Poisoned Secrets

Poisoned Secrets
Margaret Daley

Maggie Ridgeway has spent years searching for her birth mother.And now, thanks to an anonymous tip, she's finally found her. Taking the apartment across the hall from her mother's family, Maggie is determined not to leave until she gets some questions answered. Who is her father? Why did her parents abandon her? And what item in her new apartment is provoking multiple burglaries?After an interrupted break-in leaves Maggie unconscious, the building's owner, Kane McDowell, promises to protect her. But then he learns who she really is. When the past is unveiled, the shocking disclosures could tear Maggie and Kane apart.

*The Ladies of Sweetwater Lake

*The Ladies of Sweetwater Lake

*The Ladies of Sweetwater Lake

*The Ladies of Sweetwater Lake

*The Ladies of Sweetwater Lake

**Fostered by Love

**Fostered by Love

**Fostered by Love

Her fire alarm blared.

Maggie shot up in bed and stared at the darkness surrounding her, trying to orient herself to the sound blasting the stillness.

A pounding at her front door propelled her from her bed. She raced from the room and in the hallway met a wall of smoke pouring from her office. She headed for the front door.

Suddenly it burst open, and Kane hurried into her apartment, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

“I called the fire department. Get out now.”

Maggie grabbed Kane’s arm as he passed her. “Where are you going? Aren’t you leaving, too?”

“I have to try to stop the fire.”

She couldn’t let him do it alone. “Then I’m coming with you.”

MARGARET DALEY

feels she has been blessed. She has been married more than thirty years to her husband, Mike, whom she met in college. He is a terrific support and her best friend. They have one son, Shaun. Margaret has been writing for many years and loves to tell a story. When she was a little girl, she would play with her dolls and make up stories about their lives. Now she writes these stories down. She especially enjoys weaving stories about families and how faith in God can sustain a person when things get tough. When she isn’t writing, she is fortunate to be a teacher for students with special needs. Margaret has taught for over twenty years and loves working with her students. She has also been a Special Olympics coach and participated in many sports with her students.

Poisoned Secrets

Margaret Daley

Beloved, if God so loved us,

we ought to also love one another.

—1 John 4:11

To the Lord, without You this wouldn’t be possible.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

EPILOGUE

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

ONE

Aloud thud from the apartment above made Kane McDowell flinch and sit straight up in the lounger.

“What was that?” Edwina Bacon asked, putting her teacup down on the table next to her.

Kane’s gaze riveted to the ceiling of Edwina’s place. “Maybe Henry dropped something.”

“I don’t know. He didn’t look well tonight when I saw him go upstairs. That’s the second strange sound I’ve heard coming from the apartment above. What if he fell and hurt himself?”

“You worry too much about the tenants, Edwina. Henry’s certainly capable of taking care of himself.” His words didn’t erase the worry on the elderly woman’s face. Kane pushed to his feet. “But if it will make you feel better, I’ll go upstairs and check.”

“Oh, thank you. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to someone here. Even Henry.”

“You read too many mysteries,” Kane said as he headed for the foyer of the apartment building he owned.