Fancy Dancer

by Fern Michaels

  Linda grabbed her husband’s arm and dragged him down the hall into the kitchen just as the door to the reception room opened. They didn’t bother to look over their shoulders to see if it was a client or the mailman.

  “What?” Jay blurted.

  “I can’t stop crying, that’s what!” Linda said, burying her face in the crook of her husband’s neck. “What are we going to do without her? She’s the rock. She’s the glue that made this law firm work. I don’t think either one of us is ready to step into her shoes. What if Kala’s clients don’t want us?”

  “Then it’s their loss, Linda. We have our own clients. This is a thriving law firm. We have five junior partners. We have five paralegals, an office manager, and a secretary who is not only as old as God but knows how to sweet-talk people who walk in the door. We can make it work. We really can.”

  Linda sniffled. “Well, don’t expect me to leave you wake-up calls if I have to leave the house before you, and don’t expect me to remind you to take your umbrella, pick up your cleaning, and get a haircut. That was Kala’s job.”

  “Yeah, okay, I won’t expect you to do that. I’ll flounder around on my own,” Jay said, his voice choked with emotion.

  Their eyeballs popped when they heard their names being screamed at the top of Kala’s lungs. They almost killed one another racing to her office. Both of them pulled up short when they saw a man with two canes lower himself to the chair opposite Kala’s desk. Underneath her summer tan, Kala’s face looked white. She was shaking so badly, Jay and Linda thought she was having a seizure. “What’s wrong?” they both shouted in unison.

  To say the man with the two canes looked like death warmed over would have been too kind a statement. He was cadaver thin, his eyes sunken, his skin sallow. It was doubtful he weighed a hundred pounds. In the thirty-odd years Jay had known and worked for Mikala Aulani, he didn’t think he’d ever seen her as agitated as she was at that very moment. He didn’t know what to do, so he waited, his eyes not on the man but on Kala.

  “Linda, Jay, this is... this is Adam Star. He . . . he came here to... he came here to . . .”

  The voice was raspy, the words almost unintelligible, but the trio understood them nonetheless.

  “What Ms. Aulani is trying to say is I came here to tell you that ten years ago I killed my wife, Audrey. Sophie Lee is innocent. As you can see, I’m dying, and I want to make things right.” One skeletal hand reached inside his jacket to withdraw a DVD. His hand shook violently when he tried to slide it across the desk toward Kala. “My lawyer has a copy of this. It shows me confessing to the murder, along with all the details. My lawyer will be turning it over to the court when I... am no longer here.”

  Three jaws dropped as three sets of eyes stared at the man with unblinking intensity.

  Jay spoke first. “I guess my question would be, how much longer will it be before you are no longer here?” Jay didn’t give a damn if he sounded heartless and cruel. What this man had done to Sophie Lee earned him a fat zero of consideration in Jay’s opinion.

  “You son of a bitch! You let that young girl go to prison for life! What kind of a monster are you?” Kala shrieked. “I knew it was you! I always knew! Now, when you’re dying, you want to make it right! I hope you burn in hell!”

  Adam Star turned his scrawny neck to Jay and said, “I’m already on borrowed time, but I assume you want me to be more specific.”

  “Yeah, that would help,” Jay drawled.

  “Well, I’m already on borrowed time, as I just said, so I think it’s safe to say I doubt I’ll be here this time next week.” He turned his neck again to look at Kala and replied to her question. “The kind of man who didn’t have the stomach to be tied down to a paralyzed woman twenty-four-seven. I was never cut out to be the dutiful sort. The doctors said Audrey could live into her nineties with proper care. I didn’t have the guts for that. Audrey demanded my constant presence, even during the night hours. I was tied to her. I couldn’t breathe; she was smothering me. And yes, Ms. Aulani, I’m sure I will burn in hell.” Star leaned back, the constant flow of words exhausting him.

  “Why did you come here?” Kala whispered, her shrieking over.

