“I’ve made up my mind, sir. I need to leave.”
“Have you decided what you’re going to do?”
“Now that the trial and the parole hearing are over and Skarrett is back where he belongs, I’m going to spend a couple of weeks with my aunt, and then I’m moving to Louisiana and going back to school to get my teacher’s certificate.”
“I’m going to miss you,” he said. “Good luck.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He opened the door for her, and as she walked past, he said, “One more thing, Delaney.”
“Yes?”
“Good work.”
Chapter 41
THE DETECTIVE LED AVERY AND JOHN PAUL DOWN A LONG hallway to what he called their screening room.
“You’ll be able to see her through the glass, but she won’t be able to see you,” he explained before he opened the door and stepped back.
Avery didn’t move.
“She’s in the interrogation room now with two detectives,” he explained.
And still she didn’t budge.
The detective glanced at John Paul. “I’ll just let you take your time,” he said before he turned and walked away.
“You don’t have to do this,” John Paul said.
“Yes, I do.”
She stood on the threshold another long minute, and then she straightened her shoulders and walked in. The room was the size of a closet. She turned to the mirrored window, her hands fisted at her sides, and looked at the woman who had given her life and then had so desperately tried to take it away.
John Paul slipped his hand in hers and asked, “Do you remember her?”
“No. I was only five when she came to the house,” she whispered. “So long ago.”
Jilly sat on one side of the square metal table facing two detectives. Her back was straight, one leg crossed over the other, her hands folded on the table. The top three buttons of her eyelet blouse were undone, and the neckline opened a little wider each time she moved ever so slightly. She suddenly turned and looked directly at the mirror. Avery inhaled sharply and drew back as she felt the bile rising in her throat.
“Look,” Avery whispered.
“I see her,” John Paul said.
Avery shook her head. “Not her. Look at the detectives. Look how they’re reacting to her.”
Both detectives were leaning forward, as though they were unconsciously trying to get closer to her. One said something and then reached out and touched her hand.
“She’s working them,” Avery said.
A policeman opened the door to the interrogation room. Jilly looked up at him, then, like a languorous Persian cat, she stretched her lithe body and stood. As she followed him out the door, she paused to glance back over her shoulder and smile at the two men. Both detectives eagerly returned the smile. They watched her every movement until the door closed behind her.
Avery looked into John Paul’s eyes. “I’m ready to move on now.”
She led the way out of the police station. She didn’t look back.
Epilogue
SUNSET WAS AVERY’S FAVORITE TIME OF DAY. SHE’D GO OUT side and sit on the porch swing John Paul had built for her. She could hear the water lapping against the dock behind the house, and if she closed her eyes, she could almost smell the lilacs John Paul had planted.
The screen door opened and closed, and her husband sat down next to her. He put his arm around her, leaned back, and gave the swing a push.
“You ready for school tomorrow, sugar?”
“Yes.”
“What were you thinking about?” he asked. “Were you going to your happy place?”
She put her head on his shoulder and smiled. “I’m already there.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JULIE GARWOOD is the author of seventeen New York Times bestsellers, including Mercy, Heartbreaker, Ransom, and Come the Spring. There are more than thirty million copies of her books in print.
Books by Julie Garwood
Gentle Warrior
Rebellious Desire
Honor’s Splendour
The Lion’s Lady
The Bride
Guardian Angel
The Gift
The Prize
The Secret
Castles
Saving Grace
Prince Charming
For the Roses
The Wedding
The Clayborne Brides
Come the Spring
Ransom
Heartbreaker
Mercy
A Ballantine Book
Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group
Copyright © 2002 by Julie Garwood
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by The Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
www.ballantinebooks.com
Library of Congress Control Number: 2002093580
eISBN: 978-0-345-45859-9
v3.0
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