“You’ve named her?”
“Actually, Nicole named her.”
“Oh, Mom, a tiny kitten like that probably already has an owner. She looks part Persian or something.”
“She’s something, all right,” her mother told her wryly. “Hence the name—unless you’d prefer ‘Bad Cat’ like Fitz does. She wandered up to your daughter when the children were playing in the backyard. I asked around, Brie, but no one seems to know where she came from.”
“The last thing we need is another animal. Why didn’t you tell Nicole no?”
Her mother smiled. “For the same reason you won’t. After all, we’re supposed to be descended from witches,” her mother teased affectionately. “All good witches have familiars.”
“Uh-huh. And magical powers, too, but I’ve never met a broomstick I could make fly.”
Her mother laughed softly. “You used to have a lot of fun trying.”
Brie ignored that rejoinder. “Who ever heard of a witch with a cockatoo for a familiar?” she scoffed, nodding toward the birdcage in the corner.
Her mother smiled. They both knew Brie was going to lose this battle. There was so little she could give her daughter. And the kitten was adorable. It had a black-and-brown patch over its left eye that lent it a cocky, defiant sort of look. Little Imp might be small, but she looked like she’d challenge the world if she had to.
Her mother went over and fussed with Fitzwiggy, offering him a treat before sliding the cover over the large cage for the night. “You never did say what Drew was doing here tonight.”
Brie tensed. “You two must have gotten pretty chummy this morning if you’re on a first-name basis.”
“He reminds me of his sister, Tasha. He seems very nice, Brie.”
“He’s running for mayor, Mom. He has to be nice.”
“Does he know about his daughter?”
The room spun. Brie forgot to breathe.
“Hard to miss those eyes, dear. You never told him, did you? I wondered when you suddenly started dating all those boys that fall. You didn’t want anyone to know who her father was, did you?”
“No.” It came out a croak.
“Why not?”
“I made a promise.”
Her mother studied her expression. She seemed to age right before Brie’s eyes. Her shoulders sagged. Pain filled her eyes. “So that’s it. I always wondered where you got the money for my surgery. Maureen paid you off, didn’t she.”
“Drew’s mother? No. She doesn’t know. No one knows. I got the money from Drew’s grandfather. He didn’t want me seeing Drew anymore. Not that he said that. He was too smart to issue edicts. He offered me money instead. To help out, as he put it. Then he talked about Drew’s career.”
“Oh, Brie…”
“I didn’t know about the baby then. We needed the money and Drew had already made it clear he regretted what happened, so I promised his grandfather I wouldn’t see Drew again. I didn’t think it would be a problem. Drew had gone back to school. Our…relationship was just one of those things.”
“You should have told me.”
“What could you have done?”
“But when you found out about Nicole—”
“You’d started your treatments. They were scheduling the surgery.”
“You shouldn’t have taken the money, Brie. We’d have managed somehow.”
“I didn’t take the money, Mom. I borrowed it. I’ve been paying Mr. Pierce back a little out of each paycheck ever since.”
A tear slid silently down her mother’s cheek. “I’m sorry, Brie. So sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. If you hadn’t been ill, the results would have been the same except that I wouldn’t have taken any money. It all worked out.”
“Did it?”
Her mother looked toward the sleeping child. “How long do you think you can keep Nicole a secret? Drew is bound to realize the truth as soon as he sees her.”
“We won’t let him see her!”
“Oh, Brie. Do you think that’s fair? Don’t you think he would want to know his daughter?”
Her heart filled with anguish. “Think about Drew, Mom. What would it do to his campaign chances, if word got out I’d had his baby and he calmly went on with his life? You know how funny people are around here. If they learn he had an affair with a waitress—”
“Oh, Brie. You’re in love with him, aren’t you? You were infatuated with him even when you were young.”
“Don’t worry, I’m completely over any infatuation.”
Her mother glanced pointedly at the yellow rose now sitting in her cut glass bud vase in the kitchen window. “But is he over you?”
FREDERICK THANE WIPED at the sweat trickling down the side of his face. He hated the heat and he hated meeting in the dead of night like this. He wanted to be back inside his air-conditioned house, in the comfort of his king-sized waterbed.
How could it still be so hot out here in the middle of the night? Moriah’s Landing was a beach town.
“I think you’ll be more than happy with this,” the youth said smugly. “The high and mighty Andrew Pierce is gettin’ it on with a waitress from the diner.”
How he would have liked to wipe that sneering expression from the boy’s face.
“I’m a little worried about that publicist of his. She’s got people askin’ questions around town.”
“Don’t worry about Ms. Bell. I’ll handle her. She doesn’t know anything and she won’t. Nothing she can prove.”
Razz snorted indignantly. “You don’t hafta prove things in an election year. You just gotta convince the public things are true. People aren’t so bright, you know. A few whispers, a couple rumors…”
Surprised by this unexpected perception, the mayor glanced around nervously once again at the dark shadows that encompassed them.
“Shut up, you fool,” he whispered.
“Who you callin’ a fool, old man? I’m safe even if they bring you down.”
