Shadows Wait

by Denise A. Agnew

  He watched her expectantly. She shifted in her chair and kept her hands clasped, the prim and proper about her demanding she do so. “I could tell you, but I doubt you’d believe me, and you certainly wouldn’t do anything about it.”

  “Humph.” He placed his hands on the table and twiddled his thumbs. “I like you Miss Luna, but if you don’t tell me what you know, I’ll have to lock you away as an accessory to murder. You understand that?”

  She sighed, understood in that moment that by telling the truth she had put herself in a more precarious spot than if she’d lied. “The Healy family murdered her.”

  His eyes widened, and she saw the disbelief and discomfort spreading within him. “Don’t be making up wild accusations you can’t back up.”

  “They may be wild accusations, Sheriff, but I can back them up.”

  His eyes narrowed, and he tilted his chin up slightly as he assessed what she’d said. “How?”

  Suddenly the peace she’d held within started to crumble. She trembled on the brink, afraid down to her bones. She wouldn’t dare show it. Wouldn’t let it consume her.

  “They buried the bodies in the basement of the asylum.”

  Now he did look shocked. Incredulous. “That is a mighty heavy statement. They said some mighty heavy things about you.”

  “What did they say?”

  “Dr. Healy informed me that you tried to seduce his son. That you were a bad influence on his daughter. He thinks you’re dangerous.”

  Part of her didn’t feel the least surprised Healy had said she posed a danger. “I can only tell you that I didn’t try to seduce his son, and I’m quite sure Morgan Healy is capable of taking care of himself. And, if anything, Patricia Healy was a danger to me.”

  Lilly jumped off the cliff and told the sheriff about Patricia’s strange thought processes, and how thirteen women had gone missing in ten years and all of them were connected with Patricia Healy.

  “Don’t you find that strange, Sheriff?”

  He started twiddling his thumbs again. “Well, first off, none of them went missing. They just left.”

  “No one, not even family that expected them, has ever seen them again.”

  He nodded. “It leans toward worrisome, but I don’t see how that proves the Healy family killed them all.”

  She leaned forward, passion for her subject making her bolder. “Go into the basement at the asylum. That’s where you’ll find all the proof you need.”

  “So you’re telling me that someone in the Healy family killed those women for some lame brained reason?”

  “Yes. With one exception. Morgan Healy. He would never be a party to any of that.”

  Sheriff grunted. “Well, let me tell you something, young lady. I haven’t had much experience with killings like that or people that evil. But I can tell you what I do know. Most people who do things like that are young men Morgan Healy’s age. So if there’s anyone I’d suspect the most, it would be him.”

  She drew in a deep breath and tried to calm the sick feeling gathering in her stomach. “No, Morgan would never harm a woman.”

  “Miss Luna, do you think you could be swept away by an infatuation for him? That could make you believe things about him that aren’t true.”

  Outside, the wind howled, as if a pack of wolves stood outside and cried for retribution. “I’ve lived with people for years, Sheriff, who have avarice, greed, hate, and misery in their hearts. And some who have love and patience and kindness in their hearts. I think I know insanity when I see it. Patricia Healy is highly disturbed, and her father ...” She swallowed. “Her father is a cruel man with no heart. Her mother seems like a good woman. Morgan is a good man.”

  He shifted his chair back, and Lilly tensed. But the sheriff didn’t rise. He stared at her and he stared. Finally, he spoke. “You want me to take your word, with no evidence whatsoever, that someone in the Healy family killed all those women?”

  “Yes.”

  He shook his head. “I’ll tell you what I think. I don’t believe you’re the woman Dr. Healy says you are. I know his kind. He has a lot of power over a good portion of this town, and pretty much anything he wants done gets done. But he doesn’t have that power over me. I make up my own mind about people and situations. I think you went to the Healy household and got in over your head dealing with things you don’t understand. But I can’t go barging into the asylum ready to dig up the basement with no proof. So I’m going to let you go with a warning.”

  Relief didn’t come to her yet. “Warning?”

