Critical Condition. Sandra Orchard

      

      EVERYONE’S AT RISK

      There’s a murderer in the hospital, and nurse Tara Peterson is determined to prove it. With mysterious deaths in the cancer ward, anyone could be next. But no one wants to believe her...except undercover agent Zach Davis. The murderer wants Tara’s suspicions silenced, permanently. To protect Tara, Zach lets her in on his secret, and unwittingly into his heart. Tara and her three-year-old daughter are like the family he lost years before. Zach will risk everything to keep them safe, no matter the cost.

      “What I’m about to tell you is for your ears alone. Understand?”

      A flicker of confusion crossed Tara’s face, but she nodded.

      Zach glanced around to make sure no one was listening in. “My name is Zach Davis.”

      She glanced at his hospital badge—Zach Reynolds—and scooted closer to her daughter.

      “I’m a cop, working undercover to investigate the deaths you reported.”

      “You are?” she said excitedly. “Why didn’t Detective Gray tell me?”

      “The fewer people who know, the less likely my cover will be compromised. You are the only one at the hospital who knows why I’m really here.”

      “I won’t tell anyone. I promise. In fact, I can help you.”

      “I’d appreciate that.” Tara’s inside knowledge could prove invaluable to closing this case quickly.

      “Cop,” Tara’s daughter Suzie parroted. With the purple crayon clutched in her chubby fist, she drew a circle on her paper, jabbed dots in the middle and scratched two lines from the bottom. “Dak, cop,” she repeated gleefully.

      Zach’s heart sank. This assignment had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.

      SANDRA ORCHARD

      lives on a small hobby farm in rural Ontario with her real-life hero husband and college-age children. Although she taught high school math before starting her family, her childhood dream of becoming a writer never strayed far from her thoughts. She dabbled in writing articles and book reviews, but for many years needle crafts, painting and renovating a century-old farmhouse satisfied her creative appetite.

      Then she discovered the world of inspirational fiction, and her writing took on new direction.

      In 2009 she won the Daphne DuMaurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, and the following year, on her “graduation day” as a home educator (i.e., her youngest daughter’s first day of college), Sandra learned that Love Inspired Books wanted to publish her first novel. And so her Undercover Cops series began.

      Check out her website, www.SandraOrchard.com, for interesting series extras. Sandra loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard or c/o Love Inspired Books, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279.

      Critical Condition

      Sandra Orchard

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MILLS & BOON

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      The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

      —Proverbs 4:18

      For Garth

      THANKS:

      As always to my husband and children

      for their unwavering support and encouragement. You’re the best!

      To my critiquers and brainstorming buddies,

      Eileen Astels, Laurie Benner, Wenda Dottridge

      and Vicki Talley McCollum for their encouragement and invaluable suggestions.

      To my accountability partner Patti Jo Moore

      for her cyber hugs, prayers and cheers.

      To my wonderful readers, blog readers and Facebook fans who encourage and bless me in

      so many ways. Your letters, posts, comments

      and “likes” spur me on in the face of

      uncooperative characters and plots.

      And most important, thanks to my Lord Jesus

      for the greatest love of all.

      Contents

       PROLOGUE

       CHAPTER ONE

       CHAPTER TWO

       CHAPTER THREE

       CHAPTER FOUR

       CHAPTER FIVE

       CHAPTER SIX

       CHAPTER SEVEN

       CHAPTER EIGHT

       CHAPTER NINE

       CHAPTER TEN

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

       CHAPTER TWELVE

       CHAPTER THIRTEEN

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

       CHAPTER FIFTEEN

       CHAPTER SIXTEEN

       CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

       CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

       CHAPTER NINETEEN

       EPILOGUE