The Outcast tp-3

by Beverly Barton

  "Sounds like good old Sam is the answer to our prayers." Huffing, Reece jerked his hand away from Elizabeth.

  "Sam's coming to Newell. Today."

  "What the hell for?"

  "He's already set things in motion to investigate B. K. Stanton's death and discover other suspects. He'll have his first real report for us this afternoon."

  Tightening his jaw and clenching his teeth, Reece breathed deeply. "It may have slipped your notice, but we don't have a telephone out here."

  "Sam isn't going to phone me. He's coming out here to the cottage."

  Reece jumped up, knocking his chair backward in the process. "You told Dundee where we were? You gave him directions to this place?"

  "Yes, I did. And I don't see why you're so upset."

  Reece glared down at her. "You don't see why I'm..." Reece's amber eyes glowed with yellow fire. "You betrayed me, Lizzie. Surely you aren't stupid enough to think that Dundee wants to help me. All he wants is to get you away from me, to keep you safe. He's probably already called the sheriff."

  Elizabeth scooted back her chair and stood. "I would never betray you, Reece. Never. Sam won't call the sheriff, and he will help you."

  "Because he loves you!"

  "Yes, because he loves me, and he knows my instincts are seldom wrong."

  "I hope you're right about Dundee, because if you're wrong..." Reece walked out of the kitchen, through the back door and into the small clearing behind the house.

  If he had any sense at all, he'd take Elizabeth's Jeep and get the hell out of Newell. He'd leave her behind, her and her big brother Dundee. Did he dare stay and trust a man he didn't even know, a man whose primary interest in him was the woman they had in common? And could he really trust Elizabeth? Just because every time he looked at her, he wanted to take her didn't mean he could trust her.

  What the hell was he going to do? Would he be a fool to stay and put his life and his freedom in Elizabeth Mallory's hands? Or would he be a bigger fool to run away from his one chance to prove himself innocent and from the one woman who'd ever really cared about him?

  Chapter 8

  Elizabeth sat alone inside the Burtons' summer house. Reece had been outside for the past couple of hours. First he'd parked Sam's '65 T-Bird at the back of the house, beside the Jeep, then he'd taken off into the woods, saying only that he was going to take a walk down by the lake.

  For the twentieth time she checked her watch, wondering when Sam would arrive and how long Reece was going to stay outside sulking. She wasn't accustomed to being alone; MacDatho was nearly always at her side. She wished she could have brought him with her, but where a lone woman might go practically unnoticed, no one would forget a huge black wolf-dog.

  The back door creaked. Elizabeth tensed. Turning her head just a fraction, she saw Reece enter the kitchen.

  "It's getting colder out there," he said. "I thought I'd make some fresh coffee, but it looks like you've already done that." He glanced at the freshly filled coffeepot.

  "It's going to snow before dark." Elizabeth turned back around, focusing her attention on the fire.

  "Does that mean Dundee will be snowed in here with us?" Reece picked up a clean coffee mug from the dish drain, grabbed a dish towel off the wall rack and lifted the coffeepot.

  "There will be a light snow, just an inch or two. Sam should be here soon."

  "Maybe he couldn't get a flight out of Atlanta." Reece poured the mug full of coffee, returned the pot to the coffeemaker and walked into the living room, sitting in a chair to the left of the wicker sofa where Elizabeth sat.

  "Sam flies his own plane. A small twin-engine Cessna. He probably rented a car at the airport and is on his way here now."

  "Quite a man, our Mr. Dundee." Reece leaned over, resting his hands between his spread knees, the warm mug secure in his grasp. "Former DEA agent, owns his own business, flies his own plane. I can hardly wait to meet this guy"

  "He's anxious to meet you, too." Tilting her chin up, Elizabeth glared at Reece. "You see, you're the first man I've ever run away with, and Sam doesn't trust you any more than you trust him."

  "Sounds like he's very protective when it comes to screening the men in your life." Reece sipped his coffee. "Does he warn off all men you show an interest in or just the ones who are escaped convicts?"

  "There haven't been any men in my life for Sam to screen." Elizabeth bowed her head, looking down at her lap where she'd laid her clasped hands. "You're the first."