  “I owed you and your client a face-to-face. You can show her the DVD when you think it’s time. She was an exceptional nurse. She actually cared about Audrey, which is more than I can say I did. Because of that, I want to give you this.” The skeletal hand reached into the inside pocket of his cashmere jacket and withdrew a folded set of papers. “My last will and testament. I’m leaving everything I own, which is substantial—beyond substantial, actually—to Sophie Lee. I have appointed you, Ms. Aulani, as my personal representative to see that my will is carried out the way I want it to be.”

  “You can’t inherit if you kill someone,” Jay said through clenched teeth.

  “I didn’t inherit a single dime. Almost immediately after we were married, she put everything in my name. She said it was a wedding gift. We were very much in love. We had our whole lives ahead of us. We were as one, was how she put it. She trusted me to handle her fortune for the both of us. The Star fortune already belonged to me at her death, and had for some time. Therefore, I can leave it to whomever I choose, and I choose to leave it to Sophie Lee to make up for what I’ve done. I know Audrey would approve.”

  “Ryan Spenser?”

  “I always suspected he knew I killed Audrey, but he was never able to prove it. On more than one occasion, he said the media would love the other-woman part of it, as they would never believe that Sophie and I were not having an affair. More meat, more fodder for the nightly news. He was right, and it was the trial of the century.

  “Ryan Spenser became the golden boy. He rolled along, winning every case he tried after that one. I never saw him after the trial, but about six months ago I got a personal letter from him asking me if I would consider backing him in his run for governor next year. He, of course, didn’t know I was ill, and I’ve been housebound since. If what you’re asking me specifically is, did he know he was prosecuting an innocent woman? I would say yes. But that is just my opinion. He had the facts going for him. It was either her or me, and, like I said, he couldn’t prove I did it. That left only Sophie Lee, and he convinced a jury of seven men and five women that she did it.”

  This time the words did exhaust Adam Star. Before he closed his eyes, he pressed a button on his watch. Two male nurses barreled into the room, took one look at their patient, and scooped him up. They were out the door in thirty seconds, their patient in their arms, leaving behind three stupefied lawyers.

  Kala was the first to speak, her eyes wide with wonder as she stared at the box on the top of her desk labeled SOPHIE LEE in permanent black marker. “My mind isn’t working right now, so will someone please tell me what day today is?”

  “Your retirement day, Kala,” Linda said.

  Jay knew exactly what Kala meant. His voice was pitched so low, Kala had to strain to hear the words. “It’s Tuesday, Kala.”

  Kala lowered herself into the leather chair with the crack running down the middle. Gradually, she was able to focus. She reached for the stiff blue paper that covered Adam Star’s last will and testament. She had to clear her throat twice before she could get the words out past her tongue. “Set up the DVD. I want to see what’s on it. But first I want to read this will. If that bastard lied to us, I will kill him myself.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  FERN MICHAELS is the USA Today and New York Times best-selling author of the Sisterhood and Godmothers series, Tuesday’s Child, Southern Comfort, Betrayal, Return to Sender and dozens of other novels and novellas. There are over seventy-five million copies of her books in print. Fern Michaels has built and funded several large day-care centers in her hometown, and is a passionate animal lover who has outfitted police dogs across the country with special bulletproof vests. She shares her home in South Carolina with her four dogs and a resident ghost named Mary Margaret. Visit her website at fernmichaels
.com.

  SOUTHERN COMFORT

  Atlanta homicide detective Patrick “Tick” Kelly turned his back on the world the day his wife and children were murdered. Holed up in a beach shack on Mango Key, Florida, he drowned his grief in Jack Daniels. Now sober and a best-selling author, Tick would gladly stay a recluse forever if his brother, Pete, didn’t keep trying to drag him back to the land of the living.

