Текст книги "If Looks Could Kill"

Автор книги: Heather Graham

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

17

Madison was just zipping her jeans when she heard her father’s voice, and she quickly threw on a shirt, then hurried out to greet him.

Jordan looked a lot better than he had the last time she saw him, when he was so worried about her. His color was good, his long gray hair in a neat queue—he looked like the handsome, mature, sexy celebrity he was.

He smiled when he saw her, shaking his head. “Mrs. Montgomery.”

“Dad!” she said, hurrying to him, accepting his warm hug.

“Breakfast is on the counter in the kitchen. I’ll leave you to it,” Peggy said, exiting to go about her work in some far corner of the house.

Madison looked anxiously at her father. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all. I’m delighted for you. You two did make a pretty quick decision there.”

“I think he married me just to keep me safe.”

Jordan caught her hands and leaned back, studying her. “I think he married you because you’re a stunning woman with a wonderful mind and a warm heart.”

“Dad, thanks! What a beautiful thing to say.”

“I’m very proud of you, Madison. I’m proud of all my children. And I’m glad Kyle is my son-in-law.”

“How about some breakfast?” she suggested, suddenly embarrassed. “I’m starving.”

“Busy night, huh?” her father teased.

“Dad!” she protested.

They ate in silence at the kitchen table for a minute; then he cleared his throat. “Did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“Harry Nore managed to hang himself in his jail cell. He had smuggled in some ultrathin wire and…”

Madison set her fork down. “God. I don’t know whether to be sorry or not.”

“He killed your mother, and he tried to kill you. I can’t feel much remorse.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know why, I know the murder weapon was found on him and all, but…I just never thought he really did kill my mother.”

“Madison! I’ll never forget the terror in my heart when I heard him saying those things to you on Sunday! Then, seeing him lunge at you…The man was definitely homicidal.”

Madison nodded, wondering why she was so upset. Then she realized that Kyle had probably read about Nore’s death in the paper and decided not to tell her while they were on the island. Now he couldn’t talk to Nore, couldn’t learn from Nore. It was hard to clear a dead man. And it was hard to hunt for a killer if people believed the killer was already dead.

She shivered.

“Kyle didn’t tell me.”

“He is trying to protect you.”

“Maybe he’s trying too hard. Oh, Dad! I’m just not sure about this at all….”

Jordan Adair shook his head ruefully, staring out the window. “Honey, I’ll be sure for you. I always liked Kyle. From the first time I met him. Even when he was really young, he had a way of looking at the world…wisdom, I guess. I don’t know exactly what it was about him. But there was some chemistry between the two of you from beginning. At first you just adored him like a big brother. I’m not sure when that changed. Maybe he kept away from you purposely when you started getting older. He wanted to give you a chance to grow up, I think. And then, of course, he met Fallon….”

“He met Fallon, and I married Darryl. Well…I’m glad you’re happy, Dad,” Madison murmured.

He nodded again, as if there were more he wanted to say. Then he rose, slowly pacing the kitchen. “You know, he never accused me of murder, even though he was there when your mother and I had one of our worst fights ever.”

“Dad…” she said uncomfortably.

“No, hear me out. I guess I’ve wanted to tell you this for a long time. The day Lainie was killed, she’d called me over. Roger had refused to cancel a personal appearance in Toronto to stay home to see her do a play in Miami Beach. She was furious—she really expected us all to jump every time she snapped her fingers. She wanted me to hang around so she could convince Roger it would be dangerous to leave the two of us in the city alone.” Jordan shrugged thoughtfully. “I did still love her. I always loved her. I’ll love her until the day I die myself. But I knew she was using me, and I refused her, so she started throwing things. I grabbed her…and then I released her and walked out.

“She—she liked a physical fight. She’d been sure that if she could just get me to touch her, she could seduce me. But I managed to remember that Roger was a friend, and that Lainie had used me too often already. I left. Kyle was in his room, pretending not to hear us fight. But when it got violent, he came out—as if he could stop it if something really bad were about to happen. Lainie was furious—she hadn’t known he was home. But he just turned away from her and walked me out. He was as smooth as a mature man that day, and the kid was just getting out of high school. Anyway…” He turned and stared at Madison, so much pain in his dark eyes that she found herself rushing to him.

