The Mysterious Stranger (Triple Trouble) Read Free Page B

the answer in advance.
    “No.”
    Jarrett studied the still figure. Except for the dark bruise on the left side of her face, a gash on her forehead and the scratches on her arms and legs, she was pale. Long blond hair fanned out on the sand. She wore a one-piece swimsuit and shorts. No shoes. Mid-twenties, pretty. He’d never seen her before in his life.
    “I don’t think anything is broken,” Frank said.
    “Good.”
    Giving in to the inevitable, Jarrett scooped the unconscious woman up in his arms and carried her back to the house. By the time he’d placed her in one of the guest bedrooms, Dr. John Reed had arrived. Leona showed him upstairs, and Jarrett met him in the doorway.
    The two men shook hands. John had graduated from a prestigious medical school and gone into a high-volume, lucrative practice in New York. After fifteen years he’d been close to burning out. Jarrett had offered him tropical paradise, a waterfront home and enough money to enjoy his new life. The island had its first resident doctor and John Reed had avoided leaving medicine altogether.
    “What’s going on?” the older man asked as he approached the woman lying on the bed.
    Jarrett filled him in with what he knew. He sensed Leona, Frank and Anna Jane hovering in the doorway.
    “She’s young,” John said. “Pretty, too.”
    “Uh-huh.” Jarrett couldn’t have been less interested.
    John examined her. “Nothing broken. Just scrapes. She probably swallowed a lot of water. I—”
    A soft moan cut him off. Jarrett moved closer to the bed. The woman’s eyes fluttered, then opened. Her irises were the color of summer grass. Pure green. She blinked.
    “What—” She broke off and coughed.
    John sat on the bed next to her and smiled. “Don’t worry, you’re fine. You had a little accident in the ocean, but you’re okay now. I’m Dr. John Reed. Take a deep breath before you try to talk.”
    The woman did as she was instructed. “I was in the ocean?” she asked. She glanced around the room. “Where am I?”
    “In a private residence,” John said. “How do you feel?”
    The woman shifted, then winced. “Sore, but okay.” She reached up and touched her face. “Did I hit something?”
    “It looks that way.” John shone a penlight into her eyes. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
    “Two,” the woman said. “I’m not dizzy, if that’s what you’re trying to find out. The room’s not spinning or anything. My stomach’s a little upset and I feel shaken, but not badly injured.”
    “Good.” He glanced at Jarrett. “I’d like to keep her quiet for the next day or so before moving her, but I think she’s going to be fine.”
    Jarrett swallowed his instinctive refusal. John knew enough about his past that he wouldn’t ask if he didn’t think it was important. “Fine,” he said between clenched teeth.
    John turned his attention back to his patient. “I want you to stay in bed for the rest of the afternoon. You’ve been traumatized. Your body needs to recover.” He frowned. “I’ve been out in the sun too long,” he said. “I forgot to ask your name.”
    The woman smiled. “You had a few other things on your mind. I’m…” She paused, her mouth open. Her lips moved, but no sound emerged. The smile faded and her eyes widened slightly. Fingers fluttered as her hand reached out into air, grasping for something he couldn’t see.
    She stared at John. “I don’t know my name.”

Chapter Two
    J arrett sat behind his desk and squeezed his Mont Blanc pen. He waited until his friend had poured himself a glass of Scotch from the decanter on the shelf on the far wall. When John had taken a swallow and crossed to the window he spoke.
    “What’s the prognosis?”
    John shrugged. “I did as thorough an examination as I could. Good vital signs, no evidence of internal injuries. There are some bruises from her run-in with the cliff and she’s not going to feel a hundred percent for a day or so, but aside from that,