Dad’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t have a chance to tear into her as Raven’s exasperated voice shot back. “We were kidding around, Keri. Dad knows I’m not going to offer him something that’s bad for his health. We were only teasing to get a rise out of you.”
“Well, it worked. I hope you’re both happy!” She tossed a dishtowel onto the table to clean up the mess she’d made by sloshing the coffee.
Get hold of yourself, Keri Mahoney. You’re reverting to youngest-child syndrome, and Raven’s eating it up. You’re a mature woman with a career and you have nothing, absolutely nothing to feel inferior about!
“Josh!” Justin’s panicked voice filtered through the house, breaking Keri out of her personal dilemma. “Josh! Where are you?”
Keri barreled through the kitchen door and nearly collided with Justin. He grabbed her arms to steady them both, his eyes wild with fright, his hair tousled from sleep.
“What’s going on?” Her heart caught in her throat at his colorless face.
“Josh isn’t in bed or the bathroom. I’ve looked everywhere. Is he in the kitchen?”
“No. He’s not in there.” A bubble of panic rose inside Keri.
Justin seemed to be frozen in place. Keri knew she’d have to snap out of it and take charge. “Go out front,” she ordered, giving him a little shove back through the kitchen door. “I’ll check in back.”
Without waiting for permission, she grabbed Raven’s discarded coat, hat and gloves and slipped them on as she exited the warm kitchen.
She stood on the porch and glanced into the gray dawn. There was no sign of the child. After a quick survey of the surrounding area, an idea shifted her focus from the freezing cold to a more likely explanation. She hurried in to the bedroom and headed for the closet. The closet light seeped from under the door. A smile of relief curved her lips.
“Josh, honey,” she said softly. “It’s just Keri, I’m going to open the door.”
Twisting the knob, she pulled the door open. Her heart clenched within her chest at the sight of the little boy, his knees pulled to his chin, forehead resting on his knees. She crouched down in front of him and smoothed a hand over his unruly blond curls. “What are you doing in here, Josh?”
He shivered and looked up at her with mournful blue eyes. “I saw him again,” he whispered.
Compassion washed over Keri. “It was only another nightmare, sweetheart. Come on. Let’s get you back to bed to warm up those icy feet and hands. Your dad’s worried sick about you.” His body remained compliant as she lifted him and headed toward the bed.
“Miss Keri?” Josh whispered.
“Yes?” Keri laid him on the mattress and covered him with the quilt.
“Is it wrong if I know something really bad and I don’t tell it?”
Careful not to show her keenness to be the recipient of his information, Keri shrugged. “I guess that depends on what that something is.”
“Do they put kids in jail?” He looked up at her, trouble clouding his beautiful eyes. Trouble no child should have to deal with, as far as Keri was concerned. She crouched so that she met him eye to eye and placed her hands on either shoulder. “They don’t put kids like you in jail, Josh. Is there something you feel you need to tell me? You don’t have to be scared. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”
“Josh! Thank God he’s okay.” Josh’s eyes grew wide and he jumped away from Keri’s touch as Justin made his appearance in the doorway and hurried across the room.
Keri recognized the look of apprehension that crossed the little boy’s features even as he went willingly into his father’s arms. Once again doubt crept in and threatened her fledgling faith in Justin. Had Josh been about to open up to her? If so, what was he going to say? That he’d witnessed his dad kill his mom? Dread nearly gagged Keri. She inched backward toward the door, then headed to the kitchen.
She stepped into the kitchen just as Dad was returning from outside. “You find him?” he asked.
Keri nodded. “In the closet.”
Dad shook his head. “Poor tyke.”
Raven let out a low whistle under her breath. “That was some drama.”
“Yeah,” Keri said noncommittally. Curiosity burned inside her. What had Josh been about to tell her when Justin showed up?
“Well?”
Keri turned to see her petite sister, her dark eyes sparkling with demand, her palms resting on slender hips. “Well, what?”
“Are you going to tell me what that was all about? What was the kid doing in the closet?”
“He had a nightmare.”
