Before I Wake (46 page)

Devon nodded. “I’ll get them for you. So, a month to put the product onto the street?”

“I’ll need another full list of precursor chemicals for the new lab.” He finished eating and reached over for a mint.

“Hand the list to your supplier. He knows I’m good for the funding. He can make the pickup anytime.”

“I appreciate that.” He rose to his feet. “I’ll get this dealt with, Devon. Your budget line will start coming in positive again.”

Devon didn’t bother to push the reality of what would happen should his money keep funding failures. This man understood reality. “We’ll meet in a month to look at the marketing data. Leave by the back entrance; a van is waiting for you there.”

He nodded and left.

Devon more slowly finished his own meal and thought about matters. A month, and this man would likely become expendable too.

47

The Fine Chocolates Shop had a closed sign in the windows;
Back After Reporters Go
the block printed sign said in fluorescent red. Shades were pulled down to block the view into the store. Rae could understand that sentiment. She’d had her fill of reporters asking her questions in the last three days.

She pulled into a parking place a few spots down from the front door of the Chapel Detective Agency and retrieved her briefcase. She could hear water dripping and realized the sun was warming the ice on the roof and it was beginning to drip along gutters. It was a nice sound, the first reminder that spring was around the corner in a few more weeks.

She walked into the agency and back through the hallway, humming as she went.

“Rae?” Bruce called.

“It’s me.”

She walked past her office and leaned against the doorpost to Bruce’s office. “Cleaning house?” She could smell the sharp cleaning agent he was using to wipe down his whiteboard. His case list was growing shorter. There wasn’t a need to tail Henry any longer. The guns had been found.

“It’s going to be a slow week by the look of this work list,” Bruce agreed. He looked past her down the hallway. “Nathan’s here.”

Rae turned to see the sheriff walking toward them.

“Nathan, great timing,” Bruce called. “I’ve got a house for Rae to look at this afternoon and you should come along. She can’t live in a hotel forever.”

“The Horton place?”

“That’s the one.”

“I heard you were asking the Realtor about it. You can’t be serious.”

Rae looked between the two men as Nathan joined them. “Why?”

“My great-great-something-grandfather used to own the place,” Nathan explained. “It was built in the early 1800s and shows its age. It frankly needs to be leveled and replaced with something new on that property.”

“It’s stone, Rae. Lots and lots of stone and brick and practically shatterproof by weather or flood or earthquake. And sitting on its own forty acres of land, most of it timber,” Bruce noted.

“This place I have got to see. I’m already interested.”

“That timber is such a dense patch of underbrush on steep slopes that you can’t walk through most of it. If it wasn’t such a huge deal to keep land in the family, it would have been sold off decades ago. Rae, the guy who bought the property from my father took only five years before saying enough. It’s not worth your interest.”

“I don’t know. I like the idea of owning something so connected to the Justice past—your family, as well as the town.”

“A place in town, Rae. A place near grocery stores, shopping, and a nightlife that won’t eat you up in bug bites,” Nathan suggested instead.

She just laughed. “If the house out east sells, I have to buy something. Bruce volunteered to help me look around. Seriously, come along if you don’t have something pressing on your afternoon’s calendar. You know this town; I’d like your input.”

“I’ve got the time. Will kicked me out of the office. He said I couldn’t come back for seventy-two hours. He said everyone in the office needed a break, and if I was around the guys couldn’t blow off steam like they should or some such nonsense.”

Rae grinned. “You’re having a pity party that you’re the boss and can’t join in their bad jokes and numerous excuses to take a break at the watercooler.”

“Two years ago, I was leading those war stories, not getting kicked out so they can tell them without me,” Nathan noted.

Bruce pointed to the hall. “Go. We’re right behind you. This agency has a closed sign on the front door and you can turn it for all three of us. We’ll go start searching for where to spend Rae’s money. It will cheer you right up.”

“Absolutely.” Rae tugged Nathan’s hand to get him to start moving. “Who knows, maybe we’ll find your grandfather and talk cars for a while too. I heard a rumor you want to inherit that Porsche.”

“Better believe it. Have you seen that thing eat up a highway? I’ve been chasing it long enough to appreciate its handling.”

Rae settled in between the two men, not sure if she was ready for this afternoon spent with both of them, but figuring it would at least not be boring. Nathan turned the sign of the Chapel Detective Agency to closed.

She pointed to her car. “I’m driving.”

She saw the two men look at each other, but neither said a word as they crossed over to her car. “Thank you.”

“I’m still going to hold my nose when you’re not looking,” Bruce replied, sliding into the back.

Nathan just smiled at her.

Rae clipped on her seat belt and started the car, pausing just long enough to return Nathan’s smile and then look back at Bruce. “One perfect house, gentleman. Character being the best word to describe it. Let’s see what you can both recommend in Justice that fits that description. The Horton place first?”

“Take a left at the next street,” Nathan directed.

“You’re going to like living in Justice, Rae. You won’t want to settle anywhere else,” Bruce predicted.

“We’re about to see.” She followed Nathan’s directions, wondering if when this search was done, she would find a place in Justice she would be comfortable calling home.

About the Author

Dee Henderson is the author of fourteen best-selling novels, including the acclaimed O’Malley series and the Uncommon Heroes series. As a leader in the inspirational romantic suspense category, her books have won or been nominated for several prestigious industry awards including the RWA’s RITA Award, the Christy Award, the ECPA Gold Medallion, the Holt Medallion, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Golden Quill. Dee is a lifelong resident of Illinois and is active online. Visit her at www.deehenderson.com.