The mayor ground his teeth. How he hated dealing with this punk. If the kid and his friends weren’t so useful…but they were. He would have to put up with a little aggravation and inconvenience from time to time. Like now.
Glancing around once more at the empty pier, he tried to shake off the feeling they were being watched. The hairs on the back of his neck stirred uneasily. His breathing coarsened. He tried to meld even deeper into the shelter of the building beside him.
“No one’s bringing me down,” he whispered fiercely. “I know where all the bodies are buried, understand?” Thane handed the boy a tightly wrapped package, careful not to touch those disgusting hands. “Remember that and keep your mouth shut.”
The boy whistled through teeth stained yellow by nicotine. “I always do, don’t I?”
Something stirred in the still air. Both men peered around uselessly. There was nothing to see beyond the restless waves lapping at the beach. Yet there was something out there in the night. A feeling. As if the ghosts of Moriah’s Landing were stirring just out of sight.
Thane consoled himself with the knowledge he was safe. No one could prove a thing against him. He’d always taken precautions. He would continue to take them. Still, he felt the unseen forces gathering over the town expectantly.
“Let me worry about the details,” the boy said arrogantly, startling him from his crazy thoughts. “Everything’s set for the Fourth. The mighty Andrew Pierce will wish he’d gone elsewhere to launch his career.”
“See that he does.”
There was no choice. Thane was not giving up his cushy situation for anyone. Especially not a Pierce. He would do whatever it took, use whoever he needed, to prevent Pierce from succeeding in his quest.
A tiny lick of air sent a chill of apprehension down his back. Thane turned away sharply and headed back toward his car. He wished he could shake this feeling that something bad was about to happen.
“DODIE AND RAZZ AREN’T hanging around the arcade today, Drew. Nobo
dy’s seen them. Carey’s still out searching.”
Drew finished tying a paper carnation together to attach to the float and nodded. “Thanks for trying, Zach.”
“How’d your session go with Cullen Ryan this morning? Did you tell him what happened?”
“No.”
Zach frowned. “Did he say if he got the ballistics report yet?”
“No. He’s not saying much of anything.”
“I got the same sense last night when he talked to me and Nancy. He was especially interested in what we saw before the shooting.”
“You mean who.”
Zach nodded. Nancy Bell strode around the corner of the float. Volunteers were swarming over it, putting paper carnations in place.
“Hi, Zach. I wondered where you got to this morning. Drew, your grandfather called. He wants to see both of us right away. I gather it’s urgent.”
“It generally is with my grandfather.” But Drew’s stomach lurched all the same. An urgent meeting with his grandfather did not bode well.
“Have fun,” Zach said.
Drew handed his brother the carnation and indicated the pile of paper still waiting to be folded. “Make yourself useful. We’ll be right back.”
Drew’s gaze narrowed when he and Nancy finally reached the compound and approached the main house down the long, tree-shrouded driveway. His father’s distinctive car sat prominently in front of the main house.
“I thought your parents weren’t coming home until much later this evening.”
“They weren’t,” he replied flatly. Drew’s instincts were on full alert, particularly when his mother met them at the door.
“You’re back ahead of schedule,” he said, giving her a quick hug.
“Your grandfather called very early this morning. I gather something has happened.”
Drew shrugged as she greeted Nancy.
“They’re waiting for you two in the office. You’d better hurry along.”
Nancy’s cell phone rang as they started down the hall. She stopped walking to check the caller ID. “It’s my investigator.”
“Take the call. I’ll tell them you’ll be right in.”
The darkly paneled room still smelled of cigars and brandy, though neither his father nor his grandfather had either one in evidence. What they did have were matching scowls. His grandfather sat stiffly behind the polished wood desk, tapping an envelope against several sheets of paper. Drew’s father paced back and forth in front of the bank of windows.
“Nancy had a phone call,” Drew said by way of greeting.
“Explain,” Anton Pierce demanded, holding out the top sheet to Drew.
Two pictures, surprisingly clear considering the conditions under which they’d been taken. While the background was dark and indistinct, Drew’s features were unmistakable. So were Brie’s, especially in the second picture. The first showed them kissing. In the second, the two of them were turning startled faces toward the searchlight. They looked guilty as sin.
“He must have used a digital camera and a high-quality inkjet printer,” Drew mused.
“Is that all you have to say?” his father demanded.
Scowling darkly, his grandfather handed him a sheet of paper.
Drew uttered a word he didn’t generally use.
“The photographer wants money or he’ll release these pictures to the press.”
Drew stared into the older man’s cold gray eyes. “Tell him to go to hell.”
“Of course. That goes without saying. But we’ll have to do some damage control. Perhaps Ms. Dudley could be persuaded to leave town for a time. It seems I misjudged her character the last time. I thought when she began paying the money back…”
Something twisted inside him. Drew laid his palms flat on the desk and leaned down. “What money?”
Anton Pierce blinked. “That is not important. What is important—”
“It’s important to me,” Drew said coldly. “What money?”
“Andrew, don’t take that tone with your grandfather,” William Pierce scolded.
Drew never lifted his head. “Did you pay Brie off four years ago?”
“Of course I did. You refused to heed my warning. Fortunately, Ms. Dudley was more amenable. She was only too willing to take the money in return for staying away from you,” he added harshly.