“Oh, Dad! You can’t keep punishing yourself over Lainie. We all loved her, and she hurt us all. But she loved us, too, in her way. I think she loved you very much. And I love you, Kaila loves you, Trent loves you, Jassy loves you—even Kyle and Rafe love you! You’ve been a great dad.”

“In my way,” he said softly, holding her. “In my weird way. I do love you, Madison. And you know, you’re not like her. Not in the least. You and Kyle are going to stay married. Your vows mean something to you both. And I mean it—I couldn’t be happier for you.” He sighed then. “I guess I’ve got to go. I’m heading home. Roger’s show is a success, and I’ve got to start on my new book.”

“What’s it about this time, Dad?”

“Pirates, sunken treasure. My macho hero is going to discover modern-day piracy, save the girl and discover hidden treasure. Thank God I’m old and have been at it a long time, so I don’t have to be politically correct.”

“Sounds like a great adventure, Dad.”

He kissed her cheek, holding her close again. “Life is the adventure, baby. I’m glad you’re living it. I wish you and your new husband the very best. Tell him I said so. And somewhere along the line, we’ll have to celebrate. I thought Jassy was about to run off and marry some guy, and instead it’s you.”

“Oh, well…” Madison teased.

“Who is he?”

“Who is who?”

“The guy Jassy is dating.”

Madison laughed. “I don’t know. In fact, if she doesn’t tell me, I’m not inviting her to my wedding reception. When I get around to having one.” She made a mental note to herself—it was time to tell Kyle they had to find out exactly who Jassy was seeing.

Her father grinned and kissed her cheek one more time. “You be careful!”

She nodded. “I will be,” she promised him. She saw him to the door, kissed him again, waved and carefully locked the door behind him. She’d barely started picking up the breakfast dishes when the bell rang.

Being careful, she looked through the peephole before turning the first bolt. She thought maybe her father had returned, but it wasn’t her dad, it was Kyle’s.

“Roger!” Madison said, opening the door. She began to wonder if she wasn’t going to see every member of their extended family that day, one by one.

“Congratulations, Madison. I can’t tell you how pleased I am.” He enveloped her in a big bear hug.

She accepted the embrace, hugging him back. “Thanks, come on in.”

He followed her into the living room. “What can I get you? The coffee is fresh.”

“Coffee sounds great. Where’s that son of mine?”

“Working.”

“Humph! So much for a honeymoon, huh?”

Madison tried to keep her smile in place as she watched Roger. She decided that both their families were insane. She and Kyle had run off and gotten married less than two weeks after seeing one another again for the first time in years, and both their fathers seemed to think it was the greatest thing in the world.

“He was sent down here on an important case,” Madison reminded him.

Roger frowned. “But Harry Nore came after you, Madison. Honey, he tried to kill you! He’s dead, you know, and good riddance to him!”

Madison hesitated. “Maybe it’s for the best. I think he was a tortured soul. And he probably did scare a few years off my life! But, Roger, honest to God, I don’t think that he killed my mother. And Kyle doesn’t think he can possibly be the same man who killed these other poor women.”

Roger narrowed his eyes, frowning thoughtfully. He’d always been a handsome man, and age had done nothing to change that fact. Character was etched into the fine lines around his eyes and mouth, and his smile remained as charismatic as ever.

Kyle was going to look like Roger in another twenty-five years.

“It frightens me to think there’s any way what’s happening now could be related to your mother’s death,” Roger said.

“It does seem impossible,” Madison murmured.

The phone rang, and she excused herself. It was Joey, reminding her that she was supposed to be working in the studio with the Storm Fronts later on in the week.

“I talked to Kyle. He said the two of you got married,” Joey said. “Any truth to it?”

“Did you think he lied to you?”

“So you really did it, huh?”

“We really did it.”

“That was fast.”

“I know.”

“Well, congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“Sheila is going to be disappointed.”

“Oh?”

“She really wanted to get to know him better.”

“Well, tell her he’s off-limits now.”

“Yeah, she’ll get over it. Frankly, I think she was just hoping for one night with him. Sheila and an FBI agent? Can’t see it.”

