Where There's Smoke

by Sandra Brown

  “You’re breaking my heart.”

  She took a deep breath to curb her temper. “I wanted to conduct sex education seminars at the high school. They’re vitally important, something that would have benefited the young people of the community.”

  “Yeah, I read all about it in the newspaper.”

  “What they didn’t print is how Jody bribed the school board to disallow the program.”

  “You really know how to get folks fired up, don’t you?”

  “Compared to your mother, I’m an amateur. Once she got finished with me, what little credibility I had left, your lover Darcy ravaged.”

  “You know, I’ve heard about mental cases like yours. They’re called persecution complexes.”

  She let that pass. “I’ve officially closed the doors of the clinic. I dismissed Nancy today. My career has been temporarily suspended. So, you got what you wanted. Your family has effectively demolished any chance I had of practicing medicine in Eden Pass. All things considered, I believe you owe me a concession.”

  “I owe you zilch.”

  “I’ve closed the clinic, but that doesn’t mean I’m preparing to leave town.” She was down to one final ace. She had to play it. “Your mother vowed she would live to see me leave Eden Pass in disgrace. I doubt she will. I can remain here without working until my savings run out, which, if I live frugally, could be several years.”

  “That’s bullshit. You love medicine too much. You wouldn’t give it up.”

  “I wouldn’t want to, but I would.”

  “Just to spite us?”

  “That’s right. However, I’m willing to bargain. I’ll spare your family any more discomfort and embarrassment, provided you fly me to Central America. As soon as we return, I’ll leave. Believe me, I won’t be that sorry to go. I’m tired of constant strife and petty gossip. I’m tired of examining myself every time I go out, hoping I’ll pass muster.

  “Let me tell you something,” she said, leaning across the desk, “as far as I’m concerned, the people of Eden Pass have failed to pass muster. They’re judgmental and narrow-minded hypocrites, cowards bending to the will of an embittered old woman.

  “Take me to Montesangre, Key, and I’ll leave this town to you, not because I’m not good enough for it, but because it’s not good enough for me.”

  He said nothing for several moments, then spread his arms out from his sides. “Is that everything?”

  She gave a terse nod.

  “Good,” he said, rolling off his spine and coming to his feet. “I gotta run. I’m hungry as a bear, and Janellen is expecting me for supper.”

  Lara caught his sleeve as he rounded the desk. “Don’t patronize me, you son of a bitch. You’ve trashed me and my practice, but I won’t let you ignore me.”

  He flung off her hand. “Look, I don’t give a damn about local politics and gossip. What my mother does with the school board or anybody else is her business. Unless it involves me directly, I stay out of the boiling pot.

  “I guess you’re a pretty good doctor, and your clinic has come in handy on occasion, but I couldn’t care less if you do brain surgery there, or twiddle your thumbs, or shut it down entirely. Darcy Winston is not my lover. And if you’ve got a hankering to sneak into a country that’s on our government’s shit list, fine. But count me out.”

  “How conveniently you turn ethical,” she said heatedly, indicating his shirt pocket. “You run illegal charters on a daily basis!”

  “Turning you down has nothing to do with ethics. I’m not looking to get killed. Beyond that, I don’t trust your motives any farther than I can throw you. So you wasted—”

  “What if Ashley is still alive?”

  He fell silent and regarded her with piercing intensity.

  “Uh, ’xcuse me, Key?” Balky was standing in the doorway, his rheumy eyes darting between them with uncertainty. “I’m leaving for the night. Will you lock up?”

  “Sure thing, Balky. Good night.”

  “Night. Night, Doc.”

  “Good night.”

  They listened to his departure. The interruption defused the tension, but only marginally. Key turned his back on her and ran his fingers through his hair. “Is that a possibility?”

