Cold feet (31 page)

He could tell by the sudden break in the conversation that this surprised her as much as he'd expected it to. "Who is it?" she asked.

"Tye Purcell."

"Madison's brother?"

"You remember him?"

"I remember everyone involved in the case, Caleb. I've been with you every step of the way since we first met. But then,
I
believe in 'till death do us part.'

Hearing her voice rise, he hurried to cut her off before emotions could escalate any further. "I'm really tired. I've got to go, okay?"

"But you love me, Caleb. Admit it,
please.
You'll always love me."

"I don't love you, Holly. Not like you think."

He heard her sniff. "It's Madison, isn't it? You've fallen in love with her."

Caleb willed her words out of his head, willed Madison out of his heart. "What I feel for Madison is none of your business, Holly," he said, and disconnected.

M
ADISON TOUCHED
Johnny's arm. He was sitting on the living room floor next to her, playing Candyland with Brianna, but he wasn't having an easy time relaxing. He kept glancing at the clock and jiggling his leg.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine."

Brianna squealed at getting a card with double red squares. "I'm going ahead of you," she taunted Johnny.

He shrugged, obviously indifferent to the game, agitation rolling off him in waves, but he took his turn. Madison supposed she had to admire her brother for even playing. She knew he'd only agreed because Brianna had begged him. But Madison had enough on her mind today without worrying about Johnny. Ever since Caleb had told her about Tye this morning, she'd been guessing and second-guessing about whether or not her brother could really have committed those horrible acts. And no matter how shocking, disturbing or overwhelming she found that possibility, her mind kept returning to Caleb.

Caleb's so handsome, Maddy. How did your date go last night?
Her mother had asked her that on the phone earlier.

It wasn't really a date.

Did he kiss you?

I didn't call about Caleb. I called to tell you that I've got Brianna home, so I won't be showing the house today.

That's fine, dear. Do you think this Caleb is ready to find a wife?

Mom, that's enough!

But it was so nice of him to mow the lawn. They just don't make men like that anymore. You've got to snap him up while you can.

He's moving back to San Francisco.

When?

Soon.
Too soon...

Don't let him get away, Maddy.

She'd known she could shut her mother up very quickly simply by telling Annette who Caleb really was. But something--misguided loyalty, no doubt--made her reluctant to ruin her mother's good opinion of him. She hadn't told Annette that Johnny had been the one to visit the cemetery, either, or that the police were now investigating Tye. What Johnny had done would hardly improve his relationship with her mother. And she didn't want to break the news about Tye, even to Johnny, until they knew for sure.

"What are you thinking?" Johnny asked.

She blinked and brought her attention back to the game. "Nothing. Is it my turn?"

He scrubbed his face, his palm rasping over several days' worth of whiskers. "It was your turn thirty seconds ago," he said as she drew a purple card and moved her plastic gingerbread man.

When they were talking privately earlier that day, she'd told Johnny she'd help him get on his feet. She'd promised to let him stay in the cottage after Caleb left, if he'd clean up and begin a rigorous rehabilitation program. But he hadn't made any commitments. To Madison's disappointment, the closeness and understanding they'd achieved the night before hadn't lasted. If anything, she felt Johnny resented her even more for having seen his weakness.

"Come on, Mom, go!" Brianna said.

"Sorry." Realizing it was her turn
again,
Madison offered her daughter a quick smile and picked up another card. "Oh, no!" She managed a groan for Brianna's benefit. "I have to go back."

Brianna laughed as she watched Madison move back to the purple "Plumpy" pictured on the card. "I'm going to win," her daughter cried gleefully, clapping her hands.

Madison knew she was
way
behind Brianna, and even Johnny, on their journey to the king's candy, but she wasn't worried about losing the game. She was afraid that, amidst the turmoil in her life, she was about to lose something much more important.

"It's your turn again, Mommy," Brianna said, her voice full of fresh impatience.

A honk sounded outside and Johnny scrambled to his feet. "That's my ride."