“What about me and an FBI agent?”

“You’ll be fine.”

“So what exactly are you saying about Sheila—and me?” she queried.

He laughed. “You’re going to do fine, kid. See ya later.” He hung up, and Madison guiltily remember Roger. She hurried back to the living room, apologizing.

Roger waved a hand in the air. “It’s all right. I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

He hesitated, looking at her. “Your mother.”

“Oh?”

He shrugged. “You know I loved her.”

“I know.”

“But, Madison, she was hell on all of us. If she had lived, the marriage would never have lasted.” He hesitated. “You know we had a huge fight the day she was killed.”

Madison wondered if this was what it felt like to be a priest, with everyone coming to you with a confession to make. “Everyone fought with Lainie, Roger.”

He lifted his hands. “That day, it was a bad one. She changed her schedule, and she thought I could do the same with a snap of my fingers. I told her no, and she completely lost her temper. She told me other men would go out of their way to be with her. She cried, told me I didn’t care…. I told her she was a bitch, and she slapped me…and I walked out. And the next thing I knew, I was holding her after she’d bled to death in our bedroom.”

Madison was quiet for a moment. “Roger, it’s all right. I loved Lainie very much, she was my mother, but I’m an adult, and I know she hurt people. I don’t hold you or my dad responsible for any of the pain in the past.”

“I’m glad,” he told her, rising. “Because I think you and Kyle are going to be something special together.”

“Thanks. I hope so,” Madison said, rising as well.

“It was good to have you as a stepdaughter. It’s better to have you for a daughter-in-law.”

“You’re pretty great, too, Roger.”

He gave her a kiss on the forehead. She walked him to the door, and was startled to see that Trent had just parked his Karmann Ghia at an odd angle on her lawn and was hurrying toward her.

“Hey, Roger.”

“Hello, Trent. Coming with congratulations, as well?”

“What?” Trent said, frowning. “Oh…no, yes, yes, of course! Hey, sis, congratulations.”

“Well, I’ve got to get going,” Roger said. “You take care. Madison, since you and Kyle kind of ran away to get married, we’ll have to plan some kind of family reception later, huh?”

“Sounds good, Roger, thanks,” she said.

Roger walked to his car. Madison turned to Trent. “I know, you want to wish me well, then you’re going to tell me that you had a big fight with my mother on the day she died.”

Trent looked confused for a moment, then frowned. “I didn’t fight with her. I stayed away from her.”

“Oh,” Madison murmured. “And you didn’t come to congratulate me?”

A guilty flush spread over his cheeks. “Sorry. I am happy for you, I’m just not shocked. I mean, I thought you two would wind up together a long time ago, but then Kyle married Fallon, and you…Well, you know. But, honest, I am happy for you.”

“Then…?”

“Madison!” he said, gripping her arms.

“What?” She gripped his arms in return.

“I sold my first novel. Without Dad’s help. I didn’t even use my own name when I sent in the manuscript. Madison, I got a six-figure offer for this book and its sequel! Oh, God, Madison, I can write. I can actually write!” He started hopping up and down with her on her front walk, and she started to laugh.

“Trent, I’m so glad! What’s the name of it?”

“Right now, it’s The Color of Death. It’s a slasher book.”

“A…a slasher book.”

He flushed again. “It’s not like Roger’s books. Mine is…grittier. Hey, I hang around with a pathologist, and now there’s an FBI agent in the family….”

“Yeah, there’s an FBI agent in the family,” Madison murmured.

He smiled. “Will you read it for me and tell me what you think? I’ve got the manuscript in the car.”

“Of course. I’ll be delighted. But you said it’s already sold.”

“I still want your opinion.”

“Sure.”

He grinned and went to the car. He returned with his manuscript, handing it her. “Now, I know it’s not what you’d usually choose to read—I’m not such a rotten brother that I’m not attuned to the fact that you have enough bad things going through your own mind half the time. But I need your opinion. Madison, I’ve wanted to write so badly, but being Dad’s son, actually getting a novel out was hard. I didn’t want to use his influence with an agent or a publisher. You understand, right?”

She nodded. “I understand.”

