“Morgan.” Her voice held soft surprise.
“Lilly, may I come in?” His voice was also soft, but underlying the quiet was a husky urgency. He held his hat in one hand, and it looked like wind or worry had tousled his hair. A grim line formed his mouth, and his eyes sparked with an edge of temper.
She glanced beyond him and to both sides, half expecting to see someone else with him, but he was alone. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to try and convince my father to allow you back in our house. My mother and sister want you back.”
What about you? She bit back the question. “But your father thinks I’m a menace.”
What could he say to that? Surely nothing. “May I come in,” he said again.
She stepped back, and when he entered, he closed the door behind him. Awareness jolted through her. His big body, his powerful arms, his masculine scent and presence—it all wrapped around her with solidity and created chaos. She wanted him here, nearby. She wanted to taste him again, and to feel his power enclosing her in comfort and safety. Yet she knew whatever delicious feelings he offered could only last a short time. Nothing lasting could come from such a liaison.
“And has your father consented to my return?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?” she asked, disappointed.
“It’s been a very long day. May I sit down?” He walked to the bed and tossed his hat upon it.
She looked at the hat, certain she’d heard a man tossing his hat on a woman’s bed meant he planned to seduce her. “You may not, sir. If anyone catches you in my room—”
“I know. I didn’t come here to talk about societal expectations. I care little for it.”
“Refreshing.” She’d always wanted to use that word, and she honestly meant it. “But so many others do, and it makes it difficult to operate in any other way than to be aware of it ourselves.”
A smile sculpted that handsome mouth. “You are a wonder, Lilly.” He took a step nearer. “A wonder.”
His praise sent a new tingle straight through her body. It burned in her belly, in her feminine softness and tingled in her breasts. It created a tumultuous craving she feared and yearned for in one breath. “Thank you.”
He sobered and walked to her window. He pushed the gray curtains farther aside to allow in more light and stared outside. “I’m here to stop you from going into the forest to look for Oleta Franklin.”
“Why?”
“It’s freezing and it’s not safe. You could get hurt.”
“No one is safe, Mr. Healy. We all walk unprotected day to day. Anything can happen.”
“True. But I’ll be damned if you wander off into that forest alone.”
“Wait. How did you know I was going to look for her?”
“You said you had to talk to Nurse Summit, and after that I figured you would do whatever you could to search for Oleta. First I wanted to see if I could convince my father to let you come back to the house.”
She shook her head. “There’s nothing for it. Do not distract yourself with that plan for a moment more.”
He moved closer. “What will you do now?”
“Continue living here. What else can I do?”
“Take on another position outside of the asylum.”
She blinked. “In all honesty, I hadn’t given it thought. I believed I would have a secure position in your household. It never occurred to me I’d be sent back here. Foolish of me.”
He was too close again. She wanted to reach out and touch him.
“You cannot give up, Lilly. There’s more of a life for you outside this place.”
“Is there?” For the first time in a long time, her confidence plummeted. “Whether that’s true or not, I have a new mission.”
“What?”
“I have to find out what happened to Oleta.”
“Leave it to the police.”
“They don’t know what I know.”
She half expected him to scoff. “What do you know?”
“You understand. You already know what I told you at the house.”
“You don’t expect anyone to take that seriously, do you?”
“No. But I do, and that’s all that matters. I don’t need you or anyone else to assist me.” She headed for her wardrobe. She pulled out her long coat and started to shrug into it.
“Where are you going?” Morgan’s question filled with warning.
“As I said, to look for clues to Oleta’s demise.”
“Are you so sure she’s dead?”
She headed past him, pulling on her hat and gloves. She’d be warm enough. “Yes.”
He stepped in front of her. “You’re not going out there.”
“But—”
“Don’t.” Gently but quickly, he snatched her into his arms. “Please.” His hard body cradled hers, pulled her close against muscle and heat. “Not without me.”
Her hands pressed against his chest. “What do you care, Mr. Healy? It’s none of your concern. I’m none of your concern. Besides you don’t believe she’s dead. You don’t believe me.”
“I’m not letting you do this. You might get hurt.”
“Mr. Healy, it’s not your concern now.”
“Damn it,” he whispered softly, his husky words stirring fires inside her. “Call me Morgan.”
Before she could protest, his mouth covered hers. Lilly’s shock disappeared, banished by Morgan’s touch. His arms molded her along hard muscles. Liquid heat poured into her belly as his mouth warmed hers. His last kiss had thrown her body into heat, but this embrace destroyed all her imaginings about a man’s embrace. Unlike the deep but controlled tastes he’d given her before, Morgan’s lips demanded more. He teased, brushed, molded her lips into submission. Pleasure sparkled across her skin. Her lips tingled as he twisted his mouth across hers. His hands smoothed with gentle pressure up and down her back. His tongue pressed deep into her mouth, and she moaned in surprise as he teased her. She’d never imagined a kiss with the power to imprison her thoughts and cause her body to crave. His tongue stroked hers with slow, languorous attention. The steady, drugging kiss splintered her senses and stole her breath. Clutching at his coat, she savored the sweet, burning longing that swamped her. Her arms went around his neck and she held on for dear life.