Madison frowned at him. He'd made a few calls earlier. She'd heard the drone of his voice in the other room while she was reading to Brianna, but he hadn't mentioned anything about leaving. "I didn't know you were going anywhere," she said. "Will you be coming back?"

"Not tonight. I'm gonna chill with a friend," he said, heading out.

Madison opened her mouth to tell him he might want to stay close, that they might have a family crisis on their hands. But she knew it wouldn't change his mind. He was his own walking crisis. And she didn't want to discuss what was happening with Tye until she heard more from Caleb.

"You're not quitting the game, too, are you, Mommy?" Brianna asked, clearly not pleased with Johnny's defection.

Madison sighed as the door slammed behind her half brother, wondering when, if ever, she'd see him again. "No, I'm not going to quit," she said, and took her turn, only to land on the square labeled "Gooey Gumdrop--Stay Here until a Yellow Card is Drawn."

On her next three turns, she drew a green, a purple and then a red card. Brianna giggled each time she couldn't move, but Madison didn't think it was funny. The game felt a lot like her life. She couldn't continue happily on her way until she got over Caleb.

Unfortunately, she'd done exactly what she'd told herself not to do--and fallen in love.

H
OLLY TURNED OFF
her headlights and let the engine of her Honda idle as she sat behind the wheel, staring at the sleepy little house where Madison lived. Rain thrummed softly on her hood and beaded on her windshield, pearl-like in those fleeting moments when the moon's pale glow managed to slip through the clouds. Eventually, the drops began to quiver, then roll down the glass like tears. But there were no other sights or sounds to distract her. Only the beacon of light in Madison's kitchen where she sat alone at the table, bent over something Holly couldn't see because of the black plastic that covered half the window.

Madison Lieberman...Who would've thought Ellis Purcell's daughter would exact such perfect, if unwitting, revenge? Pretty,
petite
Madison.

Shaking her head, Holly laughed bitterly. Men liked their women small because it made them feel strong, powerful. Small women were
desirable.
Holly had large bones and height to rival most men's. The exact opposite of the petted girl she'd grown up with as her stepsister. Different from Susan in every way...

But that was nothing new. Holly had long since learned that luck was never in her corner. If she wanted
anything,
she had to take matters into her own hands.

Getting out of the car, she pulled the black hood of her sweatshirt up over her hair. It wasn't easy to see through the trees that partially blocked her view of the house, but she dared not move the car any closer. Caleb wasn't a fool. After hearing his impatience with her on the phone, she was afraid of what he'd do if he caught her here.

But she needed to look things over. To think. To plan. Madison was something new, something she hadn't anticipated....

The smell of the sea hit her with the first blast of wind. She inhaled deeply as she made her way up the drive, crouching between the cars, moving steadily, deliberately, while gathering her calm and controlling her rage.

Caleb's car was to the right, Madison's to the left. They were parked side by side, as if they belonged to a married couple.

Holly grimaced and felt the hood of each car with the back of her hand. Cold. Just as she'd expected. It was nearly midnight.

With a frown, she hid in the arbor that concealed her from Madison's house, and craned her head to see Caleb's cottage. It was dark. He was there, in bed, without her.

She felt a sudden wave of debilitating sadness. Why did Caleb have to betray her like this? Why was he forcing her hand? It didn't make sense. She'd done everything for him, even going so far as to arrange her sister's death for his next book!

Absently rubbing the scratches on her arms where a few scabs remained, she closed her eyes, trying to shut out her last memories of Susan. If it hadn't been for Lance, the cheating bastard, her sister would never have shown up at her house so late at night. Susan would never have seen what she'd seen. But she
had
shown up and left Holly no choice. Susan was too perceptive, too persistent and inquisitive. She wouldn't let it go.

Still, Holly regretted that Susan was gone. Her stepsister was the only person in her life who'd stuck by her through thick and thin.