Drew forced words past the fury choking him as he straightened and faced his relatives. “This isn’t the first time you’ve interfered in my life, but it will be the last.”
The room went so still he could hear the soft rattle of his grandfather’s breathing.
“You paid the wrong person. You should have tried paying me to stay away from her.” Drew headed for the door before his uncertain temper caused him to say something irrevocable.
“Where are you going?” his father demanded. “We have to decide how to handle this situation.”
Drew paused at the heavy oak door. “I know exactly how I’m going to handle this situation. I’m going to warn Brie and apologize again.”
“Warn the waitress?” his father sputtered.
“Apologize for what?” his grandfather asked in outrage.
A calm settled over him as he regarded the two men he’d looked up to and respected all his life. Arguing was as pointless as explanations.
“Don’t you realize what will happen if the blackmailer takes these pictures to the local rag? You’ll be a laughingstock,” his grandfather snarled.
“If my reputation can’t survive those innocent pictures, then the family name isn’t worth much, is it? Make no mistake. I will not have Brie’s reputation destroyed by some cheap politician who thinks he can intimidate me.”
“You aren’t going to accost Thane, are you?” his father demanded.
Thinking about what he’d like to do to Frederick Thane curled his fingers. There was no doubt in his mind that the mayor was behind the pictures and the note. “Not immediately, no. First I’m going to warn Brie. Then I’m going to find Edgar Razmuesson and teach him a few things. Then I’ll go and have a polite discussion with our sleazy excuse for a mayor. You’d better have Nancy stick around. We may need her services when I’m through.”
“Andrew Pierce, get back here!”
Drew ignored the raised clamor of voices and closed the door. He nodded toward his mother, who stood on the staircase, clutching the polished wood bannister. Nancy was not in sight.
“Andrew?”
“Later, Mom. Tell Dad I borrowed his car.” He’d driven over in Nancy’s car and he was too angry to go looking for her. Still, he didn’t really want to leave her without letting her know.
His mother’s voice joined the chorus as he left the cool, dark, air-conditioned house and stepped into the heat and humidity outside. As expected, his father had left his keys in the car. Drew started the engine and Nancy came running from the house.
“Drew! Wait!”
He rolled down the passenger window. “I’ll talk to you later, Nancy.”
“But, you need to know what my investigator just told me.”
Drew hesitated. Nancy leaned inside the open window. “Did you know Brianna Dudley gave birth to a baby girl three years ago?”
Not her sister. Her daughter.
“She listed the father as unknown. Is there any chance the baby was yours?”
Breathing suddenly required concentration. He forced himself to exhale slowly. There was more than a chance. Did his grandfather know? Was that the real reason the old man paid her off?
“You didn’t know, did you?”
He felt oddly hollow inside. Anger built slowly, tempered by an odd sense of deflation. “Don’t say a word to anyone about this.”
“Wait! What are you going to do? I’ll go with you.”
“No,” he said firmly. “I’ll call you later.”
“Drew, you won’t do anything foolish, will you?”
“I already did.”
Chapter Seven
The lecture was over her
head, but Brie got the gist even though she wasn’t a biology student like most of the others in attendance. Hope surfaced. Leland Manning had a possible treatment that could save her mother.
Brie waited while the students flocked to his side afterward asking questions. Coldly aloof, he answered impersonally, almost by rote. The room was nearly empty when a gangly young man with thick glasses approached. He could have come from central casting with the word nerd stenciled on his bio.
“Dr. Manning, is it true you really believe that witches with supernatural powers exist?”
Manning fixed him with a penetrating gaze. The youth shifted but held his ground.
“Only a fool scoffs at what he doesn’t understand.”
“Oh, come on, Doctor. Witches?”
“There are people with powers and abilities science hasn’t been able to explain. I believe so-called witches are nothing more than normal people with a gene that has heightened talents we are all born with.”
“Like flying on a broomstick?” the youth derided, pushing at the glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose.
Manning’s piercing stare became so intense the boy backed up a step, looking suddenly younger and far less sure of himself than he had just a moment ago.
“There are documented cases of telekinesis. There are documented cases of telepathy. There are documented cases of people seeing into the future.”
“Well, yes but—”
“Herbal medicine is making a resurgence in this country. Many skilled physicians are now sending their patients for alternative treatments that would have been considered nothing short of witchcraft in the 1600s.”
“Okay, but—”
“Science holds the answers to everything. Sadly, self-proclaimed scientists are just now starting to ask the right questions. Witches and their powers exist, young man. But there is nothing supernatural about those abilities.”
Manning’s expression darkened. His features took on the look of a true fanatic. His eyes all but glowed. They seemed to bore right through his victim. The boy appeared to shrink right before Brie’s eyes.
“One day, we will discover the genes that control these abilities. We will be able to isolate these genes, tap into them and heighten those latent abilities in so-called normal people. When you look past any myth, you find the reality.” His body seemed to vibrate with the fervor of his words. He leveled the boy with a look of contempt. “A closed mind is of no value in the scientific community. You are a fool,” he pronounced.
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