“In the closet?”
Keri scowled. “No. It’s a long story.”
“Look, Keri. I know you think I’m just a nosy big sister out to steal away Dad’s affection, but I really do want to help. If you fill me in on the details, maybe I can make some suggestions, phone calls, whatever. I’m not going to do anything to harm Justin or his boys. I give you my promise.” Her dark eyes pleaded, and Keri felt herself caving. But she felt the need to get a couple of things straight before she let Raven in on the situation completely.
“First of all, I don’t think you’re out to steal Dad’s affection. I think you break his heart every time you promise to come visit and then don’t. That’s the problem I have with your relationship with Dad. I’d welcome his happiness.”
“All right. I take back my comment. I’m sorry, okay?”
“Second of all, I can’t tell you anything until I get Justin’s approval. This is his life and his son’s nightmares we’re talking about. So we’ll see what he has to say about it later. After Josh settles down.”
Raven gave a reluctant nod. Then she grinned. “So has Justin kissed you yet?”
Justin paced the room watching Josh lying flushed and feverish beneath a heavy quilt. He could only guess how long his son had huddled in that freezing-cold closet, shivering and terrified while he himself slept peacefully, dreaming of a future with Keri Mahoney.
Self-accusing thoughts accosted him over and over until Justin wanted to shout for his mind to shut up and give him five minutes of peace. What kind of parent was he? the silent voices demanded to know.
A gentle tap at the door pulled him from his brooding. “Come in,” he called softly. His heart picked up at the sight of Keri standing in the doorway, her hair pulled back from her face. She was dressed in snug jeans and a loose, emerald green ribbed turtleneck that perfectly offset her fair skin and red hair. He motioned her into the room. With a half smile, she tiptoed across the wood floor.
“How is he?” she asked, standing over Josh’s bed.
Her concern was so genuine, Justin took her hand. She didn’t protest, but turned her palm flat to his, lacing their fingers. Justin took comfort in the simple gesture and didn’t stop to examine its meaning. “He’s still running a fever, but at least he’s stopped shivering under the quilt.”
“Good. Dad says it’s most likely just a cold and probably has nothing to do with his adventure in the closet. He’ll be okay in a day or so.”
“I hope so.”
Keri squeezed his hand. “He’s a strong little boy.”
Still holding her hand, Justin sat on the bed beside Josh. Keri stepped closer and brushed her free hand over his head. Pressing his forehead into her waist, Justin closed his eyes. He felt her lips brush against the top of his head.
“Why don’t you let me sit with him for a while,” she suggested. “Dad’s watching a John Wayne movie with Billy. I’m sure they’d welcome your company.”
Opening his eyes, Justin pulled back and studied her for a moment. She returned his gaze with steady appraisal. “You believe me now, don’t you? Last night when I was talking to Bob I felt like…”
She slipped her hand from his. “Don’t ask me to give you an answer to that question just yet, Justin. I’m not ready to say what you want to hear.”
Disappointment twisted inside him. He stood. “I think I will go sit with Billy and your dad awhil
e.”
“One word of caution.”
Justin braced himself, not sure he was up for any more bad news. “Yeah?”
A grin tipped her lips. “Stay out of the kitchen. Raven and Ruth are clashing about what spices actually go into a pumpkin pie. It was starting to turn ugly in there when I snuck away.”
Forcing himself to return her smile, Justin nodded. He appreciated her attempt at lightness after the events of the morning, but he couldn’t quite convince his own heart to lift. A man could take just so much before things overwhelmed him. Justin was just about at that point. He swallowed back the sudden lump in his throat and cleared his throat. “Thanks again, Keri. Don’t leave him alone even for a minute, okay? I don’t want him to wake up from another nightmare and be afraid.”
“I’ll take care of him. Trust me.”
If only you could take your own advice and trust me, he thought as he stepped into the hallway and carefully closed the door behind him.
