A Man Like Morgan Kane (13 page)

surrounding counties were filled with loyal Jimmy Farraday worshippers. She was just lucky that more of them hadn't sought her out and personally attacked her. Letters and phone calls could be ignored, but not a face-to-face confrontation.

Morgan hurried toBethanyand drew her into his arms. Stroking her back, he whispered softly, "Ah, honey, you're shaking like a leaf. They were harmless. All mouth. No action. And now they're gone."

Bethanyclung to him for a moment, savoring the powerful protection of his big body, drawing from his strength, then she pulled away and lifted her face. "I'm all right. They just took me by surprise, that's all. I wasn't expecting what happened."

"Do you still want to visit Lisa?" he asked. "If you're too upset, I can drive you straight over to Eileen's."

"No, I'm not leaving without seeing Lisa. I can't let people like that get to me. Even if they'd intended to harm me, you would have protected me. That's why I have a bodyguard, isn't it? To protect me."

Squaring her shoulders, she readjusted the narrow straps of her leather bag, straightened the shawl collar on her jacket and took a tentative step downward. Pausing momentarily, she glanced over her shoulder at Morgan. "You're quite good atthis,aren't you? You reacted so quickly I hardly knew what was happening before you had good old Joe Bob under control and scared half out of his mind."

What he'd done today was child'splay compared to what he was capable of doing. He knew a hundred and one ways to subdue and eliminate the enemy. "I'll keep you safe. No one's going to get to you, except through me. I won't let anyone hurt you."

She believed he meant what he said, and instinctively she knew that his declaration meant more than a professional promise. Keeping her safe had become a personal obligation to him. Perhaps too personal.

If she allowed him to get too close, he could hurt her. Again. She couldn't let that happen. Morgan might be able to protect her from every external force in her life, but only she could protect herself from the most dangerous element—Morgan himself.

* * *

Eileen Farraday held her hand over her pink lips that werethe exact shade as the polish on her sculptured nails. Rings adorned every finger, gold and gemstones shined and sparkled.Sighing loudly as she swooned melodramatically and sat down on the antique wood-framed sofa by the window, Eileen gazed forlornly at her daughter.

"I simply do not know how much more we can bear." Eileentilted her head to the left, allowing hersleek chin-length blackhair to touch her shoulder. "Isn't it enough that my poor husband was murdered and that my only child was accused of the ghastly crime? Why now must my granddaughter beridiculedby her classmates?"

"Mother, where is Anne Marie?" Planting one hand on her hip,Bethanyglaredat Eileen and forced herself not to point herfinger in her mother's face and scold her for her theatrical performance.

"I knew something was wrong the minute she and James came home," Eileen said. "I could tell that she'd been crying and that James was furious. At first I thought they might have had a little disagreement, but

… but…" Huge tears welled up in Eileen's eyes. She lifted her hand to Seth Renfrew, who sat down beside her and took her hand.

"Your mother phoned and asked me to come over immediately," Seth said. "It seems thatAnne Marie
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lockedherself in the powder room and wouldn't come out. Eileen was hysterical by the time she called me."

Bethanydidn't doubt for a minute that her mother had beenhysterical. Eileen didn't handle crises well. She usually came apart at the seams over the least little thing. And it amazedBethanythat her mother had held up so well sinceJimmy's murder. She might be milking the situation for all it was worth in front of the news media and her society acquaintances, cryingand bemoaning her great loss, but in private, she'd barely shed a tear.

"Why didn'tyou call me?"Bethanyasked.

"I didn't want to upset you, dear." Eileen smiled weakly. "You've been through so much lately and I had hoped Seth and I could handle the situation and you'd never need to know."

"Is she still in the powder room?" Morgan asked.

"I'm afraid so." Seth shook his head. One thick, shiny curlof silver-streaked auburn hair fell across his forehead. "I'vetried talking to her. Eileen has cried and pleaded. And even James has done whathe could.

He's still sitting on the flooroutside the powder room, talking to her."