Trent took hold of her arms, pulling her close, smacking her on the forehead with a kiss. “Like I said, I’m really happy for you, it’s just not a shock. I mean, you’ve been sleeping together since he rode back into town, huh? God, I’m crude. Sorry. Well, we’ll be having a party soon, I guess. Love you, and thanks a lot. I’ll get out of here now!”

He turned and hurried back to his car. Madison followed after him. “Hey! Don’t go getting into an accident now!”

He shook his head. “I’ll calm down. I’m just on cloud nine.” He saluted her. “Honest. I can’t wait to tell Dad.”

“He’s headed back to Key West.”

“I know. I’m going to catch him. I know his favorite lunch spot, the Rusty Rumhouse in Key Largo. I’ll catch him there.”

“Drive carefully!”

“Promise!”

He threw her a kiss. Madison started back into the house, reading the first few lines of the manuscript.

The giant teeth on the arm of the crane turned up dirt, garbage, and something starkly pink against the gritty black of the earth.

Pasty pink.

Crane operator John Laramore sat dead still, staring at the puddle of pink, gaping. He jumped down from the crane, moving closer.

Flesh. Human Flesh.

A woman. Now her naked body lay among the refuse, her murderer having discarded her as if she were no more than a leftover meal. Her eyes, blue, remained opened to heaven. Her mouth was locked open, as well, contorted in a silent scream…

“Oh, jeez!” Madison groaned aloud, walking inside. She didn’t want to, but she would have to read the manuscript. It meant so much to Trent.

If he’d been trying so hard not to compete with their father, why hadn’t he opted for children’s books?

“Madison!” Peggy was calling brightly.

Madison dropped the manuscript on the kitchen counter, staring from Peggy’s face to her hand—she was holding the telephone receiver.

“I know, it’s a member of my family. Or Kyle’s.”

“Right on the first guess, dear. It’s your sister, Kaila.”

“Thanks,” Madison said, taking the phone. “Hello, Kaila.”

“Hey, cool! You went off and married our big brother!”

“He’s not our brother, Kaila.”

Kaila giggled. “Of course he’s not, silly. It’s just such a trip, isn’t it?”

“It’s that, all right.”

“I called to say I’m thrilled. You’re perfect for each other.”

“Thanks,” Madison said. The phone made a double-beeping noise—call waiting.

“Kaila, hang on one sec. Don’t go away. You and I need to talk big time. I meant to force you into some nitty-gritty at the gallery, but…Hang on,” she said, and hit the button. “Hello?”

“Madison!”

“Hey, Rafe!” she said, shaking her head with amazement.

“Just called to say congratulations to you and my little bro. Where is the dude, by the way?”

“Working somewhere. I have no idea where.”

“One-track mind! He marries the babe of the century and goes off to work. I’ll have to speak with that boy.”

She smiled. “It’s all right, Rafe. We’ll make up for it somewhere along the line.”

“I’m sure you will. I just wanted to wish you both the absolute best.”

“Thanks. I’ll tell him you called. I know he’ll be sorry he missed you.”

“I’m sure he will. Bye, kid, take care.”

“You, too.” She clicked back to Kaila. “Kaila?”

“I’m here.”

“It was Rafe.”

“Wishing you luck.”

“Yup.”

“Well, that’s all I was doing, too. God! I’m so happy for you both!”

“Thanks.” Her line began to double-beep again. She groaned. “Kaila—”

“Go get it. I’m hanging up. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait, Kaila—”

“I really will talk to you later.” Kaila hung up on her.

“Kaila!” Madison wailed, then clicked the phone again. “Who else can it be?” she murmured aloud. “Jassy?” she said into the phone.

“How did you know it was me?”

“I’m running out of family.”

“No one else ever calls you?”

“Yeah, now and then. So what’s going on?”

“What’s going on with me? That’s not the question. You pretended you weren’t even happy to see Kyle,” Jassy taunted.

“That’s not exactly true. And is that your way of congratulating me?”

“No. I didn’t call to congratulate you.”

“Oh?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Okay. Talk.”

“Not over the phone.”

“Oh, Jassy, you don’t want me to come to the morgue, do you?”

“No. I’m at Jimmy’s place.”

“Jimmy’s place?” Madison said, surprised.

“Do you know where it is?”