  Reece strangled on his coffee. The mug in his unsteady hand hit the wooden floor. "Damn!"

  Elizabeth jumped up, rushed to the kitchen for a towel and returned to mop up the spilled coffee. Reece knelt beside her, picking up the broken pieces of the ceramic mug. He threw the shards into the fireplace. Elizabeth wiped the floor clean.

  She rested on her knees in front of him. He laid his hand on her shoulder. She froze at his touch.

  "Clarify things for me, will you, Lizzie?" Taking her hands in his, Reece lifted her to her feet, took the soaked towel from her and threw it across the room toward the kitchen area. "My mind has gone into overdrive here and I'm thinking some pretty crazy thoughts. I don't think you said what I thought you said. Or at least, I don't think I understood you right."

  "What didn't you understand? That Sam has always considered himself my protector? That Sam doesn't trust you? That there have never been any men in my life for Sam to screen?" Elizabeth's hands trembled.

  Reece pulled her to him, holding her hands between their bodies. "How old are you, Elizabeth?"

  "Twenty-six."

  Reece sighed. "Well, you've had boyfriends, dated, had a few experiences over the years. Right?"

  "I dated some in college."

  Reece grinned. "Good. Then I did misunderstand when you said I was the first.''

  Elizabeth looked into his eyes, those lone-wolf amber eyes. They were so warm, so intensely inviting. "I dated several silly boys who were scared off once they found out I could read their minds. Sam worried about me when I went away to school, but he didn't worry about me getting in trouble with boys. He knew how difficult it would be for me to control all the energy I'd receive from other people. He doubted any boy could sweet-talk me into something I didn't want to do, since I would be able to perceive his motive."

  "Okay, so you dated silly boys in college who couldn't deal with your hocus-pocus routine. What about after college? There had to have been men who didn't give a damn that you were psychic.''

  "Does it bother you, Reece? That I'm psychic? That usually I can predict the future, that sometimes I'm aware of events occurring miles away, that often I can read people's minds?"

  Dropping her hands, Reece grabbed her face and pulled her to him. "I'm on the run with a virgin, aren't I, Elizabeth? There really hasn't been another man in your life, has there?"

  "You're the first, Reece."

  Looking at her face, flushed and glowing with emotion, gazing into those pure, honest blue eyes was almost more than Reece could bear. "Of all the men on earth, baby, why me?"

  "You came to me, Reece, in my mind. I felt your pain and anger and hatred. I sensed your loneliness. I could see you locked in a tiny cage. You invaded my life." Tears filled her eyes. "You became the stranger in my heart."

  "Elizabeth?"

  "It was meant for me to save you. I'm the only one who can. Aunt Margaret knows it. I know it." Tears spilled from her eyes, streaking her cheeks. "You know it, too, Reece. In your heart."

  "Can you read my mind? Can you see into my future?"

  "I can't see your future, Reece. I've tried. Something is blocking my vision. Aunt Margaret says it's because our futures are entwined and I have never allowed myself to look into my own future. I've been too afraid." She slipped her arms around his waist. "And I can't read your mind. I told you that you shield your thoughts and your emotions from me most of the time. Every once in a while I pick up on a few things."

  "Do you know what I'm thinking right now,
Lizzie? What I'm feeling?" His lips took hers in a wild yet tender kiss, his mouth covering hers, tasting, licking, savoring the sweetness of her innocence.

  He cradled her head in one hand and ran his other hand down her back, pushing her forward, holding her against his arousal. Elizabeth clung to him, her arms lifting, her hands caressing the corded muscles in his back. When he slipped his tongue inside her mouth, she moaned, bunching the material of his shirt into her fist.

  Reece ended the kiss quickly, his body still throbbing with need. He heard a car. Gulping for air as she pulled away from him, Elizabeth glanced toward the windows. The afternoon sun hung low in the cloudy sky. A gray Buick Regal stopped in the driveway in front of the cottage. Sam Dundee, all six feet four inches of him, emerged.

  "It's Sam." Elizabeth wiped the loose strands of her hair away from her face, took a deep breath and rushed to the front door.

  Reece followed her, halting directly behind her when she opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. So that is Sam Dundee, Reece thought. About an inch taller than me, fifteen pounds heavier and a good five or six years older. And by the looks of his suit, overcoat, shoes and gold watch, a hell of a lot richer.

