Bloodline (28 page)

Jerry rubbed a hand over his mouth. "She really told you I'm your uncle?"

Dawn couldn't tell if he was amused or totally pissed. She'd watched him carefully while she told him and his face had been like stone throughout the whole thing.

"Yeah, but she's lying, right? I mean, it's totally not possible, right?"

He slashed the air with a hand. "It's completely impossible! Where does she get these ideas? Has she always been a loon?"

Normally Dawn would so get on the case of anyone who called her mom a name. But this was different. This time Mom
was
acting loony.

"No, but you and me… it's like unhinged her."

He looked totally upset as he began stalking back and forth across the room.

"Unhinged, hell! She's lost it! First she says I killed one guy and kidnapped somebody else. Now—" He stopped short and stared at her. "Did she have any kind of proof—bogus proof?"

Dawn shook her head. "No. She said she couldn't prove it."

"Well, well, well. If nothing else, your momma is consistent. No proof I killed someone, and no proof I'm her brother."

"Half brother."

His face hardened as he waved a hand. "Makes no difference. This has gotta stop."

He stepped to the closet and pulled out his jacket. Dawn grabbed his arm.

"Where are you going?"

"To see your momma."

"Bad idea, Jerry—
totally
bad. If you've got to talk to her, call her on the phone."

"I do better in person, darlin. You know that. I want some face time with her to warn her about spreadin any more of her shit."

"Don't do anything…"

He looked at her. "What? Stupid? Like making a scene and throwin things?" He shook his head. "I'm just gonna let her know that if she keeps this up, she'll be hearin from my lawyer."

He kissed her, hugged her, then he was on his way. She watched him stride out the front door, slamming it behind him.

What a mess. What a mad, godawful mess.

She felt a sob building as she thought about how totally she'd screwed up. Pregnant! She did so not want to be pregnant. She didn't want to be a mother—not yet, at least. The idea terrified her. Maybe later on she'd be ready to be totally responsible for another person, but now? No way. She could barely take care of herself. She had some living to do before motherhood.

But Jerry… Jerry was 50 into this baby.

She thought about how he'd danced around this morning when the other tests she'd bought all came out positive. Kept saying how it was a miracle and how the stars had aligned to make this happen and how it was meant to be and talking crazy about destiny and the baby ruling the world. And always "he" when he referred to it. Why not "she"?

He quieted down later, but he'd been just as happy, dragging her out to Work to celebrate, wandering around the place grinning like a drunk.

Like a drunk… Jerry all of a sudden wanted her to be a teetotaler. Not even a beer. Well, fuck that bullshit.

She went to the kitchen and pulled a can of Bud from the refrigerator. But as she reached for the tab she stopped.

Could alcohol really hurt a baby? She'd heard that, but was it true? Maybe she'd better investigate first. She didn't know what she was going to do about the baby yet, but if she decided to keep him—she was sounding like Jerry now—she didn't want to cause any birth defects.

She returned the beer to the fridge.

Shit. This pregnancy thing totally sucked.

"Hearin from my lawyer," Jeremy said as he drove along. "Yeah, that'll be the day."

He shook his head in disgust. Why couldn't things go smoothly just once? Just
once
. The day had started out so great, and now it was turning to shit. Goddammit, why couldn't Moonglow mind her own goddamn business?

Okay, okay, her kid
was
her business, but couldn't she just lay off? And where was she getting all this info? Who'd have thought anyone would be looking at his DNA.

The world had turned into a science fiction movie during his time on the inside.

He needed to talk to someone. He picked up his cell and thumbed Hank's number.

"Yeah?"

"It's me. Remember that good news I had for you this morning? Well, here's a little bad to go with it: Someone told Moonglow that I'm her half brother."

"Shit! Who?"

"Don't know. The detective she hired, I guess. But who's feeding
him
? I got a feeling it's someone from our old living quarters, if you know what I mean."

"
I know what you mean, but it doesn't have to be. DNA testing is done everywhere these days. Hair, a little saliva
—
hey, you watch
CSI.
You should know that
."

Jeremy knew, but a picture of Doc Levy kept popping into his head.

"One thing I do know is we don't want anyone doing any more, do we?"

