The light in Dana’s home office was on, and she could see a hint of two figures against the closed mini-blinds. She could visualize the layout of the room and knew the larger figure was Mac.
She really was growing tired of her game. She needed to find a way to bring it all to a head. If she worked it right, she’d walk away with everything. And those who’d made her life hell for all these years would be the ones suffering.
The anticipation of soon beginning her new life brought a smile to her lips.
A smile that was cold enough to freeze water.
Chapter 13
Dana was hazily aware of Mac cradling her in his arms, and of being carried out of her office. She opened heavy-lidded eyes.
“What are you doing?” Her words came out slightly slurred.
“Putting you to bed.” He carefully set her on her feet by the bed.
Dana looped her arms around his neck. “Come with me.” She fiddled with his shirt collar.
“You’re not awake.” He pulled the blanket off and dropped it at the end of the bed.
She moved her hands lower. “I’m awake. And so are you.”
Mac groaned.
“I need you, Mac,” she whispered, unbuttoning his shirt and spreading it open. She peppered his bare chest with kisses. “You make me feel complete.” She pulled him down onto the bed with her.
Mac peeled off his shirt and flung it to the floor. Dana unfastened his jeans, which soon followed. Dana’s clothing was removed and tossed to one side also.
His mouth covered hers, his tongue tangling with hers. Dana moaned as Mac slowly explored every inch of her body with his lips. So far, he’d only gotten as far as her shoulder and she was positive she would need to be peeled off the ceiling.
“Mac,” she keened, reaching for him with anxious hands.
He adroitly shifted away from her. His mouth settled hotly on a spot just above her left breast. She jerked under the branding touch.
“Let’s not rush into anything, sweetheart.”
She kept reaching for him, and each time he’d avoid her grasp. Mac finally circled her wrists with his hands and anchored them to the mattress.
Dana moaned and whimpered as Mac feasted on her breast. And she almost screamed when he pulled the nipple into his mouth at the same time as he nudged two fingers into her softness. The electric arc from one area to the other didn’t stop as he continued to make love to her in ways she hadn’t imagined. Her hips rose up to meet the tantalizing feathering of his fingertips.
Dana wanted to close her eyes and allow the sensations to flow over her. But she had to keep them open because she couldn’t believe what was happening wasn’t a dream.
With the drapes drawn, the room was a dark cavern where she couldn’t see the man stretched out above her. All she could do was experience what Mac was doing to her. She could feel his erection hard against her stomach. She arched up, nudging her knee between his legs. His sharply uttered curse told her she’d gotten the expected reaction. She couldn’t hold back a laugh.
“This can go both ways, woman.” He used his knee to nudge her legs farther apart before he settled against her hips.
“Yes, it can.” She sighed when she felt his hardness slowly enter her. It was a sigh that turned into a groan when he paused, then slowly retreated. “Mac!” she moaned, clutching him.
He ignored her entreaties and remained inside her. Then Dana tried to take over by clenching her inner muscles. He muttered a curse about uppity women as his body gave in to her temptation. She hugged him tightly, and he quickened his pace until they both succumbed to the skies.
Dana lay back, feeling the relaxation take over as her body seemed to melt into the mattress.
“You sure woke up fast,” Mac muttered in her ear. He rolled over onto his side, keeping one arm braced across her waist.
She smiled. “It must have had something to do with the way you carried me off to bed.”
“Just doing my job, ma’am.”
Dana smiled and snuggled closer.
“Sleep,” Mac advised, after brushing his lips across her forehead.
“You were wonderful,” she murmured as she closed her eyes and did just that.
She only awoke once, later. The room was dark but not frightening. Not when she could feel Mac’s arms around her. She knew exactly when he woke up and sensed she was awake.
He didn’t say a word. He merely got up, nudged Duffy out of the room and closed the door. Then he returned to the bed, and once again took her to heights she had no idea existed.
Afterward she lay there trying to catch her breath and reclaim her senses.
