Authors: Catherine Mulvany
Aquamarine (22 page)
“Then how did I know about Saint-Tropez, Skeeter? And the cuts? And the fact that you caved my skull in?”
“I don’t believe in ghosts.” His voice shook on the last word. Shea sensed rather than saw the movement behind him.
“Do you believe in possession?”
“I’ll show you possession.” Kevin jammed the barrel of the pistol against the base of her throat.
Had she pushed him too far in her efforts to distract him? She tasted the sour flavor of fear but forced herself to speak coolly. “You can keep destroying the bodies, but not the spirit. I’ll come back again and again until you pay for what you did.” Her words ended in a gasp as Kevin ground the gun barrel into the vulnerable flesh of her exposed throat.
Teague sat up, slamming the spade into the backs of Kevin’s knees. Kevin’s mouth formed an O of surprise and he buckled like a broken toy. Shea dove sideways into the darkness, scrambling in the dirt for a weapon. She knew the broken flashlight lay somewhere nearby. But the object her searching fingers located wasn’t a flashlight. It was bigger and lighter. Kirsten’s poor damaged skull, she realized.
Strangely, as she held the skull in her bloodied hands, her desperate fear began to ease. Warmth and power seemed to flow into her weary body like an electric current. Across the width of the cellar, the crystal glowed with an unearthly radiance.
Kevin regained his balance, but not before Teague got in another good shot with the spade. Furious, Kevin aimed a savage kick at the side of Teague’s head. The older man was able to avoid the brunt of the blow, but he absorbed enough of the impact to send him sprawling. Recovering himself, Kevin leveled his pistol at Teague’s chest.
“No!” Shea screamed, diverting Kevin’s attention for a split second.
Teague, breathing hard, his teeth bared in an expression
like that of a cornered animal’s, scrabbled sideways, then swung the spade back for one final blow.
Kevin saw none of this. All his concentration was trained on Shea. He glared at her, his face a vicious mask of hatred. “Okay, fine. Ladies first.”
Shea watched numbly as the pistol swung in her direction. She squeezed the skull between her hands.
Kirsten, help me!
Gladly, sister. I’ve been waiting seven years for this moment.
The words washed through Shea’s head on a wave of cold fury.
Then everything seemed to switch to slow motion. One minute Kevin was glowering down the sights at her, and the next his face seemed to crumple in upon itself in an expression of terror. “Kirsten?” His voice rose two octaves in as many syllables.
“Kirsten?” echoed Teague, his hand going momentarily slack on the spade handle.
A low humming throbbed in Shea’s ears, drowning out all other sound. A strange, bluish light bathed the cellar.
“Give it up. You can’t kill me.” Kirsten held the skull aloft. “Exhibit A, Skeeter. I’m already dead, remember?”
Kevin’s face blanched. A muscle twitched in his jaw. “You may be dead, but Harris isn’t. Yet.” He turned the gun on Teague.
Kirsten’s pent-up fury exploded. With a bloodcurdling yell, she split away from Shea, flinging herself and the skull at Kevin’s face.
Shea dove for the gun, which flew off into the shadows as Kevin fought to protect himself, clawing madly at the skull.
Her hands closed over the reassuringly solid grip of the pistol, and she turned to see what was happening.
“Freeze,” she ordered, unnecessarily as it turned out. Kevin was crumpled against the ladder, his face a frozen mask of horror. The damaged skull rested on his chest. Teague lay slumped nearby. Both men looked dead.
“Teague?” she whispered.
Up above, Kevin’s flashlight wobbled as heavy footsteps shook the floor of the cabin. “Harris? Are you all right? Harris? Can you hear me?”
Teague moved then and she saw his expression. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost. And maybe he had. “Down here, Sheriff,” he called.
Shea perched on an ugly and wretchedly uncomfortable chair beside Teague’s bed, waiting for him to open his eyes. She’d been there so long, she’d memorized the fire escape plan taped to the inside of the door and counted all the holes in the acoustic tile ceiling. Two thousand seven hundred and ninety-five in case anyone was interested.
“Come on, Teague. Open your eyes already.” Not a flutter.
