Abandoned

by Rhonda Pollero

  “Maddison?” Conner asked.

  Emma nodded. “Who else had a stake in that development property? And I can’t imagine Renae trusting just anyone.”

  “When I go in there, you can’t make a scene,” he warned.

  “I may gloat.”

  Conner offered her a smile. “You’ve earned that, I suppose.”

  After meeting with various officials, she and Conner were free to leave. They got in the SUV and headed back to Purdue. In no time, they turned up Renae’s drive. Emma’s car was still parked in the front of the house.

  At the front door, Conner pressed the bell and Mary answered. “Sheriff, Miss McKinley.”

  “Is Mrs. Burke in?”

  “She’s in the parlor.”

  “Not for long,” Emma muttered under her breath.

  As soon as they crossed the threshold, Renae’s eyes grew as wide as dinner plates at the sight of Emma. “What—?”

  “Kenny didn’t make it,” Emma said.

  “Renae Burke?” Conner confirmed as he took his handcuffs off the back of his utility belt.

  “There has to be some sort of mistake, Sheriff. I don’t know what this woman has told you but anything Kenny did, he did of his own accord.”

  Emma scoffed. “You brought him in here and ordered him to kill me.”

  “Nonsense. You’re hysterical.” Then Renae apparently read the look on Connor’s face, because she said less stridently, “I refuse to be carted away like a common criminal! Let me call my attorney; he’ll sort this out.”

  “You can do that after you’re booked,” Conner informed her as cuffed her. “Where’s your husband?”

  “He’ll be home any minute.”

  “Good,” Emma said. “I need a favor from him.”

  Renae glared at her. “I believe I’ll exercise my right to remain silent now.”

  No sooner had Renae shut up than a flustered Maddison came bursting into the room demanding, “What is the meaning of this?”

  “Hang on,” Emma said, taking her phone out of her purse. She pressed the voice record button. “Your wife tried to have me killed today.”

  “That’s ludicrous.”

  “She also told me all about the time-share and the governor’s threat to turn your property into a worthless investment. I know you set my father up.”

  “You’re forgetting something, young lady. I was shot that night, too.”

  “Probably part of the cover-up,” Emma surmised.

  “Sheriff, I insist that you uncuff my wife immediately.”

  “That’s not going to happen. In fact, I’ll need you to turn around and put your hands behind your back.”

  “You have got to be kidding.”

  Conner produced a second set of cuffs. “Does this look like I’m kidding?”

  Seeing them both in handcuffs went a long way toward making Emma feel better.

  * * *

  It had been three weeks since she’d left Purdue. That time had been filled with reflection, sadness, and annoyance. Her mother had lived just long enough to hear that her husband had not been an assassin. Though her passing had been expected, Emma was still saddened when the time came. The media had been unrelenting in their requests for interviews and cameras seemed to follow them everywhere they went. It got so bad that Emma and Amelia finally agreed to a nationally televised interview by a major network, and that seemed to satisfy the public’s need to know all the gory details.

  The reflection occupied her mind at every possible turn. After many sleepless nights and many more conversations with Amelia, Emma finally realized what she needed to do. With her sister’s blessing, she called Elgin Hale and got her job back.

  Conner hadn’t called her except to offer condolences when her mother passed, and as much as she wanted to call him, she wasn’t sure where they stood. But she knew the easiest way to let him know she was back in town.

  On her first morning back, she got up extra early and went to Stella’s for breakfast. She got a few stares while she sat at a table, sipping coffee and waiting for her omelet.

  Though she ate slowly, there were still no signs of Conner. Great time for the Purdue gossip mill to go down. So she walked the two blocks to her office and was welcomed back with open arms. Her arms weren’t so open after a few minutes, however. Elgin loaded her down with casework and she found herself inside her office, reviewing files.

  The day flew by and by its end Emma was practically seeing double from reading so many booking documents and pleadings. Everyone else was long gone, save for Elgin. Emma saw the light on under his door when she went to make a fresh pot of coffee.

  She had turned back from filling the machine with water when she spotted a figure in the doorway. She was so startled that she dropped the carafe and it shattered against the tile floor. There’d be office mutiny, but that didn’t matter.

  She could only focus on the fact that Conner Kavanaugh, in a suit no less, filled the doorway. His sexy half-smile sent her pulse racing. “Welcome back,” he said.

  “How do you know I’m here to stay?”

  “Jeanine told Peggy, who works at the market, who’s married to the mechanic who services the department’s vehicles, and he told me.”

  “Good to know Purdue is maintaining its charm.”

  “What about me?” he asked. “Have I retained my charm?”

  Except for his furrowed brow, he looked wonderful. “What’s wrong?”

  “They postponed my brother’s parole hearing. Drove up there today for no reason.”