  “Keep your pretty little nose out of Healy business or you’re likely to get hurt. Stay at the asylum if you have to. Go back to helping the loonies up there. Or leave Simple and find some other life. My deputy and I found you in a cabin alone with Morgan Healy. While I wouldn’t gossip, I can’t say the same about my deputy or anyone else. Your life isn’t going to be worth much in Simple.”

  The air was expectant and cold with the dread and ugliness seeping through the pores of this building. She shook inside trying to withstand it, her strength sapped away. If ever there was a time she felt defeated, it was now.

  Someone knocked on the door.

  Chapter 24

  The sheriff stood and headed for the door. “This better be good.”

  He opened it and Morgan stood there. Sweet relief overwhelmed Lilly, wrapping around her like the strength of Morgan’s arms. His gaze went past the sheriff and tangled with hers. Within his eyes she saw worry and determination.

  “What the hell is going on here? I demand you let her go,” Morgan said.

  “Sorry, Sheriff,” Mrs. Gamble said from behind Morgan. “He just barged in here demanding to see you and Miss Luna.”

  The sheriff backed away from the door and allowed Morgan to enter.

  “Miss Luna is free to go.” The sheriff gestured toward her. “I’m finished questioning her.”

  Surprise flickered over Morgan’s face for a moment. “Good.”

  She didn’t hesitate to don her coat, hat, and gloves. Outside the wind protested and writhed enough she could hear it even in this room. Within moments they were out the door. Surprised at how easy it had been to exit the jailhouse, she breathed in the cold air outside and savored her good fortune. Brutally cold wind snatched at her hat, and she had to hold it down with one hand. Snowflakes drifted up from the road, fluffy and white.

  “Another storm seems to be coming in,” Morgan said as he handed her into the carriage. “We need to get you home.”

  “Home? As in the asylum?”

  Morgan climbed in beside her and slammed the carriage door. Morgan turned toward her as the carriage rumbled away.

  “The asylum,” Morgan said, reaching over to draw her into his arms and hold her tightly. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. His eyes filled with concern. “Are you all right?”

  Gratified by his embrace and affection, she brushed a hand over his coat lapel and smiled. “I’m fine now. Thank you for coming to get me.”

  “I would have had a bigger problem if the sheriff decided he had reason to hold you.”

  “I think the sheriff is a better man than most.”

  Morgan’s smile held as much doubt and cynicism as it held humor. “He’s a hard man. Did he abuse you in any way?”

  “No. He asked questions.” She explained, and knew she would have to tell Morgan every smidgen of it, no matter how much he’d hate what she’d said. She decided on pouring it out; she wouldn’t wait until another place or time. When she’d finished, Morgan’s face had turned stone cold with disbelief.

  “I can’t believe you told him all of that. I’m surprised he didn’t lock you up. Let me see this necklace Oleta gave you.”

  She took it out of her coat pocket. He opened the bag and scrutinized the jewelry. “This must be worth thousands.”

  “I guessed as much.”

  “You didn’t tell me about it.”

  “I forgot I had it.”

  He shook his head. “Y
ou are not like any woman I know.”

  “So you keep telling me.”

  He chuckled and returned the necklace to the bag. He handed it to her. “It would be safer back on your neck, I would think.”

  “Perhaps. I took it off because I still feel like it isn’t mine.”

  “Oleta meant for you to have it. You should wear it.”

  I’m just happy the sheriff didn’t take it and claim I stole it. He didn’t have proof that I murdered Oleta. He didn’t have proof of any crime other than what your father said about me.” She rubbed her gloved hands together. “He also doesn’t have any proof of the Healy family harming anyone. I believe it’s a stalemate.”

  “I’m sorry.” Morgan’s contrition came through in his voice. “My father shouldn’t have told the sheriff those lies. But what you told the sheriff about the thirteen women can’t be true. I told you what I thought of that theory.”