Bethanycould not believe how drastically her life had changed in the five days since someone killed Jimmy Farraday. Her world had gone from calm, peaceful, orderly and contented to totally crazy, uncertain, disorderly and miserable. And whathurt her the most was the effect it was having on Anne Marie. She couldn't believe that the teachersat The Redmont Academy would have allowed anyone to harass a fellow student. After all, one of the reasons she was paying the astronomical yearlytuition to the private school was to protect Anne Marie from the seamier side of life and the undisciplined, often dangerous, teenagers who infested many of the public schools.

"Do either of you know exactly what happened?"Bethanylooked at her mother first, but when Eileen gasped and clutchedher chest,Bethanyglanced atSeth.

"James told us that when he picked her up at school, she wasin tears," Seth explained. "All she'd said to him was that some of her classmates had made comments about her mother being a murderer."

"Oh, hell!"Bethanyswung around quickly and ran out of the living room, into the massive entrance hall and past themarble fireplace that graced the back wall.

Eileen looked pointedly at Morgan. "Bethanyhas built her whole life around that child. She's raised her all alone, as I did her, without a father."

Morgan didn't know what Eileen expected him to say. He sensed that she blamed him for Anne Marie's fatherless state. But he had no answer for her, no explanation for why both she and Bethany had been widowed in their twenties and left with a child to rear alone. He nodded to her, then gave Seth a quick appraisal, noting that the man was elegant, handsome and closer to Eileen's age than her daughter's.

FollowingBethany, he found her with James, who sat on the glistening hardwood floor outside the powder room, his arms draping his drawn-up knees.

"I can't get her to come out," James said. "She's been in there for the past hour and a half. She said that she's never coming out."

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"Anne Marie?"Bethanygrasped the brass doorknob. "Sweetheart, please come out and talk to me."

"Oh, Mama, I—I hate them," Anne Marie cried. "I hate all of them!"

"Come out of the powder room and tell me what happened." Twisting the doorknob,Bethanyfound the door locked.

"How can I ever face anybody again?" Anne Marie asked. "I got so angry that I cried and I said some terrible things. Things I shouldn't have said."

"It doesn't matter what you said,"Bethanytold her daughter. "Whatever happened, we can talk about it and work through it together."

"Tell James to go away," Anne Marie said. "I don't want him to see me looking like this. My eyes are all swollen and red and … and I—"

"Hey, I'm leaving." James jumped to his feet. "But I'm not going far. So when you need me, I'll be around. OK?" He looked atBethanyand shrugged, then walked off down the hall.

"James is gone,"Bethanysaid.

The door opened a fraction. Anne Marie peeked outside, then continued opening the door very slowly.

The moment Anne Marie emerged from her hideaway,Bethanyheld out her arms. The child dashed into her mother's embrace. Stroking her back comfortingly,Bethanyhugged her daughter close, while they both cried.

"It's all right, sweetheart,"Bethanysaid. "Go ahead and get it all out. Cry all you want to."

"Tiffany Lang said that you'd probably been having an affair with Jimmy and … oh, Mama, I wanted to strangle her." Anne Marie lifted her head from her mother's shoulder.

Bethanyreached out and wiped the girl's tear-streaked face. "Tiffany is a silly, jealous-hearted child.

She's never been your friend. She's always disliked you because you're prettier and smarter. You shouldn't have paid any attention to her."

"It wasn't just Tiffany. It was Kaitlyn and Allison, too. They were just hateful! They said that you were going to prison for the rest of your life and that their parents were going to make sure I wouldn't be allowed to attend theRedmontAcademyanymore."

"I'm sorry that this happened."Bethanygrasped her daughter's shoulders, encouraging her to stand straight and tall. "But it's at moments like this that we learn who our true friends are. It's a bitter lesson, but one that will make you a better person in the long run. You're strong. Remember that. You're not going to let what some silly, spiteful little girls say make you run and hide, are you?"

Anne Marie straightened to her full five feet nine inches, squared her broad shoulders and tilted her chin.

Swallowing the residue of her tears, she smiled triumphantly atBethany.

"I most certainly am not!"

