by Diana Palmer
"The doctors said she'd never be herself again," Cole said heavily. "I've prayed they were wrong!"
"So have we all," Lacy seconded. "Miracles still happen! Does Faye know?"
"No. She's still outside," Turk said. "You might tell her..."
"Yes, I might!" Lacy reached up to kiss Cole's cheek and went happily out the door. Cole knew then that something more was wrong, something Turk didn't want to say in front of Lacy.
"Okay. She's gone. Let's have it," Cole said quietly.
Turk averted his eyes. "She was pregnant,"he said, his voice totally without emotion, as if everything in him had been drained out.
Cole cursed. "Damn the luck. She'll have a permanent reminder of that vicious, drug-popping weasel!"
"Drugs?" Turk asked.
"Danny was a doper. Not only that, he was perverted," Cole said flatly. "How does she feel about the child?"
"She lost it," Turk said. "He beat her, and she fell."
Cole's face went dark with angry color. He cursed steadily, his language deteriorating to the point that Turk was glad the women weren't within earshot.
"It gets worse," Turk said. He lifted his chin, his eyes full of self-hatred. He smiled insolently, hoping to make Cole mad enough to pop him. He wanted somebody to beat the living hell out of him. "The baby was mine."
But Cole didn't strike out. His dark eyes searched the other man's light ones. "Is that why she left?"
"No." Turk ran a rough hand over his jaw. "No, she left because she was wearing her heart out on me. I went over the edge. I'd wanted her so long, and she..." He couldn't bring himself to put any blame on her, to even intimate that her vulnerability and adoration had pushed him to his limits. "I just.. .lost it. I couldn't come to grips with what I felt for her in time, and when I came to my senses, it was too late. I thought she probably hated me, so I didn't try to stop her from leaving with Marlone."
There was a tense moment while Cole stared at the older man, finally realizing that nothing he could say would make any difference now. Turk had betrayed his trust, but from the look of the man, it hadn't been deliberate. Whatever Turk felt for Katy, it had to be something pretty powerful to make him as wretched as he looked now.
"Don't you want to throw a punch at me?"Turk asked curtly. "God knows you've every right."
Cole shook his head. "You haven't been the same since she left." Cole grimaced at the look on the other man's face. "I have to take some of the blame. You were a rounder, and I knew you'd never gotten over your wife. I didn't want Katy hurt." He laughed coldly. "Funny, isn't it? I tried to spare her, and caused her more grief."
"You did what you thought was best for her," Turk said quietly. "I couldn't blame you for that. You were probably right. But everything is different now, including the way I feel about Katy."
"You might tell her that," Cole said gently.
The pale eyes that met his were anguished. "I tried to tell her, in there. But she thinks it's just pity. She won't believe me."
Before Cole could react, a returning Lacy did. "I told Faye. She's going to be all right, isn't she?" she added worriedly.
"Of course she is,"Turk said stubbornly. "She's still upset and blames herself for a lot of stupid reasons. But I think she'll be all right, in time." He grimaced. "God almighty, she won't have to go back and testify, will she?" he added, remembering the sordid circumstances under which her husband had met his fate.
"No," Cole said shortly. "I'll hide her out if I have to. It will be bad enough when the papers get hold of it. I'll bet Ben's newspaper friends will have him out here on our throats the second they get wind of it."
"Ben's gone to Paris,"Turk said. "I didn't have time to tell you.
He sent a message by a neighbor. 'Sorry for the trouble, I'm off to Paris.' That was all he said."
"Just as well," Cole said. "I told him he couldn't come back. He won't know about Katy unless he reads it in a paper."
"It will kill her soul to have it all come out,"Turk said angrily.
"It won't do Mother's health much good, either," Cole replied. He took off his hat and sailed it onto the sofa. "What a hell of a mess."
"Amen."
Lacy took off her coat. "I'll fix some coffee and some lunch. Katy will probably sleep the clock around. "I'll see if Faye is hungry."
THEY ATE IN A GLOOMY SILENCE. Cole and Turk went out to work, but not before Turk warned them about Katy's confused mental condition. He cautioned them not to leave her alone for a minute, and made the women promise they wouldn't before he'd even leave the house. Faye and Lacy took turns sitting with Katy, but Katy still hadn't awakened when Cole came in after dark.