  She ached in her heart. Their disagreement could break whatever connection they may have had. Still, he kept his arms around her. “So you did. And I’m not changing my mind about it any more than you have.” As their gazes held, she saw hunger inside him, a growing need that warmed her. She wanted to feed on it, to give it back to him, to share every facet of their desire. “Morgan, why did you come to the courthouse?”

  He kept his voice quiet. “To find you. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I saw my father first.”

  “And what did he think of our time at the cabin?”

  “He knows as well as everyone else does that we were intimate. From now on you’ll be looked at in a different way, and so will I.”

  “Do you think I care about that?”

  He shook his head. “No. I don’t think you care anything about what people think. I always believed the same about myself, but meeting you has changed my mind. You have an amazing strength, Lilly.”

  As he cupped her cheek and caressed her gently, she fell into the comfort and passion. Desire gathered in her stomach and spilled into her loins. As his touch ignited her, Lilly ached for what they’d had, what they might not experience again.

  “Meeting me has ruined your life,” she said.

  He shook his head. “It’s given me a freedom I didn’t expect. That I didn’t know I’d forsaken.” He leaned in and kissed her lips softly. “I don’t like that you told the sheriff about my family, but I knew you’d tell him what you believe. I admire that about you, Lilly. You aren’t like any woman I’ve ever known.”

  Tears threatened as emotions swamped her. “I want justice for Oleta, and those other women in that basement.” When doubt continued to color his eyes, she drew back from his embrace.

  “Lilly—”

  “Morgan, we shared so much in the cabin. It was beautiful. It was more than I ever imagined I could have in my life. But if you don’t believe me about Oleta and the women in the basement, we can’t have anything together. And you’ll go on to find a woman who—”

  “Stop.” His whisper was as harsh as his glare. “I won’t leave you with nothing. I didn’t make love to you to take what I could get and run. I need to go home and make plans. Then I’m leaving for Denver and I want you to go with me.”

  She stared at him with something that felt like complete incomprehension. She knew what he’d said, and knew that somewhere inside her a swirl of excitement and overwhelming joy had taken root. But a few staggering realities drowned out those little voices.

  “You have your work here at the asylum.” She kept her voice steady. “Your family needs you.”

  He shook his head. “I believed in those things until I returned. None of that is real. My father doesn’t need me. Doesn’t believe in me for more than appearances sake. My mother is strong. She’ll do fine on her own. My sister ... I tried to talk to my mother about getting Patricia genuine help, but she wouldn’t listen. Neither does my father.”

  “Then you understand your sister is dangerous? That there is something seriously wrong with her?”

  “Yes. Seriously wrong, I agree. Dangerous, I’m not certain.” The softness of his voice comforted her.

  “You tried to help her a long time ago, didn’t you? You spoke to your father and mother about her before.”

  “Exactly. Once I have you settled in Denver, away from Simple, I’ll come back here and get my sister help. I may have to bring her to Denver to place her in care.”

  She longed to reach out to him, but a gulf widened with every moment they came closer to the asylum. “Why do you want me with you when you think I’m lying about someone in your family harming those women?”

  “Because I think the asylum makes you paranoid, just as it does everyone else. How could it not?”

  Her next words lodged in her throat, threatening to strangle her with a hateful grip. “I cannot go with you, Morgan. If I can’t have your trust—if you can’t believe me—it wouldn’t work for me to go with you to Denver.”

  “Damn it, Lilly.” He drew her into his arms again. “Please don’t do this.”

  His mouth covered hers. She shivered with a sweet, hot need as his tongue plunged deep. All the fear that had threatened while she sat in the courthouse exploded. They searched, the tastes both hungry and tender. They touched, both hard and soft. She arched against him, her body aching for something more. Anything to remind her of him when he was gone from her life, never to be seen again. Mad with it, she moved on top of him, reaching for the front of his trousers.

  “Lilly, what—”

  She didn’t care, and clamped her mouth over his. She would have this one delight, if nothing else. It may have to last her the rest of her life. She rubbed him beneath his trousers, and he’d already grown solid and fierce. “Please Morgan.” He helped her, fumbling. She understood, as he must also, this mindless desire that couldn’t be named or stopped. It was. Simply was.