"Good! I'll give Judy Cordell a call and let her know what's happened. As theRedmontAcademy's principal, it will be her job to handle the situation. But she won't be able to prevent whispers and snide
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remarks behind your back. You'll have to deal with that yourself. But you can do it, can't you?"

"Yes, ma'am. I can, and I will. And when school starts Monday morning, I'm going to be there. And I'm going to look everybody straight in the eye and let them know just what I'm made of."

"That's my girl."Bethanywrapped her arm around her daughter's waist. "Are you ready to go home now?

We're grilling steaks and—"

"May I invite James to come over for dinner? He's been just wonderful to me today, and I wasn't very nice to him when he tried to talk me into coming out of the powder room."

"Of course,"Bethanysaid. "Why don't you go back into the powder room, wash your face and then go invite James to dinner? We'll eat in a couple of hours. And tell him to bring his swim trunks."

"Thanks, Mama. You're the best."

Morgan stood several feet away watching the loving exchange between mother and daughter. Comfort and caring. Genuine concern and unconditional support. Where hadBethanylearned the art of motherhood? How, with a flighty socialite like Eileen as a role model, had she become such a strong, wise and caring parent?

Anne Marie gasped when she saw Morgan, then smiled and even giggled a little. "Boy, you must think I'm a real whine baby, huh?"

"Not at all," Morgan said. "I think you had a bad day, that's all. And you're lucky enough to have a mother who helped you sort through your feelings and realize that you're tough enough to deal with your problems."

"Yeah, I am lucky to have a mother like mine, aren't I?" Glancing atBethany, Anne Marie smiled broadly and winked. "See, Morgan thinks you're special, too." She raced off down the hallway in search of James.

"She's right, you know," Morgan said. "I do think you're pretty special. I always did." He cleared his throat. "You
have
done an amazing job raising that one. You knew exactly what she needed. You knew what to say, how to handle the situation. I can't imagine what I would have done, if it had been my kid. I suppose it's a good thing I never had any children. I'd have probably made a lousy father."

But you are a parent,Bethanywanted to shout. You're Anne Marie's father. And the time may come when you'll have to step in and take over for me. Just as I've been both mother and father to her for fifteen years, you may have to take on the dual role. If I'm convicted of murder. If I spend the rest of my life in prison.

"We don't all start out being great parents, you know," she said. "We learn as we go. I've made my share of mistakes, but two things have always helped me. My love for Anne Marie, and my ability to remember what it was like to be her age."

"Yeah, I remember being fourteen. I was a holy terror. But something tells me that if I'd had a mother like you, she'd have been able to handle me."

Bethany's stomach knotted painfully. Morgan thought Bethany was fourteen. But she wasn't. She was fifteen. Dear God, was that the reason he hadn't questioned her paternity, the reason he hadn't even
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suspected that she might be his? It was only a matter of time until he learned the truth. That Anne Marie was fifteen. That she'd been born eight months after he left Birmingham. Five months after she married Amery.

"No one could have handled you, Morgan," she told him. "Everyone tried. Even me. And we all failed."

"I'm not that same wild, selfish kid I was back then, any more than you're the same shy, insecure girl.

We've both grown up. Matured. Become different people." Reaching out, he ran the back of his hand across her cheek. "I would never hurt you again. I'd never use you. All I want to do is take care of you and help you. I owe you something, Beth, for the way I messed up your life. I promise that I'll do everything in my power to make sure Farraday's real killer is found. I want you and Anne Marie to be able to resume your normal life, to put this whole affair behind you."

"That's what I want, too," Bethany said quietly. "But this nightmare won't ever end for me and Anne Marie and mother and James unless we
do
find Jimmy's killer. If you can prove who the real murderer is, then you won't owe me anything. Whatever debt you feel that you owe me will be paid in full."

Chapter 6

«^»

Sunset splattered across the western sky, creating a massive finger-painted canvas of vivid, vibrant colors. Orange overlaid with gold. Lavender edged with pink. And an iridescent scarlet bleeding into the blue. An evening breeze brushed across the treetops, stirring the warm summertime air.