Morgan broke away, his eyes blazing into hers. His chest rose and fell with each quick breath, and his lips parted. He released her and turned away. He placed his hands on his hips, hung his head and heaved a deep breath.
Shame mixed with wonder and confusion. Awareness coursed through her body. Her cheeks were flushed, her entire self hot with need. Deep between her legs, Lilly felt wet and tingling. She longed for more and feared it. How had they come to this point? “Morgan?”
Before he could turn to her or speak, Mrs. Angel opened the door and walked in. Lilly groaned internally. Just what they needed.
Mrs. Angel glared, but then, when did she do anything else? “Mr. Healy! What are you doing in Lilly’s room?”
Morgan’s frown was as thunderous as Mrs. Angel’s. “None of your concern.”
Mrs. Angel seemed to puff up as she humphed. “How dare you, sir? You know the rules.”
“I don’t care.” His voice was clipped, and for the first time, Lilly saw his anger directed with precise sharpness. “Lilly will be coming back to the Healy estate this evening.”
Mrs. Angel hadn’t expected this, Lilly could see. The older woman’s frown deepened and she huffed. “Well!”
With that, Mrs. Angel slammed the door.
Lilly was mortified and gratified all at once. “She’ll tell Nurse Summit everything.”
He nodded, but ignored her concern. “Lilly, you have to come back to the house with me.”
“But your father won’t approve.” She burned inside with a need to know one simple thing. “Do you want me to come back for your sister?”
His gaze darted from side to side. “She needs someone who understands h
ow a disturbed mind works.”
“No one in your household believes she’s disturbed.”
“They believe it. They just won’t say it like I will. My sister has been disturbed for ten years, and I don’t see her getting better. If anything, she’s getting worse.”
Lilly couldn’t deny it, and if she could get Masterson Healy to take her back, she could continue her crusade. Such as it was. “All right. But I need you to see something first.”
* * *
“I cannot believe I’m agreeing to this,” Morgan said as they arrived at the basement door.
Light danced off his face—the lamp he held illuminated the walls and space around them. Granted, she didn’t need the light, but he would. She’d decided not to tell him. He wouldn’t understand. Too much information at one time could send him running into the night away from her forever.
Morgan, though, seemed a little too clever for that. “What else aren’t you telling me?”
Feathers. “I mentioned it to you before. I can see in the dark. I don’t need that lamp, but I know you do.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
She sighed. “I know it doesn’t seem possible. I think it’s from years of coming down here. I don’t understand it either.” She struggled to explain. “It’s like I can see through the darkness of evil.”
Morgan sighed. “That’s physically impossible. I told you that when you fell down the stairs at my home.”
“Then extinguish the lamp and I’ll show you.”
He shook his head, superior in his knowledge that she couldn’t see in the dark. “What else aren’t you telling me?”
“You will see when we get down here.”
In the dancing light his eyes continued their skeptical gleam. “Very well. Carry on.” He clasped her arm lightly. “Wait. The basement has never been used for more than storage. I want to know why it’s so important we see this like it’s some big secret.”
“You honestly haven’t been in here before, have you?”
“Didn’t seem necessary.”
“Well, you’ll see that’s not true in a minute. Your father has secrets from you.” Lilly faced away from him and twisted the doorknob.
“Isn’t it normally locked?”
“It’s open, just as it always is for me. Catherine opens it for me when she knows I’m coming.”
“None of this makes any sense. Who is this Catherine?”
“Remember, I mentioned her, too. Catherine Renlow.” When he’d agreed to come down here, she’d felt elation that someone besides Oleta would finally know the secret she’d harbored when Catherine had told her years ago that so many women had been killed at the Healy household and brought to this basement. She might as well tell him everything. Lilly hadn’t expected Morgan to agree to her plan, and now that they’d made it to the basement door, her heartbeat tripled.
As they entered and walked past the cell doors, her heartbeat tripled. She heard Morgan mutter. “Jesus.”
“I doubt Jesus had anything to do with this.”
He held the lamp high and stopped at the second set of cells. “These are like ... prison cells at a penitentiary.”
“Are they? I’ve read about places like Trans Allegheny State Penitentiary.”
“I’ve been to a penitentiary. My father took me to one when I was a boy. He was trying to impress upon me that if I didn’t grow up, I would find myself in one. I’ll never forget it.” He touched a cell door and it creaked, a screaming that made her flinch. “There were men inside the cells of course.”
“I’m certain it was disturbing.”
He strode into one cell and stared at the handcuffs and chains hanging from the walls. “God, this is barbaric.” He turned to her, his face a mask of anger and confusion. “Are you saying these cells are still used on patients? That my father knows about this?”
