“Whatever,” Devon said casually as she turned away. “I can give you an hour or so before my next appointment. But I can tell you now that I’m not going to prove very helpful to you.”
“I appreciate your time, Dr. Brady.” He fell into step with her and that smile had returned. “And you can never tell. I’ve found when it concerns Margaret Douglas, I always need to make it a practice of taking what I can get.”
San Diego
Three Days Later
Margaret’s phone rang as she was walking out the door to go for her shift at the zoo. She glanced at it casually and then stiffened warily.
Devon Brady.
It might be nothing, but she never liked to get a call from Summer Island. They were too close to what she considered ground zero, only several hundred miles from the place where all the nightmares had begun. And that made the threat not only to Margaret but to everyone on the island itself.
And this was Devon Brady. Margaret considered her a friend, but as head veterinarian at a cutting-edge experimental station that dealt not only with taking gigantic steps in improving health but actually extending the life of the dogs in her care, Devon was far too busy for casual chitchat.
Well, then don’t waste her time.
She accessed the call. “Hi, Devon. How are things down there? I’ve been thinking about going back to the island for a month or two, if I’m still welcome. How are the goldens doing? Still as much—”
“Don’t come,” Devon said curtly. “Don’t come anywhere near here, Margaret. We had a visitor three days ago.”
“Visitor.” Her hand tightened on her phone. “Who?”
“John Lassiter. Do you know him?”
Relief. “I’ve never heard of him. Maybe it will be okay.”
“He doesn’t look okay to me,” she said grimly. “He looks like big-time trouble. He talked to a few of the techs before I even knew he was on the island and managed to dazzle them a bit. Then he went on the offensive from the minute he sat down in my office. He’s sharp as a stiletto and he’s used to getting his way. He moves from strength to strength. Tough. Very tough. I had a few problems fending him off.”
Margaret had trouble believing that and it made her nervous. She knew that Devon was a powerhouse of both efficiency and skill. “What kind of questions?”
“All about you. He gave me some bull about wanting to hire you for a job on his property in Texas. Where you are now. Where you came from. Who you associated with while you were on the island. Whether you had any off-island visitors. It went on and on.” She paused. “I didn’t tell him anything and I got rid of him as soon as I could. But that wasn’t the end of it. He evidently doesn’t like being frustrated. Because we had a security breakin the next night.”
“What?”
“Only the file cabinet containing your records. Not that there was much in them anyway. You made sure that they were pretty scanty before you left the island. But he must have wanted to know every single detail about Margaret Douglas.” She paused. “One other thing. I think he managed to hack my phone. Which means that he has your phone number. And if he’s as sharp as I think he is, he might be able to trace your phone location. I thought you should know.”
“Yes, I should.” She could feel her heart start to pound. Calm down. John Lassiter. As she’d told Devon, she didn’t know the name. He didn’t have to be connected to Stan Nicos, the monster who had tormented and almost broken her. “Thanks for calling me, Devon. I’m sorry you had to go through this.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Devon said bluntly. “Besides your being the best tech I’ve ever had, or ever hope to have, I don’t want you to end up in the same shape we found you when we stumbled over you on that beach. I didn’t think you were going to make it.”
“I wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for you. I’ve told you how grateful I am.”
“Not grateful enough to tell me who did that to you.”
“It’s my problem, Devon.” That had been such a close call. One of many since she had escaped from Nicos. It seemed as if he had been on her heels forever. “I wasn’t going to involve you or anyone at the clinic. You got me well again; you gave me a job. I wasn’t going to repay you by heaping that kind of ugliness on you.” She added drily, “But it seems I may have done it anyway. I was hoping that he’d give up the search. It’s been over three years.”
“‘He’?” Devon didn’t wait for an answer that she knew wouldn’t be forthcoming. “Look, if you don’t want to talk to me about it, that’s fine. But I’m going to give you the same advice I gave you two years ago when you came to us. Talk to the police. Or I’ll do it for you.”
“Not an option. But you might make sure that island security is doubled for a while. I don’t believe they’ll bother you again if they think they’ve found out everything you know, but don’t take chances.”
“You’re the one who shouldn’t take chances. Look, I’m sending you a photo of Lassiter that I managed to take before he took off after grilling me. We ran down the name that Gulfstream he was flying was registered under. It was a corporate registration in California. Still under Lassiter. And I notified our security chief, Craig, to run a check on him after he left my office that first day. I wanted to be able to give you the entire background before I called you. I’ll let you know what he finds out.”
“That’s good.” She had a sudden thought. “But I’m getting rid of this phone. I’ll call you with a different number as soon as I buy a new one. How long ago did you find out you were hacked?”
“I just discovered it this afternoon, but I think it must have happened sometime after the breakin. It was very slick. Lassiter didn’t want me to know that he’d managed to do it.”
And that meant that this Lassiter had had more than twenty-four hours to trace her cell phone location. He could be listening now. “I’ll call you,” she said quickly. “Thanks, Devon.” She hung up and drew a deep breath. She could feel her palms damp with sweat.
Close. Nicos hadn’t been this close to her since Santo Domingo. How had he traced her to Summer Island? She’d thought she’d left everyone safe when she’d hopped that flight off the island. She hadn’t even let Devon take her to that hospital in San Juan after she had found her. And she had been very careful not to leave any paperwork that might lead anyone to her since then.
It had happened. Nicos had evidently sent a particularly efficient bloodhound and tracked her down.
Stop worrying about how it happened. Accept it. Do what’s necessary.
Her phone was pinging and she accessed the photo Devon had sent her.
John Lassiter.
He was half turned away, but he was gazing with a faint mocking smile at the camera, as if he’d known Devon was taking the photo.
As if he’d wanted her to take it.