by Joanna Wayne
“Auntie Mom,” Rebecca said, poking her potatoes with her fork, “what would happen to Timmy and me if we were too much for you to handle? Would you give us away?”
Susan all but choked on a bite of stuffing. She put down her fork and met Rebecca’s gaze. “Of course I wouldn’t give you away. Wherever did you get such an idea?”
“You said it. I heard you one day on the phone. You said you didn’t know how you were going to manage us by yourself.”
“Oh, sweetie. Have you been worried about that?” Susan scooted her chair close to Rebecca’s.
“We don’t want to leave here,” Rebecca said.
Susan swallowed a lump the size of a grapefruit. She put her arms around Rebecca and held her close. “I loved your mother very much, Rebecca. And she and your father loved you. But that’s not why I love you and Timmy. I love you because you’re in a special place in my heart. I would never, ever, ever, give you away or let anyone take you away from me. Do you understand?”
Rebecca hugged her back. “I’m glad, but I still hope I get what I asked Santa to give me for Christmas.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me what that something is?”
“No, I think Detective Santa should tell you.”
“He may not be coming today, Rebecca. He’s a very busy man.”
“He’ll come, Auntie Mom. Don’t worry. He’ll come.”
The children finished eating and went back to their new toys, but Susan lingered over a second cup of coffee. She hadn’t eaten much lunch, but she had managed to finish off a piece of Lucy’s pumpkin pie.
“Stephen loved pumpkin pie,” Lucy said. Her eyes took on that faraway look they always did when she talked about Stephen.
“You must have loved him an awful lot,” Susan said.
“I still do. Love never goes away. It hangs around forever. Like a warm fuzzy feeling in your heart.”
“Maybe that’s only if the man you love loves you back.”
“I don’t know.” Lucy turned around and looked out toward the courtyard. “What is that noise? It sounds like a little yapping dog.”
Susan jumped up just as Timmy came tearing by her. He swung open the back door and a small golden retriever pranced through the door as though he owned the place. Jack was right behind him.
“It’s my puppy.” Timmy said. He got down on his all fours and the animal licked him on the face. “He likes me,” Timmy said. “Thank you, Detective Santa.”
“You’re welcome, big boy. Merry Christmas.”
“Ho, ho, ho,” Timmy said, and then he was off following the puppy down the hall.
Glad as Susan was to see Jack, she still had reservations about the gift. “That’s a retriever, Jack.”
“Right A wonderful dog for boys.”
“They get very big. And this is a small apartment.”
“That’s the other thing we need to talk about”
“The size of my apartment?”
“Sort of. Look, Susan, I have a present for you, but I want to do this right. Let’s go into the living room.”
“I can leave and come back later,” Lucy offered. “If you’d like I can take the kids for a while. That way you two could exchange your Christmas gifts in private.”
“No, you should stay, Lucy. You’re practically part of the family. And Rebecca has to be here. This is her surprise, too.” He winked at Rebecca, and she clapped her hands.
“I knew it. I knew it,” she sang. “I knew you wouldn’t forget my surprise. You might not be the real Santa, but you’re the best secret Santa in the whole world. I told Missy Sippen that.”
“This isn’t another big-animal surprise, is it?” Susan asked dubiously.
“As a matter of fact, it is. Don’t get alarmed yet. Just walk into the living room and sit down in the big chair.”
Susan did as she was told. Everybody gathered around for the show. Now she was really getting nervous.
“I don’t ever plan to do this again, so I want to do it right.” Jack dropped to his knees in front of her and took her hands in his. “Susan McKnight. I’m asking you to be my wife. I’m no bargain, but you already know that. But I love you and Rebecca and Timmy, and I’ll be the best husband and uncle dad that I can possibly be.” He looked up at Rebecca. “Am I doing this right?”
She bent down and whispered in his ear. “Where’s the ring?”
“Right, the ring. It’s here in my pocket somewhere. I had to call a lot of jewelers to find one who would open for me on Christmas Day.” He fished in his pants pockets and pulled out a gold and diamond engagement ring. He held it up, ready to slip it on Susan’s finger.
“If you don’t say yes soon, Susan, I’m going to lose my nerve.”
“Yes. Yes. Yes!”
This time she didn’t try to stop the tears. They rolled down her cheeks. Jack slipped the ring on her finger and pulled her to her feet.
“Merry Christmas, Susan. The first one of many, many to come.”
“Merry Christmas, Jack. For forever.”
Lucy cried. Rebecca clapped her hands. Timmy played with his new puppy. And Jack kissed his bride-to-be.
9:00 p.m.
REBECCA AND TIMMY were in bed, and Susan and Jack were finally alone. Jack added another log to the fire and threw two pillows to the carpet in front of the hearth. Susan joined him on the floor.
“I think we’ll need a bigger place,” he said. “Your apartment is nice but it’s already bursting at the seams.”