He was cleaning up when the telephone rang. Lacy answered it, but the operator asked for Cole.
She went to get him, wondering why he looked so worried.
"Whitehall," he said curtly, hoping he wasn't going to have to tell the police lieutenant that Katy was herself again. He couldn't let her go to Chicago and get embroiled with that bunch again.
"You don't know me," came the deep, gruff reply. "I just wanted to know how Katy is."
Cole knew instantly who it was. The mobster had grit—he'd have to give him that—to call here to ask about Katy under the circumstances. But he'd been kind to Katy, in his way, so Cole curbed his anger. "She said a few words to my foreman earlier. She's sleeping now."
"Thank God. Best thing for her, sleep. Damned sordid mess..."
"This is a party line," Cole cautioned curtly. "Wait a minute," he added, and listened to make sure nobody was eavesdropping. Fortunately that didn't happen often, and it was pretty obvious when somebody was. The line seemed secure for the moment. "All right, go ahead."
"I won't talk long. Listen, I took care of everything. Nobody's going to know anything. Not one word leaked out."
"How in hell...?" Cole demanded.
"People love me. They keep quiet and I love them back," came the dry reply. "Don't ask. You tell Katy I said it's all over. My lawyer says he'll spring me without any trouble. Even your pal Higgins doesn't think I'll have to bribe a jury. So tell Katy not to worry about things. She's safe. I made sure of it. I won't have her name bandied about in sick gossip."
Cole hesitated. The man sounded pretty protective. "She can't testify," he said.
"Hell, man, I'd go to the chair before I'd ask her to!" he said huskily. "What do you think I am?"
His opinion of the mobster took a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn. If Wardell cared that much, he couldn't be all bad. "Thank you," he said finally.
"They said something about a sanitarium.. ."Wardell choked.
"There's no chance of that," he assured the man. "She's going to be fine. We'll take good care of her."
"You and the blond ace, right?" He laughed coolly. "I know about him. Katy cried all over me when she lost the kid. You know about the kid?"
"I know," he said uncomfortably.
"She loves that guy like I love her. Maybe he's got a little more sense now. If he doesn't, you knock some into him. He hurts her, he'll answer to me!"
"It isn't like that," Cole replied, almost smiling at the idea of a notorious mobster so concerned over a woman's happiness. "He'd never hurt her. He didn't know about the child. He's pretty torn up."
"He should have been better to her. Look, I've got to go. You need anything—money, nurses, anything—you let me know. Higgins knows how to get in touch with me."
Cole bristled. "We won't need any help."
"You and your damned black pride!" the deep voice raged. "I know you wouldn't even talk to me in the street, but this is for Katy! I feel responsible for what happened. You tell her I'm sorry, and she only has to let me know if she ever needs help. There won't be any strings, either. You got that?"
"I'll give her the message," Cole said stiffly.
"Don't do me any favors."
The sarcasm was potent. Cole calmed down. "I just put my mother in the hospital with a near heart attack," he said impatiently. "
My brother's run off to Paris, leaving a pregnant girlfriend behind. Katy's half-crazy, and the blond ace is eaten up with guilt—dodging me with half a bottle of illegal Russian vodka looking for his service revolver so he can blow his head off the minute I turn my back! I couldn't do you a favor if I wanted to!"
There was a pause. "Ever think about writing a dime novel?" came the dry reply.
Cole laughed in spite of himself. "Go rob a bank. I've got enough on my plate without adding a mob figure with a conscience to it."
"I'm not so bad "Wardell said. "I've never stolen anything from an honest man, and I don't usually kill people. You tell Katy she's in no danger from Danny's pals, either. I took care of that little complication."
"How about Danny's mother?"
"On her way back to Italy. See? No loose ends."
"You're tidy," Cole agreed.
"Pays to be, in my business. She's really okay? I knew he was roughing her up pretty bad. I tried to get her away, but she was too scared of him to come with me. I'm not sorry about what I did to him, either. He'd have killed her one night when he was hopped up on dope."