  When Elizabeth started to go to Sam, Reece grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her in place on the porch in front of him. She stopped immediately, relaxing in his grasp.

  Reece stared at Sam when the other man reached the bottom of the porch steps. Their gazes locked. Steel blue-gray eyes met cold gold-amber. Reece recognized the look in Dundee's eyes, the expression on his face. One strong warrior always recognized another.

  "Come on inside, Sam," Elizabeth said. "It's freezing out here.'' She pulled away from Reece's hold; he let her go.

  Sam walked up the steps, reached out and took Elizabeth into his arms. The blood ran cold in Reece's veins. He didn't like seeing Elizabeth in another man's arms, especially a man like Dundee. It took every ounce of his willpower not to jerk her away.

  "Thanks for coming." Elizabeth hugged Sam, thankful, as she had always been, that he was a part of her life.

  "You knew I would." With his arm around Elizabeth, Sam turned to Reece. "You must be Landry."

  "Yeah. And you must be the guy that Lizzie thinks can walk on water."

  Sam grinned, squeezed Elizabeth's shoulder and held out a hand to Reece. Reece accepted the greeting, a quick, hard handshake, each man putting the other on notice. Elizabeth Mallory is important to me.

  "Lizzie, huh?" Sam laughed. "Never thought of you as Lizzie."

  Elizabeth laughed. "Come on, you two, let's go warm ourselves in front of the fire."

  Reece waited for Elizabeth and Sam to enter the cottage, then followed them. After laying Sam's overcoat on the back of the wicker sofa, Elizabeth motioned for him to sit.

  "Would you like a cup of coffee?" she asked him.

  Sam sat down, then glanced over at Reece. "Let's talk business, Landry."

  "Now, Sam." Elizabeth sat beside her big-brother protector.

  "I don't like Elizabeth being here. Every minute she's with you, she's in danger," Sam said. "I'll do everything I can to help you prove your innocence, but your best bet is to surrender to the sheriff and let me find some evidence that will warrant your lawyer getting you an appeal."

  Reece crossed the room to stand in front of the fireplace. "Have you already called the sheriff? Told him where he can find me?"

  "I don't work that way, Landry. For whatever reason, Elizabeth has taken on your problems. She's determined to help you, and I'm determined to help her and protect her."

  "The last thing we need is for you two to argue," Elizabeth said.

  "I think Landry needs to know where I stand." Sam unbuttoned his charcoal gray pin-striped coat, exposing the pristine whiteness of his shirt, his tie a crimson stain against the purity. "If Elizabeth believes you're innocent, then I'm willing to do whatever it takes to find the real murderer. I think you should turn yourself in, but I haven't betrayed you and I won't. I don't like Elizabeth's involvement with you because I think you can get her in big trouble. I don't want her to stay with you. I want her to leave here with me this afternoon."

  "I'm not leaving." Elizabeth placed her hand on Sam's where he'd rested it on the back of the sofa. "Tell us what you've found out, and then we'll all work together to figure out where we go from here." She glanced up at Reece. "Sit down."

  Reece took the chair to the left of the sofa, the one closest to Elizabeth. Leaning back, he folded his arms across his chest. "Let's hear it. What has the great man found out?"

  Elizabeth scowled at Reece. "Go ahead, Sam. Don't pay any attention to Reece. I haven't had a chance to work on his manners yet."

  "How much have you told Elizabeth?" Sam asked Reece.

  "About what?" Reece widened his eyes, a mocking grin on his face.

  “About your past. About your life."

  "She knows I'm a worthless bastard who's been convicted of murdering his father," Reece said.

  "I know the whole story." Elizabeth felt torn between her need to comfort Reece and her need to make Sam understand her feelings.

  Sam glanced at Elizabeth, then at Reece. "All right. Then it's safe to say it won't come as a surprise to hear that Reece Landry has a few enemies in Newell, enemies with money and power who are very pleased that he was convicted of B. K. Stanton's murder."

  "That's all you've found out?" Reece chuckled.

