Cassidy, Carla - Midnight Wishes

by Midnight Wishes(lit)

  She wanted to ask him a million questions, but could tell by his

  expression that he was eager to get on with whatever business he had to

  attend to. Besides, she wanted him to leave, needed to distance

  herself from the memory of her first waking moments in his arms. As

  Cody had gone running down the hall, Abby had realized she had to make

  a decision.

  It stewed in her head as she and Cody and Belinda ate breakfast. After

  they were finished Cody ran out to find Bulldog and Abby helped her

  sister clear the table.

  -"You're awfully, quiet," Belinda observed as she leaned against the

  cabinets and eyed Abby in speculation.

  "I've got a lot on my mind." Abby sighed and sank down at the table.

  "I'm going to ask Luke to leave today."

  "Why?" Belinda joined her at the table. "I thought he was helping you

  figure out what was going on. I thought maybe something special was

  going on between the two of you."

  Abby rubbed her forehead, where a headache pounded a dull but constant

  rhythm. "I ... he has been helping me and we both want the same thing

  to find out who's responsible for Greg's death. But things are getting

  all mixed up."

  "What things? I'm not sure I understand."

  Abby drew a deep breath, trying to sort out her thoughts, afraid to

  explore too deeply her feelings for Luke. "I'm depending on him too

  much. I like being with him too much. He lied to me about his

  identity and I don't think he believes in my innocence. I should hate

  him' but I can't. I ... I just can't."

  "You love him."

  Abby wanted to protest, wanted to scream that Belinda was crazy to even

  think such a thing. But she couldn't. Because she knew her sister was

  right. As much as she didn't want it to be so, she had fallen in love

  with Luke Foxwood. "Yes," she answered softly, the acknowledgment

  pressing thickly, painfully, against her chest.

  "Then why send him away?"

  "It's one thing for Luke to be embroiled in my life, then walk away.

  But now Cody is getting involved, and I can't let it go any further."

  "Are you so sure he would walk away?"

  Abby nodded. "I'm positive. Luke has a life in Chicago. He's only

  remained here because of Greg's death. His being here has nothing to

  do with me and once this mess is cleared up he'll leave."

  "

  "Oh, Abby, I'm so sorry." Belinda covered Ab-by's hand with one of her

  own.

  "Yeah, me, too. It's ironic--isn't it?--that finally my heart has

  gotten involved with a man, and that man is the half brother of my dead

  husband and completely inappropriate."

  Again emotion ached in Abby's heart. She loved Luke. She felt it as

  vividly as she felt Belinda's hand on hers. And she knew she had to

  get him out of her life now, before she got in any deeper, before

  Cody's heart became too involved.

  "I mow Deputy Helstrom is handling the investigation of Greg's death,"

  Luke said as he faced Junior across the table in the diner. "But I've

  got a couple big favors to ask of you and I'd prefer you not tell him

  what you're doing."

  Junior frowned. "I'm not in the habit of undermining my deputies."

  "Not even for Abby?" Luke held his breath, hoping he'd judged Junior

  right and the man wouldn't go running to Richard Helstrom.

  Junior took a drink of his coffee, then raked a hand through his gray

  hair. "I'm not making any promises, but go ahead and tell me what you

  want."

  Luke set Abby's cocoa tin on the tabletop. "I want this analyzed for

  drugs."

  Junior looked at him sharply. "You think Abby is on some kind of

  drug?"

  "I think somebody might be drugging her without her knowledge."

  The sheriff tapped the top of the tin thoughtfully. "Who would do such

  a thing?"

  "I don't know. And I can't imagine why anyone would do it. All I know

  for sure is that last night Abby was rational and sane before she had a

  cup of this stuff. After drinking it she reacted like somebody under

  the influence. I can't find out who put drugs in it unless I'm certain

  there are drugs there."

  Ju,ior took another sip of his coffee, eyeing the tin. I suppose I

  could run it through the lab, see what we can find. " He looked back

  at Luke, his gaze shrewd. " But why do you want this kept secret from

  Richard? "

  Luke shrugged. "Call it instinct or whatever. Richard Helstrom has a

  vested interest in Abby being convicted."

  Junior's eyes grew cold. "As far as I know, Richard is a fine police

  officer and wouldn't let anything personal interfere with the way he

  conducted a case."

  "Sheriff, he might think he's being fair, but people are people and all

  I'm trying to do is give Abby the benefit of any doubt."

  "In that we want the same thing. All right, I'll run it through the

  lab and won't mention it to Richard."

  LUke nodded gratefully. "I have another favor to ask."