She sighed in resignation. He’d been out of the recovery room for almost forty minutes now. The nurse said he was just sleeping off the residual effects of the anesthetic. Nothing to worry about. But Shea went ahead and worried, anyway. What if Teague’s head injury was more serious than they thought? What if he was in a coma, not sleeping at all? What if he suddenly stopped breathing altogether?
He groaned in his sleep and burrowed his head into the flat hospital pillow. So okay, he wasn’t dead, and
maybe the medical professionals knew what they were talking about. Maybe.
Jack had flown in a team of hotshot orthopedic surgeons from Boise to patch Teague’s shattered legs back together with steel pins. The healing process would be slow and painful, and his right knee was going to require further surgery. But at least he was alive.
As was Kevin. In a manner of speaking.
Kevin. She shuddered. How could anyone be so blinded by greed? If he’d managed to eliminate her and Teague, who’d have been next on his hit list? His mother? Mikey?
Teague’s eyes flickered open. “My legs?” he asked in a surprisingly strong voice.
She smiled reassurance. “Good as new or they soon will be.”
He shut his eyes for a second, then opened them again, suddenly alert. “And Kevin?”
“In Missoula for psychiatric evaluation, though I doubt they’ll learn much. He’s catatonic.”
Teague grunted. “It’s a wonder I’m not. That was quite a show you and Kirsten put on. What did you tell Sheriff Carlton?”
“The truth. Or as much of it as I thought he’d believe—that Kevin freaked out when I tossed the skull at him.”
Teague nodded. “I was there. I saw what happened, and I’m still not sure
I
believe it.” He grinned. “Maybe they ought to ship me off to Missoula to have my head examined.” He fell silent for a moment, then asked, “How’re Jack and Cynthia holding up?”
“Better than I would under the circumstances. Jack was understandably surprised to discover he had another
daughter. But pleased, I think. Cynthia’s pretty upset about Kevin’s part in all of this, but she’s hanging in there for Mikey’s sake.”
“Jack’s handling Kirsten’s death all right?”
“As well as could be expected.” Shea swallowed hard. “He’s arranged to have her remains moved to the family plot.”
Teague stared at the ceiling, silent for so long that Shea started to worry.
“I talked to my mother this morning,” she said. “She’d called my godmother, found out where I was.”
“And?”
“She confirmed everything Sheriff Carlton said.” Shea dug the postcard from her purse and handed it to Teague. “This is what brought me to Liberty in the first place.”
Teague read the card. “Jack and Elizabeth didn’t know about you, did they?”
“Mom never told them. She was afraid of losing me. She still is, I think.”
Teague’s expression was remote. “When are you leaving?”
“Leaving?”
“For Ohio.” He wouldn’t even look at her.
“Since I’m between jobs at the moment, I thought I’d stick around. Permanently, if you’d like.” She kept her tone deliberately light.
“What about your mother?”
“She’ll come around eventually.” She smiled.
He didn’t smile back.
Don’t upset him, the doctors had warned, but they hadn’t said a word about him upsetting her, and dammit, he had that Shea-I’m-sorry look on his face.
“Shea, I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t think things are going to work out between us.”
She examined her lacerated palm in silence. Already the cuts were beginning to heal. The damage to her heart would take a lot longer to mend.
Her first instinct was to run, to hightail it back to Ohio, where she could hole up and lick her wounds in private, the way she’d done when she’d lost her job. But that was the old Shea’s solution. Not hers.
She squared her shoulders. “Why not?” she demanded. “Because you don’t love me? Baloney! Because I’m Kirsten’s twin? So what? Because I have more money in the bank than you do? Who cares? Because you’re temporarily on the injured list? Big deal. I’d love you even if you didn’t have legs.”
Teague glanced up at her, hot color staining his cheekbones. “Did you just say you loved me?”
“What? Are you deaf? Of course I love you.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed. Hard.
“Even after I practically got you killed?”
She raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure who almost got whom killed. You appear to be in worse shape than I am.” She slid off her chair and, still clinging to his hand, dropped to her knees beside the bed.
He frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Your job.” She grinned. “Since going down on bended knee is not an option for you at the moment, I’m taking the initiative. My darling, sweet idiot, Teague, will you marry me?”
The harsh planes of his face quivered. “Marry you? Shea, are you sure that’s what you want?”