“You know these types of restraints were used in the past in many places. Why would this place be any different?”
“Because my father assured me that wasn’t happening here.”
“Do you believe everything he says?”
Disillusionment scarred his face. “Not anymore.”
“I only wanted you to understand what’s happened here.”
“Have people been subjected to these filthy pens lately?”
“No, thank goodness. But I think that has more to do with Oleta and Nurse Summit than anything. They’ve kept the more violent patients in hand.”
“Is this all you wanted to show me?”
“No. There’s more. Perhaps if we’re lucky, you’ll also see Catherine.”
When they reached the main part of the basement, she gazed around for any sign of Catherine. For any ghost. She didn’t even feel their presence. “They aren’t here right now.”
“Who?”
“The ghosts.”
“Are you trying to tell me there are ghosts down here?”
She smiled indulgently. “More than just Catherine, yes. But I doubt you’ll believe me unless you see one for yourself.”
“I told you, I don’t believe in ghosts.”
“I know.” She gestured to the floor. “Do you believe in this?”
Thirteen corpse-length areas dotted the floor in neat rows.
“These are the graves of thirteen people. Thirteen women killed in your house,” Lilly said softly.
“Jesus,” he whispered. “It can’t be.”
“Catherine, are you here?” Lilly asked, hoping the woman would show herself to him.
“Yes,” Catherine’s voice came from behind them.
Lilly jerked around. “Catherine. It’s good to see you.”
Morgan’s gaze darted from side to side. “Whom are you talking to?”
“Catherine Renlow. The first companion hired for your sister. She guards these graves, including her own. She can’t leave here until justice is done.”
“That is ridiculous.” He set the lamp on a wooden crate.
Frustration made her speak sharply. “I know this is difficult for you to believe, but it is the truth.”
He planted his hands on his hips, sarcasm in his tone. “And a ghost named Catherine Renlow told you all this?”
“He cannot see me Lilly.” Catherine’s form faltered, wavering. “He won’t see me until he finds a body. Tell him now.”
Lilly pointed at the spots on the floor. “As I said, these are the graves of the women who’ve disappeared over the years.”
Morgan stepped over the graves, his brows lowered and his eyes narrowed. “You are not serious. Graves?”
“What do they look like to you?”
“I don’t know, but they could be anything.”
“Really? Anything?” Lilly asked.
“You aren’t operating on logic right now. You honestly want me to believe there is this entire conspiracy of deceit and murder here at this asylum?”
“Yes. And Oleta died because of it. Perhaps she said something to your father about these graves.”
His face twisted for a moment as her words hit him. “My god. Are you saying someone in my family—that my father is responsible for these so-called killings? These graves?”
She’d done it now. Hitting him with the truth might have been a mistake. She looked toward Catherine, but she’d disappeared.
The disgust on his face said it all. “I was mistaken in coming down here. In everything. Forget everything I said about you coming back to the house.”
She should have suspected he’d react this way. “I’m not lying to you. That’s why I came to your home to be Patricia’s companion. Because I want to find out who murdered these women.”
“And you think someone in my family murdered thirteen women?”
Chills ran up and down her back. Morgan’s eyes almost flickered in the lamplight. She pressed on with the truth despite the fear that had started to dance around inside her. “Yes.”
Anger returned to his face and burned in his eyes. He snatched the lantern off the b
ox. “That’s it. I’m finished with this. You do belong in this asylum, Lilly. You’re as loony as they say.”
Without another word, he turned and left.
Chapter 19
Lilly spent the better part of a day trying to reacclimatize to the asylum. She ached to return to the outside world, no matter what hazards could live there. Whatever safety she’d imagined resided in the asylum had disappeared. She recalled her conversation with Morgan yesterday and her heart splintered all over again.
Wilma Hancock walked toward Lilly down the first floor ward, and Lilly considered running the other way. Mrs. Hancock grabbed Lilly’s arm and hauled her to the side of the hallway between two rooms.
Lilly eased her arm from the woman’s loose grip. “What’s wrong?”
“What is wrong?” Hair stuck up in several places on Wilma’s head, as if she’d run her fingers through her hair repeatedly or never combed it in the first place. “What isn’t wrong? I wanted you to know the truth before you go out in the big world.”
Lilly braced herself for delusion. “Oh?”
“Simple is an evil town. It’s infected with lust, avarice, hate, fornication, deviousness, and spite.”
“Sounds like every town I’ve read about.” Lilly wondered how long the older woman’s rant would last and hoped to cut it off at the pass before she had to listen to the whole pie.
“No, it’s worse than any other nearby. The evil explains why I’m here.”
All right, perhaps Lilly had misjudged the woman. She’d been certain Mrs. Hancock’s husband had done the woman a disservice committing her to Tranquil View. Perhaps not. Lilly had a feeling she wouldn’t get away from this conversation, so she resigned herself. “Simple caused your commitment?”
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