“Vaguely. I’ve never been in his apartment, but I met him downstairs in the parking lot once. He’s in one of the apartments on Brickell.”

“Right.” Jassy gave her the exact address. “Can you come right now?”

“I guess.”

“Kyle isn’t there, is he?”

“No.”

“Good. I want you to come alone.”

“Jassy, why this secrecy?”

“Please, just come over. I’ll explain when you get here.”

“All right. I’m on my way.”

Madison hung up the receiver. “Peggy!” she called. “I’m off to meet my sister. I’ll be back soon.”

“No! Not alone!” Peggy called back to her.

But Madison pretended not to hear her, picked up her shoulder bag and left the house to see Jassy alone. The midmorning traffic was light, and she made it to Jimmy’s apartment complex in less than fifteen minutes. She parked, found the right apartment and rang the bell.

“Yes?” came her sister’s voice.

“It’s me, Jassy!”

“Come on in!”

She turned the doorknob, tentatively walking in.

Startled, gaping, she let the door close behind her as she turned slowly around, staring at the living room of Jimmy Gates’s apartment.

It was a small, handsome room. Leather chairs and a matching sectional sofa filled the center of the room, arranged around an entertainment center with a stereo, laserdisc player and a television. The room was painted off-white.

Attractively framed posters were everywhere. Movie posters and playbills.

All of them featuring Lainie Adair.

18

“If I were to see him, I could identify him,” Bitsy corrected. “I mean, how do I identify a guy if I can’t see him?”

“Perhaps you could describe him. To a police artist. Face shape, eyes, hair,” Kyle said. “Would you be willing to do that?”

“Sure. But I don’t know how much help it will be.”

“Why not?”

“Well, he kept dark glasses on the entire time he was here, so I don’t know his eye color.”

“That’s okay. The artist can draw him with the glasses on.”

“Then there was his hair.”

“What about his hair?”

“I think he was wearing a rug.”

“A toupé?”

“Yeah.”

“So he was bald beneath?”

“Who knows? I had the feeling that he was trying to disguise himself. Like maybe he was cheating on his girl with this other one or something, you know?”

“Bitsy, you’re all that we have. I’d really appreciate it if you’d come to Miami with us and work with one of the artists there.”

Bitsy looked at her boss.

“This man has brutally murdered a number of women,” Kyle reminded her.

Her lip trembled slightly. “I know. I want to help. It’s just that I have a kid, and…”

“We’ll split tips just like you were here, Bitsy,” one of the other girls offered.

“And you’ll get your hourly wage,” the manager assured her.

“That’s good of you guys,” Bitsy said, relieved. “Thanks!”

“Hey, honey,” said a busty brunette waitress. “A killer’s on the loose. You go get him, before he gets one of us!”

“Let’s go,” Bitsy said.

“What the hell…?” Madison exclaimed.

“What?” Jassy said, frowning. “Oh, the posters.”

“Yeah, the posters! Of Lainie!” Madison said, staring at her sister.

Jassy curled into a corner of the leather sofa. “He kind of had an obsession with her, I guess.”

“I guess!” Madison turned back and stared at Jassy, shaking her head. “Jassy, what are you doing here? What’s going on? Where’s Jimmy—Is he here, too?”

Jassy shook her head. “Jimmy is working. And I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out by now, but…Jimmy is the guy.”

“What guy?”

“The guy. The guy I’m sleeping with.”

“Oh, my God!”

“What do you mean, oh, my, God! What’s the matter with Jimmy?”

“Nothing, nothing…I just didn’t…I mean—I had no idea, and now…these posters! Jassy, these posters are…scary!”

Jassy shook her head impatiently. “He had a crush on Lainie when he was a kid. That’s why it was so important for him when he worked her murder. And all those posters are collectibles now—worth a bundle.”

Madison walked around to sit at her sister’s side, still staring. “Life just gets weirder and weirder,” she murmured.

“Hell, yes. You just married Kyle.”

Madison exhaled, shaking her head again. “You and Jimmy Gates!” She stared at Jassy. “And I don’t get it. Why aren’t you at work? Why’d you have me come here?”

“You don’t like the morgue.”

“Jassy, this may surprise you, but most people don’t like the morgue.”