"Sure as hell don't."

"Well, if it ain't the folks upstate, then it's the detective she hired. I'm on my way to Moonglow's place now and—"

"Are
you crazy? She's got it in for you. You go in there and she could beat herself up and say you attacked her. Then where'll you be
?"

Jeremy had thought of that. Moonglow—
Christy
, damn it! Calling her

Moonglow would botch everything. Christy didn't seem the type to pull something like that, but anything was possible.

Still, he needed a face-to-face to get a line on this detective of hers. And thought he had a way to pull it off.

"I'll be careful—real careful. But I hope I can count on you for some backup if I need it, bro."

A long pause on the other end, then, "
I'll do what I can, man, but I've got other obligations
."

Jeremy's hands tightened on the wheel. Hank and his fucking Kickers. Jeremy loved the Kicker idea of dissimilation, but there had to be a limit. You had to have priorities. The two of them had already had a couple of arguments about this—damn near came to blows one time—but Hank didn't want to risk getting his hands dirty with anything, even if it meant backing off from Daddy's Plan. Way back when, he'd promised to do his part, but then when the time came he'd welshed. Said his Kickers were an adjunct to the Plan. Adjunct… Mr. Writer-man.

"Fuck your fucking obligations, this is crucial."

"
I told you
—
I'll do what I can
."

"Yeah, right."

He cut the connection and bounced the phone off the passenger window.

Hank… useless piece of crap. Oh, yeah, he'd been all full of praise and compliments this morning when Jeremy had told him about the baby, saying stuff like, "
You da man, Jeremy! Told you you didn't need me. You da MAN
!"

Yeah, I'm the man all right. The only one of us who is.

Jeremy pressed Christy's front doorbell, then retreated to the bottom of the steps where he waited while the front lights came on. He saw her face peer through one of the sidelights, then the door opened. Slowly.

Christy stuck her head out, glanced at him with a worried expression, then looked around as if someone else might be hiding in the bushes.

Not likely. And not likely that he was coming within ten feet of her. Still plenty of light, easy for any nosy neighbor to see him standing out here in plain sight, not even in spitting distance.

"What are you doing here?" she said.

He looked up at her. "We need to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Yeah, you do. This bullsh—" He cut himself off. Some of the neighbors might be listening. He didn't want any calls going out to NYPD. Didn't want another run-in with them. "This craziness has got to stop. You just can't go around spreadin lies about me."

"Who says they're lies?"

"I do. And you know they are. You and me related—that's a laugh."

That was a whopper. Daddy had told him all about little Moonglow Garber when he was a kid.

Her mouth twisted in disgust. "It's anything but a laugh—it's a horror."

"There are laws against this kind of thing. I'd be suin you now for libel—"

"You mean 'slander.' Libel is in print."

"Whatever. You'd be hearin from my lawyer instead of me right now if you wasn't Dawn's mother. But this is the last time. This is your last free pass. Next time, we go to court."

She smiled. "Fine with me. The only way I can get hurt in court is if what I'm saying is untrue. And it's not, is it."

Bitch. How could Daddy have sired such a dumb cow?

Well, maybe not so dumb. She'd found out he was her half brother. No, wait.
She
didn't find out—her detective did. Jeremy had to get the name of this guy. Couldn't handle him like Gerhard—that, he admitted, had been stupid—but maybe he could get Vecca to pay him off.

"Who's feedin you all this crap?"

"A friend."

"The same guy who fed you that other line of bull?"

"Maybe."

"Tell me who he is. I need to have a heart-to-heart talk with him, straighten him out on a few matters."

Her mouth twisted. "Like you talked to Mike Gerhard?"

"I never heard of this Gerhard guy. Let me talk to your PI. Talk—nothin more. Just give me his name."

She laughed—
laughed
—then said, "You've
got
to be kidding."

Rage exploded in Jeremy—a white-hot burst of flame spreading from his chest into his limbs. He wanted nothing more than to run up these steps and wipe that smile—

She must have seen something in his face because her smile did disappear as she took a quick, small step back inside the door.

"You want to hit me, don't you."

The words struck like a bucket of ice water. Almost as if she'd read his mind. He looked down and saw his foot on the first step.

