it took her a few instants to focus on the words written by her best friend.

  Jessie, if you’re reading this, that means I’m dead. I wanted to tell you what’s been going on with me, but you had your own problems and then you left town with Abbey. I almost called you several times in Florida, but I hope if I ignore what I’ve discovered, it will go away. I guess it didn’t.

  Could Jessie have prevented Mary Lou’s murder if she’d been here instead of Florida? Jessie wished she’d had the chance. The idea that she had been safe while her friend hadn’t been shoved to the forefront all the emotions she’d experienced when she heard the news of Mary Lou’s death two months ago—guilt at surviving dominated all other feelings.

  I believe the teenage girl I’m mentoring is on drugs. Heather is only fourteen. I tried talking to her, but she got mad and told me I was crazy. I hope I’m wrong, but after my little brother died from an overdose, I know the signs. I’m going to shadow Heather and find o
ut who her drug dealer is. I don’t think she’s the only one. You know I can’t let this go. Please tell the police. Maybe they can find the dealer.

  The words blurred together as tears filled Jessie’s eyes. Last year when Mary Lou became Heather’s mentor in a program at the Pinecrest Community Center, she’d been so excited. Mary Lou’s younger brother had died a couple of years before that, and his passing had left a hole in her friend’s heart. Mary Lou hated any drug, even prescription ones, because of what happened to Ben. He overdosed on cocaine.

  Jessie stuffed the letter into her pocket, swiped the wet tracks from her cheeks, and put the rest of the items into a box, then set the baseboard back into place. She needed to show Mary Lou’s note to Kira Davis, her soon-to-be sister-in-law and the county’s assistant district attorney in Pinecrest, Oklahoma. There was no way she could take the paper to the police, not after what they’d done to her brother, Gabriel. Even now, after he had been proven innocent of his wife’s murder, Chief Shaffer remained reserved and distant as if he still felt her brother was guilty. At least he wasn’t openly hostile to Gabriel like before. If it wasn’t for Kira, Jessie wouldn’t even take this to any authority, but after getting to know the ADA more personally, she was sure Kira would do what she could for Mary Lou.

  But would it be enough?

  As Jessie finished going through her friend’s belongings and packing them away, she came to a decision. She would volunteer at the community center in the mentor program. Maybe she could work with Heather if the girl was still involved. Even if she couldn’t be Heather’s mentor, being at the center would give her a chance to find out what might be going on with the teens.

  * * *

  Josh Morgan took the shot. The basketball swirled around the rim then swooshed through the net.

  The sound of the buzzer blared in the gym. Aaron Coleman, his mentee through the Pinecrest Community Center’s program, pumped his arm into the air. “We won!” With the biggest grin, the sixteen-year-old jogged to Josh. “We move up to the championship match.”

  Josh bumped fists with the teen. “Was there ever any doubt?”

  “Nope. And you owe me a burger and fries.”

  Every time they won a game, it had become Josh’s ritual to take Aaron to Al’s Diner for dinner afterward. Some of their best bonding time had been over hamburgers. Finally, the kid was starting to open up. “I only have ninety minutes before I have to be at my niece’s birthday party. If you want to wait until another day, I can.”

  “And let you get out of buying me dinner? No way. I’ll grab a quick shower. Five minutes.”

  Josh chose to take a shower when he went home, but the community center had several in the men’s locker room if someone wanted to use them. “I’ll be in the office. I need to talk to Quinn.”

  Quinn Parker had been one of his good friends through high school, and when he returned to Pinecrest two years ago, he’d taken over the director’s position for the community center. The mentor program had been Quinn’s idea. Josh started volunteering when he’d returned from Florida in December. The recent series of killings in Pinecrest made him realize how uninvolved he was in his hometown other than serving on the city council—but mostly because Jessie Michaels had challenged him to think of others.

  As he left the gym, the memory of the petite woman with long blond hair and the most unusual blue eyes inundated him. While in Florida once, he’d gone out onto the deck at the family summer home for some alone time at sunset. Jessie stood in the shadows, her long hair dancing about her shoulders, her gaze intent on the Gulf not far away. He’d intended to go back inside, but an urge to approach her kept him walking toward her. She hadn’t heard him until she turned, stiffened, and frowned.

  She started for the French doors, but the darts of anger shooting from her eyes hit a sore spot. She hadn’t wanted to come with the family, but her brother had pleaded with her to accompany his daughter, Abbey, until the serial killer was found.

  Josh blocked her escape. “You don’t have to leave. This deck is big enough for the both of us.” Her look of disdain should have spurred his irritation, but it hadn’t. Who he was had meant nothing to her. In fact, his wealth stood as a barrier between them even now. “I’m not my mother.”

  “From where I’m standing, you two are inseparable. Money doesn’t give you the right to ruin lives. Have you ever thought of someone else’s wellbeing before your own?”