  Junior winced. "What else?"

  "Abby's been getting prank phone calls. The caller is Greg."

  Junior barked a short laugh. "I'd say that's a little impossible. You

  mean it's somebody pretending to be Greg."

  Luke shook his head. "No, I mean it's Greg's voice. It's happened a

  couple of times. I've heard it and I'm telling you it was my half

  brother's voice on the other end of the line."

  "Don't try to convince me that we buried somebody other than Greg

  Foxwood. I know who we buried."

  "I know Greg's dead. Since I heard the phone call it's been driving me

  crazy trying to figure out what's going on. I realized it has to be a

  tape recording of Greg's voice that somebody is playing when they call

  Abby. Both times it said the same thing and that's the only

  explanation that makes any sense."

  "So, what do you want from me?"

  "I want a printout from the phone company of every call Greg made from

  that room while he was there and to whom those calls were made."

  Junior whistled and shook his head me fully "I don't know if that's

  possible. That would require a court order and as far as the court is

  concerned, the guilty party is already charged."

  "Surely you know somebody who can get around the legal mishmash,

  especially for the sake of justice."

  Junior didn't answer. He drank his coffee and stared at the wall

  behind Luke. "I love those Connor girls as if they were my own. When

  Colette was in trouble a couple months ago I did everything I could to,

  help her, and now I'll do what I can to help Abby, I 11 see what I can

  do about getting you that printout. He lo'k, ed back at Luke, his gaze

  once again hard and, cold. There s been too much grief in those girls

  lives. I hope you don't intend to add to it.

  An edge of. guilt whispered through Luke as he thought of making love

  to Abby. He'd made love to her with no honorable intentions to back it

  up. He consoled himself with the thought that she hadn't expected

  anything from him, didn't like him enough to want anything from him. "I

  don't intend to stick :1 around here long enough to cause' them any

  grief,"
he finally said. Junior stared at him for a long moment, then

  nodded. "Good." He stood and picked up the cocoa tin:.

  h"

  from the top of the table. "I'll be in touc .

  Luke watched as the sheriff ambled out of diner. Now it was just a

  matter of time and perhaps:l they'd finally have some much needed

  answers.

  Minutes later he drove back to the ranch, eager share with Abby what

  he'd done. The phone calls had:! been bothering him because he

  couldn't figure out? ;1 how they d been accomplished. He d finally

  come up with the idea that somebody had taped an actualiiil phone call

  from Greg and was now using a portion of that call to frighten Abby.

  The minute the idea had blossomed in his brain it had felt right. And

  going to Junior to have him follow it through also felt right. As did

  hurrying back to Abby's.

  He frowned and eased his foot off the accelerator, slowing the track as

  he admired the passing scenery. Luke had grown to love it here. It

  was so different from the frantic pace of Chicago, where he spent most

  of his days hunched over a desk and his evenings working out in the

  sterile atmosphere of a gym.

  He'd miss this place when he left. He'd miss Abby. The thought sent

  shock waves tough him. Although it had not been in his plans, although

  it was the last thing he'd wanted to happen, he realized he'd grown to

  care about her. deeply care.

  Of course nothing would ever come of his tender desire for her. There

  would be no future for him here with her. He was here to find a

  killer, nothing more.

  His mind filled with a vision of a pair of innocent, boyish blue eyes.

  Cody. The lime boy had Greg's eyes, filled with need, a need that Luke

  knew he was inadequate to fill. He'd tried with Greg and he wasn't

  about to attempt the impossible again.

  As he pulled in front of the Connor house, he shoved his thoughts, his

  regrets, his weaknesses aside.

  "Abby?" he called as he opened the back door and stepped into the

  kitchen. Nobody was in the kitchen although it was apparent by the

  clean dishes stacked in the drainer that lunch had been eaten recently.

  "Abby, are you here?" he called.

  "In the office," her voice drifted down the hallway.

  As Luke walked toward the office, he realized how easy it would be for

  somebody to step into the kitchen, add a deadly ingredient to the cocoa

  mix, then leave with nobody any wiser.

  He found her sitting at the desk, and his heart ached as he saw the

  stress lines that wrinkled her forehead. "More problems?" he asked.

  She nodded. "I finally got hold of my bank statement records and I'm

  more confused now than I was before. The checks I thought I'd written

  to various stores to pay bills haven't cleared yet. I can't imagine

  what happened to them, when they'll turn up or how much they'll be

  written for."

  Luke sank into the chair facing the desk. "Is it possible they were

  made out to Greg and he didn't get a chance to cash them?"

