The woman’s ambivalent personality made it almost impossible to maintain a good relationship. Nevertheless, Fee understood that whatever drove her to mayhem was uncontrollable and didn’t discriminate. Daphne had been caught in Kendall’s all-encompassing net, at the ultimate cost. Kendall would condemn herself for Daphne’s death before somehow laying the blame on Meggie.
After witnessing Kendall’s behavior at the dinner, Fee believed Kendall would fault Meggie for every calamity that befell her. In spite of, or maybe because of, Fee’s affinity to both of them, she felt responsible for this entire situation. If she would’ve done the job Christopher hired her to do, this could’ve been avoided.
More than that, Kendall was family, and families stuck together, no matter what.
Keeping that uppermost in her mind, Fee arrived at Kendall’s house bright and early. Without speaking, Jane opened the door and let her in.
Fee straightened her shoulders, in no mood for the housekeeper’s snobbery. “Would you please tell Mrs. Donovan I’m here?”
Before Jane answered, Johnnie strolled down the hall, changing direction when he spotted Fee. “Hold on a minute, Ella,” he said as the nanny rushed to catch up to him. “Fee, what are you doing here?”
“I didn’t know you were here,” Fee responded.
“I was trying to settle my wife before I left.”
Fee nodded. “I-I’m concerned about her, too.” At his lifted brow, she cleared her throat. “Um, you know, after what happened yesterday.”
“Nothing’s a secret in the club,” he said tightly, clearly unamused.
Fee wouldn’t mention Meggie’s call, especially in front of Jane and Ella. “I’ve come to check on Kendall.”
Bending, Johnnie kissed her cheek, the anger lifting from his features. “Thanks, Fee. She can use a friend.”
If only Kendall believed that she did have friends in both Fee and Meggie. “Where is she?”
“She’ll appear at any moment,” Johnnie answered. “I convinced her to come down for coffee. Why don’t we go to the kitchen to wait for her?”
“Sure.” Without waiting, Fee headed to the kitchen and pressed the button on the simple coffeemaker. Simple, according to Kendall’s standards. After leaning against the counter, Fee realized how comfortable she’d made herself, as if she still worked there. “I’m sorry for overstepping my bounds,” she said to Johnnie, who’d followed her.
“You’re fine, sweetheart.” Johnnie faced the nanny. Fee was happy Jane chose not to go into the kitchen with them. “Ella, my wife’s not feeling well today, so take special care to keep Rory away from her and Matilda quiet.”
“Of course, Mr. Donovan,” Ella responded, then straightened, a step away from standing at attention and saluting as Kendall shuffled into the kitchen. “Oh, Mrs. Donovan,” she clucked. “Good morning, ma’am.”
Tears streaked Kendall’s puffy eyes and she sniffled, rubbing a lacy handkerchief across her reddened nose. “Morning, Ella,” she mumbled, trancelike and wide-eyed.
“I was just going to Mr. Rory and Miss Matilda.”
“Hi, Kendall,” Fee said, ignoring Ella bustling away.
Kendall’s gaze fell on Fee and recognition cleared her face. “Fee? Oh, Fee,” she sobbed, rushing to Fee and throwing her arms around her. “He killed her. He shot her! He shot her.” She wailed so pitifully that tears rushed to Fee’s eyes. “He killed her.”
Johnnie pulled Kendall into his arms and stroked her hair, crooning softly to her. “It’s not your fault, gorgeous.”
“No, it isn’t,” Fee agreed.
“Yes, it is!” Kendall shrieked wildly. “I wanted…Oh my God! I used her to…and now… I can’t believe…she’s dead!”
“Let’s have coffee at the table.” Johnnie guided Kendall to the dining room and onto a chair, then sat on the seat next to her and took her hand in his. “Fee, get her some coffee.”
Fee rushed to do Johnnie’s bidding, ignoring Jane’s hawk-eyed stare. Being a recommendation from Charlotte explained Jane’s disapproval and made her easy to ignore. When she returned to the dining room, she found Kendall leaning on Johnnie’s shoulder, sobbing softly.
“I have your coffee, Kendall.” Fee set the mug near her.