It's okay,
she told herself when her throat started to tighten and burn.
I only did what I had to do.
And she'd been clever enough to make it all work to her advantage. She wasn't going to let Caleb slip away from her now. Madison would be a figure in his next book, nothing more, and Holly and Caleb would finally be together again.

Except Holly's rival wasn't only a woman. It was a child, too. She'd seen that picture on the fridge, known instantly how much Madison's daughter would appeal to Caleb. He'd wanted children for years....

Holly remembered the time she'd pretended to be pregnant. Sometimes it helped to pretend. Having a child would have made her life so much easier. Caleb wouldn't have left her if there'd been a baby.

Only she couldn't conceive. The abortion she'd given herself at sixteen had ruined any chance of that. But she wouldn't allow Madison to offer him what she couldn't.

Reality, as cold and harsh as the wind stinging her face, was too strong for pretending tonight. Holly knew she had to face the truth and deal with the gut-roiling jealousy that caused her real, physical pain--pain so acute she doubled over, barely biting back a groan.

"I'll fix it...I'll fix it...." She whispered those words like an incantation until she could believe her own promise. Until she could stand again. Until she could breathe.

She
would
fix it, she decided. She'd fix everything.

But how? Holly bit her lip as she tried to think. She could lure Caleb away from the house with a lie about some new piece of evidence. If she said Margie White, a friend of Susan's they'd already interviewed, had found something in her car, Caleb would rush right over to her house. Margie wouldn't know what he was talking about once he got there, of course, but Holly didn't need Margie to support the lie. She just needed time. When she saw Caleb again, she'd tell him that whoever had called her with the information had sounded just like Margie. She must have been mistaken, she'd say. Anyone could call based on that flyer they'd distributed, right? Maybe she'd even try to make it seem like a crank. And once Caleb was gone, she'd cut Madison's phone line, just in case things didn't go as smoothly as planned.

That was it, she decided. That was a good plan. With
that
plan, Madison and Brianna wouldn't figure in Caleb's affections for long.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

T
HE RINGING OF
the telephone interrupted a particularly good dream. Caleb was reluctant to wake fully, but he thought it might be Madison.
Why
he thought it might be her, he wasn't sure. Probably just wishful thinking.

"Hello?" Hearing the scratchy quality of his own voice, he cleared his throat and tried again. "Hello?"

"Wake up, Trovato."

Gibbons. Caleb tried not to feel disappointed. Shoving himself into a sitting position, he shot a glance at the clock to see that it was only one in the morning and not dawn, as he'd first assumed. "What is it? Did you arrest Tye Purcell?"

"No."

Caleb's disappointment grew exponentially. He'd been so sure they'd finally reached the end of the road, achieved resolution. "Why not?"

"Several reasons. Remember that drop of blood we found on the sheet beneath Susan's body?"

"Yeah."

"It's Type O, and Tye's Type B. It might take a few weeks to do a DNA comparison, but it only takes a minute to get a blood type."

"So that's it? We're back to square one?" Caleb propped the phone against his shoulder, got out of bed and yanked on his jeans. He needed a cup of coffee. He'd slept most of the day and half the night, but he still felt groggy as hell.

"Not yet. Holly just called me."

"Thank God she didn't call me," Caleb muttered, heading to the kitchen. He was so sick of hearing from his ex-wife he thought he could live the rest of his life without contact and be the better for it.

"You two having a lovers' quarrel?"

Caleb flipped on the kitchen light, wincing at the sudden brightness. "We don't have a lovers' anything. What'd she want?"

"She said a friend of Susan's named Margie called her and--"

"This late? Don't people do things in the middle of the day anymore?"

"That's what I'd like to know. According to Holly, Margie just found a note in her car signed by a man named Tye. She thinks it must've fallen out of Susan's purse a week or so before she died, when Margie and Susan went to lunch."

"Holly and I met Margie," Caleb said, scratching his bare chest with one hand while filling the coffeepot with the other. "She seemed pretty straight up, but--"

"Whether she's straight up or not, handwriting samples and maybe fingerprints should tell us whether the note is really from Tye," Gibbons interjected.