“Harry Nore didn’t kill Holly Tyler.”

“That’s not a surprise to me. I never thought he did. I don’t think he killed my mother, either.”

“Well, he definitely didn’t kill Holly.”

“How do you know?”

“Holly Tyler had intercourse before she was killed. The DNA samples don’t match up.”

“So…they’ve got samples to match, if they can only find a few suspects.”

“Yes.”

“I still don’t get it. Why am I here?”

Jassy shrugged. “Because I think someone we’re related to or at least close to killed Lainie—and these women, who are all redheads who resemble her.”

“Oh, Jassy, I can’t believe that! I can’t. I won’t.”

“We need to start clearing people. Kyle needs to give us a sample.”

“Kyle!”

“He was there, Madison.”

“What about Jimmy-boy here, with his poster fetish?”

“Fine. I can see that Jimmy clears himself. Then we have to go to Dad—”

“To Dad?”

“And Roger Montgomery.”

“Jassy! Jassy, I’m not great at understanding the law, but I don’t think we can just walk up them and ask for sperm samples!”

“We’re not talking about the law, we’re talking about clearing people. Our family.”

“You can’t just ask—”

“Madison! People are dying here.”

Madison fell silent, looking around the room once again. She lifted her hands. “Jassy—this doesn’t bother you?”

Jassy shrugged. “Well, I’ve suggested he might want to put a few of the posters away, but…they are art, and they are collectible.”

Madison was silent.

“She was your mother, and I’m really sorry, Madison, but Jimmy and I have actually only been seeing one another for about a month now. Everything about it feels right, but I can’t dictate his life.”

“Oh! You don’t want to dictate his life, but I should ask Kyle for a sperm sample.”

Jassy shrugged. “There are other ways to get it. You two can just fool around, and then—”

“Jassy, please.”

“Well, if you don’t want to say anything to him, it’s one way to go.”

“Great. And what about Dad and Roger and Trent and Rafe? You can just fool around with Jimmy, I assume, so—”

“Madison, this is serious. You just don’t want to believe the truth.”

Madison felt a chill steal over her, and she wondered if her sister hadn’t hit the nail right on the head. She didn’t want to believe the truth. Had that blinded her? In her dreams?

“It can’t be Kyle. And I can’t believe my father would have done something like that to my mother.”

“Frankly, Lainie’s murder isn’t so hard to understand,” Jassy said.

“Jassy!”

“Well, it looked like a crime of passion, and Lainie certainly made people feel passionately. The connection between then and now is what I can’t quite understand, though the way Kyle explained it once, these serial killers need a fix. Killing Lainie might have been enough for a long time, and then the look of a certain redhead might have triggered the same emotions in the killer again.”

“Jassy…” Madison began, then glanced at her watch. “Jassy, damn it, you’re making me late. I have to get Carrie Anne.”

Jassy stood, gazing at her own watch. “Just call Kaila, and she can get Carrie Anne when she picks up Justin. They’re in the same school.”

“It’s too late. Kaila will have left already.”

“It’s not too late,” Jassy said, going to the phone on a side table next to the sofa. “You’re too much of a pessimist. Always saying ‘can’t’ when you haven’t even checked. See, Kaila answered. Kaila, it’s Jassy, and I’ve got Madison with me. Can you get Carrie Anne when you get Justin, and Madison will just come to your house? Yeah, good.” Jassy hung up, smiling complacently. “See, no problem.”

“But I want to get my daughter, Jassy. I have to tell her I’m married.”

“First you have to agree to help me.”

“Jassy…”

“There’s hypnotism, too.”

“What?”

“You were never hypnotized.”

“So?”

“You ‘saw’ Lainie’s murder, right? Except you couldn’t see a face. Maybe a hypnotist could lead you to see the face.”

“Jassy, I didn’t really see anything, except in my mind.”

“You knew, Madison. You knew. Maybe a hypnotist could help you see.”

“Jassy…”

“Why the hell not try before someone else is murdered?” Jassy demanded angrily.

Madison threw up her hands. “You want me to be hypnotized? Fine. Arrange it.”

Jassy jumped up. “I happen to know the right person,” she said, dialing the phone again. “I want you to talk to her for a few minutes, and if you like her, we’ll go in tomorrow, all right?”

