A Man Like Morgan Kane (24 page)

"Oh, please, God. No. No." Terror so stark, so painfully devastating that it threatened to devour her tunneled throughBethany's heart. "Morgan came back toBirminghamto get me on the day I married Amery."

"Yes." Tears trickled down Claudia's delicately wrinkled cheeks. "He stood outside the church in the rain and watched you and Amery come out of the church and get into the white limousine."

"Damn him!"Bethanyhit her knee against the glass table when she bounded out of the chair. "Damn him for coming back and damn him for not taking me away from Amery. If he'd loved me, he wouldn't have cared that I married Amery. He would have understood why. He would have…"

Bethanyburst into tears. Tears she'd held inside her for far too long. She cried not only for the foolish young girl she'd been, not only for faded dreams and lost chances, but for Morgan, who had stood outside the church in the rain. And for Amery who had tried so hard to make her love him and had died so tragically. And for Anne Marie who'd spent the first fifteen years of her life without her real father.

And even for Claudia. Poor, sick, lonely Claudia. They had all lost so much. Lost what could never be retrieved. Precious moments gone forever. Shared pleasures never experienced.

Claudia eased her frail body off the settee and walked over toBethany, placing her hand onBethany's back. "He's never understood why you let your mother and Henderson and me talk you into marrying Amery only a few months after he left town. When you tell him that Anne Marie is his child, he'll know why you married his cousin."

Bethanyturned, opened her arms and hugged Claudia, tenderly stroking the old woman's back as they both cried.

* * *

"I wonder what's keeping Mama so long." Anne Marie sipped on the lemonade she'd helped Ida Mae prepare. "You don't think Nana is sick or something, do you?"

"I'm sureBethanywould have called us if Mother was sick," Morgan said. "I imagine Mother is upset over the news ofBethany's indictment andBethanyis trying to reassure her."

"Who's going to reassure Mama?" Anne Marie swirled around on the swivel bar stool. "Gee, Morgan, I thought surely by now you'd at least have some leads on the real killer."

Before Morgan could reply, James piped in. "Hey, when a guy's got a list of suspects a mile long, it takes a while to narrow it down. Let's face it, my old man made more than his share of enemies."

"Well, you'd never know it by the way that horde of fans of his was acting at the courthouse today.

You'd think Jimmy had been Godalmighty!"

"Anne Marie Wyndham!" Ida Mae scolded. "Watch your mouth, young lady."

Morgan clamped his big hand down on Anne Marie's shoulder. "I promise you that I will do everything
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possible to keep your mother from ever going to trial, let alone being convicted and sentenced to prison."

She looked at him adoringly. "I know you'll save Mama. I just wish saving her wasn't taking you so long."

"You and I are going to have to keep up a brave front forBethany," Morgan told her. "If she thinks we're worried, then—"

The insistent ring of Morgan's cellular phone interrupted. He removed the phone from his jacket pocket, flipped it open and said, "Kane here." His brow wrinkled.

Anne Marie slid off the bar stool and eased over beside him. James set his glass of lemonade on the bar and focused his attention on the conversation.

"Damn! I'll tell her," Morgan said. "Knowing her, she'll want to come straight over."

"What's wrong?" Anne Marie tugged on Morgan's sleeve. "What happened?"

Morgan motioned for her to wait, then said into the telephone, "So you caught them. How many were there? Yeah, thanks for getting in touch with me so quickly. Will you wait around until we get there? OK.

Fine. I'm sureBethanywill want to ask you a few questions."

The minute Morgan slipped his phone back in his pocket, Anne Marie grabbed his arm. "What happened?"

"Some of Farraday's fans broke into your and your mother's home and ransacked the downstairs before the police could get there."

"Oh, no! This is all Mama needs."

"Didn't the security alarm go off?" James asked.

"It went off and alerted the police and scared all the neighbors," Morgan said. "But it didn't deter the men who broke in. It seems they'd all been celebratingBethany's indictment and had one beer too many."

"Who was that on the phone?" Anne Marie asked.

"Detective Varner," Morgan said.