She stood up slowly. Still cradling his big hand between her two smaller ones, she remembered the way his
eyes changed right before he kissed her, the way she felt inside when he smiled one of his all-too-rare smiles, the way he’d fought to protect her from Kevin. Oh, yes. She was sure. “Positive,” she said.
His eyes turned smoky. A smile tilted the corners of his mouth.
“Is that a yes?” she asked.
“No,” he said, “but this is.” And pulling her close, he kissed her pretty much nonstop until the nurse threw her out.
Some things were worth fighting for.
The heat is on and nowhere is that more evident than right here at Loveswept. This month’s selections include some of our most romantic titles yet-Take one mechanic, one television talk-show host, a masseuse, and a travel agent, then combine them with strong, to-die-for heroes, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a month’s worth of love stories.
Loveswept favorite Mary Kay McComas returns with
ONE ON ONE
, LOVESWEPT #894. Mechanic Michelin Albee has no idea what she’s getting into when she picks up stranded motorist Noah Tessler on a lonely stretch of desert highway. Noah’s purpose in coming to Gypsum, Nevada, is to meet the woman who captured his late brother’s heart and gave birth to Eric, Noah’s only living relative. Uncharacteristically, Mich takes a liking to Noah. Trusting him more than she’s trusted any man in the past few years, she confides in him about her worries for Eric. As
Noah gets closer to both Mich and her son, will he be able to keep his secret? Once again Mary Kay McComas grabs our hearts in a book as deliciously romantic as a bouquet of wildflowers in a teacup!
In Kathy Lynn Emerson’s latest contribution, we learn that love is best when it’s
TRIED AND TRUE
, LOVESWEPT #895. Because Vanessa Dare has more than a passing interest in history, she agrees to produce a documentary about professor Grant Bradley’s living history center in western New York. Grant knows that having the television talk-show host on the project will bring him the exposure Westbrook Farm needs, but he’s surprised when desire sizzles between them. When Nessa doesn’t balk at sacrificing present-day comforts, Grant realizes he just might have found the perfect woman. She’s content merely to get away from the pressures of work, and as they play the part of an 1890s courting couple, the sweet hunger that transpires could prove to be their destiny. As riveting as the pages of a secret diary, Kathy Lynn Emerson’s delectable story of love’s mysteries and history’s magic is utterly charming.
Donna Kauffman is at her best when she gives us a witty romp, and
TEASE ME
, LOVESWEPT #896, is nothing less. Tucker Morgan knows that his life needs a change. He’s just not so sure that posing as a masseur is a change for the better. But since he promised his aunt Lillian he’d investigate the shady goings-on at her Florida retirement community, he’d better take a serious look at those instructional videos she gave him. Sent in to evaluate the new masseur’s skills, Lainey Cooper knew she was in trouble from the moment he touched her. If his magical hands turned her knees to mush, Lord knew what he could do to the rest of her body! Aunt Lillian is sure something’s happening at Sunset Shores, and insists Lainey and
Tucker team up to uncover its secrets … and if a little romance is thrown in on the side, hey, what more can an elderly aunt ask for her nephew? Donna Kauffrnan delivers a sparkling tale of equal parts mystery and matchmaking.
Welcome Suzanne McMinn, who makes her Loveswept debut with
UNDENIABLE
, LOVESWEPT #897. After his wife left him stranded with four daughters to raise, Garth Holloway decided he wasn’t going to add any more women to his life. And when his pretty neighbor Kelly Thompson popped out of a Halloween casket, scaring his youngest child nearly to death, he knew his decision was right. Kelly isn’t going to argue with him. She’s through with raising children. With her younger siblings now in college, she’s free to go wherever her heart desires. But when an undeniable passion reigns, Garth and Kelly can’t stay away from each other. His children adore her, not to mention the family dog. Garth doesn’t want to hold her back, but faced with unconditional love, will Kelly grab her passport or surrender her solo ticket for a hunk on the family plan? Suzanne McMinn’s tale of dreams deferred and temptations tasted is as heartwarming as it is irresistible.
Happy reading!
With warmest wishes,
| Susann Brailey | Joy Abella |
| Senior Editor | Administrative Editor |