  After years of sacrificing her personal life in favor of her DEA job, special agent Kate Rush resigned and moved back to her native Miami. But the unofficial assignment that has just come her way is too intriguing to pass up. She and a fellow ex-agent are relocated to Mango Key to keep an eye on an imposing, mysterious fortress believed to be at the center of a human trafficking ring. At first, the Kelly brothers are suspected of involvement, but Kate is sure Tick poses no danger—except for the slow-burning gaze that makes her breath catch and her heart race . . .

  BREAKING NEWS

  Teresa “Toots” Amelia Loudenberry has her quirks, but no one—especially not her trusted friends Sophia, Ida, and Mavis—would ever question her loyalty. So it’s no surprise when Toots decides to extend her stay in Charleston to help care for her ailing housekeeper.

  Though the Charleston air is drenched with azalea and honeysuckle, and there’s always a pitcher of sweet tea close to hand, the ladies have little time for relaxing. Ida’s new line of cosmetics is about to launch, and Toots, Mavis, and Sophia are relishing new careers as models. And Abby, Toots’s daughter, is getting hitched. In the middle of so much change, Toots is almost too busy to notice her own unexpected romance. After eight husbands, she’s sworn never to get involved again. But fate—and her friends—may have other plans. And every godmother, fairy or otherwise, loves a story that ends with happily-ever-after . . .

  A WINTER WONDERLAND

  Four special holiday offerings from today’s favorite authors remind us that when love is on your list, you never have to stop believing . . .

  “A Winter Wonderland” by Fern Michaels

  Angelica Shepard left New York for Christmas in Colorado to relax and unwind—but an out-of-control snowboarder almost had her laid to rest. When she wakes up in the hospital, all she remembers is the handsome angel who saved her . . .

  “The Joy of Christmas” by Holly Chamberlin

  Not all happiness is good for you—or that’s what Iris Karr thinks when she decides to move away instead of marrying her sweetheart, Ben. Even years later, living with that decision isn’t easy—until a familiar face comes to call her home for the holidays. . .

  “The Christmas Thief” by Leslie Meier

  Elizabeth Stone is ready for a white Christmas in Tinker’s Cove, Maine—until a fancy Yule ball at the Florida hotel where she works dumps snow on her plans. The sponsor’s jewels have gone missing and the police are asking about her ties to a cute mystery guest. Good thing Elizabeth’s mother, Lucy Stone, flew down to surprise her. ’Tis the season for a little investigating . . .

  “The Christmas Collector” by Kristina McMorris

  Estate liquidator Jenna Matthews isn’t one for Christmas nostalgia. But when one grandmother’s keepsakes suggest a secret life, unwrapping the mystery leads Jenna—and her client’s handsome grandson—to the true heart of the holiday spirit . . .

  RETURN TO SENDER

  At seventeen, Rosalind “Lin” Townsend finds herself pregnant and alone. Her father, deeply religious yet cruel, throws her out of the house. Nick Pemberton, her baby’s father and the man she naively hoped might marry her, rejects her. Yet even at the lowest point in her life, Lin vows to succeed on her own terms, and to give her son, Will, all the love and happiness she’s been denied.

  Nineteen years later, Lin has made good on her promises. She’s the owner of a thriving diner in her Georgia hometown, and Will has grown into a fine, intelligent young man who’s about to start his freshman year at NYU. But when Lin visits New York with Will, she crosses paths with the one man she was sure she’d never see again—Nick Pemberton, now a millionaire CEO, the man who sent back all her letters unopened, marked “Return to Sender.” Seeing him fills Lin with anger—and she resolves to right the wrong he did to Will.

  Helped by Jason, a hired detective, and her best friend, Sally, Lin sets out to disrupt Nick’s life and his finances, with spectacular results. But the truth is more complex and surprising than she imagined. And soon Lin must choose—between the revenge she thought would free her, and the bright new future that’s about to be delivered to her door . . .

  KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2012 by MRK Productions

  Fern Michaels is a registered trademark of First Draft, Inc.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

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  ISBN: 978-1-4201-3019-5

  First Electronic Edition: September 2012