She stepped out again and gave him a contemptuous stare.

"Go ahead,
brother
. Do your worst."

Another explosion. Jeremy teetered on the edge of doing just that. This bitch had no idea what his worst could be. He started to raise his other foot to take the next step but stopped himself.

A voice in his head shouted,
No
!

That's exactly what she wants. She wants you to lose it and pound the shit out of her. Because then she'll have won. You can double-talk your way out of unsubstantiated accusations and lab reports, but take a few pokes at Dawn's momma here in public and you'll not only lose your freedom, but you'll lose Dawn as well. For good.

He backed off the step—damn near the hardest thing he'd ever done—and kept a calm expression as he looked up at her.

Maybe Daddy hadn't done such a bad job siring her. She'd done what she was supposed to: Birthed a baby girl and raised her and protected her. She was even ready to take a beating for her.

I take back the "cow" remark, Moonglow. You've grown into one hell of a woman.

And with that he felt something stir in his loins. He realized he wanted her—wanted to rip off those clothes and take her.

That too was off-limits. But it gave him an idea. A wonderful idea.

"This is getting us nowhere. Be warned. And be warned about somethin else. Dawn says she told you about the pregnancy. Well, if you ever hope to lay eyes on your grandson, even for a second, you'd better make the best of things as they are and leave us alone."

He took huge satisfaction in Moonglow's stricken expression as he turned away and sauntered toward his car.

"Well, did you tell her?" Dawn said when Jeremy stepped through the door. "Did she get the message?"

He put on an uncertain look. As before, he had to play this carefully. Even more carefully than the last time.

"I… I don't think so. I don't think she'll ever leave us be."

Dawn stepped closer, a concerned look on her face.

"What do you mean?"

Jeremy looked away. Now the touchy part. Had to hold back and let her think she was prying it out of him.

"Nothin."

"
Nothing
? Come on! You threatened her with a lawyer and what did she say?"

"It's not what she said. It's what she did."

"What, damn it!"

He loosed a long sigh. "I'm not sure how to tell you this… not sure I even want to."

"What do you mean?" Dawn took a step back. "She didn't try to hurt you, did she? Did she have her gun?"

Oh, this was perfect, perfect.

"I almost wish she had."

"What are you
saying?"

Another sigh, then he turned and gave her a forlorn look as he hit her with the money shot.

"She came on to me."

The color drained from her face. "
What
?"

"I was afraid you wouldn't believe me. You thought I was lyin about her tryin to buy me off and—"

"No!" She waved her hands. "No, it's just—are you
sure
?"

"Well, she was wearin some sort of red robe that she took off and there she was, standin right in front of me bold as day in her birthday suit."

Jeremy knew about the robe from his explorations of the house the few times he and Dawn had had the place to themselves.

"No! She'd never! What did she say!"

"Nothin. But she knelt down in front of me and started pullin at my fly, and… and I guess that kind of said it all. I—"

Dawn waved her hands again. "Stop it! Stop it! I'm going to be sick!"

"I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"Ohmigod! But this is so not her. Mom's just not into that. I mean, she's gone out like maybe twice in the last two years."

Careful… careful… need just the right tone here…

"Maybe that explains it."

Dawn looked at him like a kid who's just been told there is no Santa Claus. "She stripped down right in front of you? That's so totally not my mom."

He decided to risk going out on a limb to add the finishing touch.

"I was floored myself. Did you know she's got this cute little butterfly tattoo"—he touched his lower abdomen, just below his belt line—"right here."

Dawn pressed her hands against her eyes. "Stop! I've seen it! I've seen it! Damn her!"

He slipped his arms around her.

"Go easy on her, darlin. She seems like a real confused woman. Don't be too mad at her."

"Too mad? Oh, I'm not too mad at her, because mad doesn't even come close. I'm like totally pissed out of my mind!" She bit her upper lip as she blinked away tears. "My own mother. I can't believe this."

"I'm so sorry, Dawn."

And for an instant he meant it. She was hurt, crushed. So although he wanted to take a run up to Vecca's and find out where this detective was getting his info, he couldn't leave Dawn right now.

She'd just had the rug pulled out from under her life. But Jeremy was going to give her a new rug—a Persian carpet.