“Gorgeous, I have to leave,” Johnnie told her. “Christopher’s called a meeting, and I have to be there.” He turned to Fee. “Can you stay until I return?”
“Oh, absolutely,” she answered without hesitation, her heart breaking for Kendall.
Standing, Johnnie bent and kissed her on the mouth. “See, sweetheart? No one’s angry with you, especially not Fee.”
“Thank you, Fee,” Kendall said on a sniffle. “I’m so sorry I fired you.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Fee said, sitting next to Kendall, in the seat Johnnie had occupied. “We’re family—”
“I’ll call you as soon as I can,” Johnnie interrupted, planting another kiss on Kendall’s lips before strolling out of the room.
“Oh, Fee.” Kendall sucked in a breath.
“It’s okay,” Fee reassured her, taking her hand and squeezing. “Go back to bed until you feel better.”
“Yes, but come with me. Please, don’t leave me. Christopher might’ve called Johnnie away from the house to come in and murder me.”
“No! Christopher wouldn’t shoot you in cold blood. You have to stop stressing.”
Instead of responding, Kendall got up and stumbled out of the room, leaving Fee no choice but to follow her. In the bedroom, Fee once again admired the gray and black décor, huge bed, elaborate chandelier, and stone fireplace. While Fee headed to the sofa, Kendall threw herself across the bed.
“Remember the baby.”
“That’s so easy for you to say. All of it! You haven’t pissed off that fucking barbarian. I never thought he’d kill her! He’s an abusive liar. He always claimed he’d never hurt women. I knew he did. My worry for Meggie was justified, but all the stupid cunt ever does is protect him.”
“Kendall, stop! Meggie isn’t what you called her. My brother isn’t abusive. From what I understand, he warned Daphne to back off several times.” According to Meggie. Since she had no reason to lie, Fee believed her. “Daphne chose to continue with her stupid games for whatever reason. Her death is on her. It isn’t your fault and it isn’t Meggie’s fault.”
“It is my fault. I believed Christopher when he said he didn’t hurt women.”
“If you believed him, then why is it so hard to believe Meggie when she says my brother doesn’t abuse her?”
“What does that matter?” Kendall cried. “I trusted him, and Daphne trusted me, and I got her killed.”
Getting up, Fee went to the bed and sat on it, rubbing Kendall’s back. She ran through what might soothe Kendall’s guilt and panic. “It wasn’t your fault,” she insisted again, needing to reiterate that until it got through to Kendall.
“Then whose was it?”
“Daphne’s,” she reminded her.
Kendall face-planted on a loud moan.
Worried, Fee furrowed her brow. “Um, and Christopher’s.”
“How did you reach that conclusion?” Still face down, Kendall was hard to understand, her words muffled by the comforter.
“Daphne didn’t have to comply with your schemes.”
Kendall lifted her head and glanced over her shoulder. Fee continued to rub her back. “Well, no, but how is it Christopher’s fault? He’s your brother. Why would you even blame him?”
That should’ve been obvious. “He’s the one who shot her,” Fee said on a sigh. “She complied with your demands to fuck over him and his marriage. You both knew that wasn’t smart. Anything affecting Meggie is taboo. She gambled her life for money, and lost.” It had to have been a lot of money for Daphne to risk herself as she had.
“So Christopher shot her,” Kendall sneered, vacillating between despair and disgust. “He disregarded the fact that she was a woman. Now…now…oh my God!” she sobbed. “He’ll p
robably kill me.” Her voice trembled as tears slid down her cheeks.
Fee had never seen Kendall in such a state, disheveled and falling apart. She’d never seen her so vulnerable and genuinely afraid.
Leaning over, she got a tissue from a silver holder and passed it to Kendall. “Dry your eyes,” she said gently. “Christopher won’t kill you.”
“He will! He hates me. He’s been wanting me dead since first meeting me. What will become of my children when he murders me? I don’t want Meggie raising them. She’s the first person Johnnie will run to. Then she’ll have both of them.” Kendall bolted upright and grabbed Fee’s shirt. “Oh my God! You have to hide me before he hunts me down, ravishes me, and then strangles me.”
Ravish?
“Or…or…or stabs me two hundred times, and keeps my head as a trophy. Or…”
“Kendall!” Fee screeched. “Stop it. Are you listening to yourself? You’re becoming hysterical.”