  “Probably not. The point is that I don’t know. I guess in the back of my mind I’ve clung to the faint hope that she somehow survived. Her body was never shipped back like her father’s.” Wearily, she rubbed the back of her neck. “Of course, as a physician and considering the severity of her wound, I know that’s highly improbable. She died and was buried. Somewhere alien and unknown to me. I can’t live with that. If nothing else, I want to bring back her remains and bury them in American soil.”

  He turned to face her, but said nothing.

  “I need you to do this,” she pressed. “One way or another I want to take my daughter out of that place and bring her home. But I can’t get into the country. Even ally nations have very few airlines that serve Montesangre because the government is in such constant upheaval. When and if I did get through, as an American citizen I’d be denied entrance into the country and shipped out on the next flight.”

  “I’d say that’s a fairly accurate guess.”

  “More than a guess. I’ve been in contact with people in similar circumstances. Many Americans have loved ones in Montesangre whose fates are unknown. Their fact-finding missions have been futile. If they got as far as Ciudad Central, they were dealt with harshly. A few were imprisoned for hours, even days, before being returned to the airport to await the next outbound plane. Some claimed they barely escaped with their lives, and I believe them.”

  “That’s why I don’t want to fly over the place, much less land, get out, and walk around,” Key said.

  “If anyone can get an airplane in and out of there, it’s you. Clark constantly bragged about your flying skills. He told me how you’ve flown into impossible situations to deliver supplies or make rescue attempts, and that you thrive on taking risks—the more dangerous the circumstances, the better.” She paused for breath. “Supposing you agreed to do it, could you get an airplane?”

  “That’s a broad supposition.”

  “Go with it for the sake of discussion. Could you get a plane?”

  He thought it over for a minute. “I know a guy who once asked me to crash a plane for him so he could collect the insurance. He was that badly in debt. He offered to give me thirty percent of his take. If I lived.”

  “Can you do that? Deliberately crash a plane and live?”

  “If you do it right,” he said with a fleeting grin. “His offer was tempting. Hell of a chunk of cash. But it wasn’t worth the risk.”

  “Is he still in financial straits?”

  “Last I heard.”

  “Does he still have the airplane?”

  “Last I heard.”

  “So he might be agreeable to your flying it into a potentially dangerous situation. If it never came back, he could collect his insurance money and keep one hundred percent of it. If we did make it back, he’d have the money we paid him to use the plane. How much would he charge to lease it?”

  “It’s a sweet plane. Cessna 310. Not that old. Taking into consideration the distance… say twenty thousand.”

  “Twenty thousand,” she repeated softly. “That much?”

  “Ballpark. In addition to my fee.”

  “Your fee?”

  “If my ass is going to be target practice for a guerrilla with an automatic rifle, you’re damn right there’s a fee.”

  By the expression on his face, she knew she wouldn’t be able to afford him. “How much, Key?”

  “One hundred grand.” At her shocked expression, he added, “Payable the day before we leave.”

  “That would be almost every cent I’ve got.”

  He shrugged. “Tough luck. Guess we won’t have to get shots after all. I’m glad. Hate needles.”

  Once again he tried to go past her. This time she blocked his path and placed her
hands on his arms. “I really hate that. I think you know how much I hate it or you wouldn’t do it.”

  “Do what?”

  “Act cavalier. Talk down to me. Damn you! I won’t let you joke about this. You know how important it is to me.”

  Using her restraining hands to his advantage, he moved forward until he’d backed her into an army-surplus file cabinet. “Just how important is it to you?”

  “Extremely. Otherwise do you think I would have asked a Tackett—any Tackett—for a favor?”

  The pressure of his body against hers was exciting. So were his smoldering eyes. But she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that. She kept her chin defiantly high, her gaze steady.

  “You could even go so far as to say that I’m your last resort, couldn’t you, Lara?”

  “You’re the reason I came to Eden Pass.” The statement took him aback, as she had guessed it would. “Clark handed me a golden opportunity to reestablish a medical practice, but I would have turned it down if not for you. I wanted to meet his daredevil brother, the one who could ‘fly anytime, anywhere,’ to quote you.