Book Discussion Guide

Before I Wake

1. The word
Justice
is both the name of a town and the name of its sheriff. Does this seem like an appropriate name to you? Explain.

2. In the prologue, we meet Rae Gabriella. What are your first impressions of her? of Bruce?

3. What might make Rae think she can “disappear” in Justice? Do you think that Rae will succeed in escaping her past by moving there? Why or why not?

4. What is Bruce’s motivation for taking Rae on as a partner? In Chapter Four he tells Nathan that she was a good cop and that it will be useful for him to have a female on his team. Do you think his motivation goes deeper than that?

5. What are some things Rae does to get familiar with her new surroundings? How does her approach, as a trained undercover cop, differ from that of a typical newcomer?

6. Nathan and Bruce are both dedicated to uncovering the truth in Justice: one as a sheriff, the other as a private investigator. How did each of them land in their present positions? When do their responsibilities complement each other? When might they clash?

7. Discuss Nathan and Bruce’s friendship. What do they have in common? Are their feelings for Rae a potential source of tension between them?

8. Discuss the significance of a labor strike in a town like Justice. Why are emotions running so hot? What are the issues from the workers’ point of view? from the management’s point of view? Explain the looming threat of violence.

9. Have you ever personally observed or experienced a labor strike? If so, what was it like? Did it achieve its objectives?

10. Many people are surprised to learn that the underground drug culture is not just an urban blight, but also a real problem in small towns—from marijuana to methamphetamine to heroin. What might be some of the advantages and disadvantages of small-town connections to someone making or selling drugs?

11. What qualities make the “EE” designer drug nearly a perfect formula, as far as illegal drugs go?

12. Nathan has an interesting relationship with his grandfather. Why has Nathan asked Bruce to monitor his grandfather’s activities? Do you think that was the right thing to do? Why or why not?

13. Both Bruce and Rae feel that they have changed a lot in the past several years. Do they feel they’ve changed for the better, or for worse?

14. How did the event in Washington, D.C., affected Rae’s confidence in her skills? What questions of faith has it raised for her?

15. In Chapter Fifteen Bruce says, “I’m walking around proof that people can change.” What—or whom—does he credit with the change? Have you seen evidence of this kind of change in your own life or that of someone you know?

16. In Chapter Forty-Two Rae asks, “How can God let us get so hurt if He loves us?” What is Nathan’s response? Do you agree with his response? Why or why not?

17. Do you think Rae will eventually rekindle a romantic relationship with Bruce? begin a new one with Nathan? Neither? Explain.

O’MALLEY SERIES PREQUEL

DANGER IN THE SHADOWS

THE SUMMER STORM LIT UP the night sky in a jagged display of energy, lightning bouncing, streaking, fragmenting between towering thunderheads. Sara Walsh ignored the storm as best she could, determined not to let it interrupt her train of thought. The desk lamp as well as the overhead light were on in her office as she tried to prevent any shadows from forming. What she was writing was disturbing enough.

The six-year-old boy had been found. Dead.

Writing longhand on a yellow legal pad of paper, she shaped the twenty-ninth chapter of her mystery novel. Despite the dark specificity of the scene, the flow of words never faltered.

The child had died within hours of his abduction. His family, the Oklahoma law enforcement community, even his kidnapper, did not realize it. Sara did not pull back from writing the scene even though she knew it would leave a bitter taste of defeat in the mind of the reader. The impact was necessary for the rest of the book.

She frowned, crossed out the last sentence, added a new detail, then went on with her description of the farmer who had found the boy.

Thunder cracked directly overhead. Sara flinched. Her office suite on the thirty-fourth floor put her close enough to the storm she could hear the air sizzle in the split second before the boom. She would like to be in the basement parking garage right now instead of her office.

She had been writing since eight that morning. A glance at the clock on her desk showed it was almost eight in the evening. The push to finish a story always took over as she reached the final chapters. This tenth book was no exception.

Twelve hours. No wonder her back muscles were stiff. She had taken a brief break for lunch while she reviewed the mail her secretary had prioritized for her. The rest of her day had been spent working on the book. She arched her back and rubbed at the knot.

This was the most difficult chapter in the book to write. It was better to get it done in one long, sustained effort. Death always squeezed her heart.

Had Dave been in town, he would have insisted she wrap it up and come home. Her life was restricted enough as it was. Her brother refused to let her spend all her time at the office. He would come lean against the doorjamb of her office and give her that look along with his predictable lecture telling her all she should be doing: Puttering around the house, cooking, messing with the roses, something other than sit behind that desk.

Sara smiled. She did so enjoy taking advantage of Dave’s occasional absences.

His flight back to Chicago from the FBI academy at Quantico had been delayed due to the storm front. When he had called her from the airport, he had cautioned her he might not be home until eleven.

It wasn’t a problem, she had assured him, everything was fine. Code words. Spoken every day. So much a part of their language now that she spoke them instinctively. “Everything is fine”—all clear; “I’m fine”—I’ve got company; “I’m doing fine”—I’m in danger. She had lived the dance a long time. The tight security around her life was necessary. It was overpowering, obnoxious, annoying . . . and comforting.

Sara turned in the black leather chair and looked at the display of lightning. The rain ran down the panes of thick glass. The skyline of downtown Chicago glimmered back at her through the rain.

With every book, another fact, another detail, another intense emotion, broke through from her own past. She could literally feel the dry dirt under her hand, feel the oppressive darkness. Reliving what had happened to her twenty-five years ago was terrifying. Necessary, but terrifying.