  That question had plagued him for days until he ran into Quinn and they talked about the mentoring program for teens. Josh had known what he needed to do.

  He paused in the entrance to Quinn’s office while his friend wrapped up a phone conversation, leaned back in his chair, and smiled. “Are you responsible for the new weight lifting equipment being delivered next week?”

  Josh approached Quinn’s desk and sank into the chair in front. “I wanted to surprise the kids. Even the girls have been talking about lifting weights. It’ll be a good use of their abundant energy.”

  “Are you going to teach them the proper way to lift?”

  “Well…” Josh hadn’t thought about that.

  “Because they’ll need to learn the correct way. I don’t want to see any of them getting hurt.”

  “Neither do I. But I can’t be here all the time.”

  “Can you teach a couple of classes a week? I can check around for other people to monitor the weight room when I can’t.”

  Josh thought of his busy work schedule. “I’ll find time. We can start out with two a week and see how much interest there is.”

  “Good. I appreciate the gift, but next time, come to me beforehand so we can work out the logistics.”

  For a few seconds, Josh’s irritation prodded his pride, but he squashed the rising emotion. Quinn was right. Josh often acted without thinking things through. “One way or another, they’ll be properly trained.” If he couldn’t be there, he’d hire staff to be on hand. Josh rose. “I’m glad the equipment will arrive soon. But I hadn’t thought about classes. Don’t worry. I’ll figure something out.”

  “Great because I know this will be a hit with the kids.”

  Josh left Quinn’s office feeling as though he’d made progress. It hadn’t been hard to decide to buy the equipment. He’d thought the boys would especially like it, but it was nice to have Quinn confirm it. He intended to prove Jessie Michaels wrong about her perception of him.

  He headed back toward the gym to find Aaron. Rounding the corner, he nearly ran into Jessie. He instinctively reached out to clasp her upper arms and steady her.

  She recoiled, putting several feet between them. “Watch where you’re going.”

  “I could say the same for you, but I won’t. I’m in too good a mood.” He couldn’t stop the grin spreading across his face. When she got annoyed at him, two patches of pink glazed her cheeks.

  “Did you foreclose on another ranch today?”

  “I haven’t foreclosed on any ranches.”

  “But the bank you own did this week. The Robinsons are packing up and moving away.”

  “I don’t run the day-to-day operation of the bank.”

  “But you and your family own it, so you’re responsible for anything it does.”

  He didn’t even know the Robinson family. He oversaw ten different companies his family was involved in. The bank was only one of them. “Excuse me.” Josh walked around her.

  “They owned the ranch next to ours. Mrs. Robinson has been ill with cancer, and her treatment takes a lot of their money.”

  Josh stopped at the entrance into the gym and glanced at Jessie, dressed in jeans, boots, and a leather jacket. He wanted to be mad at her, but for some reason, he couldn’t. No one else pushed at him like she did. “Thanks for letting me know,” he said then proceeded into the gym.

  Where was Aaron?

  Josh crossed the court to the men’s locker room. Quiet greeted him when he entered the main area. Deserted. “Aaron?” No answer.

  He walked thr
ough it, searching the rows of lockers before heading for the showers.

  A door slammed shut, the sound coming from the back of the locker room.

  The hair on Josh’s nape tingled as he entered the area with the showers. He looked over his shoulder. No one. Had Aaron gone out the back?

  He scanned the length of shower stalls. Empty. As he turned to leave, he froze.

  A low moan rumbled through the quiet.

  He whirled back and hurried down the length of the room. At the end, he found Aaron on the ceramic tiles, beaten and bloody.

  Chapter Two

  Jessie continued her trek to the community center office. No one could rile her more than Josh Morgan. Why in the world was he here? The country club on the south side of town was where he hung out when not working.

  Although they were totally different, she had to say his love for Abbey was endearing to watch. She’d never thought of him as being patient and warm, but while in Florida, he was both of those things toward his niece.

  Even though the office door was wide open, Jessie knocked and waited for Quinn Parker to look up and motion her inside. She’d known of Quinn in high school, but like Josh, he’d come from a wealthy family, and he’d moved in social circles far different from hers. Since Quinn’s family had lost their money ten years ago, he’d moved away for a while then returned to Pinecrest and became involved in the community center and the mentoring program—something that she’d never thought he would do.

  Had Josh been visiting Quinn? She shook the thought of Josh from her mind and focused on the man standing and coming around from behind his desk.

  “Jessie, how are you doing?” He smiled, the crinkles at the sides of his dark brown eyes deepening.

  “I’m fine. I came to talk to you about becoming part of the mentoring program. Mary Lou raved about it.” Her throat knotted around her friend’s name, and Jessie swallowed several times. “I’d love to fill in for her.”