  “I’m sorry,” Emma said as she stepped over the shattered glass. “I have a few things for you in my office.” She took him by the hand and led him back to her desk. “This,” she paused and took a thick stack of pages out of her briefcase, “is case law dating practically back to the Civil War that your brother’s attorney can use to support his parole request. And this”—she pulled out another voluminous pack—“is a Request to Modify Custody and Visitation.”

  “When did you have time to do all this?”

  “When I was in Georgia. You really need to run the custody thing past Sam.”

  “Well, she’ll do anything if it means spending more time with David.”

  “Are they in love?” Emma asked with a sly grin.

  Conner came around her desk and pulled her into his embrace. He kissed her hard and urgently. Her body responded immediately. Her heart quickened, her nerves tingled and she had an overwhelming urge to rip the clothes from his body.

  The kiss ended as abruptly as it began. Emma was so unsteady she wound up falling into her chair. “Wow, that was a great kiss.”

  Conner stepped back around the desk. “Which is why I’m putting some space between us.”

  “There’s no one here but Elgin and I can lock my office door,” she suggested.

  “Which is why I’m on this side of the desk. We have to talk but if I get within a few feet of you, talking is the last thing on my mind.”

  Emma shrugged. “So talk.” She smiled at him. “Quickly.”

  “I’ve done nothing but think about you for the last three weeks. But I come with baggage. I have a daughter.”

  “Who I think is terrific and who I believe likes me.”

  “She does. Then there’s the difference in our balance sheets.”

  Emma rolled her eyes. “Having money is rarely a problem. Not having it can tear people apart.”

  “Do we keep separate houses or consolidate?”

  Emma laughed. “How about we figure all that out on our second date?”

  “There’s that, too. Technically, we’ve only been on one date.”

  “So let’s start there. I have a feeling everything else will fall into place.” Emma stood and walked around the desk and got up on tiptoe to kiss his chin. “I have something to say, too.”

  “What?”

  “I’m pretty sure I love you.”

  He reached up and cupped her face in his hands. “I’m more than pretty sure,” h
e said, then he kissed her deeply.

  Please see the next page

  for a preview of TRAPPED,

  the third book in

  Rhonda Pollero’s exhilarating

  Finding Justice series,

  available in Fall 2017.

  PROLOGUE

  Chasyn Summers parked her Prius on the street adjacent to the courthouse on East Ocean Boulevard. Her best friend and witness, Kasey, was belted into the passenger’s side.

  “Are you nervous?” Kasey asked.

  Chasyn thought for a minute while she checked her make-up in the rearview mirror. The state’s attorney had warned them to wear subdued clothing and modest make-up. Something about making them seem more sympathetic to the grand jury. So she had chosen a navy skirt and a cream-colored blouse and she had forgone eye makeup save for a touch of mascara and applied just a hint of blush-nude lipstick to complete the look. Her blond hair was pulled tight into a neat ponytail. She couldn’t look more matronly if she tried. “I feel like a school marm.”

  “Tell me about it. I spent over a hundred dollars on this dress and it really needs to be hemmed. After we testify, I’ll take it to the seamstress and have her turn it into a proper little black dress.”

  “Well, for now we are not two twentysomethings out at a bar at two a.m., we’re upstanding citizens who witnessed a murder.”

  Kacey shivered. “I still have nightmares about that.”

  “Me, too,” Chasyn said. “But at least this will help them arrest Dr. Lansing. Thanks to us, or more specifically you.”

  “Should be a cakewalk,” Kasey said. “Except remember, the state’s attorney said the defense attorney would probably attack both of us because we’d been drinking that night.”

  “Hours earlier and only two drinks. I mean how many times does a girl turn twenty-nine?” Chasyn asked. “We were both stone-cold sober when we walked out of that restaurant and found that poor girl on the pavement.” She smoothed a wayward hair. “Ready?”

  “Sure,” they exited the car and walked the short distance to the court house. It was two buildings separated by a breezeway. Chasyn knew from earlier meetings with the state’s attorney that they wanted to be on the left side of the Martin County, Florida, courthouse.

  As they approached the buildings, she heard a loud pop and suddenly found herself falling forward. A split second later she heard a second pop and Kasey fell next to her. Kasey’s eyes were open but blood was trickling out of her mouth.

  Chasyn was vaguely aware of people screaming. People running. Then she felt wetness and saw a pool of blood starting to form around her face. She smelled burned flesh and a distinct ringing in her ears.

  After what seemed like a long time, someone came over to her and whispered, “You’ve been shot in the head. Try not to move.”

  About the Author

  After selling her first work of romantic suspense in 1993, Rhonda Pollero has penned more than thirty novels, won numerous awards and nominations, and landed on multiple bestseller lists, including USA Today, Bookscan, and Ingram’s Top 50 list. She lives in South Florida with her family.

  Also by Rhonda Pollero

  The Finding Justice Series

  Exposed

  The Finley Anderson Tanner Mystery series

  Knock Off

  Knock em Dead

  Fat Chance

  Slightly Irregular

  Bargain Hunting

  No Returns

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