by Beth Andrews
“I didn’t want anyone to know. I still don’t. Keeping this to myself has been a nightmare but you know what’s going to happen when this gets out. There’s more at stake than just my feelings. Ken and Astor’s marriage… God, what about Erin and Anthony? How are they going to react? And Dad. He’s going to be crushed. He’ll never forgive Ken.”
“That’s not your fault,” Layne said.
Nora laughed softly but it held no humor. “I know but I can’t help thinking that none of this would be a problem if I hadn’t been born.”
“Don’t you ever talk like that,” Tori said, shaken to her core. “You are not to blame. This is Ken and Mom’s fault. And no matter what happened twenty-seven years ago, you are and have always been a blessing.”
Nora’s eyes welled and damn if Tori didn’t want to curl up in a ball on the floor and cry right along with her.
“You’re still our baby sister,” Layne said quietly. “Fully. Forever. Nothing will ever change that.”
The tears in Nora’s eyes spilled over. She wiped them away with her fingers. Sniffed delicately. “Thank you. You don’t know what that means to me.”
“I think I can guess,” Layne said before facing Walker. “You need to question Ken again.”
He leaned back, king of his domain. “I know my job, Captain.”
“Then why aren’t you forcing him to answer your questions?”
“Do you even hear yourself?” Tori asked. “You sound like a crazy person. What would you do, Layne? Arrest Uncle Ken?”
“Yes,” she said so simply, Tori had no choice but to believe her. “If Dale did blackmail Ken—twice—that’s a strong motive for murder.”
Tori’s stomach dropped. “Oh, my God. You don’t believe.... Uncle Ken could never kill someone.”
“Up until ten minutes ago, I wouldn’t have believed he could cheat on his wife, either.”
Which meant her uncle had just become the prime suspect, not only in Dale’s murder but in their mother’s as well.
“What are we going to do?” Tori asked. They had to take care of this, had to take care of Nora and their dad.... Oh, dear Lord, their dad. It was going to kill him when he found out the brother he loved and admired his entire life had betrayed him.
“We’re going to handle it,” Layne said firmly. “Just like we always do. Together.”
Could they? Could her family survive it? Tori wasn’t sure. Nora had already been hurt and it would only get worse. She and Ken’s daughter Erin were only a few months apart in age which meant that when Ken slept with their mother, his wife was pregnant with their first child. And Nora and Erin were the best of friends. Nora had always been close to Ken and Astor, had spent more time with her uncle and aunt than either Layne or Tori.
“If there’s nothing else, Detective, I’d like to take my sister home now,” Layne asked tightly, as if it killed her to ask his permission.
Getting to her feet, Nora rolled her eyes. “I’m perfectly capable of seeing myself home.” She checked her watch. “Or, in this case, back to the office.”
“Forget work.” Layne wrapped her arm around Nora’s shoulders and led her toward the door. “You’re taking the rest of the day off.” Layne glanced at Tori. “You coming? We can all go to my house, discuss what we’re going to do about telling Dad.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“See that you are,” Layne said, her gaze bouncing between Tori and Walker, her meaning so clear, only a blind woman could’ve missed it. Stay away from Walker Bertrand. Don’t trust him with your secrets. Don’t believe anything he has to say.
All of which Tori already knew.
“Something I can do for you, Mrs. Mott?” Walker asked when they were alone.
His low, smooth voice scraped against her skin like sandpaper, the sound of him calling her Mrs. Mott like a slap in the face after what he’d said and done Saturday night. She’d kissed him, had felt the rapid beat of his heart under her hand, seen the flame of desire in his eyes and he’d still rejected her. Worse than that, he’d hurt her.
She’d let him hurt her.
“Are you happy?” she asked roughly. “My family is being torn apart all because you couldn’t stop digging.”
He rose and circled the desk. “It’s my job to dig for the truth.”
Tori knew that, understood it. But that didn’t make it any easier to accept. “Do you think Uncle Ken killed my mother?”