“No one’s threatening to have sex with you before shooting you twenty times.”
Fee shook her. “No one’s threatening to do any of that to you. Stop it before you make yourself sick.”
“I’m so terrified,” she screamed. “Tell me how to save my life. Johnnie’s life. Christopher is going to blow the back of Johnnie’s head off, take me without mercy, and then cut me into small, little pieces, taking chunks out of me while I’m still alive.”
“Listen to me,” Fee shouted, shaking her again before taking her wet cheeks between her hands. “It’s over. All right? I promise you have nothing to worry about. If my brother wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead.”
Her lips trembling, Kendall thought for a moment, then swallowed. “W-would I?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he spare me? He shot Johnnie.”
“He shot him, but he didn’t kill him. You know why? We’re family. Family. We. Are. Family. Christopher’s really big on family. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, what you’ll do, he won’t hurt you. He holds family in the highest regard. You’re Johnnie’s wife and you’re pregnant. If one of those facts doesn’t save you, then the other will.”
“Right.” Kendall pulled away from Fee’s hold and squeezed her tissue into a ball. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, like a light went off in her head. “You’re right.” New confidence strengthened her tone. “If he killed me, he’d hurt Johnnie. He wouldn’t do that. No matter what I do, just like you said.” Smiling, she sat up and hugged Fee. “The barbaric Neanderthal.”
“Kendall!”
“I…all right…I’ll lay off the name calling.”
“Please do. Now, what would you like to do until Johnnie returns? Do you want to shower and then spend some time with Rory and Matilda?”
“Spend time with them doing what?”
“Reading to them or playing peek-a-boo.” In the year after Rory’s birth, Kendall had been a good friend, a loving mother, and an attentive wife. “Whatever you’ve done with them in the past.”
Sadness entering her eyes, she bit down on her lip. For a moment, Fee thought she’d agree, that she recalled how she’d been just a few months ago.
Kendall shook her head, dashing Fee’s hopes. “That’s what I pay Ella for. I need a shower, then we can have a light lunch. Please, tell Jane to prepare something for us. I guess Charlotte and I will have to rethink how to get my partnership back.”
Shocked into speechlessness at Kendall’s announcement, Fee dropped her mouth open. Minutes ago, Kendall had been in genuine fear for her life. Until Fee’s reassurances buoyed Kendall back to her scheming.
When she settled down, she’d realize she wasn’t at risk, but Charlotte was.
Fee headed to the kitchen, satisfied that her cousin-in-law and ex-boss no longer feared Christopher. The woman not only felt better, but intended to proceed on, as though Daphne’s killing never happened
Fee might admire Kendall, but she’d never understand the workings of her mind.
Later that evening, Fee leaned against Cash’s sofa and sighed, filled up from delicious sandwiches. She’d left Kendall on a high note, acting as though the shooting never happened. Reassuring Fee of her return to normalcy, Kendall insisted Fee leave right after their mushroom omelet. Aware of the futility of arguing with Kendall, Fee left. She’d intended to stay in for the rest of the day, until Cash called and invited her over.
“Kendall said she’s responsible for Daphne’s death.”
“She is.” Stretch refused to offer leeway.
Kendall wasn’t Cash or Stretch’s favorite person, another issue Fee took partial responsibility for. If she’d kept her mouth shut, they wouldn’t have been further alienated from Johnnie’s wife. Fee had been so worried about Kendall following through with her blackmail she’d had to warn her men.
Fee cleared her throat. “Daphne didn’t have to agree to Kendall’s demands,” she argued, still unable to imagine what would possess Daphne to such a stupid decision.
“Daphne did it for the money,” Cash explained, as if he read Fee’s mind. “It does her no good now. Something I tried my best to explain to her. She was so fucking hardheaded.”
Fee didn’t want to begrudge Cash mourning a dead woman. Except, a burst of shameful jealousy went through her. Cash wasn’t a man who showed his feelings. But the regret on his face and the sadness in his eyes spoke volumes. He must’ve cared about Daphne more than he admitted.
Sobered at her continued insecurity, Fee took the conversation in another direction.