“So that explains the retriever.”
“They’re gentle, and that one looked at me with pleading eyes. I couldn’t leave him alone on Christmas. Besides, the children could use a yard, too. One big enough for playing catch. And the house should have sidewalks out front for riding tricycles and skating.”
“You’ve given this some thought.”
“Half of the night. The other half I spent getting up the nerve to ask you to marry me.”
“Does marriage frighten you that much?”
“No, the possibility of failing at marriage for the second time did. I had to convince myself that this time it would last forever. I owed that to you and the children and to myself.”
“What convinced you?”
“You, and something Casanova said last night. Basically, he said you weren’t a quitter and insinuated that I should know that from seeing you in action the last few days. He was right. You are not only brave, smart and beautiful, but you never once gave up when faced with a killer. I knew if you love me the way I love you, we’ll find a way to work out our differences and stay together.”
She snuggled against him. “Just try to get rid of me, but I do have a few questions.”
“Shoot.”
“I haven’t been able to figure out how Hammonds managed to survive the strangling when none of Darby’s other victims did.”
“A lot of luck. He caught her off guard and hit her over the head with something heavy. No one is sure what. Anyway, when she passed out from the blow to the head, he thought she was dead. He grabbed Timmy and took off before he’d tightened the scarf enough to fully cut off her oxygen supply.”
“And what about Gabriel? Did he ever talk to you?”
“A little. He remembers calling Sherry and getting no answer. He knows he went to her house after that and found her strangled body. Beyond that, the facts are foggy. He doesn’t remember taking the scarf from around her neck and tucking her into bed, but the prints at the scene indicate that’s probably what happened. And the pattern of bloodstains indicates he fell and hit his head against the bed railing, probably while trying to get her under the covers.” Jack kissed a spot at the nape of her neck. “Any more questions?”
“Yes. There’s still Bobby. How did he fit into all of this?”
“I’d still be working on that myself if Bobby hadn’t finally decided to talk. He said Darby started hanging out at the casinos and bars that Bobby frequented. He convinced Bobby to choose a couple of names out of
your files and use the information to his own benefit. He chose Gabriel and Carolina Taylor.”
“Good choices. They both had plenty of money and lots of skeletons in their closets.”
“Exactly. Lots of blackmail ammunition.”
“And I was convinced he was just a hardworking young secretary.” Next time she’d be a lot more careful in employee selection. “Obviously, Gregory didn’t bite.”
“No. According to Bobby, he didn’t really care who his wife slept with as long as he could do what he wanted. Gabriel didn’t buy into blackmail either, but he offered to pay Bobby big bucks if he’d snoop on Sherry. Bobby took him up on the offer. He followed Sherry after work, and that’s how he knew she was seeing her partner, and how he knew they flew out to Chicago together.”
“And Bobby shared all of the dirty facts with Darby.”
“Right again. Darby wanted to hurt you, and he planned to do that by making you feel responsible for the murders he committed.”
“So it could just as easily have been Carolina he killed?”
“Or anyone else you knew, even Lucy. Instead, he used Lucy to find out the details of your life, to get into your house, and to become close to your children. I’m sure he even took her keys long enough to have a set made for himself after we caught him at the window.”
“That’s why he was able to walk in that night and leave the wrapped package on Rebecca’s bed.” Susan shuddered. “He said he was evil, and he proved it over and over. Even with my father. But I’ll be thankful forever that he didn’t hurt Timmy.”
“And that he didn’t kill you.” Jack buried his mouth in her hair.
Susan nestled in his arms. “I have one question left.”
“What’s that?”
“Remember that first night when you came to my house in a Santa Claus suit? You weren’t really moonlighting at the mall, were you?”
“Of course not.”
“Then why were you dressed like that?”
“The truth?”
“The truth.”
He nibbled her earlobe. “I’m Santa Claus,” he whispered. “Didn’t I bring you everything you wanted for Christmas?”
“Not yet,” she whispered, “but if you hurry, we still have time.” She found his lips with hers and kissed him, passion already simmering inside her.
He stood and swooped her into his arms. “Have you been a good little girl?” he whispered, starting up the stairs to her bedroom.
“Not as good as I plan to be in the next few minutes. What do you have to say about that, Santa?”
He smiled, the devilish, devastating smile that signaled the roller coaster was about to take off. She held on tight.
“Ho, ho, ho,” he said, his voice low and sexy, and raspy with desire. “Merry Christmas.”
And indeed it was.
eISBN: 978-14592-6184-6
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS
Copyright © 1998 by Jo Ann Vest
All rights reserved Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontano, Canada M3B 3K9
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A
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Printed in U.S.A.
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Table of Contents
Excerpt
About the Author
Books by Joanna Wayne
Dedication
Cast of Characters
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Copyright