She hadn’t meant to ask that, was half-afraid to know the answer. But it was too late to take it back.
“I think any opinion I might have at this time would be conjecture.”
“You really are a cop through-and-through, aren’t you?” she said, disgust lacing her voice.
Walker leaned against the desk. “Do you think your uncle killed your mother?”
“No.” She had to keep believing that. It was the only way she’d get through this without losing her mind. “What I think is that, like all men, he was weak. Mom got to him using her face and body. He was probably so wrapped up in her he didn’t even consider what his actions would do to his wife and brother.”
“You blame your mother.” It was a statement, not a question.
Tori answered him anyway. “She was beautiful. And selfish. When she saw something she wanted, she took it, no matter who it belonged to first.”
“Seems to me Ken should shoulder his part of the blame for the affair. Then again, you don’t hold men in very high esteem, do you?”
“Detective, I love men. Ask anyone.”
He crossed to her. Tori’s heart pounded with excitement and sexual awareness and a healthy dose of panic. She held the power in any relationship, no matter if it was a platonic friendship, professional or with her family. But Walker would fight her for that control, would try to take it from her, use it against her.
“I’m asking you,” he said. “I can’t figure you out.”
That, at least, was a relief. She didn’t want anyone, especially not a man, getting inside her head. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me.”
“It wasn’t meant to be. I’m not sure what’s real with you and what’s not. You protect yourself. But from what? What are you so afraid of?”
Tori tipped her chin up, her pulse racing because he was so close, his aftershave light and musky. Because he was trying to dig into her psyche, into her soul, and he was right. She was afraid. Always so afraid of proving everyone right.
She really was just like her mother.
* * *
WALKER WAITED. His chest hurt and he realized he was holding his breath, that he was getting somewhere with her, was seeing something real in her. But then her expression changed and she reached out and smoothed her hand down the front of his shirt, played with the top button.
“What could I possibly be afraid of?” Tori asked in that damn sexy voice, the same one he had heard in his dreams last night. Calling him. Teasing him. Saying his name.
He pulled back, both physically and mentally. But he couldn’t deny he’d thought of her, had dreamed of her every night since he’d brought her home from the bar. That he wanted her.
“I hope Captain Sullivan doesn’t plan on warning Ken that he’s a suspect in a murder case.” Although if Ken hadn’t figured that out when Walker had questioned him earlier, the older man needed to put away his lawyer shingle.
“She won’t. Layne doesn’t do anything that gets her into trouble. Actually that’s pretty much what I said the first time I met Ross, too. Seems I’m always setting you men straight on my older sister.”
“Chief Taylor was worried about Captain Sullivan?”
“Worried? Nah. At the time he was just pissed off. Layne and I had a little…disagreement at the police department that concerned him.”
Walker shouldn’t be surprised they’d fought at the station. He’d witnessed countless fights between his sisters everywhere from birthday parties to high school basketball games to church.
“Don
’t look so suspicious,” Tori continued. “The only person Layne will tell about our conversation in here is Ross. She’s not how you think.”
“And how do I think she is?”
“You think she’s some sort of liar. Someone who’d break the rules but she’s not. As a matter of fact, Layne’s spent all of her life proving she’s nothing like our mother, who broke all the rules.”
“And why would she do that?” he asked, knowing Tori was vulnerable and only opening up to him because of what she’d discovered about her uncle and mother. But he wasn’t about to let an opportunity pass to get to know her.
For the case, he assured himself.
But Tori shrugged. “I still can’t believe Uncle Ken fell for my mother. I’d thought more of him.”
“Your father fell for your mother, too.” Walker couldn’t understand how Tori could hold it against her uncle when her father had married her mother. Had, by all accounts, loved her above all else.
