Free Her Mistletoe Protector by Laura Scott Page A

that’s what you want,” Edith replied slowly. “But that wasn’t the reason I called. I just thought you should know what happened, before you read about it in the newspaper.”
    “Read what?” She had no idea what her assistant was talking about. She hadn’t even thought about reading the newspaper since getting the threatening notes. Surely there wasn’t another pending lawsuit? She’d feel guilty selling her shares of stock to Gerry if in fact they weren’t worth the price.
    “Dr. Josie Gardener is dead, Rachel,” Edith said, her voice tinged with sorrow. “It looks like she may have committed suicide late last night.”
    * * *
    Nick knew that, whatever the contents of the phone call between Rachel and Edith, it was bad news. Rachel went pale, her fingers gripping the phone tightly as she listened.
    “Do you know anything else?” she asked. He couldn’t hear Edith’s response, but then Rachel said, “Okay, thanks for letting me know,” and she disconnected from the call.
    “Rachel? What happened?” He took her hand in his, trying to offer some sort of comfort.
    “One of my top research scientists was found dead in her home early this morning,” she said in a whisper. “They think it might be a suicide.”
    Suicide? As before, the timing was too much of a coincidence. “Was this the same research scientist who was responsible for the new diabetes drug going to market and then being recalled by the FDA?” She nodded. “Josie Gardener wasn’t the only one involved in creating the new medication. She worked with Dr. Karl Errol, too.”
    Nick glanced around, not wanting to discuss anything further in a public place. “Let’s go out to the car,” he murmured.
    Rachel seemed to move in slow motion as they packed up and went back outside, carrying their coffee. He felt better once they were safely settled in the car. “Is there any reason to suspect she was involved in covering up the side effects of the medication?”
    “Of course not!” Rachel’s denial was swift. “Her reputation was on the line with this new medication. And even if it wasn’t, why commit suicide now? Why not back when the lawsuits were initially filed?”
    She had a point, but he found he couldn’t let it go. “Maybe she was afraid you’d find out the truth and couldn’t bear to face the consequences of her actions?”
    Rachel frowned for a moment, as if considering his idea. “I don’t know, Nick. We have been working on releasing our research documents to the FDA, but if there was something Josie was trying to cover up, I’m sure Karl would have told me.”
    Unless Karl was in on it, too, he thought. Was it possible that Karl was responsible for kidnapping Joey? Maybe Karl’s goal was to keep Rachel preoccupied while he swept the truth about the diabetes drug under the rug? Once he had the money, he could disappear out of the country without anyone being the wiser.
    The more he thought about the theory, the more convinced he became that he was onto something. But he didn’t think Rachel was going to go along with his idea—she was too loyal to her coworkers to think anything bad about them. “Where does Karl live?” he asked, trying to sound casual. “Maybe we should pay him a visit? See what he knows about Josie’s death?”
    “He lives in a small house not far from the company,” Rachel said, her forehead wrinkled in a deep frown. “I would say he’d be at work, but, with Josie’s death, I guess I’m not sure. They were close, but only in a professional way as far as I know. Neither one of them is married. Josie has a brother and a twin sister, but no children.”
    Nick felt bad for Josie’s family, but he was more interested right now in where Karl Errol was. “Do you know Karl’s home address?”
    Rachel rattled it off as he entered it into his phone GPS. He pulled out of the coffee shop parking lot and followed the directions with a sense of grim determination. Hopefully, the good doctor would