Free Suddenly One Summer by Barbara Freethy Page B

too crazy, or too angry to give a damn that he had on a uniform.
    “We just want to talk to him,” Charlotte added.
    “Shit!” Joe hit the brakes as a man suddenly appeared out of the trees, wearing army fatigues and a helmet. He had a rifle in his hands, the barrel of the gun pointed directly at their car. “I don’t think he wants to talk to us.” Joe threw the car into park and punched the radio button to call his dispatcher for backup. Unfortunately, there was no signal. They were out of range. “Stay in the car, Charlotte.”
    He opened the door slowly and stepped out, keeping his body behind the door. “Mr. Dupont, I’m Chief Silveira. You need to put down the gun. I’ve just come to talk to you about your daughter, Annie.”
    “Got no daughter,” the man yelled back, but he lowered his weapon. “And you’re on private property.”
    “Annie is in the hospital,” Joe said, relieved that the man had put down the gun. “She tried to kill herself last night. She jumped into the bay. A good Samaritan went in after her. She’s lucky to be alive.”
    “I told you. I don’t have a daughter anymore.”
    Before Joe could say anything, he heard Charlotte’s door open. As she stepped out the man raised his gun again, this time pointing it at Charlotte. Joe’sheart skipped a beat. He never should have brought her with him.
    “Mr. Dupont? I’m Annie’s doctor,” Charlotte said. “I’m sure you must be worried about your daughter.”
    “My daughter is a whore. She deserves whatever she gets. She shamed me. She shamed the Lord. Now get off my property and don’t come back.”
    “Get in the car, Charlotte,” Joe ordered. “And Mr. Dupont, put down that gun before I arrest you.”
    The other man lowered his gun, obviously not crazy enough to completely test authority.
    Charlotte slipped back into her seat and shut the door. Joe followed suit. He started the car and backed it down the narrow road until he could find a place to turn around. When he was heading down the mountain, he looked in his rearview mirror. Carl Dupont was watching them leave. He probably wouldn’t move until he was sure they were gone.
    “You shouldn’t have gotten out of the car,” he said sharply. He’d put Charlotte in danger; that was inexcusable.
    “I’m sorry.”
    “He could have shot you!” Joe said. “Are you always so impulsive? Do you think before you act?”
    “I said I was sorry,” Charlotte returned.
    “Right, forget it. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have brought you.” He ran a hand through his hair as he headed toward the main road.
    “I was trying to help,” Charlotte said, “but I was wrong. And to answer your question, my impulsiveness does sometimes get me into trouble. I’m working on it.”
    He cast a quick look in her direction, seeing an apologetic smile on her pretty mouth. She was certainly different from any doctor he’d ever worked with before. She cared way too much about her patients. She was so determined to help a teenage girl, she barely knew that she’d put herself in front of a gun. He was both pissed off and deeply admiring, but he didn’t intend to let her see that.
    “You need to work harder,” he told her.
    “Got it. So, what are we going to do now? Annie can’t go home. Even if her father did take her back, who knows what kind of hell he’d put her through?”
    “She’s an adult, Charlotte.”
    “Which means…”
    “That there’s nothing I can do. She needs to talk to a social worker, find out what programs are available to her. Her father has no legal obligation to support her after the age of eighteen.”
    “That man is crazy. And he has a gun. He’s dangerous. Can’t you do something about him?”
    “I’ll look into the situation, see if he has permits, but arresting Mr. Dupont won’t help Annie.”
    “That’s true,” she said with a sigh. “I feel so sorry for her. I wonder if she has any other relatives who can help her.”
    “You’ll have to talk