“Dad had no choice. He and Mom were high school sweethearts and when she got pregnant with Layne before graduation, they got married. I remember them arguing about it one time.” Tori’s tone was thoughtful, her gaze over his shoulder as if looking into the past. “She accused him of being happy she’d gotten pregnant because then he’d been able to convince her to marry him. He didn’t deny it.”
“He also didn’t force her to marry him.”
“True. But he couldn’t resist her. She was so beautiful, so alive. Even after all these years I can still hear her laugh. She had a great laugh, all low and husky.” Tori slid him a grin that held a sharp edge. “It made people stop in their tracks. She made people stop, made them take notice of her.”
Tori looked so sad, so lost for a moment, his resolve to keep his distance from her waned. His good sense, the one that told him she was a heartbreaker, a cold and ruthless woman, seemed to fade when, more than ever, he needed it to stay solid and in focus.
“Layne looks just like her,” Tori continued. “Sometimes, when she talks, when she smiles—and as you may have realized, my older sister doesn’t smile nearly enough—it about knocks me on my butt. The resemblance.”
Walker couldn’t read her, not fully and that pissed him off. He had more questions than answers and that frustrated him. She intrigued him and that scared the hell out of him. “You loved her. Your mother.”
“Of course. Oh, don’t look so shocked, Detective. She was my mother, after all. And despite her faults and failings and weaknesses, despite her vanity, she loved us. All of us, even my father…the best she knew how. The best she could.”
“That makes it all right? The things she did, the lies and the infidelity?”
“It makes it understandable. She couldn’t change who she was. None of us can change who we are, how we are, on the inside.”
He edged closer, couldn’t stop himself, her skin, her scent, beckoning him. And that made him a fool, one of the many men who fell at her feet. “From all accounts, your mother wasn’t the nurturing type.”
“No, she was the fun type. The ‘let’s have a party’ type. She cared more about taking care of herself than her kids.”
“You and Layne took care of Nora.”
“Layne took care of all of us. Me, Nora, Dad. She always carried the weight of the world on her shoulders.” Tori shifted, glanced out the window. “Layne loves nothing more than being the boss.”
But her words lacked heat; instead they sounded respectful. And Walker knew there was more to the story than Tori let on. He’d seen how she’d been with Nora, how Nora had leaned on both of her sisters, not just Layne.
“I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit,” he said. “Nora looks up to both her sisters, that much was clear back there. Do you want to know what I think?”
She smirked. “Not particularly.”
“I think you’re not as hard, as cold, as you want people to believe. You love your son and your sisters, told Nora she was a blessing.”
“She is. She’s the best of us.”
“What does that make you?”
Tori grinned but it was so sad, it made his chest hurt. “Just like our mother.”
* * *
HIS MOTHER HAD been crying.
That was what Anthony noticed when he walked into the kitchen and saw his parents and sister. Erin hurried over to hug him. “Thanks for coming so soon,” she whispered.
“What’s going on?” he asked, mimicking her soft tone. Their mom wiped the spotless counter. Their father sat at the table, his face pale, his fingers twisting and untwisting the tablecloth.
“I don’t know. All I know is what I told you over the phone.”
What she’d told him was that there was an emergency and he needed to come home tonight, now. Luckily traffic was light and he’d made it back to Mystic Point in record time.
“Hey,” he said to his parents, feeling as if he had to somehow take care of Erin even though she was his older sister. “You two okay?”
“Could you…could you and your sister sit down?” his dad asked, indicating the empty chairs at the table.
Anthony and Erin exchanged a look then crossed to the table and sat.
“Astor?” Ken said to his wife.
She flinched, exhaled heavily then set the dishcloth down and in stilted steps, walked to the table. Sat next to her husband.
“You’re scaring me,” Erin said. “What is it?”
Anthony gently squeezed her hand. He was scared, too, but he’d never admit it.
Ken looked at Astor but she stared straight ahead, her shoulders rigid, her face a mask of pain. As always, they were side by side. A unit. A team.