"I didn't even know," Cole said heavily.
"She said you'd go gunning for him if she told you," he replied. "And that he'd probably catch you with your back turned and let his gangsters fill you full of lead." He hesitated. "I guess that flying ace would have done the same."
"In a second," Cole agreed. "He's not usually quite so stupid. But I complicated things by warning him off Katy in the first place."
"Interfering in people's lives is stupid." "As you're certainly qualified to know," Cole shot back. Cool laughter came over the line. "Yeah. Right. Too bad Katy couldn't love me back. I'd make a hell of a brother-in-law."
"I'd spend my life bailing you out of jail, so it's just as well," Cole muttered. He sighed heavily. "Don't worry about Katy. And thank you for keeping her name out of it." He paused. "Is your attorney certain about your chances?"
"This is Chicago," Wardell said, a shrug in his voice. "If I don't have enough influence, I've got plenty of friends who have. Nobody liked Marlone."
"Katy will recover," Cole told him. "I'm sure of it. If worse comes to worse, she can give a deposition about what happened that night."
There was a stiff hesitation. "I'm the mug who got her into this mess, remember?"
"You're the mug who tried to get her out of Marlone's clutches, too," Cole said imperturbably. "I want to know the outcome of the coroner's inquest."
The silence lengthened. "Okay."
The receiver went down, and Cole hung up.
"Who was it?" Lacy asked gently, standing just in front of him with wide, curious eyes.
"Wardell."
"The gangster?" She gasped.
"He's not so bad. He loved Katy enough to keep her name out of the papers," he added.
"Oh, thank God," she breathed. "Thank God! But, what about him?"
"If I were a betting man,"he said, moving closer to her, "I'd stake the ranch and everything else here on Wardell." He chuckled. "You smell sweet "he whispered, bending toward her mouth. "Kiss me."
"Cole!" she protested at the very public living room. But his lips settled gently on hers, and then not gently at all, and she gave in at once.
They were feverish when the front door slammed;Turk cleared his throat audibly.
Cole let Lacy go and watched her flee, blushing, into the kitchen. He grinned at Turk.
"Better wire Valentino to hold on to his bedsheet,"Turk said. He was a little unsteady on his feet.
Cole glared at him. "Get rid of that vodka."
"What vodka?"
"Don't play games." He moved closer. "You can stop worrying about Katy. She won't have to testify. Her name isn't even going to be connected with the case. Her mobster pal has covered it all up. He said he'd go to the chair before he'd ask her to go to bat for him, in fact."
Turk's face darkened. "He'd better stay in Chicago, if he knows what's good for him."
Dark eyebrows arched. "You sound pretty possessive for a man who's determined to die a bachelor."
Turk swayed a little more, feeling the effects of the alcohol. "He can't have Katy. You tell him I said so."
"Sit down before you fall down."
He resisted Cole's efforts to get him to a chair. "I won't. I have to see Katy."
Cole knew the set of his jaw and the fire in those pale eyes. It would take a free-for-all to get his friend out of the house. Much simpler to let him have his way.
"All right," he agreed. "But only for a minute. It's late, and we could all use a good night's sleep. Lacy and Faye are setting the table now for a late supper. I'll see about some black coffee to go with it," he added, with a meaningful stare, before he left Turk at Katy's door.
Chapter Sixteen
Turk knocked at Katy's door, hardly waiting for the murmured reply before he walked in. A small lamp with a lacy cover thrown over it burned softly by the bed; Katy lay under a thick quilt in a lace-trimmed, yellow flannel gown that covered her arms.
Her long hair, which had obviously been washed, was spread on the pillow and she was still very pale, but there was more life in her than there had been when Turk left her earlier in the day.
"How are you?" he asked, his voice faintly slurred.
"I'm all right." Katy, who'd seen her share of intoxicated men, sighed. She stared at him, her eyes lingering on his towering physique, from long, powerful legs to narrow hips and broad shoulders. He had the athletic build of a working cowboy, without an ounce of fat on his tall frame. He still delighted her eyes, even after what she'd been through. But right now, he was more disheveled than usual, the top buttons of his shirt undone over a chest thick with dark brown hair, his thick blond hair drooping onto his forehead. It didn't need much thought to know he'd been at the bottle, even without his pale, bloodshot eyes to tell her, or his unsteady gait. "Oh,Turk! You've been drinking, haven't you?" she asked quietly.
