Time to Heal (Harlequin Heartwarming) Read Online Free Page A

deep and warm, was born.
    With a strangled sob, the rest of the boy’s control fled, and he gave in to the wonderful, healing luxury of tears. After a while, Michael pulled back from Jake and self-consciously wiped his wet cheeks. Jake handed him his handkerchief.
    “S-sorry,” Michael mumbled, blowing his nose.
    Jake smiled, looking briefly over Michael’s head to a picture of Scotty and Rachel on his credenza. “It’s okay to cry when you lose someone you love.”
    “I never have before.”
    Which meant he hadn’t cried over his mother’s death. There’d been precious few people to love in this boy’s life. Fate had certainly dealt Michael more than his share of bad luck. Suddenly Jake felt every single one of his forty-two years. What on earth was he going to do about this?
    With a quick knock, Mavis stuck her head around the door. “Excuse me, Jake, but there’s acall from Rick Streeter in Miami. Do you want to take it?”
    Streeter was a DEA connection from the old days and had phoned Jake a couple of weeks before to alert him to some suspicious activity in a nearby county. The entire coastline along the Gulf of Mexico was notoriously convenient for illicit drug activity, but because it encompassed thousands of miles, it was virtually impossible to police it all. He’d had these calls from Streeter before, and most of the time nothing came of them. Still, he couldn’t afford to disregard even the most remote possibility that Kinard County might be involved, especially with new drugs turning up at the high school.
    “Yeah, I’ll take it,” he told Mavis. Then he gently pushed Michael toward her. “Take Michael to the Coke machine and get him something to drink, will you, Mavis? You can bring him back in here as soon as I get off the phone with Streeter.”
    “Sure thing, boss.” Mavis gave Michael a friendly look. “How about it, Mike?”
    Michael’s smile was shy but genuine. “Okay, sure. Thanks.”
    Jake stretched to reach over his desk. “And take this up to Dan, Mavis. It’s a tape of a 911 call sent to us from our friends at City Hall. Have Dan listen to it and see if there’s anything we can use on it. A possible new source has surfaced at THS.”
    “I’ll tell him.” Mavis took the tape, motioning Michael ahead of her, and together they left Jake’s office.
    His call from Streeter was brief. To his relief, nothing had materialized from the suspicious activity a couple of weeks before. They exchanged a few words, made a bet on the next major-league baseball game, then Jake leaned back in his chair.
    “Rick, do you remember a woman a few years back named Anne-Marie D’Angelo?”
    “Give me a hint, man. When, where and which phase of my life are we talking here?”
    “DEA, about fifteen years ago. Miami.”
    “Fifteen years, huh? You were here then, weren’t you?”
    “Yeah. Can you recall anything?”
    “Hmm…Anne-Marie D’Angelo.” His chair creaked as he leaned back. “D’Angelo. D’Angelo. National Trucking. Dispatcher, right?”
    “I think so. You remember anything else?”
    “It’s coming, it’s coming. Tall, curvaceous brunette. Dynamite, as I recall.”
    His head bent, Jake massaged the bridge of his nose. “I mean, do you remember anything about her personally?”
    “Her looks and the company she worked for aren’t personal?”
    “What else?”
    “Smart, she was. And cool as a cucumber underpressure, if I recall. Yeah, yeah, the Colombian Connection. I’m getting total recall now, man. We nailed Jaco Ramirez. Got him hauling the goods. Sweet Anne-Marie had to get out of town fast.” He paused a minute. “Hey, wait a minute, Jake. That case isn’t likely to fade away on you. You almost bought the farm when we charged that warehouse.”
    “Yeah.” Absently Jake rubbed the ridged scar below his collarbone.
    “So, what’s going on? Has Anne-Marie turned up in Tidewater?” He chuckled. “No offense, man, but I don’t think Tidewater has enough action