Read Online Slow Burn: A Texas Heat Novel by Octavia McKenzie - Free Book Online

nodded. Andy swallowed as if he were trying mightily to keep his composure.
    “The other day we were restocking the rig, we were low on IV tubing. Harper kneeled down and I saw,” he closed his eyes for a moment, “She had bruises at the base of her spine.”
    Donavan didn’t move an inch. Emerson paled. “M-Maybe she fell.”
    Harper didn’t have a clumsy bone in her body. “No,” Andy said, “I’ve seen enough injuries to know what a kidney punch looks like.”
    Blood drained from Donavan’s face. Emerson blinked back tears.
    “I think she’s in trouble,” Andy said, “She won’t talk to me, I hope you two might have better luck.”
    Emerson pat his hand, like Donavan, she was incapable of speech. Long after Andy left an awful silence settle between them.
    Donavan leveled a piercing blue gaze on her that could’ve pulverized rock. “Tell me what you know.”
    Emerson squirmed under his relentless scrutiny.
    “Emerson,” his voice lashed out, “What.do.you.know?”
    She gulped. “I-I don’t want to betray my friend’s confidence.”
    Donavan’s big muscled body had the stillness of a snake about to strike. “Make no mistake,” he growled, “I’m going to find the son of a bitch who hurt her, break every bone in his body and ram them down his throat.”
    Emerson stared at him for a long moment then she made her decision. “You’ve heard of Doctors without Borders?”
    “Yeah, the physicians who go overseas to third world countries to treat the poor?” he said.
    “There’s an underground organization like that here in the US but the medical personal treat people who fall through the cracks of the system – the poor, homeless, uninsured, the undocumented immigrants.”
    Donavan leaned back in his chair as comprehension dawned. “So Harper is a part of this network?”
    “Yes, she goes into slums and rundown neighborhoods in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.”
    “You go with her group to feed the homeless there, don’t you?”
    “Yes.”
    Donavan grunted in admiration. “I could ring your necks, do you know how dangerous-”
    “We all have concealed carry permits, I have a Smith and Wesson Revolver, Harper has a Glock and we wear bullet proof vests.”
    That they’d have a need for that level of protection made Donavan pale.
    “We work in pairs, no one wanders off alone.”
    “Do you think she sustained these injuries by someone she tried to help?” he asked.
    “No,” Emerson said, “I would’ve heard, besides, Harper would bury anyone who dared.”
    Donavan’s jaw clenched. “Then the assailant was someone she knows, it’s personal.”
    Something flickered in Emerson’s eyes. She quickly looked away. Donavan pounced.
    “What?”
    She shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
    “Spit it out.”
    “I promised never to tell.”
    “What if he does it again?” Donavan growled. “He hit hard enough to leave bruises.” That anyone could hurt her…
    Donavan could hardly speak for the fury pounding in his veins. He couldn’t bear to think of anyone assaulting his girl. By the stricken look on her face, neither could Emerson.
    “It’s common knowledge that Harper was adopted.”
    Donavan nodded. Everyone knows that. “The Grants are good people. If you’re insinuating that Carl Grant would ever hurt her-”
    “No! Her parents are wonderful, she adores them.”
    “Then what the hell?”
    Emerson bit her lip. “Harper was adopted from the foster care system.”
    Donavan frowned. “No, she came from an orphanage up north.”
    “Mister Grant didn’t want her to have the stigma of being from the system. His sister is a social worker at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. She knew her brother and his wife desperately wanted a child so she helped them adopt-”
    “Wait, back up,” Donavan glared at Emerson, “What does this have to do with Harper?”   
    “Her biological father put her in the hospital.”
    Donavan blanched. “No,” the denial tore from him.
    Emerson