Madison sighed and took the phone from her sister.

Bill Decker, the police artist, was a good man, a talented man. But Bitsy was driving him crazy.

Police artists were accustomed to changing what they had drawn. It was the name of the game. Change, until the face came up right.

Now Bill was working over his sketchpad, with Kyle, Jake Ramone and Bitsy looking over his shoulder. Bill had been at it a long time.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, the nose was straight? Or bent? We’ve done both a few times now,” the man said.

“I don’t know, I don’t know!” Bitsy cried. “It was there a minute ago….”

“Maybe I should just start over.”

“You know what?” Kyle said, smiling at Bitsy. “Maybe I should have a go at this one. My father’s an artist, and I picked up a little something from him. Okay, Bill?”

Bill lifted his hands gratefully.

“Hang around, give me a hand, huh?” Kyle suggested.

He started to draw, smiling at Bitsy. “From the beginning. The face shape, how am I doing? Oval here, broader forehead? And the mouth…?”

“Full, really sexy lips,” Bitsy said. “I remember thinking that he was such a good-looking guy to be trying to wear some kind of a stupid disguise…. Yeah, that’s it, the mouth is perfect! And the nose…it’s straight.”

Bitsy kept talking. Kyle kept drawing, shading, adjusting.

Somewhere in the process, he began to feel a sinking sensation. A heavy cold, like a glacier settled over him. The picture he was drawing was more than a face. It was an evolving personality. It made no sense.

“No,” he murmured. “God, no.”

“Yes, yes, you’ve got it right. Absolutely right.”

Kyle stared up at Jake Ramone. “Where the hell is Jimmy Gates? I need to see him right now. Never mind.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Madison’s house. Peggy answered.

“Peggy, let me have Madison.”

“She’s at her sister’s house, Mr. Montgomery.”

“Which sister’s house?”

“Oh, now, I’m sure as I don’t know. She just said she was going to her sister’s.”

“If she comes home, keep her there!”

He stood up, nearly knocking over the easel. “Jake, get on the phone and find Jimmy. I’m going to try to find my wife. You need to get an APB out now, this instant. I think he’s going to start fraying soon, go out of control. Jesus.”

“Who is?” Jake inquired, startled by Kyle’s vehemence.

Kyle hesitated just briefly, feeling as if knives were piercing his heart.

Then he gave Jake the name.

Kaila left the house with Anthony in her arms and Shelley scampering along at her side. She had just put the two little ones into their car seats in her minivan when a car pulled in behind her, blocking her in.

Her heart pounding slightly, she saw Darryl get out of his Lincoln and walk up to her. “Hey, Kaila, have you seen the newlyweds yet?”

Kaila shook her head awkwardly. “Madison is coming here in a while. I was just on my way to get Justin and Carrie Anne.”

“Then I’m glad I caught you. I’ll get Carrie Anne.”

“But Madison will be coming here to pick her up.”

“I’ll bring her over after we get an ice cream or something. Don’t worry.”

“But—”

“Kaila, what’s the matter with you? She’s my daughter. I’ll pick her up, and I’ll bring her here.” Aggravated, Darryl turned and got back into his car. Kaila got into her own car to pick up Justin. She wondered why she felt such a strange sense of unease.

She shivered.

“What’s the matter, Mommy?” Shelley asked.

“Nothing, baby, nothing.”

She started to drive.

At Justin’s school, she left the two little ones in their car seats and stood about ten feet away, waiting to wave to Justin’s teacher once she saw him coming out of the classroom.

Her son gave her a broad smile as he emerged. She smiled back. God, she loved her kids. She was so lucky, and she’d come so close to throwing it all away.

“Hey, kid!” she said, greeting him and tousling his hair. “How was school?”

“Good!” he said, and crawled into the back.

Kaila drove back to her house and got out of the car. “Justin, keep an eye on the other two one second while I open the door,” she told her son, walking to the house. “Damn!” she muttered then. She should have picked up some milk. And she had no snacks. If Madison was coming for Carrie Anne and ended up having to wait, maybe Kyle would come over, too, and she had nothing to offer anyone. She should just run back to the store.