  "You've also got a few friends, including your sister. She's the one person who might be able to help us." Standing, Sam shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Just from my preliminary inquiries I think there's a good possibility that you were framed, and I think your brother and his mother could be our prime suspects. After all, they, and your sister, Christina, stood to lose a lot of money if you weren't convicted of murder."

  "What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.

  "My old man made a new will shortly before he was killed," Reece said. "But he didn't bother telling anyone, including me. The only person who knew, other than B.K. himself, was the family lawyer, Willard Moran." Reece tossed his head back, blew out his breath and looked up at the ceiling. "I think that's the reason B.K. asked me to come by his house that night. The night he was shot."

  "He named you in his will?" Elizabeth wanted to put her arms around Reece, to comfort him, to share the pain he felt.

  "B. K. Stanton left Reece one-third of everything he possessed." Sam paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. "After thirty-two years he was finally acknowledging Reece as his son."

  Reece sat up straight, looked across the room and out the windows, his gaze not really focused. "Damn generous of him, wasn't it?" Reece laughed. "The really funny thing is that I think he did it because he knew how furious it would make Kenny and Alice."

  "Look, bottom line here is that Stanton's whole family had reason to kill him," Sam said. "He and Kenny never got along. B.K. completely controlled his son's life. He even handpicked Tracy Burton for Kenny's wife.

  "The man had been betraying Alice with other women most of their married life. It was no secret that she despised her husband." Sam glanced over at Elizabeth, never slowing as he paced back and forth. "And the whole town knows that Christina Stanton never forgave her father for paying off her fiance to dump her about ten years ago because B.K. didn't think the man was good enough for his daughter." Sam stopped pacing, then looked down at Reece. "And your stepfather had motive to kill Stanton. From what I've learned, Harry Gunn had threatened to kill his wife's former lover on more than one occasion."

  "Good old Harry." Reece shook his head. He didn't know who he'd hated the most over the years-B. K. Stanton or Harry Gunn.

  "So, it looks like we've got ourselves a full cast of suspects," Sam said. "I've set up an appointment with Gary Elkins in the morning. He's eager for us to work together. Your lawyer believes you're innocent."

  "Does he?" Reece asked, glancing up at Sam. "Since Christina's money paid for his services, I was never quite ce
rtain where his loyalties lay."

  "You don't trust anybody, do you, Landry?"

  Reece stood, facing Sam. Two big, tall men sizing up each other. "Something tells me you're not the trusting sort, either, Dundee. You sure as hell don't trust me with Elizabeth, do you?"

  Elizabeth jumped up off the sofa, standing in front of Reece and Sam, her body separating the two men, the three of them creating a human triangle. "We're going to have to trust one another. It's the only way we can prove Reece's innocence."

  Sam turned, taking Elizabeth by the arm. "He's right about my not trusting him with you, kiddo. You shouldn't be in the middle of this mess. I want you to come with me, today. We'll both stay in Newell, if that's what you want, and I'll do whatever it takes to find Stanton's killer."

  "Why don't you two talk this over," Reece said. "I need some fresh air." He grabbed his coat off the rack by the door and went outside.

  Elizabeth turned to Sam. "Why did you have to ask me to leave again? I'd already told you that I'm staying with Reece." Never before had she been forced to choose between Sam and another man. Never before had she had reason to go against Sam's wishes.

  Sam took Elizabeth by the shoulders, pulling her into his arms, stroking her hair the way a parent would comfort a child. "I'm worried sick about you, kiddo. I'm scared something really bad might happen."

  Elizabeth hugged Sam, feeling, as she always had, safe and secure in his arms. "I understand how you feel, but I want you to understand how I feel. I really do think I'm falling in love with Reece. I know it's crazy for me to love him, but-"

  "Elizabeth, Elizabeth." Sighing, Sam took her by the shoulders again.

  "He needs me, Sam. There's just so much pain inside him. Anger, pain and fear." Reaching up, Elizabeth cradled Sam's cheek in her palm. "Remember the agony you were in six years ago when you came off your last assignment for the DEA? That's the shape Reece is in now, but for different reasons."

  Elizabeth felt Sam flinch, saw the memories glaze his eyes. "It wasn't your fault, Sam. You didn't have a choice. You did what you had to do. But I have a choice. I'm not leaving Reece."