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Grave Risk
Hannah Alexander
It was a tragedy for the entire town: beloved high school principal Edith Potts collapsed and quickly died.For nurse Jill Cooper, it was a crushing loss–and the first of many shocks. Two former sweethearts have suddenly returned to town, reawakening all her youthful traumas, secrets and dreams. Then another death occurs. It appears accidental, but is it? Is everything a coincidence? Or could it all possibly be connected to another murder, three decades ago?Before it's over, Jill will have to look hard at her troubled history, question her sanity, her faith…and face the deepest secrets in her heart.
Praise for Hannah Alexander’s Novels
“The plot is interesting and the resolution filled with action.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews on Fair Warning
“Reminiscent of Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones, this intelligent mystery will keep readers engrossed.”
—library journal on Last Resort
“Alexander’s latest installment in the Hideaway series is filled with action, intrigue and fascinating medical situations.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews on Last Resort
“Filled with intrigue, mystery and well-rounded characters, you won’t want to leave Hideaway. Hannah Alexander knows suspense! This page-turner will keep you up at night unable to put it down.”
—Kristin Billerbeck, bestselling author of Cool, Calm & Adjusted on Last Resort
“Hannah Alexander’s unique ability to combine suspense with romance and faith will have you searching for this author’s entire backlist. Grab these titles while you can and visit this wonderful town called Hideaway—you’ll never want to leave! Each book is top-notch suspense, with just a touch of romance. Last Resort is a must-buy…guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat until you turn the final page!”
—Romance Reviews Today on Last Resort
“Alexander’s skill at meshing spiritual truths with fascinating suspense is captivating. Well-drawn characters help the two separate plots move rapidly toward an exciting conclusion.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews on Safe Haven
“Hannah Alexander is one of the few authors who has the unique ability to bring tears to your eyes and God’s touch to your heart. Safe Haven is suspense, romance and first-rate entertainment all bound into one neat book.”
—Romance Reviews Today on Safe Haven
“Genuine humor…an interesting cast of characters…a few surprises.”
—Publishers Weekly on Hideaway
“Hideaway is gripping and romantic. It may also have crossover appeal to fans of medical suspense and of such authors as Tess Gerritsen.”
—Library Journal on Hideaway
Grave Risk
A Hideaway Novel
Hannah Alexander
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Lorene Cook for her constant support in every way. She keeps us going when life seems to shoot us in every direction at once.
Thanks to Vera Overall for loving and encouraging her son to persevere.
Thanks to Joan Marlow Golan, our champion, and to her excellent staff, who keep us informed, keep us straight and keep us headed in the right direction.
Thanks to our Branson brainstormers, Barbara, Brenda, Lori, Deborah, Sharon, Judy, Marty, Stephanie, Carol, Cyndy, Jill, Sandy and Jeanie, and to our support staff, Lorene and Luvena.
Contents
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
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Epilogue
Discussion Questions
Chapter One
Fingers marched across Jill Cooper’s cheekbones like the legs of a stalking tarantula. She stiffened, eyes shut tight.
She wanted to retreat from the intrusion or jump up from this table and escape. What horrors lay behind the other doors? What had she allowed herself to be talked into? Moral support was one thing, but this—
“Too rough?”
Jill opened her eyes and looked into the upside-down face of twenty-two-year-old Sheena Marshall. “No.”
Sheena had an uncommonly bright, perky grin that matched her bright, perky voice. All the employees of this spa seemed to be infected with terminal optimism, except for Sheena’s mother, Mary Marshall, who had always been on the opposite end of that spectrum, even when Jill had graduated from high school with her twenty-seven years ago.
Today, Mary’s daughter was actually perkier than usual.
“It’s fine.” Jill wanted to ask when the sheets had last been washed on this massage table, but the question could eventually reach the ears of the owner of this establishment.
Jill was here to provide the owner—her baby sister—moral support for this venture, not to irritate her. Noelle Trask ran a tight ship, and these sheets would be pristine. She would not take kindly to having her employees verbally abused, or even questioned by a client with a few…interesting…hang-ups. Especially if that client just happened to be her bossy older sister.
Who would have thought Noelle, the wild child of Hideaway High, would have matured so well?
In fact, Noelle would be a mother before long.
That meant Jill would be an aunt. She felt her tension ease as she smiled at the thought. Aunt Jill. What a wonderful—
A sharp jab on her chin startled her. “Ouch!”
“It’s okay. Just relax,” Sheena said. “You have a few blemishes here. We can take care of that right—”
“I didn’t come here to have my pimples treated.” Noelle had warned Jill that the young masseuse tended to try to fix anything that wasn’t just right. The young woman obviously had delusions of grandeur and saw herself becoming the makeover queen. Jill refused to be her first experiment.
“I just want a nice, painless massage,” Jill said. Actually, she hadn’t even wanted that.
“Jill Cooper,” came a firm, commanding voice from another cubicle in the large, cedar-lined spa, “you agreed to do this. So do it.”
“I agreed to a massage, not to have my face poked and prodded like a—”
“Settle down and let the girl do her job.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jill replied, then muttered under her breath, “Noelle needs to get these walls soundproofed.”
“What’s that?” Edith Potts called again.
“Nothing. Sorry. I’ll be good. I’m having a simply magnificent time.” Could Edith hear the sarcasm?
“That’s my girl.”
Nope. Edith had never understood the subtleties of irony. The lady simply said what she thought.
Sheena returned to her massaging, distracted from her makeover project. “Will wonders never cease. Edith Potts must be the only person in town you can’t boss around.”
Jill scowled up at her, and Sheena smiled back, wagging her blond eyebrows, which had been plucked to the point that she looked permanently surprised.
The twit was right, of course. Jill would do anything for Edith. Eighty-three-year-old Edith Potts, retired principal of Hideaway High, could claim friendship with the majority of Hideaway’s residents as well as a few of the flocks of tourists who escaped to this tiny lakeside village every year.
To Jill, her elderly friend epitomized courage. Since Jill often felt as if she, herself, epitomized the exact opposite, she had always been drawn to Edith’s independent, nurturing spirit. It was Edith who had found a school nurse position for Jill here in Hideaway when tragedy necessitated that Jill would have to return home and stay nearby for the family business.
Once again closing her eyes, Jill tried to give herself over to the relaxation Sheena had promised. “This honey and almond cream smells heavenly.”