It was as she and Mac had fallen into the abyss that she realized something. She didn’t want what they had to end.
She’d fallen in love with John “Mac” McKenna.
When Mac gathered her back into the safety of his arms again, she fell asleep. Now she felt as if everything would be all right.
She’d never felt safer.
“Harriet didn’t give you any idea about what she found?” Dana asked the next morning after they’d eaten breakfast and together cleaned the kitchen.
“All she said was that we would find it helpful,” he answered. He rubbed his jaw with his hand as he stared out into the backyard. “I’m hoping it’ll tell us where she’s been for the past twenty years and why she’s here now.”
Dana sighed. “I just want this to be over.”
“So do I, honey.” He tipped her chin upward and dropped a kiss on her nose. He opened a jar filled with dog biscuits and pulled one out. He tossed it to Duffy, who caught it in his mouth. “Payment in advance, fella. Guard the house.”
Dana shook her head. “Some guard dog. He sleeps on the couch when we’re gone. And he sheds.”
“Yeah, but I bet your couch has never been safer. That’s part of his charm. He’s supposed to sleep on the couch when we’re gone, and shedding is part of having a long-haired dog,” Mac said, unconcerned.
Dana fixed Duffy with a glare as the dog walked over to the table and easily rested his chin on the top. “Don’t think you’re going to start taking your meals at the table,” she warned the dog.
Mac tapped his watch crystal. “Time to go.”
“Mac.” She pressed her hands against her stomach, which was tap-dancing a mile a minute. “Can you think of any reason why my parents concocted such a lie for all these years?”
She knew she was on her way to emotional overload. She’d always felt so smug that she had the perfect family. They were always there for her. They gave her a well-grounded upbringing, and she’d sailed through life convinced she was the apple of her parents’ eyes.
Now, in the space of weeks, she found her life turned upside down and learned her parents had kept a dangerous secret from her for twenty years that involved a twin sister she never knew she had.
No wonder she felt as if she wanted to hide in a corner. Instead, she flashed Mac a smile and walked out to the garage with him.
By the time they reached the Madison home, Dana convinced herself she was ready for anything.
“Alice was very agitated last night,” Harriet said after greeting them. “I think she was relieved she’d finally gotten it out in the open. She told me about a secret drawer in Jeremy’s desk. She said he kept the paperwork there, but she didn’t explain what the paperwork was.” She held up a small brass key. “This will unlock the drawer.” She led the way into the office Jeremy Madison kept at home.
Dana stepped in and felt herself catapult back in time. She could almost imagine the faint cherry scent of the pipe tobacco her father preferred. Mac handed her the key, and she pulled out the file drawer Harriet indicated. The lock was flush against one side, and she inserted the key, turning it to one side. When the false side fell back, a thick file folder fell back with it.
Harriet walked to the door, murmuring that she’d get them coffee.
Dana didn’t hear anything. She was too occupied, sitting at her father’s desk and op
ening the file. She split the pile of papers in two and handed half to Mac. He took the chair on the opposite side of the desk and began reading.
The first thing she noticed was a birth certificate for Darcy Leigh Madison. Born six minutes before Dana. Her hands shook as she kept turning papers. Medical records for both little girls. Both in excellent physical health, although many times Darcy was noted to be a little too high-strung for her age. Then she found reports written by several nannies who freely admitted they adored little Dana, but they felt Darcy had emotional problems.
“Darcy was three years old when she was first examined by a psychiatrist,” Mac announced, reading a typewritten report. “It was recommended by the family physician when she pushed you into the deep end of the swimming pool. You would have drowned if the nanny hadn’t heard your screams. When asked why she did it, Darcy said you didn’t deserve to have her face.”
Dana grimaced at the memory. “Moms once said to Dad, it was a shame we didn’t have a pool for entertaining purposes. Then she looked upset, as if she realized she’d said something wrong. I remember he didn’t answer her. He just got very quiet. Now I know why.”