Bethanywalked into the kitchen, her eyes puffy and damp from crying. "What's this about Hal Varner?"

"How's Mother?" Morgan askedBethany.

"She's all right. I told her that I'd been indicted. We discussed the future and the past and— Did I understand you to say something about Hal Varner calling you just now?"

"Mama, please, don't get upset." Anne Marie rushed to her mother's side.

"What's going on?"Bethanyasked.

"Some of Farraday's drunken fans broke into your house and ransacked the place," Morgan told her,
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and when she didn't even blink an eye, he marveled at her composure. "The police arrived in time to apprehend three of them. They weren't in any condition to run."

"I want to go home, now," she told Morgan, then turned to Ida Mae. "Please don't say a word about this to Claudia. I put her to bed before I came downstairs, so you should check on her in a little while and make sure she takes her medication."

"I always do," Ida Mae said.

"Why don't you kids stay here?" Morgan suggested.

"No, if Mama's going to look at the house, then I'm going, too!" Anne Marie clasped her mother's hand.

"We'll all go and see how much damage there is,"Bethanysaid placidly.

Morgan knew that there was something wrong withBethany, something bothering her that had nothing to do with the break-in at her house. She was far too calm and controlled for a woman who'd just lived through the worst day of her life and had suddenly discovered that her home had been vandalized.

What had happened upstairs between Bethany and his mother? If he askedBethany, would she tell him?

And if she was willing to tell him, was he sure he really wanted to know?

* * *

Hal Varner met them the minute they pulled into the garageatBethany'sForest Parkhome. Several neighbors still milled around in the street and one black-and-white was still parked in the driveway.

Bethanydidn't wait for Morgan to get out and assist her. She jumped out of her Mercedes and headed up the sidewalk.

"Mrs. Wyndham?" Detective Varner called to her. "One of the intruders broke out a window in the kitchen and crawled in, unlocked the door and let the others in. It's quite a mess in the downstairs. You might not want to—"

Stopping halfway up the sidewalk,Bethanyglanced over her shoulder. "Did you catch all of them?"

"We arrested three of them, but we figure a couple more got away. The three we caught were too drunk to run."

Bethanywalked up to the open front door, then stepped into the foyer. Morgan followed her. She halted, her body tensing the moment she glanced into her living room. Coming up behind her, Morgan grasped her shoulders and drew her back up against his chest.

James's eyes widened in shock when he walked into the house. "Holy cow!"

"Oh, Mama. Mama." Anne Marie stood in the foyer beside James and shook her head back and forth, then suddenly turned pale. She grabbed James's hand and whispered, "I think I'm going to throw up."

James put his arm around Anne Marie's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go back outside."

Bethanycould hardly believe her eyes. Utter, complete, desolate destruction. Drapes torn down from
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their rods. Pictures and mirrors ripped from the walls. Lamps thrown onto the floor, their broken fragments scattered on the carpet. Tables overturned, pillows strewed, gashes sliced in the sofa and chairs. The brass fire poker pierced the oil painting above the mantel.

"I'm leaving an officer here overnight, Mrs. Wyndham." Hal Varner stood in the open front door. "It's not regulation, but under the circumstances… Well, you'll need to get somebody out here first thing in the morning to repair the broken windows and—"

"Thank you, Detective," Morgan said whenBethanymade no reply, indeed didn't acknowledge either Varner's presence or his. "I'll see that someone's here bright and early."

"I'm sorry about this," Varner said. "I'd like to lock up that Tony Hayes along with those three we arrested here tonight. He might have loved Jimmy Farraday like a son loves a father, but that doesn't give him the right to incite these pea-brained bastards to take the law into their own hands."

Bethanystepped over the debris in the floor as she made her way across the room. Morgan watched her as she picked something up off the carpet. Clutching the retrieved object in her arms, she returned to his side, looked up at him with cool, dazed eyes and said, "We'll spend the nightatMother's. She has more than enough room for all of us."

"All right, honey," Morgan put his arm around her shoulders. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Holding the retrieved object in one hand,Bethanyreached up and caressed Morgan's cheek with the other. He laid his hand over hers, pressing the tips of her fingers into his cheekbone.