Chapter Nine
With aching tenderness Keri sat in a straight-back chair next to the bed and watched Josh’s angelic face as he slept. His wasn’t even close to the sleep of the peaceful, a fact she acknowledged from his shifting, moaning and spastic eye movement. Her heart swelled with compassion, but even more with the startling newness of what could only be maternal love. He should be my son, Lord. Mine and Justin’s. She drew in a deep, troubled breath. What’s going to happen to him?
From the recesses of her imagination, Keri found an image of herself cooking and cleaning, playing in the yard, reading bedtime books, overseeing homework and doing loads of laundry. Her stomach knotted with the power of the desire for that image to become reality. She refused to allow Justin’s beautiful image to spill over into the mini-film. She wasn’t ready for that heartbreak just yet. Could she bear it if Josh told her he’d witnessed Justin kill Amelia?
A chill began at the base of her spine and crawled upward until it reached her shoulders and became a violent shudder. She stood and crossed silently to the window.
She pushed back the deep-blue curtain. Staring out at the gray world, she wondered what was in store for the unlikely group huddled together in the small cabin. Here they were, nestled in a secluded part of the world, an unlikely hodgepodge of human beings fitted together for different reasons. Topping the list were a grizzled ex-cop and his senior-citizen girlfriend, whose purpose was to bring the family together and gain some acceptance from Dad’s three girls before they formally set a date for the wedding.
Then there was Raven, an investigative reporter, whose motives weren’t entirely clear to Keri. Maybe she wanted to help. Maybe she wanted a scoop. One thing was clear, she wasn’t happy about Dad’s bride-to-be. Keri dreaded Raven deciding to voice her opinion. It would happen. Raven wasn’t one to hold back for something as trifling as politeness. Most important, in the group were two precious look-alikes with very different concerns in the world.
Keri leaned her head against the cold glass. Oh, Justin. Justin—possibly a murderer, possibly the same wonderful soul mate she’d grown up loving with her whole heart. Guilty or not, all he wanted was to keep his family together for as long as he could.
And she capped off the unlikely group, a policewoman with a promotion on the line. As chief, she had a much better chance of influencing procedural changes in dealing with drunks like Junior Conner. Irritation bit at her. Who said just because Briarwood was a throwback to Mayberry that they had to treat the town drunk the same way Andy treated Otis? Junior had narrowly missed plowing into a bunch of kids during his latest binge. It was time to be a little more heavy-handed with him before he killed someone.
As chief, she would definitely make the town safer from the Junior Conners of the world, even if she had to stand outside the Drink ’n’ Dance every Friday and Saturday night and watch as patrons left the bar. If she had to arrest every single person with an elevated blood alcohol content, she would——from the stay-at-home moms out for a night away from the kids, to the career drunks who were addicted to the hard stuff. Whatever it took to make sure that no more mothers in Briarwood were taken from this world when their daughters were on the brink of womanhood and needed them most.
On the bed, Josh moaned, mumbling, his words unintelligible, his fear palpable even in sleep. Keri went to him and was about to reach out when he sat bolt upright and screamed like a banshee.
“Josh, honey,” Keri said, sitting next to him and trying to still his flailing arms. “It’s all right. You’re safe.”
“I dreamed him again, Miss Keri.”
The little boy buried his silken head in Keri’s neck. She held his quivering body close, stroked his hair and began to pray. “Father, You’ve promised to give us peace while we sleep, even in the middle of a huge storm. You see that Josh is ill and dealing with a storm of fear and hurt right now. Please, give him peace and remind him that You are bigger than anything in the whole world. Let him know that I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep him safe. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.”
During the course of the prayer, Josh had slowly relaxed. Now he pulled away and settled back onto his pillow. Keri smiled at the look of peace that had replaced the fear in his eyes. Thank you so much, God.
Justin’s eyes misted at the scene playing out before him. He’d charged down the hallway when Josh had screamed, but had stopped short when, on opening the door a crack, he saw Keri comforting his son effectively. His heart melted at the sight. The boys needed maternal love. He could give them food, clothing, shelter—all the things a father should provide. The one thing he was not capable of giving was maternal affection—the soft touch that God had reserved for women’s hands. What would it be like for the boys to have a real mother? Someone who would place their needs over hers? Amelia had loved the boys in her own way, but she had just been too selfish to give that mothering touch. He’d tried to be both mother and father, but he knew he’d been woefully inadequate.