  She didn’t take off her hat or coat. She lifted above his manhood and came down slowly, gasping loudly as the hot thickness penetrated. They didn’t have long, but their frenzy didn’t care.

  “Lilly. God, you are so hot and wet,” he whispered against her lips.

  He watched her, daring to keep her eyes locked with his as he anchored her hips. She slipped her arms around his neck and began the motion. He was so deep, so big she wanted to moan, but instead she closed her eyes and shivered, quivering around all that hard flesh moving inside her. She allowed her most primitive needs to overtake her. Forget the past. Forget the future. All that existed was the searing delight and pleasure of the present. She pumped against him, and rode Morgan with gathering rhythm.

  “Yes,” he said, his voice tight with feral male pleasure.

  She rode faster, her thighs screaming at the motion. She didn’t care. Harder. Harder yet. She tingled deep inside, to her very womb, felt her body contracting, tightening over his. Morgan’s thickness and length caressed her inside, and Lilly wanted his love and understanding more than she wanted anything. Panting, moaning with the driving pleasure, she fell into a wildness she’d never known existed inside her. The heat gathered. Rose like a volcano. Crested.

  Oh, sweet heaven. She exploded deep inside, screaming out her pleasure with a quivering, soft elation. But he didn’t stop moving, his thighs powering as he grunted, thrust upward harder and harder. She returned to the motion, determined to give him the ultimate satisfaction. Instead her pleasure returned, surprising with force, and staggering in its demand. With a sharp inhalation of breath, a second climax made her contract around him, throbbing with the most delicious pleasure she’d ever known. He growled, hips slamming upwards. She felt hot, long spurts of his essence pouring inside her. Once. Twice as he threw back his head and groaned loudly, entire body shaking.

  Their abandon shocked her, and Lilly shivered as their heat disappeared into reality. The carriage would arrive at the asylum soon. Still, she savored sensations still filling her body. She groaned softly in pleasure as she buried her head against his shoulder. Morgan wrapped his arms around her, palmi
ng her back.

  He kissed her neck. “Sweetheart, we have to stop. We’ll be at the asylum soon.”

  Sweetheart. How beautiful and remarkable that name sounded to her. She eased away, and Morgan smiled softly. The carriage came to a rattling halt, and she hurried to right her clothing as did he. Her skin felt ultra sensitive, and even the slide of material against her fingertips sent her body into riot. Her face was hot, her lips fuller, her body ripe with desires barely slaked by their passion. She ached to know more, to tell him things she’d never expressed to a man before. Their bodies coming together hadn’t eased her need, but only increased it. She slipped on her gloves, eager to give the appearance of propriety when the carriage door opened.

  “I’m going back to the house to prepare to leave. When I come back tomorrow, will you have an answer for me?” he asked.

  She knew what he meant, but asked anyway, “What answer do you want?”

  “That you’ll go away with me to Denver.”

  “I don’t—”

  “Shh.” He gentle placed his index finger over her lips. “Not now. Think about it tonight and give me an answer tomorrow.”

  The carriage door opened and his manservant looked expectantly at her. She nodded and smiled at Morgan and her stomach clenched and twisted because the grin was such a lie.

  God help her, it was such a lie.

  * * *

  Lilly turned the cool purple necklace over in her hand and stared at it as she sat on her bed. She had spent most of the morning trying to recover from her experience in the sheriff’s department yesterday. She’d been extremely lucky the sheriff had given her the necklace back. He hadn’t been as suspicious as she’d expected, or he’d been good at hiding it. Her revenge attempt hadn’t gotten her what she’d wanted, and it had given her other things she hadn’t expected. She felt stronger, reacted with less fear and inner defensiveness than she’d felt in her life previously. She slipped the necklace around her neck and made certain she’d tucked it into the high neck of her blouse and the long waistcoat she’d put on for warmth.