  “I knew you were away most of the time, but I also knew you’d return sooner or later. I resolved to get you to take me to Montesangre, one way or another. In a very real sense, yes, you’re my last resort.”

  He had listened with rapt attention, obviously stunned by her admission. He recovered quickly. A slow grin spread across his mouth. “So I can name my price, right?”

  “You already have. One hundred thousand dollars.”

  He reached out and idly stroked her cheek. “Which I’d be willing to waive in exchange for fucking you.”

  Her hand flew up to bat his away from her face, but instead she gripped his wrist, closing her fingers tightly around it as far as they would reach. “I should have known you would turn this into something ugly. I tried to appeal to your decency, but you have none. You feel no sense of responsibility to anyone except yourself.”

  “Now you’re catching on, Doc,” he whispered. “You can’t imagine how liberating it is to be completely free from obligation.”

  “Free from obligation? Your brother is partially responsible for Ashley’s death. Out of all us sinners, my daughter was the only blameless victim of the whole mess. I hold Clark accountable. Just as I hold myself responsible.”

  She dropped her hand from his wrist. “Where Ashley’s concerned I have no pride. I won’t ever see her turn a cartwheel, or hear her run scales on a piano, or kiss her skinned knees, or listen to her bedtime prayers. I want only what I can have, and that’s to see her buried in American soil. If sleeping with you is the only way I can accomplish that, then it’s a small price to pay.”

  The passionate glow in his eyes cooled to a cynical frostiness. He backed away, but in slow degrees, so that it seemed to take forever before they were no longer touching.

  “As you said, Doc, I have no sense of decency. I’d help an old lady across the street if a Mack truck were bearing down on her, but that’s about as noble as I get. I’m not my brother in any way, shape, or form. I left all the good deeds to him. Curious as I am to know what made your snatch so irresistible to him, I’ll pass.”

  As he moved through the door, he called over his shoulder, “Lock up on your way out, will ya?”

  “You’re late.”

  “I know.”

  “We didn’t hold supper.”

  “I’m not hungry anyway.”

  Key and Jody exchanged words like gunfire. He went straight to the sideboard and poured himself a stiff drink.

  “We’re having black-eyed peas and ham, Key,” Janellen said. “You love black-eyed peas. Please sit down and let me fill you a plate.”

  “I’ll sit down, but I don’t feel like eating.”

  He’d been in a rotten mood since Lara Mallory had asked him to help her retrieve the remains of a little girl, who was probably his own flesh and blood, from Montesangre. Could Clark’s guilty conscience have driven him to take his own life? Key had previously denied the rumors of suicide. They no longer seemed so farfetched.

  He brought the liquor decanter to the table with him. Defying Jody’s critical glare, he poured himself another drink. “How was your day, Jody? Feeling better?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with me. Never was. I got short-winded and everybody made a big deal of it.”

  He declined to argue with her at the risk of raising her blood pressure. Since her stroke, he’d walked on eggshells around her, doing whatever was necessary to placate rather than provoke her.

  He still thought having a live-in nurse was a good idea, but he hadn’t broached the subject again. He’d dodged every verbal missile she’d fired at him, knowing that her rotten disposition stemmed largely from fear. Hell, if he’d had a seizure like the one she’d suffered, he’d be on edge, too.

  “How about you, Janellen? Anything exciting happen to you today?”

  “No. Business as usual. What did you do today?”

  He told them about the rancher from Arkansas. “Anderson paid me well. It was easy work. Boring as hell, though.”

  “And to you that’s the most important thing, isn’t it?” Jody said. “God forbid you ever get bored.”

  Raising his glass of whiskey, Key saluted her accuracy.

  “Just like your father.” Jody sniffed contemptuously. “You’re always looking for adventure.”

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  “We’ve got tapioca pudding for dessert, Key. Would you like some?”

