Page 30 of Frost and Venom

Shabina nodded. “I’ve done a lot of research on venom and animals, particularly dogs, because my three are often running with me by the canal. I take them with me nearly everywhere I go. I’ve had them in the rattlesnake classes several times just to remind them that they can’t go near that snake. Some breeds can handle venom a little better than others. It really does depend on where they are bitten and if you can keep them quiet.”

“Gwen was curled up close to Helen,” Harlow said. “It’s possible Helen was bitten first and went down. Gwen would move to protect her and that’s when she most likely was bitten.” She was just speculating, trying to picture what happened. “In my opinion, if it is a newer infectious disease, more people would be sick or dying. There isn’t a common place where Lawyer, Helen and Ms. Gentry all frequented. Ms. Gentry may have been in her seventies, but she was a firecracker. She did have a companion.”

Vienna nodded. “Lenore Anderson stayed with her nearly full-time. Ms. Gentry was super wealthy. She didn’t live like it, but she owned a lot of properties in prime locations. She actually owned the property next to Bale Landry’s home.”

A collective groan went up immediately at the mere mention of Bale Landry. Shabina gave a little sigh. “He recently contacted me and asked if I would go back to court to lift the protection order I have against him. I tried talking to Rainier about it. Bale’s lived his entire life in this town. He can’t come to the café, and if I’m in a store or at the Grill for an evening, he can’t be there. I do feel sorry for him. His best friends seemed to have walked away from their friendship…”

“Can you blame them, Shabina?” Stella asked. “Bale Landry is a narcissist and a misogynist. He despises women, especially any woman not on his list of approved ethnic background—which is nearly all of us. Edward is in love and seems to be really trying to make a life for himself. Jason broke away long before Edward, and he’s in partnership with Bruce Akins at the brewery. Bale beat the crap out of Sean when Sean refused to implicate you in a murder. It was for Sean’s own gain, but that’s beside the point. It isn’t like Bale is a good guy.”

“But maybe he could be,” Shabina said. “We all make mistakes. I’ve certainly made my share. And he was friends with Lawyer and just lost him. He might be a better person if we all tried with him again.”

Harlow sighed. She wished she were more like Shabina, but she wasn’t. Shabina saw the good in people despite her horrific past. Despite her father. Sheesh, when she let herself think about it, Shabina’s father had actually tried to hire an assassin to kill his daughter so his wife wouldn’t suffer any longer with the thought that their daughter had been kidnapped and wasn’t being returned. That was the kind of father Shabina had. No way was Rainier going to allow her father anywhere near her. And Bale? He’d threatened Shabina and tried to implicate her in a murder.

“Honey, I love you so much for your ability to forgive and have such compassion for others, but I have to be honest with you,” Harlow said. “After Lawyer died, I received three very ugly letters from Bale accusing me of not doing my job. He claimed that as Bale’s nurse I should have been watching over him, but he had it on good authority that I was too busy sleeping with a doctor and had let him die.”

“He didn’t,” Zahra snapped, her dark eyes flashing fire. “What a mean, horrible, asinine jerk. Bale knows you were friends with Lawyer. All of us were. He tried to blackmail Lawyer and was furious when Lawyer just went to the local radio station and told on himself. How could he accuse you of neglecting him? Every minute you had off, lunchtime and breaks, you were with Lawyer, trying to get him to rally, trying to figure out what was killing him.”

Shabina looked horrified. She had brought food to Harlow at the hospital on more than one occasion, knowing, from Zahra and Vienna, that Harlow was skipping meals while she was staying with Lawyer. “I’m so sorry he did that. You said he sent you more than one email?”

Harlow shook her head, wishing she hadn’t said anything. She didn’t like Shabina looking so distressed. It wasn’t her fault that Bale Landry was a jerk. Every woman in town knew he was—even Shabina. He’d been particularly ugly to her. At that time, his friends had participated in his harassment of women, especially Shabina. It was just that Shabina had such a kind, compassionate, forgiving heart. How she had remained that way after all that had happened to her, Harlow would never know.

“Not email. He put the letters into my mailbox. Rainier has them now.”

Somehow Shabina was able to be in a relationship with a man like Rainier. She was a strong woman to be able to live with him. Harlow envied her that strength and determination. She wanted a relationship with Wilder. She really did, and the more she was with Shabina, the more she felt she should take that chance with him. Jump in with both feet. Shabina had done that, and she had done so with her eyes wide open. Harlow knew that if she did as Wilder asked, she would have to go into the relationship wholly, not hold back, just as Shabina had done.

“Harlow?” Stella prompted. “What else did Bale have to say? And was it only Bale, or did Sean send you something as well?”

“Bale. Sean has been avoiding me. I think he’s been avoiding everyone. If I’m being honest, I told him I thought he was a complete jerk for what he did to poor Chelsey Sarten. He’s on the no-date list of every nurse who works at the hospital.”

“Bale is too,” Vienna admitted. “We might turn into gossips in the break room. When any traveling nurse or new hire comes and is single, we make it a priority to have a conversation where the nurses can overhear us about those two men and the way they treat women.”

“You two.” Zahra shook her head. “You can’t be trusted together.”

Laughter floated around the table at Zahra’s self-righteous tone. She could be counted on to lead the conversation if she thought any of the nurses or young women using one of the gyms they frequented were falling for Sean’s good looks.

“What?” Zahra demanded.

Harlow waved her innocent expression away. “Every single one of your friends at this table has your number, Zahra. We aren’t buying what you’re trying to sell.”

Zahra flashed a faint grin that made her look mischievous and attractive as only she could. “I do try to keep my reputation intact.”

Harlow loved the laughter Zahra generated within the group. She was always willing to laugh at herself. Harlow felt Zahra had taught her that valuable trait. Harlow had been raised to be a perfectionist, to never make a mistake in public. As a child, she’d been severely punished when she slipped up outside the home, where someone could observe her basically acting like a young girl. No loud laughter, no running or jumping, always appearing to be calm and sweet, no matter what was happening around her.

She’d met Zahra in college and had been drawn to her almost from the very beginning, mostly because Zahra lived her life in the moment, finding humor in everything. Harlow had learned to have fun around her. They became roommates and spent a lot of time together, including climbing and bouldering as well as backpacking. Harlow hadn’t wanted to go home on her breaks, and neither had Zahra, so they planned vacations together.

“Have no worries,” Stella said. “Your rep is sacred to us. None of us will rat you out to the world.”

Zahra waved her hand in the air as if to dismiss the subject. “What else did big bad Bale have to say to you, Harlow?”

Harlow had hoped they would all forget she’d confessed to three letters from him. “The second one informed me Bale was going to demand a formal investigation. He said I would lose my license.”

Zahra rolled her eyes. “Like an investigation conducted by his corrupt uncle, the sheriff? As if Sam, Zale and Rainier would ever allow that to happen. He’s just posturing, trying to scare you.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong. Lawyer wasn’t even my patient once he left the ER. I was never responsible for his care, so Bale can investigate away.”

“What he can’t do is try to talk about you,” Stella said. “He can’t spread rumors that you had something to do with Lawyer’s death.”

“Who knows what that odious man is capable of?” Harlow said.