  Running a hand through her tousled curls, she sighed. "At this point

  anything is possible and nothing will surprise me."

  "Would it surprise you if I told you I believe somebody has been

  drugging you?"

  Her eyes flared wide and her mouth dropped open. "Wh-what are you

  talking about?"

  "Last night you were fine until you had a cup of that hot cocoa, then

  you went into a completely irrational state. I don't know, I might be

  completely off base, but the change in you was so dramatic, so den,

  that I started wondering if perhaps the reason was something in your

  drink."

  She stood and walked over to the window and: stared out. "The night I

  found myself in the yard, I had a cup of hot cocoa." She turned around

  and looked at Luke, her eyes shining with the first glow of hope he'd

  seen. "But the night that Greg was murdered I didn't have any. I

  distinctly remember because I went to the diner for coffee and pie. Oh,

  Luke, if you're right, that means the night of Greg's death I didn't

  black out ... I just fell asleep."

  The light in her eyes faded, their hue deepening. "But who would do

  such a thing? Dear God, why would somebody do this to me?"

  "Abby, we can't figure out the who or why until we make certain the

  cocoa really is drugged. That's what I did in town, took it to Junior,

  who's agreed to send it to a lab for analysis." He stood and

  approached her. "I also asked him to get a record of all the phone

  calls Greg made from his room in the weeks he was there. Hopefully in

  the next day or two, we'll know exactly who Greg had contact with."

  "Why are you doing all this for me?" Her gaze searched his face with

  intensity.

  He had the feeling the question stemmed from an emotion deeper than

  mere curiosity and he felt an involuntary need to distance himself. "I

  want to find my half brother's killer and I know the police have

  arrested the wrong person."

  She nodded, but in the depths of her eyes he thought he saw a vague

  disappointment. "And now I need to talk to you about something, " she

  said, any vulnerability gone from her gaze.

  "About what?"

  She walked over to the wall of photographs and straightened one, then

  another. She finally turned back to him, her eyes tumultuous with

  emotion. "Luke, I can't do this anymore."

  "What? What can't you do?"

  "Be your partner, depend on you, allow you into our lives any longer. I

  want you to leave the ranch." He looked at her in confusion. "But

  why? Abby, we're so close to getting some answers. I need to be here,

  close to what's happening."

  She shook her head. "I don't want you here any longer."

  "But, Abby, you need me here." Odd, the dread that coursed through him

  at the idea of leaving. "What if you have another episode? Who's

  going to protect you? Keep you safe from harm?"

  He could tell his words angered her. Her eyes flashed blue fire and

  her shoulders stiffened in protest. "If what you think is true and the

  cocoa is drugged, there will be no other episodes. Besides, I've lived

  a long time depending on myself and my sisters. I don't need you,

  Luke. Your presence here is only complicating things."

  "Complicating things? What in the hell are you talking about?" An

  edge of anger built in him. He was being summarily dismissed and

  didn't know why.

  "In case you haven't noticed, my son has taken quite a shine to you. He

  thinks he loves you, and he also believes you're going to become his

  stepdad." Her gaze bored into his, maternal protection evident in

  their blue depths. "You and I both know that's not about to happen.

  I'm not even sure I like you."

  "That didn't stop you from falling into bed with me," he retorted,

  instantly feeling small.

  "And it didn't stop you, and you still believed I was a murderer."

  For a moment the air between them shimmered with regret and something

  more . something Luke couldn't fathom. They'd intentionally said

  things to hurt each other, but he had a feeling the words masked

  som
ething else, something infinitely more frightening.

  She sighed, her shoulders sagging in defeat. "I don't want to fight

  with you. I just can't allow you to stay here any longer. I don't

  want Cody hurt, and each day you remain here as a part of our lives

  will only make it more difficult on him when you finally go. Please,

  Luke, you have to leave before he gets hurt."

  He knew she was right. It wasn't fair for him to allow Cody to believe

  he intended to be a part of their lives when he had no such intention

  at all.

  Besides, there was nothing more for him to do here. It was time for

  him to get back to his real life and leave the justice system in

  charge. Hopefully with the information he'd given Junior they'd come

  up with a way to free her and reopen the investigation into Greg's

  death.

  "You're right. It's time for me to go," he agreed, surprised by the

  sudden ache of bereavement his words caused inside him.

  She released a held breath, as if she'd been waiting for something, but

  for what he wasn't sure. "I'll pack up my things right now," he said.

  He hesitated. Somehow he felt unsettled, as if there were unspoken

  words between them, unfinished business of some kind.

  He started for the door, then hesitated and turned back to her. "Abby,