Josh had completely relaxed in Keri’s gentle arms—faster than he calmed when Justin held him after a nightmare.
“Miss Keri?”
“Yes?”
“Remember what I asked you before?”
“Yes, I remember. Do you want to finish telling me what you know that’s so bad you’re afraid to tell anyone?”
Justin’s heart picked up. Instinctively, he pressed closer. Could Josh possibly have seen something that would prove his innocence? Shame filled Justin at the hope rising inside him. Shame at eavesdropping and hope that his nine-year-old son had seen his mother’s killer.
What was wrong with him? And why was he just sitting here waiting for a warrant to be issued? He had to do something to prove his innocence. For his sons. For Keri.
“Do you want to tell me now, Josh? It’s just the two of us in here. No one else will hear.”
Josh’s muffled reply evaded Justin’s hearing. He pressed closer, desperate to uncover the reason behind Josh’s behavior—the constant nightmares and emotional roller coaster. He released a frustrated breath at his inability to hear anything.
A tug on his sleeve startled Justin, and he jerked his head over and looked downward to meet Billy’s scowl. “Daddy, you’re missing the movie!”
Justin cringed. Guilt shot through him; he’d just been caught eavesdropping and there was no escape. He released a heavy sigh and waited for the inevitable.
“Hang on just a sec, Josh.” Keri’s voice held an edge of irritation. In a second the door flew open and Justin met her accusing glare.
Today was a good day. Not all days were. Often she sat silently, staring across the room as though she hadn’t heard a word he’d spoken. Frustration drove him from the house on those days. He felt responsible for their not having a child by now. He’d tried. Gone through all the testing available, had taken fertility drugs to increase their chances of conceiving. To no avail. His darling blamed him. Even when she didn’t say it, he could see the accusation in her gorgeous violet eyes. Now those eyes looked fondl
y upon him, though she didn’t speak.
His heart soared. Life was worth living as long as she loved him. That’s why he’d had no choice but to get rid of Amelia. He couldn’t let her tell his wife about the baby. She must never know that he’d been able to give Amelia something he couldn’t give the woman he loved.
At first he’d laughed in Amelia’s face, disbelieving. But she’d proven she was pregnant—shown him the doctor’s records. And the one fact he knew was that Justin didn’t have anything to do with it. She’d seduced him. Tempted him until he couldn’t help himself. Laughed at him for feeling guilty. Had allowed herself to get pregnant and threatened to destroy everything that meant anything to him. Unless she got what she wanted.
Money for silence. That’s all she’d wanted. A half grin lifted his lips at the irony. The woman was definitely silenced. She’d left him no choice. It was her own fault. If only she’d never approached him in the first place, she’d still be alive.
Now he needed to find that tape and there would be no way for anyone to prove Justin didn’t kill Amelia.
His eyes devoured his wife’s beautiful face again and leaning forward, he pressed his lips against an unresponsive mouth. He pulled back with a weary sigh. It had been so long.
But she’d love him again. One look at those boys and things would be as they had been.
“You’re going to be a wonderful mother, darling.”
Chapter Ten
Frustration burned a hole in Keri throughout the morning hours as she worked side by side with Raven preparing a feast for the next day’s Thanksgiving dinner. Ruth had excused herself, begging the need for a nap. Keri figured, more than fatigue, the woman just couldn’t stand Raven’s obvious disapproval and Keri’s sullen silence one more minute. Who could blame her?
Pulling a freshly baked pumpkin pie from the oven, Keri could take no pleasure in the wonderful aroma steaming from the dessert.
For the second time in one day, Josh had been about to tell her something important. At least Keri felt it was important and would be relevant to the case. Twice Justin had intervened. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe a little too much to be coincidence.
Reasonable Doubt Page 10
