Page 48 of Lethal Game

She wished she could relay that message. She wanted to have a full-on conversation with her father, maybe even a full-on fight because she had a lot of things to get off her chest.

"I'll let you visit with her now," Dr. Grayson said.

"Thank you for taking such good care of her and sorting this out," she said gratefully.

"So, good news," Jason said as the doctor left.

"I'm very relieved and also happy she can stay here for a few more days. I feel better knowing she's protected, and everything is being carefully controlled going into her room."

The guard opened the door for them, and she was prepared to give her mother a happy smile, but she was asleep again. Dr. Grayson's reassuring words echoed through her head. She was glad he had mentioned not being worried about her mother's extreme fatigue because it would have concerned her.

"I guess I'll just sit with her," she said to Jason. "What are you going to do?"

"I need to check in with my team. You can turn on your phone now. In fact, why don't you do that? We can see if there are any messages from your father."

She took her phone out of her bag and powered it on. She had messages from friends but nothing from her dad. "He didn't reach out again," she murmured, showing him her phone. "I'll let you know if he does."

"Thank you. And stay in this room. It might be boring, but I'll feel better knowing you're here and someone is watching over you."

She was touched by his concern. "I'll stay here," she promised as she walked him to the door.

"I know you don't want to risk your mother's health with stressful questions, Alisa, but if you find an opportunity to askher about your father, take it. We need all the information we can get. Nothing may have happened in the past twenty-four hours. But make no mistake—this isn't over."

Goose bumps ran down her arms at his words. "I understand."

He stared at her for a long minute.

"Is there something else?" she asked.

He leaned forward and gave her a shockingly sweet and hot kiss. "Stay safe," he said. "And don't ask me why I did that. Because I don't have an answer."

She stared at the door as it closed behind him. She didn't know why he'd kissed her, but she knew why she'd kissed him back, because she was starting to really like him, and that was probably a terrible idea.

He couldn't believe he'd kissed Alisa. He'd promised himself he wouldn't do that again. But she'd looked so damned sexy and sweet, he hadn't been able to resist.

It was good they were taking a break from each other because he was getting too tangled up in her. He needed to get some space and get his head together.

When he got into his car, he received another message from Stephanie asking if he could meet her for coffee, that she needed to speak to him. It was urgent. That didn't sound good. As much as he wanted to avoid her, he knew her well, and once she got a thought stuck in her head, she couldn't let go of it. The longer he went without talking to her, the more she would wonder what was going on, so he might as well have a conversation now before she got more worked up.

He sent her a text saying he was free for the next half hour if she wanted to talk now. She came back with an immediate yes and the name of the coffee shop they'd often visited when they were working together.

He started the car and pulled out of his parking spot, calling Savannah as he did so. "I've got a possible new lead," he said. "I just spoke to Henry Cavendish, Dan Hunt's good friend. He runs a medical research lab next to the hospital. As Alisa and I were leaving, he got a phone call from someone named Tatiana."

"Tatiana Guseva?"

"It seems likely. But Henry's lab specializes in oncology research, and they're running several clinical trials, so she could be in contact with him because of that. The fact that he's Dan Hunt's best friend makes it more suspicious, however. And the lab could also be a potential target for someone wanting to steal hazardous toxins."

"I'll start looking into him."

"Check out Lauren Silenski, too. She's a senior lab manager. She seemed to be on a first- name basis with Tatiana, as if they'd exchanged prior phone calls. And Alisa said Lauren has gotten romantically involved with the much-older Henry since his wife died. It could all be innocent, but we might as well check it out."

"It shouldn't be difficult to find more information about them. How's Pamela Hunt doing?"

"Much better. They may discharge her on Sunday if her recovery continues."

"That's good news. And Alisa?"

"She's fine for the moment. All was quiet last night. But I doubt it will last. Novikov doesn't just give up."

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