Just Evil (51 page)

But it was difficult to tamp down her fear in lieu of how
good this would all be for the bottom line.

Baylee recalled yesterday’s mad house when the media had
invaded the little town with their crews and cameras in tow, hoping to edge out
the competition to get an exclusive interview with the prime suspect in the
Alana Stevens murder. She was sure the police had purposely leaked the fact
that Kit had suffered years of physical abuse at the hands of her mother or
rather the woman who had merely raised her. That had brought the reporters
swarming like vultures over a dead carcass in the road. And once they’d
discovered that Kit was involved with Jake Boston, the software mogul who was
still the prime suspect in his wife’s slaying two years earlier, the media had
played that relationship angle to the hilt.

Two separate murder cases, two murder suspects linked
together as a couple, the press had gone wild, Baylee mused now, as she poured
coffee into an oversized mug and plated a couple of cinnamon rolls for the next
customer.

The way the media had portrayed Jake and Kit, one would have
thought the two presented the biggest single threat to the greater Los Angeles
area since The Hillside Stranglers.

But as ludicrous as it had seemed yesterday, the store had
experienced its most successful day money-wise since opening four years
earlier.

Even though Kit and Jake’s connection to each other had created
a firestorm of interest―at least it had for about forty-five minutes, the
news of Kit’s kidnapping last night had changed everything.

Baylee shook her head just thinking how fickle the media
could be. She glanced at the wild-eyed, sleep-deprived reporters waiting in
line. Some of them looked as though they had been up all night.

Funny what a difference 24 hours could make, she thought.

It had taken a kidnapping to put another twist in the story
and brought them back full circle to the Book & Bean for Round Two. Today,
they seemed to be working the sympathetic angle, convinced Jake and Kit had
been wrongly accused. She could laugh now because they certainly hadn’t been
convinced yesterday of the couple’s innocence.

But once they discovered the wealthy Collin Boyd, son of
slain murder victims Jessica and Sumner Boyd, had taken Kit hostage, the story
had dominated the six o’clock newscast. Then at ten o’clock, those same news
reporters had announced her rescue. And that was before anyone had known about
the faceless, unknown stranger who had come charging in to an abandoned
warehouse in Thousand Oaks where Collin had been holding Kit, and saved the
day.

He’d shot Kit’s captors, including Collin, and then called
Jake to come pick her up.

By the time Jake had arrived, the stranger had already
disappeared. Jake had found Kit still unconscious. Luckily by the time she woke
up in the hospital, she hadn’t remembered a thing about the kidnapping other
than the role Collin had played in the whole thing.

The fact that Jake had found one of those mysterious gold
cowboys that had been left with each of the other victims clutched in the palm
of Kit’s hand suggested that the man who had come to her rescue was the same
one who had murdered Alana as well as all the others—and now for whatever
reason had decided to play hero.

No one close to Kit felt like complaining.

Kit was alive, thanks to the stranger and tucked away in her
little bungalow along the water’s edge.

As Baylee waited on yet another customer, she thought the
whole thing sounded like the plot from one of her father’s action movies.

No wonder the media had shown up again, she thought moodily,
as she absently wiped down the counter once more before taking another order.

Looking out over the strange faces in the crowded shop,
Baylee thought she recognized some of the same on-air television reporters from
yesterday. As more news vans pulled up in front of the store, it was clear they
were staking the place out, hoping to find out more about Kit’s mystery savior.

Even now, they were clamoring to get another story for the
noon newscast. It made her stomach burn to think the sharks were circling. They
were obviously waiting for Jake and Kit to make an appearance, so they could
jockey for a quote on camera no less.

Well, they’ll be sorely disappointed on that score, thought
Baylee, as she expertly worked the espresso machine, mixing together java with
steaming milk, working on making the perfect blend. She doubted Jake intended
to let Kit out of his sight for days yet.

Baylee sighed. She hoped they weren’t staking out Kit’s
house at this very moment. Her friend desperately needed some downtime.

That was the reason why she’d offered to open up for the
next couple of mornings even if it meant she and Sarah had to get up extra
early to make the drive in from Agoura Hills, from the sweet little guest
cottage she’d rented from Gloria.

Baylee didn’t mind. Kit was more like family, more like a
sister than her best friend. They would do anything for each other. The least
she could do was mind the store to keep Kit away from the prying eyes and the
inane questions of the pesky media. Even though it might mean she and Sarah
risked wandering into the spotlight right along with Kit and Jake.

She shook off the alarm that wanted to creep in. Chancing a
quick look at her almost six-month old daughter, who sat in her swing behind
the counter, content for the moment to chew on a red plastic teething bracelet,
Baylee sucked in a breath. Knowing Collin had been desperate enough to kidnap
Kit last night was bad enough and sent chills down her arms in spite of the
heat from the espresso machine.

But as she methodically passed the finished product, the
latte, to the waiting hands of her customer, she fought off images of what
Collin’s brother, Connor, might do if he found out she was here in San Madrid,
and had been for months.

She needed to think about leaving L.A. for good. The problem
with taking off again though, meant she’d be leaving behind her dying father,
not to mention the fact that she’d have to go on the run with Sarah.

How could she keep doing that to her baby daughter? Sarah
deserved better. To Baylee it seemed she’d been on the move ever since the
baby’s birth, unsettled, moving from place to place.

She had to get her life back on track. But how could she do
that when she was so terrified Connor would find out about the baby. The idea
put the reality of her situation front and center.

As she wiped down the counter again for the twentieth time
that morning, Baylee thought about what she wanted. She wanted for her and
Sarah to be left alone, to feel secure again, she wanted her life back the way
it had been before Connor Boyd had crossed her path and shown her the dark side
of his life. She wanted to be left alone to raise Sarah on her own. And she’d
do anything, absolutely anything, if he never ever learned Sarah existed.

Was that asking too much? If she hadn’t had to come back to
L.A. because of her father’s cancer, she would still be living in Denver, where
she’d given birth. Living back with her friend, Blair Rafferty, the person
she’d turned to during her pregnancy, and who had given her a job.

She knew she’d hurt her friends, Kit and Quinn, by doing
that. By shutting them out, they had been excluded from participating in
Sarah’s birth. But how could she explain what had happened? She couldn’t take
the chance that Connor wouldn’t have followed through on his threats.

No, she thought, she would continue to keep her secret. Kit
had too much going on in her life right now, too much to deal with to get
bogged down with her problems. And Quinn, Quinn was a brand new resident
doctor, just a month into her first year of residency. Others might not
recognize her as “doctor” Tyler just yet, but as far as Baylee was concerned,
Quinn had earned the right to focus on her future, her career, without the
added problems she brought to the table.

Baylee sucked in a nervous breath and made a promise. She’d
been handling the stress and pressure of it all for the past fifteen
months―by herself.

She would handle this on her own as well. She had to.

Vickie McKeehan is the author of
five novels and makes her home in Southern California, next to the ocean she
loves.

Connect with Vickie on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/VickieMcKeehan