Johnston - Heartbeat by Joan Johnston

insurance investigators who carry guns and get shot at, Jack.”
    She had him there. Jack thought about making up a story but realized he didn’t want to. He planned to be spending a great deal of time with Ms. Wainwright, and he didn’t see how he could hide the truth from her for very long if she spent as much time as he hoped she would in his bed.
    The main object working undercover was to keep the bad guys from finding out who you were while you found out everything you could about them. As far as Jack could see, telling Maggie his secret wasn’t going to compromise his situation. The captain might have a fit, but what the hell.
    “I’m not an insurance investigator, Maggie. I’m a Texas Ranger.”
    Most people were impressed when they found out what Jack did for a living. A select few were chosen from the ranks of the Texas Department of Public Safety to become Texas Rangers, and the elite force was small—no more than 106 Rangers to cover the entire state. A certain mystique had grown around the Rangers over the century and more they had been catching outlaws, and Jack was proud to be a part of that history. So Maggie’s reaction to his revelation was a disappointment.
    Her eyes narrowed, her face got stony, and she asked, “What were you doing at the Wainwright & Cobb picnic, Jack? What is it you’re investigating that you have to work undercover?”
    She sounded like a lawyer. Which, of course, she was. “Look, Maggie, I don’t see why we have to get into that right now.”
    “Why not? You brought it up. I think I have a right to know whether I’m the object of some sort of investigation. If that’s why you dragged me over here tonight—”
    “Whoa! Whoa!” he said. “Rein in those horses, counselor. If I’m not mistaken, you volunteered to see me home. Nobody held a gun to your head. And for the record, I don’t usually make a habit of inviting suspects home with me.” He paused. What had Maggie Wainwright done that she thought might be worth a Texas Ranger investigating?
    About the time Jack started searching Maggie’s gaze to see what she was hiding, she lowered her lids.
    “Secrets, Maggie?” he murmured.
    “None that would interest you,” she said, staring at her knotted hands.
    Jack felt queasy. What had he just done? It was a little late to close the barn doors now. He might as well finish what he’d started. “I’m posing as an insurance investigator so I can ask questions at the hospital about a suspected murderer.”
    “Who?”
    She still wasn’t looking at him, which worried Jack. “Roman Hollander,” he said.
    Her chin shot up, and her eyes opened wide. “Roman?” She gave a startled laugh. “A murderer? You must be joking! I’ve never known a more gentle, caring man. He’s a doctor, for heaven’s sake!”
    Jack was surprised at her strong reaction. “You’re well acquainted with Hollander, I presume.”
    “I know his wife, Lisa, very well. She works with me at Wainwright & Cobb. We met when she clerked for the law firm I worked for in Houston, and I put in a good word for her when she came looking for a job in San Antonio. I’m her mentor, if such things exist between women professionals. I’ve been to their house for dinner. I attended their daughter Amy’s third birthday party last week.”
    Maggie shook her head. “Roman, a murderer? I don’t believe it. Who is he supposed to have killed?”
    “Laurel Morgan, an eight-year-old accident victim with head trauma that he operated on a year ago,” Jack said. “Somebody injected an overdose of potassium chloride into the kid’s IV, causing her heart to stop. If her parents hadn’t made a stink, it would have gone on the books as a case of heart failure following surgery.”
    She frowned. “Why would Roman save the child on the operating table if he planned to kill her later?”
    “I give up. Why?”
    Maggie snorted and crossed her arms. “There is no why, because Roman didn’t kill that child.”
    “We