pull it into his garage?”
“Sure,” Rosie said, and wrote down the address Carolyn gave her. “That car’s spending more time in Tony’s garage than it is on the streets. Why don’t you let Tony look for a nice clean, used car for you? Trade up to something that’ll keep running for a while? You ought to be able to afford it now.”
For a second Carolyn thought Rosie was referring to her inheritance. Then she realized her friend meant that Carolyn would be going into practice somewhere soon. How would Rosie respond if she knew that very soon Carolyn would be able to buy the latest, most expensive car on the road? Or if Carolyn told her she’d be moving out of her small apartment to live in a mansion? A sickening feeling accompanied Carolyn’s sudden realization that she would probably lose Rosie’s friendship and that of her bulging Italian family once her inheritance became known. Her lack of money and indebtedness had been something she had in common with them. They had opened their hearts to her because she was one of them, but her grandfather’s will would change all that.
“What’s the matter?” Rosie asked with her usual bluntness. “Are you sure you don’t have something to tell me?”
“Not now,” Carolyn answered firmly. There would be time later to sort all of it out. At the moment she was a doctor with patients waiting. She grabbed her white coat, slung her stethoscope around her neck and said, “Give me five minutes and then start sending them in.”
W HEN A DAM PULLED INTO Bancroft’s parking lot, he saw that Carolyn’s car was gone.
“A tow truck took it away,” the lawyer’s receptionist told him. “I think the sign said DiPaloa Brothers Garage. Is there a problem?”
“No, I was just curious.”
Mr. Bancroft poked his head out of his office. “I thought I heard your voice, Adam. Come in. I saw you drive away with Dr. Leigh. Bring me up-to-date.”
“There’s not much to update,” he confessed as he dropped into one of the leather office chairs. “I spent a couple of hours with her. She listened, asked a few questions and said she’d be in touch.”
“Do you think she’ll come around once the shock of all this wears off a little?”
“Damn, I don’t know what to think. We both know she could be in danger the minute she steps inside Horizon Pharmaceuticals. Carolyn is as sharp as they come, and it’s a given that she won’t be played for any kind of patsy. One way or another, she’ll educate herself about the business, and without realizing it, she may bring to light something that will force a killer into action.”
“Do you think that’s what happened to her grandfather?” asked the lawyer.
“I’m convinced of it.” Adam ran agitated fingersthrough his hair. “Someone is determined to use Horizon for the shipment of black-market drugs, and Carolyn could be an innocent victim of their treachery if she gets too close to the truth.”
“Well, you’ll have a better chance to protect her if you’re on the scene as her husband. Didn’t you explain that to her?”
“I didn’t want to scare her into agreeing to my plan, but I gave her enough background for her to realize that this isn’t just a parlor game someone is playing. I’m not sure she’s convinced that Horizon is involved. I wish I had more concrete evidence to support the theory that someone in the company is raking in big bucks by diverting these drugs overseas.” He sighed. “For some reason, I was hoping to appeal to a deeper commitment to see justice done.”
“That’s a lot to expect from a young woman whose been treated as disposable by almost everyone in her life. You have to admire her for her accomplishments.”
“I do. Very much.” He felt admiration and a great deal more, he silently admitted. Carolyn Leigh had touched him on more levels than he thought possible. An unbidden sweet heat curled deep within him when he looked at her, and it had been a long time since