Page 16 of Lethal Game

"It sounds odd," he said, his always curious brain already trying to put the puzzle together. "Your mother isn't concerned?"

"No. She said he'll be back when he can, and I don't need to worry about it. In fact, she told me I should take a trip, get out of town. Like I'm going to leave her alone now."

Every word that came out of her mouth gave him a bad feeling. "What about the old friend he went to visit? Can you reach out to that person?"

"I don't know him. I never heard his name before last night."

"What exactly is wrong with your mother?"

"No one knows. She has a lot of odd symptoms. She's sleeping all the time. She's nauseous. She can't keep food down. She passed out at home before we brought her in on Monday. She also says her feet and her hands hurt, and she has a weird taste in her mouth. Oh, and her hair started falling out. Everything got better yesterday. She was almost back to normal. But when I came to see her this morning, she was in such a deep sleep I could barely rouse her. I'm really worried. And I'm driving myself crazy waiting for answers." She paused. "Are you sure I can't go in there and just yell at him? He doesn't have to talk. I can just tell him what a horrible person he is."

He smiled at the fierce look in her eyes. "Sorry. But no."

She blew out a breath. "Fine." She paused as her phone buzzed. Reaching into her bag, she pulled it out to read a text.

Her expression went from one of anger and frustration to shock.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Is that about your mother?"

"No, it's about my parents' house. It's on fire."

"What?" he asked, shocked by her words.

Ignoring his question, she punched in a number on her phone, then said, "Jerry? What's going on?" She listened for a moment, putting a hand to her mouth in horror at whatever she was hearing. "Oh, my God! I'm coming right now." She endedthe call and looked at him. "That was my parents' neighbor. The fire is huge. I don't know how a fire could even start. My mom has been here the last couple of days. And my father left Tuesday night or maybe yesterday morning. But no one has been in the house today."

His investigative instincts kicked into high gear. It seemed unlikely that all the events she'd just told him about were unrelated: her mother's mysterious illness, her father's sudden disappearance, and her parents' house fire.

He couldn't leave out the fact she'd almost been kidnapped last night. He'd assumed it was random. That she was just going to be used as a cover for Victor to get away from the hospital. Maybe that wasn't it at all.

"I have to go. I have to see what's happening at my parents' house," Alisa said, then suddenly frowned. "But my car is still in the garage, and I don't think I can go in there and get it. I still feel traumatized. I'll take a cab. But then I won't have a way to get back. I should really just go get the car."

She was talking more to herself than to him, but Jason jumped in, anyway. "Take a breath, Alisa. I'll go to the garage with you."

She stared at him with hope in her beautiful golden-brown eyes that made his stomach clench.

"Really?" she asked. "You don't mind?"

"Let me just tell my partner I'll be back in a few minutes. She's in the waiting room."

She nodded, then followed him down the hall. Savannah was just getting off her phone when they entered the room. She gave Alisa a questioning look.

"Ms. Hunt," Savannah said. "How are you today?"

"Not good," Alisa replied. "It's a long story."

"Alisa has an issue at her parents' house," he told Savannah. "I'm going to walk her to the garage so she can get her car."

"Okay," Savannah replied. "The attorney is on his way. Heshould be here in about twenty minutes, so I'll wait here for him."

"Great. I'll be back soon."

He could feel Savannah's speculative gaze on them as they walked to the elevator. She probably thought his behavior was odd, but he didn't have time to explain everything he'd just learned, and his gut told him that Alisa's unfortunate series of events might lead to a clue he had never expected to get from her.

CHAPTER FOUR

"I feel ridiculous," Alisa muttered as the elevator descended to the lobby. "I should be able to walk into that garage and get my car. I work here, for God's sake. How am I going to keep avoiding it?"

"It will feel easier after the first time. And it's not a problem."

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