  “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with that.” Jody ignored Janellen’s desperate attempt to avoid a quarrel. “You’re a big baby, living in a dream world. Isn’t it time you grew up and committed yourself to something worthwhile?”

  “He’s flying for one of the timber companies, Mama. They’re using him to spray the trees for pine beetles. Saving forests is worthwhile.”

  Jody didn’t hear her daughter. She was focused on Key. “Life isn’t made up of adventures. It’s working at something day in and day out, rain or shine, good times or bad, whether you feel like it or not.”

  “That doesn’t sound like ‘life’ to me,” he said. “That’s my definition of drudgery.”

  “Life isn’t always fun.”

  “Exactly. That’s why you have to look for it. Or make it.”

  “Like your father did?”

  “Yes. Because he couldn’t find it at home.” By now his temper was at the breaking point. “He searched for it in other places, with other women, in other beds.”

  Jody came out of her chair like a shot. “I won’t have you talking that filth at my dinner table.”

  Key stood, too, squaring off across from her. “And I won’t have you bad-mouthing my father.”

  “Father?” she said scornfully. “He was no father. He left you for months at a time.”

  It hurt, that reminder of the countless times he’d watched his father’s car disappear around the bend in the road, knowing in his breaking young heart that it would be endless days before he would see him again.

  He wanted to hurt her back. “He left to escape you, not us kids.”

  “Key!” Janellen cut in.

  Again, she went unheeded. Now that the well of his resentment had been tapped, he couldn’t control the gush of angry words. “You never offered me a kind word or a soft touch. Did you treat Daddy any differently? Did you ever talk to him without making it a goddamn lecture on his faults? Did you ever stop thinking about crude oil long enough to laugh with him, to tease and act silly just for the hell of it? When he was depressed, did you draw him to your breast and comfort him? Not that your bosom would have been comforting, or even yielding. It’s as hard as a drill bit.”

  “Key!” Janellen cried. “Mama, sit down. You look—”

  “Your father didn’t need my love. He got it from whores all over the world. And he flaunted them in my face. He was with one the day you were born.” She drew herself up and took several labored breaths.
“The only good thing that came out of my marriage to Clark Tackett Junior was your brother.”

  “Saint Clark,” Key said with a sneer. “Maybe he wasn’t as saintly as you think. Tonight I was talking about him with his former mistress. Seems Dr. Mallory blames Clark for packing her and her family off to Central America and getting them shot. She asked me to take her down there and help bring back her daughter’s remains. Ain’t that a bitch?”

  “You aren’t considering it, are you?” Janellen looked at him aghast.

  “Why shouldn’t I? Her money’s green.”

  “There’s still a revolution going on down there. People are being slaughtered every day.”

  Although he’d responded to Janellen, his eyes never left Jody. “Dr. Mallory thinks we Tacketts owe her this. In exchange for my services, she’s agreed to leave Eden Pass and never come back.”

  “You are not to do it, do you understand me?” Jody’s voice quivered with wrath.

  “Even if it means ridding us of Lara Mallory?”

  “You can’t trust her to keep her word. Under no circumstances are you to even consider going to Central America with her.”

  He placed his hand over his heart. “Why, Mother, your concern for my safety is touching.”

  “I don’t give a goddamn about your safety. My only concern is to protect the remaining shreds of Clark’s reputation. If you go anywhere with that whore, you deserve no better than to get your damn-fool head blown off.”

  Janellen covered a gasp with her hand and sank back into her chair.

  “Why don’t you go ahead and say it, Jody?” Key shouted. “If you can’t have Clark, you’d just as soon see me dead, too.”

  Jody swept up her pack of cigarettes and lighter, turned, and marched from the dining room.

  For the longest time his rigid arms braced him against the back of his chair. His knuckles turned white against the polished oak, as though at any second he might pick up the chair and heave it through the dining room window.

  Until she spoke, he’d forgotten that Janellen was there. “What you said was so… so horrible, Mama was too angry to refute you.”