Harriet came in carrying a tray with three cups and a carafe. She filled the cups, set one in front of each of them, and kept the third for herself.
“So many reports,” Dana murmured, finding it difficult to skim even though they all said essentially the same thing. “She was barely a toddler and already the doctors had branded her as some kind of monster seed.” Shuddering, she pushed them away. She buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know if I can read any more of this.”
“Found exactly what we need.” Mac held up a sheet of paper. “Three days after your sixth birthday, Darcy decided you would no longer have the face she considered all hers. She attacked you with a steak knife. She even managed to cut you pretty badly before your father was able to take the knife away from her. She threw herself into such a rage that the doctor had to be called, and she was heavily sedated. You were taken to the hospital, and Darcy was admitted to another kind of hospital.”
“When you say a different kind of hospital—” she licked dry lips “—you mean a mental hospital?”
He nodded. “After that day, the doctor felt your life was in danger as long as you and Darcy occupied the same house. Darcy was signed into a private hospital that, gathering from the statements here, cost your dad a pretty penny all these years. Your dad also jotted down notes to himself, as if he felt the need to keep some sort of journal about all this. He wrote that he didn’t want anyone to know that his child had obviously blown a fuse in her brain. People they knew in their old town were told Darcy died. Once you moved, she was effectively removed from the Madison family files. You remembered nothing of the incident, so it was easy to keep you ignorant of the fact. Your parents visited her every couple of months. Those visits were particularly hard on your mother.”
“The long weekends they took,” she murmured. She drank the coffee because she needed the caffeine to keep her going, even though she was convinced it was eating a hole in her stomach. “Everything a lie.”
“Don’t blame them, Dana. They obviously felt the need to protect you,” Harriet explained.
Dana stared at the papers scattered across the desk. She picked up one sheet and began reading aloud.
“‘Uncontrollable rage. She feels a need to be the only one,”’ she spoke in a trembling voice. “‘Intense hatred. Requires constant supervision. Cannot control herself if the least bit of stress is introduced. Doubtful she will ever be able to maintain a normal life.’ Oh, my God,” she whispered. “They’re saying she’s nothing more than an animal.”
She looked up at Mac. “They just locked her away.”
“She was in heavy-duty therapy,” he reminded her as he held up one of the papers.
“Someone once asked Alice if she’d ever thought of having more children, and she got the saddest look on her face,” Harriet remarked. “She said you were enough for her. She must have been afraid another child might turn out like Darcy.”
“There’s nothing here to indicate it was genetic,” Mac pointed out, holding up a sheaf of papers. “What’s important now is to find out how Darcy got out of the hospital and where she is now.”
Harriet stood up when she heard a soft knock at the door. She went over and found the nurse waiting. The two had a whispered conversation, then the nurse left.
“Alice wants the two of you to come upstairs,” Harriet announced.
Dana shook her head. “I’m not sure I could talk to her now. Not after reading all of this.”
“Give her a chance,” Mac suggested. “From what I’ve read, your mother hasn’t had it all that easy. The strain from keeping all of this from you was pretty high. For whatever reason, they felt it was necessary. All we have here are doctor’s reports and your father’s comments. We know nothing of how your mother felt about this.”
She reluctantly nodded. “Do you know what really bothers me? What if my mother hadn’t recovered from her stroke?” she whispered fiercely. “Would I have ever known about these files unless I found them by accident? Or once she was better would she have destroyed them so I’d never know?”
He picked up a sheet of paper from the pile he’d been perusing. “This shows a trust account had been set up to pay for your sister’s care in the event of your parents’ death. I’d say your father didn’t want you to know.”
His blunt words hurt.
Dana tunneled her fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her face. She was still reeling from the shock but determined to shore herself up.
After all, her father had taught her how to put on a blank face when it was necessary.