“Do you think we should’ve told Christopher? Maybe, if we had told him at first, Daphne would still be alive.”
Stretch slid closer to her. “Don’t feel guilty, sweetheart. Daphne made her choice. If you’d confessed to Outlaw, he still would’ve killed her.”
“Along with me, Stretch, and Kendall,” Cash added. “And he might not have forgiven you. We’re all in collusion.”
Fee wrinkled her nose. “He wouldn’t have killed Kendall. She’s family.”
Stretch shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s over. Daphne’s dead. Hopefully, Kendall has finally learned her lesson.”
That would be a no. “Christopher wouldn’t hurt her,” Fee insisted, concerned she’d given Kendall the wrong advice. “He couldn’t live with himself. Don’t you think he regrets killing Daphne now that he’s calmed down?”
Cash snorted. “Fuck no.”
Absently, Stretch rubbed his leg. “I believe he’d regret killing Kendall because of Johnnie.”
“Over lunch, Kendall told me she had to take sleeping pills to erase the image from her mind. Knowing she was behind Daphne’s appearance, she also said Johnnie didn’t talk to her.” Today, though, he seemed to have been so worried about her.
Fee was learning how Kendall exaggerated matters. Then, again, she’d witnessed Johnnie’s anger firsthand at the restaurant.
If anything good came out of the deaths of her sisters and nieces, it was the secrets she was uncovering about her family. Christopher and Johnnie were less god-like in Fee’s eyes. They were real men with a gamut of feelings. Johnnie wasn’t always easy going, and Christopher wasn’t always serious. Zoann wasn’t only her sister, but her equal.
Somewhere, deep down, Fee had known that. She’d just never taken the time to recognize it.
“Johnnie not talking to Kendall won’t help her frame-of-mind.” Stretch shook his head. “It’ll make her worse.”
An image of Charlotte Redding rose in Fee’s head. Charlotte was the bad news, the one egging Kendall on, convincing her that she knew best. “Roxy hasn’t been calling Kendall, so, of course, Charlotte is pointing out that she wasn’t really her friend. She’s playing on Kendall’s insecurities. I don’t know what to do.”
“Stay out of it, Fee,” Stretch ordered. “You came out of this situation unscathed. Don’t fall for Kendall’s bullshit again. She’s on a collision course with Outlaw.”
Yeah, if she went through with her plans. “Should I go to Johnnie
again?”
Cash shook his head. In his chair, enjoying his beer, his presence filled the room, drawing attention as always. He seemed casual, almost unconcerned, but Fee knew he took in every detail of the conversation, every movement she made. A predator scoping out his prey. Her body responded as much to the danger Cash represented as it did to the protection she perceived from Stretch. The more time they spent together, the closer she felt to them. Stretch surprised her the most.
Underneath his gentleness was a man who enjoyed pleasure. His vulnerability gave the perception of weakness. In reality, he was as strong as any of the men in her life.
Cash and Stretch. Strength and serenity. Her lost boys.
“Johnnie will be watching Kendall closely now,” Cash interrupted her thoughts. “With Daphne’s death, there’s not much Kendall can do on her own. What’s done is done, babe. Let’s not spend the rest of our evening talking about Kendall and Daphne.”
“Cash is right, Fee. Do you want something to drink?” Stretch asked, standing. “There’s more beer in the fridge, as well as white wine.”
“I’ll have a beer,” she answered.
Cash’s sudden torrid stare sent heat rushing to Fee’s cheeks. She wanted them so bad. In wordless agreement, they hadn’t made love in weeks, focusing on getting to know each other, truly listening to how their day had gone, their likes and dislikes, what made the other laugh.
So far, more serious issues hadn’t been addressed. That needed to change. If she knew Cash lined up his beers in a certain manner because it relaxed him, then she should know about the end game to revealing their relationship. She shouldn’t feel paranoid—jealous—over a dead woman.
Stretch handed her an opened bottle, then reseated himself close to her.
“Thank you,” she said, tasting her drink. “Delicious.”
“Not as delicious as your lips would be,” Cash murmured in his deep timbre, setting butterflies off in her lower belly.
Death Dwellers Motorcycle Club:: Fifteen Bad Boy Biker Books Page 325