She held up a lopsided bright green clay pot with the word Mommy painted in red across one side.

"Anne Marie made this for me in her second-grade art class. For Christmas. It isn't broken." Tears gathered in the corners ofBethany's eyes and trickled down her face. "See. Not a scratch on it."Bethany clung to the disfigured little pot as if it were solid gold. "Where is she? Is she all right? I want to show her that her little Christmas vase is all right."

"She's outside, honey," Morgan said. "She got a bit sick to her stomach when she saw the mess, but James is taking care of her."

"I should be taking care of her. I'm her mother. I've always taken care of her."Bethanyallowed Morgan to pull her into his arms, but she didn't loosen her tenacious hold on the green and red pot. "I've loved her since the moment I found out I wan pregnant. Everything I've done, I've done for her. Always. Please, Morgan, tell me that you believe me, that you know why—"

"Hush, honey, hush. Everything is going to be all right. I'll take care of you and Anne Marie. I'll handle everything. I promise."

"Oh, Morgan." She cuddled close to him, absorbing his strength. "I've told you over and over again not to make promises that you can't keep."

Chapter 11

«^»

Morgan hovered in the corner, a dark shadow in the sunny yellow bedroom in Eileen Farraday's home.

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He had stood silently by whileBethanycared for her emotionally distraught child. The day's events had been too much for Anne Marie, the vandalism of her home tipping the scales. He had wanted to do something—anything—to help ease Anne Marie's distress, but she had wanted no one except her mother. And he had felt helpless, still felt helpless. He was supposed to be their protector, the man who would keep them safe and secure. But there wasn't a damn thing he could do to change what had happened.Bethanyhad been indicted for Jimmy Farraday's murder, and the man's idiot fans had vandalized her home.

Bethanylifted the embroidered silk shawl off the foot of the bed and covered her sleeping child. All the love in her heart showed plainly in her eyes as she gazed down at her daughter. A tight knot formed in Morgan's throat as he watchedBethanycaress Anne Marie's cheek.

Bethanywas a woman who loved completely, with every fiber of her being, holding nothing back, giving all. She had loved him that way once, and he'd been too young and foolish to realize what a rare and precious thingBethany's kind of loving was. Whether it was mother love or sexual love,Bethanyloved with all her heart.

He glanced over at the chair whereBethanyhad placed her purse. The lopsided little green and red vase that Anne Marie had made in second grade sat beside the leather shoulder bag. He shuddered, remembering the fanatical wayBethanyhad clung to that stupid clay pot, almost as if it were a lifeline.

Nothing had mattered toBethany, absolutely nothing, except what her daughter's gift represented: a lifetime of love and sacrifice she'd given her child and that child's love and devotion in return.

"She's asleep." Easing off the side of the bed,Bethanystood. "She's exhausted. Poor baby. This has been such a horrendous day for her."

"She'll be all right after a good night's sleep," Morgan said. "We'll be able to talk to her tomorrow and make her understand that everything is going to be all right."

Bethanystared at Morgan, her eyes questioning him.
"Is
everything going to be all right?"

"Of course it is," he told her, unwilling to believe he wouldn't be able to save her. "I'm not going to let you go to prison."

Stepping away from the bed,Bethanystaggered. She grabbed the edge of the nightstand in an effort to steady herself. The Chinoiserie lamp on the nightstand tottered precariously.Bethanyswayed forward, reaching for the lamp.

RealizingBethanywas on the verge of collapsing, Morgan bolted across the room. Catching her around the waist, he supported her body as she righted the lamp. "You're dead on your feet, honey. Let me take care of you."

She turned in his arms and gazed up into his piercing gray eyes. The way she looked at him spoke to him as loudly and clearly as any vocal response could have. For a split second she wondered if he had understood her silent message, but when he swept her up into his arms, she knew he had heard her heart's plea. Yes, take care of me. Hold me and love me and comfort me. Make the world go away. Just for tonight, let's pretend that neither the past nor the present exists.