As they climbed the stairs, she looked at her surroundings with fresh eyes. Now she knew why there were so few pictures of her as a child displayed. Why her parents had never talked about those first six years of her life.
The home she’d loved so much suddenly felt foreign to her.
When they reached the door leading to the master bedroom, she reached for Mac’s hand and gripped it tightly. He looked down and smiled. She wondered if he’d understand if she told him even his smile made her feel safe.
Alice Madison slowly turned toward them when they stepped into the room. The heightened color in her cheeks and frantic way her eyes darted back and forth spoke volumes about her frame of mind.
“I—” She choked as tears streamed down her cheeks, “I’m sorry,” she whispered to her daughter.
“Moms.” Dana started sobbing. She threw herself against her mother and held on tight.
By the time mother and daughter had had their cry, Alice seemed ready to talk. Mac remained in the background and allowed Alice to tell the story in her own way. Most of it they already knew, courtesy of the massive file Jeremy had kept. Alice was able to bring them up to date as she spoke of her visit to Darcy after her father’s death. Alice had difficulty when she spoke of Darcy’s fury that she wouldn’t be allowed to leave the hospital; she’d verbally assaulted her mother. Alice had left the building a shattered woman.
A few days later, she suffered her stroke.
“Mrs. Madison, we’d like your permission to speak to the doctors at the hospital,” Mac finally said.
Alice’s lips trembled. “I will talk to the doctor,” she replied. She turned to Dana with a smile wavering on her lips. “You were such a sweet baby. For some reason she hated you. We could never figure out why.”
By the time they left, Dana’s tears had been dried and she was more like the self-composed woman Mac had first met.
“I guess it’s obvious that Darcy is behind everything,” she said once they were settled in the vehicle. “She must blame me for her being in that hospital all this time. If she found out Moms was so ill, you’d think she’d rather go after her instead of me.” She thought for a moment. “Except I’m more accessible.” She half turned in the seat. “That’s why she’s doing this to me instead o
f Moms. With the business and everything, I would have more to lose, and in the long run, Moms would lose, too. She’d still be striking back against both of us.”
“It sounds good to me.” He started up the engine. “Can you free up some time?”
She nodded. “I’ll do it.”
Mac didn’t ask her if she wanted to stop for something to eat. He doubted she had an appetite any more than he did.
He cursed himself for not thinking of a sister. There had been nothing in Dana’s background to indicate any siblings. But dammit, he should have remembered one hard-and-fast rule. Never assume! Just because Jeremy Madison had done an excellent job of hiding Darcy Madison from the world didn’t mean Mac shouldn’t have found something.
It had been easy for him to wonder at first if it couldn’t have been Dana all along. He doubted her when he shouldn’t have. Even reminding himself that anyone would have done the same thing wasn’t good enough. He should have known better. Should have remembered too many things weren’t what they seemed, and should have dug way beyond the first layers. Should not have refused to believe what was now so obvious.
His mistake could have lost her to him. The thought left him ice cold.
“How about spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner?” Dana asked when they entered the house. “We are going to keep tonight just for us.” She pulled out pans and filled one with water. “Dana, the woman. Mac, the man. Duffy, the dog.” She looked down at the latter with a faint smile.
Mac recognized the signs. If you made up your mind to not think about something, it didn’t exist.
Dana did just what she set out to do. She prepared spaghetti with a sauce with enough garlic that Mac joked a vampire wouldn’t come near him for months.
After they cleaned the kitchen, Dana led him into the family room, where she turned on the television. She motioned Mac over to the couch and climbed onto his lap, where she remained the rest of the evening.
Mac looked at Dana warm in his arms and Duffy dozing on the floor by his feet. They looked so normal. As if he’d come home from a long day at the office, and Dana, the same. Would it be wrong to desire this kind of life? He hadn’t been able to give it to Faith. Instead, she’d lived the uncertain life of a cop’s wife, wondering each day if it would be Mac coming home or the lieutenant coming over to offer his condolences.
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