Side by side. That’s how Anthony pictured them, thought of them. Not his mom, Astor Sullivan. Not his father, Ken. They were Mom and Dad. And they needed his help, needed him to be strong.
“Whatever it is,” he said, “we’ll get through it together.”
They had to. His parents had always been there for him and Erin and he knew he and his sister would be there for them no matter what.
“There’s no easy way to start this conversation,” Ken said, looking weary and much older than his years, his face drawn. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “No easy way to say this so I’m just going to say it. Years ago, before you both were born, I had an affair.”
“What?” Erin asked while all Anthony heard was a roaring in his head. He looked at his mother, his lovely, wonderful mother. She seemed broken.
“It was a mistake, a huge mistake, one I’ve regretted ever since,” Ken said, sounding guilty. As he should. He should drown in his guilt.
Erin sat back, her face white. “I don’t understand.” She looked at their mom. “Did you know?”
“No.” Astor cleared her throat. “Your father told me this afternoon.”
“Okay,” Erin said with a heavy breath. “It happened a long time ago, right? And like Dad said, it was a mistake. You can get past this.”
Her voice wobbled, her eyes filled. Anthony knew how she felt. He’d never imagined his father hurting his mother this way, never imagined them not being together.
At the moment he couldn’t picture them at all. Could only see his family being ripped apart.
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” Astor said.
“No, not simple.” Erin leaned forward and covered her mother’s hand with one of her own. “It’ll take time.... Maybe you could attend marital counseling or talk to Pastor Rick—”
“Tell them,” Astor said to Ken, sounding so unlike herself, sounding demanding and angry and hurt. “Tell our children the rest.”
Anthony didn’t want to hear the rest. Already he felt disgusted and angry. He knew too much about his parents’ marriage. By admitting the affair his father had dragged him and Erin somewhere they had no right to be.
Ken rubbed his forefinger up and down his coffee cup. “Like I said, it happened a long time ago. I was an idiot. Your mother and I had a fight…I can’t even remember
about what…and I left, went out to get some air and I ended up at the Yacht Pub, thought I’d have a few drinks, calm down.” He cleared his throat. “But I had too much to drink—”
“Are you trying to excuse this?” Anthony asked, incensed.
“Not excuse it, no,” Ken said, his mouth a thin line, “just telling you the truth. I had too much to drink and I made a mistake. I cheated on your mother, the only woman I’ve ever loved. I broke our marriage vows and have now lost your trust and faith in me. I betrayed your mother and my brother.”
“Oh, Daddy,” Erin said, her words ragged. “No.”
Anthony couldn’t catch his breath. Beside him, Erin cried softly but he couldn’t reach over to comfort her. All he could do was stare across the table at his parents. The kitchen table had always been the place for family discussions, over a meal or not. Family meetings, his mother had called them. When Erin had told him he needed to come home, that their parents had to talk to both of them right away, he’d been terrified. Had thought for certain someone had died or was sick.
Not sick, he thought numbly, trying to process what his parents had just told him, not dead. And he couldn’t help but think that somehow, this was even worse.
“You slept with Aunt Val?” Anthony asked, so disgusted he could barely look at his father, his anger threatening to overtake him.
He didn’t remember her, had only been three when she’d disappeared but he’d heard about her his entire life, knew his family had lived with the repercussions of her life and disappearance.
“I regretted it immediately,” Ken said almost desperately.
Of course he was desperate, Anthony thought. He should be. “Does Uncle Tim know? And the girls?”
His cousins, all of whom he loved like sisters.
“The girls know but I’ve asked them to let me tell Tim.”
Anthony sneered. “Big of you.”
Ken’s face lost color but Anthony refused to feel sorry for his words, for how angry he was.
“I’m taking responsibility for my mistake,” Ken said. “And part of that is to admit the truth, the whole truth. Dale York and Valerie blackmailed me eighteen years ago, threatened to tell Tim and your mother about the affair if I didn’t give them half a million dollars. They wanted to leave town, to start a new life together.”