He shrugged. "Plenty of reason."
"It won't help."
"That's what you think." He moved closer, but instead of sitting in the chair beside the bed, he sat down on it, his hip against her thigh.
"Don't!" she whispered, glancing past him at the closed door.
"Why not? Is it too intimate?" he asked, with a mocking smile. "I made you pregnant. Cole knows. He isn't going to be shocked if he sees me sitting on your bed."
"You told Cole?" She closed her eyes, choking on the shame.
"I told him everything," he said heavily. His big hand rested on her belly over the quilt. "My child," he whispered roughly. "That's twice, Katy. Twice!" His voice broke.
His wife had died pregnant. Now Katy had lost a child of his. She could feel his pain.
"I'm sorry, Turk," she said gently, hurting for him.
"You're the one who needs comforting, not me," he said with a harsh breath. "I don't need pity."
"Yes, you do." She held out her arms to him.
He wasn't going to show her any silly weakness, he told himself. But it would be nice to let her hold him, just for a few seconds. With a long, shuddering sigh, he laid his head on her breasts, and she cradled him there, smoothing his thick blond hair, gently caressing him. He felt the wetness in his eyes, but of course, it wasn't tears. He closed them, aware of the chill against his cheek as the wetness dampened them.
Katy felt them against her breast and she held him closer, giving way to her own grief. All she'd ever wanted in her life was in her arms right now, but it gave her no pleasure to know that he was only in them out of grief and guilt. He'd sent her away. He hadn't wanted her.
"I wanted the baby," she whispered involuntarily. "I wanted him so! When I lost him, I thought I'd never be able to bear it. I hated Danny!"
His arms slid under her, drawing her closer, and he lay there, home at last, at peace at last, until his breathing regulated and there was no longer any wetness in his eyes or Katy's.
Katy swallowed her anguish at last and stif
fened, so that Turk would get up.
He did, feeling her rejection, seeing pride make her face rigid, her eyes evasive as she dabbed at tears.
"Your friend Wardell has muzzled the newspapers,"Turk said quietly, watching the shock on her face. "He told Cole he'd go to the chair before he'd involve you in his trial."
"Oh, thank God," she said. "At least Mother's been spared any more shame on my account." She saw the anger in Turk's face and grimaced. "He tried to protect me," Katy said defensively. "He.. .loves me," she added. She didn't add that it hurt her that she'd taken so much from Wardell and given back so little.
"You slept with him,"he ground out. "You could be pregnant..."
"There was only one time." She stared up at him bravely. "And he's sterile," she whispered. "He told me when I lost the baby and couldn't stop crying. He knew how it felt, he said, not to have a child. He can't have any, you see."
"And your.. .husband?"
It was difficult to talk about it, but he wasn't quite sober and he wasn't going to let go until he had it all. She stared at her pale hands on the colorful quilt. It was a memory quilt, one Marion Whitehall had made just for her out of scraps of leftover cloth from dresses she'd worn, dresses even her grandmother had worn, so that she looked at the fabric and remembered all the clothing that went into its creation.
"Danny.. .couldn't,Turk,"she said finally. "Only once or twice, when we were first married. Then he started using drugs and he wasn't.. .able to. I think that was why he beat me." She shivered as the fear came back.
He took her hand in his and held it tight. "I had no right to ask," he said unsteadily. "God knows, I've been a rounder." His eyes were solemn as they met hers. "Since you, I haven't been with any other woman, Katy," he said slowly, averting his eyes.
She didn't know what to say. Probably the guilt over what he'd done caused him to become a Puritan. "You don't have to go that far," she said. "Nobody blames you for what happened. It was my fault..."
"No!" he said softly, frowning. "It isn't because I felt guilty." His fingers lifted hers to his chest. "Katy, don't you understand? I don't want anyone else."
She colored and her eyes dropped like coals.
