Love is Murder by Sandra Brown Page A

Merrill with the Florence Police Department. I’m heading up the Amber Carr murder investigation.”
    Days later when she had been released from the hospital, Jed had taken her home and explained that although the Florence P.D. didn’t have the resources to assign someone to guard her 24/7, he planned to make sure she was safe.
    “Dalton Carr is out on bond until the trial,” Jed had explained. “He hasn’t made any threats against you. Guess he’s too smart for that, but you need to be careful and take every precaution. I want you to know that I’ll do my level best to keep an eye on you.”
    The sudden roar of a truck passing by on Court Street, a block away, brought Olivia from the past to the present. How long had it been since that day when she’d been released from the hospital and found out that her life was still in danger? It couldn’t have been that long ago, not if Dalton Carr had yet to be tried and convicted of his wife’s murder. But for some reason, it felt like years ago. That wasn’t possible. If Dalton had hired Jed to kill her that had to mean she hadn’t testified against him yet.
    Shivering from the cold March breeze whipping around her damp body, she hugged herself tightly as she scanned the area in every direction. The rain had let up and was now only a misty drizzle. She needed to get up and start moving, to keep running. It was only a matter of time before Jed found her. He was good at tracking, good at figuring out what the other guy was going to do, good at his job as a police detective.
    And he had been a good friend to her. Her protector. Her lover.
    She loved Jed. And he loved her.
    No, it was all pretense on his part. He doesn’t love me. He poisoned the champagne. Did he? Are you sure? Maybe the poison wasn’t in the champagne. But if he didn’t poison me, who did? And why is Jed chasing me?
    Are you sure Jed is the man hunting you?
    Yes, she was sure because she recognized his voice, the only voice she could hear out there in the wet, foggy darkness.
    Olivia forced herself up and onto her feet. Simply standing was a monumental task. She swayed, dizziness spinning her head. Somewhere nearby a dog barked and then another farther away answered the first one’s howl. In the eerie silence that followed, she heard footsteps again, faint at first, and then coming closer and closer.
    Struggling with every step she took, she moved away from the shadowy corner of the café and inched her way along the buildings until she reached the entrance to the alley. A streetlight shone dimly into the backstreet, giving her a semiclear view, enough to see that if she entered the narrow passage, she wouldn’t be trapped. The alley went straight through and came out on the other side. Keeping close to the wall, she crept silently along the paved path until she reached a large Dumpster blocking her way. The stench of garbage assailed her senses and once again nausea threatened. Holding her breath until she slipped past the full Dumpster, she managed not to vomit.
    Winded, her sides aching, every muscle in her body rioting, Olivia paused halfway into the alley, pressed her back against the damp stone wall and listened. The sound of her labored breaths echoed inside her head. And the distinct tapping of footsteps drew nearer.
    Dear God, he was in the alley behind her. What was she going to do? She couldn’t run, could barely walk. If only she had some way to protect herself.
    She had taken the self-defense classes Jed had insisted on and she had kept the small handgun he had bought for her and taught her how to use. But the gun was locked away in her apartment and if he caught her, she didn’t have the strength to fight him. If she hadn’t been poisoned…
    Why would Jed have signed her up for self-defense classes if he hadn’t wanted her to be able to protect herself? And why would he have bought her a pistol and given her lessons at a local firing range if he had been planning to kill her? It