Read Online Close Proximity by Donna Clayton - Free Book Online Page B

mail,” he continued. “Inside was a necklace that belonged to Libby. A gold pendant she’d inherited from her mother. With it came a warning for me to back off, to forget about the DMBE.”
    A tiny tremor quivered the man’s chin and it took him a moment to rein in the terror that so obviously threatened to overwhelm him.
    â€œRafe, whoever sent the necklace and the warning had been to San Francisco. This person was inside my daughter’s house. ”
    He looked away then, the hand he lifted trembling.
    â€œHeaven help me, but I let the whole thing go unreported.” David’s gaze was wide, haunted. “I let the matter drop. I hoped and prayed it was an isolated incident.” He swallowed. “Rafe, Libby is all I’ve got in this world. I couldn’t let anything happen to her. I just couldn’t.”
    His sigh was shaky. “So I deleted the note I was sent and I never asked another question about it.”
    Rafe knew that, for an honorable man such as David, letting something like this go wouldn’t be easy. The man must have spent the last few months feeling wracked with anguish.
    â€œThere was nothing else I could do,” he said. “But now the situation has turned even more dire. More of the contaminant is missing and Libby is still in danger.” A single tear welled in the corner of his eye and he dashed it away with a swift swipe of his knuckle. “And those poor kids at Hopechest sick. God, Rafe, how I’ve agonized over this.”
    He raked shaky fingers through his auburn hair. “Why would anyone want to destroy our water supply? I just can’t understand it. It had to be an accident. An accident that someone at Springer wants to blame me for. If they make me the guilty party, then the company could save millions in clean-up costs and punitive damages.” He shook his head. “It’s the only motive I can think of. The only reason that makes any sense at all…”
    David’s voice petered out, and the man gazed off across the room.
    As Rafe tried to take in everything David had said, there was one point that seared his thoughts. David thought the dumping had to have been an accident. Well, Rafe felt differently.
    The pollutant that had seeped into the ground, oozed into the aquifer, had been no accident.
    â€œI should have come forward,” David whimpered. “My God, I should have told someone.”
    â€œDavid, the chemical had already gone missing,” Rafe reminded him. “It probably had already been dumped by the time you were alerted.”
    â€œBut I could have warned them.”
    â€œWho?” Rafe hoped this most rational question would calm David.
    â€œThose kids at Hopechest, that’s who. I could have warned Blake Fallon. I could have warned the whole town of Prosperino.”
    He desperately wanted to reach out to comfort David, but breaking the no-touching rule would only capture the attention of the guard who stood by the door.
    â€œHow could you know where the chemical was dumped? How could you know those kids would get sick? You couldn’t. You know you couldn’t. When someonedumps illegal chemicals, they don’t do it where it’ll be detected. They go somewhere that’s isolated.”
    Rafe had spent many sleepless nights wondering just where someone might have dumped the DMBE.
    The clouds shadowing David’s dark eyes lifted. But only a little.
    â€œLibby can’t know, Rafe. She can’t know.” Anxiety ticked in the older man’s cheek. “What would she think of me? How would she feel knowing that her father was aware that someone made off with a dangerous contaminant and he didn’t do anything to find out who or why or when?”
    David’s agitation had the officer on duty skimming his gaze their way.
    Rafe said, “Listen—”
    â€œShe’d be ashamed of me. I couldn’t stand that. I don’t want you to