Colton Holiday Lockdown (The Coltons: Return to Wyoming, 3, Band 1828) - Softcover

Miller, C.J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0373278985 ISBN 13: 9780373278985

Verlag: Harlequin Romantic Suspense, 2014

Inhaltsangabe

There is no way to escape Dead River…and a killer is waiting 

A contagious virus has rocked the small, snow-covered town of Dead River, Wyoming. And time for a cure is running out. But sick patients and a community quarantine is just the beginning of nurse Gemma Colton's troubles. 

The arrival of Dr. Rafe Granger triggers memories from her past: a high school crush…unfulfilled desires. Even Rafe's outward persona—cool, unaffected—is a thin veil for his yearning. They must suppress temptation to focus on finding a cure. But someone else is watching them. Someone else has other plans for the town.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

C.J. Miller lives in Maryland. Join C.J.'s mailing list on her website at cj-miller.com for news about upcoming books.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Dr. Rafe Granger would never escape this rotting purgatory. The small, cramped town where he had grown up had sucked him back inside, barring and locking the gates behind him. If being trapped behind a perimeter monitored around the clock by armed guards wasn't bad enough, Rafe's return had brought with it a terrible series of events: an unidentified virus was claiming victims by the dozens, the virus research lab had been trashed and a murderer had escaped the local prison and was adding to the terror and paranoia of every person in town.

Unless he foolishly attempted to brave the Laramie Mountains and climb his way to freedom, there was no way to escape Dead River. For Rafe. For the killer. For anyone.

Rafe strode to his childhood friend and current Dead River Chief of Police, Flint Colton. "You know what we're trying to do here, don't you?" He knew he sounded like a perfect jerk, but he was beyond caring what anyone thought of him. He was angry and he didn't care who knew it.

Flint nodded, touching the brim of his cowboy hat. "I do." He sounded calm, which only frustrated Rafe more. Did no one in this town understand?

"This can't happen again." Rafe could feel the ends of his temper burning, but he couldn't help himself. Knowing two months of research into a cure for the Dead River virus, the virus that was responsible for quarantining the entire town, had been destroyed was enough to push him over the edge. "I'm going in there." He pointed to the clinic and pushed past Flint.

His old friend grabbed his arm. "Wait for Stan to clear the scene," Flint said, referring to Fire Chief Stan Burrell.

Rafe tugged his arm away. "Forget that. I need to see the damage." The clinic wasn't on fire. The fire had been contained. If it hadn't, they would have been evacuating the patients inside.

Flint didn't try to stop him again. Rafe entered the clinic through the single metal entry door. The smell of smoke hung in the air. Behind the reception area, the clinic's patient files had been pulled from the shelves and littered the floor, the rainbow of folder colors mocking him. The path of destruction led to the tiny, closet-sized offices he, Dr. Abigail Moore and Dr. Lucas Rand occupied. Rafe suspected they were once intended to be just that: closets. Dr. Rand's office had been broken into and searched a few days before by an unknown culprit. Rand had reported that some of his notes had been stolen. The culprit had returned to do much worse to Rafe's office and the lab.

The metal trash can in Rafe's office was charred, whatever had been inside unrecoverable. His computer was missing from its location on top of his desk and the two-drawer file cabinet tucked under the desk was overturned, papers spread on the floor and into the hallway. Dread pooled low in his stomach. What had been taken? What had the thief been looking for?

Rafe had not much of importance in his office. The most critical work had been stored in the lab. The mobile lab had been brought in to Dead River by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State of the art, it was attached to the clinic via the backdoor. The lab had a biosafety level of four, the level reserved for research centers that worked with the world's most deadly viruses: Lassa, Ebola, Marbug and in this case, the unknown virus rampaging through Dead River. The lab had a closed venting system, complex HEPA filters for the air and epoxy surfaces for cleaning and sterilization. Though they were missing the proper security, like a round-the-clock guard and iris scanners to enter the lab, it was the best the CDC could do under the current conditions.

Given the events of late, skimping on security in lieu of expediency was a mistake.

Rafe checked and pulled on his protective gear and entered the lab, noting the lock was broken on the door. He connected his suit to the hoses that hung from the ceiling and then signed in, noting the last authorized person inside the room had been Dr. Rand, the doctor who had been on shift when the break-in had occurred. The staff at the clinic was working every spare hour they had to find a cure for the virus spreading through Dead River.

Only Dr. Moore hadn't been cleared to work in the lab due to her asthma.

Anger and frustration shook Rafe to his core. The inside of the lab was a disaster, tables overturned and petri dishes and beakers smashed to the ground. Equipment was thrown to the floor but the most alarming thing was what had been done to the samples. The small refrigerator they'd been using to store the carefully labeled Vacutainer tubes was open and emptied.

Rafe let loose a curse he almost never used. But this situation was beyond all repair.

He felt a hand on his back and whirled around, coming face-to-face with Gemma Colton, one of the clinic's registered nurses. He was ashamed of what he'd said when she most likely had overheard him, but her face spoke of the same anger he felt.

"Where are our samples?" Gemma asked, sounding shocked and panicked. Her green eyes were filled with concern. As many times as he had looked into those green eyes, the vibrancy and beauty of them struck him every time. She was the one pleasant surprise he'd found when he'd returned to Dead River. Young Gemma Colton was grown up and she was worth a long look.

Her voice sounded deeper through the microphone and speaker equipment built into the gear, making it possible to hear over the roar of the vents. Deeper and sexier, though some of it could be more related to her exhaustion than the speakers.

"Stolen," he said.

Gemma turned to scan the room.

Rafe and the clinicians had been collecting blood samples from every victim of the virus they could and looking for a common sequence. The process had taken thousands of man-hours and now, those samples were gone. Starting from ground zero would have a devastating impact on their research.

"Who would do this?" she asked.

Someone who didn't mind taking their life in their hands. Handling the blood samples that contained the virus was dangerous for the trained professionals at the clinic. The CDC expert, Dr. Colleen Goodhue, reminded them daily to exercise precaution whenever coming into contact with patients or working in the lab. She was understandably strict about following every security procedure. "That virus on the street is deadly," Rafe said.

"We already have an epidemic and now we have to worry about someone running around with vials containing the virus," Gemma said, her voice shaking.

Rafe heard shouts and banging from the clinic. He and Gemma exchanged looks. What else could go wrong? They exited the lab, stood in the chemical shower, removed their protective gear in the suit room, and hurried to find Anand Gupta, the clinic's other registered nurse, his normally calm demeanor vanished. He was standing in the clinic's storage room among shelves of ravaged supplies. Their drug locker had been forced open and bottles of life-saving medicines spilled on the ground.

The culprit had been bent on destruction. Rafe knew of no other explanation for this level of ruin. He had no understanding of why someone would do this. Who in Dead River didn't want a cure found?

"It will be days, if not weeks, before we receive another shipment to restock these supplies," Anand said.

Shipping products into Dead River was difficult and slow.

Gemma slipped her arm around the large man and hugged him. Rafe ignored the sense he was intruding on a private moment. Anand and Gemma were good friends and Rafe hadn't worked at the clinic as long as they had. Rafe didn't have the same...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Harlequin Romantic Suspense
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2014
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0373278985
• ISBN 13: 9780373278985
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 288
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: HarperCollins Publishers Ireland; enquiries@harpercollins.ie; ; Mayor Street Upper 39/40; Dublin; D01 C9W8; Irland