“Jackson Burdeaux is a successful defense attorney who has offices both here in town and in Baton Rouge. Clay Jefferson is a psychiatrist and I’ve lost track of Beau. He left town a couple years ago and nobody has heard from him since.”
She knew what he was doing…talking about anything and everything except the fact that the sheriff had told him he was running out of time.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked softly.
Once again he stared up at the moon, as if seeking answers that would make sense of everything. He sighed, then looked at her. “Up until now I placed my trust, my faith in Lucas. I felt confident that he’d be able to find out who was responsible for Erica’s death. He’s a smart man, a good sheriff, and I just assumed he’d solve this crime without any problems.”
“But that’s not happened.”
“I know. And I think if I’m going to stay out of jail it’s time I do a little sleuthing on my own.”
She frowned at him curiously. “What do you mean?”
“I need to go where Erica went, to the clubs where she hung out. I need to meet the people she knew, people who might know who she was sleeping with at the time of her death.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “Why don’t you come with me? Maybe people would be more apt to talk to you than to me. We could go Saturday night. I’ll get Lillian to sit with Melanie.”
There was a part of her that knew she was getting in too deep, going places she’d never imagined she’d go when she’d taken this job. But the appeal on his face was intense, and she found herself nodding her assent.
In the distance a thrashing in the water followed a small-animal scream. Amanda shivered and wondered what exactly she’d gotten herself into.
SATURDAY MORNING Amanda, Sawyer and Melanie were seated at breakfast when the doorbell rang. A moment later Helen ushered in a tall, husky blond man Sawyer introduced as Adam Kincaid, his business partner.
“Ah, the lovely Amanda,” Adam exclaimed, his blue eyes twinkling with a charming flirtatiousness. “Sawyer has been singing your praises since the day you started working.”
“Sit down, Adam, and don’t overwork that Southern charm of yours,” Sawyer said drily.
“Ah, but working my charm is what I do best,” he replied, and winked at Amanda. He sat in the chair next to Melanie and leaned over and pretended to pull a quarter from her ear.
Melanie took the quarter with a smile, then looked expectantly at her father. “Yes, you can be excused,” he said.
With another smile directed at Amanda, she flew from the room. Sawyer had told his daughter that as soon as she cleaned her room, he’d take her into town to buy her something special.
Officially it was Amanda’s day off, and Lillian was picking her up to take her to lunch. Then this evening she and Sawyer were going out to see if they could discover anything about who Erica might have been seeing at the time of her death.
Adam reached forward and grabbed one of the biscuits from the platter. “Nobody makes biscuits like Helen.” He broke it in two and grabbed Sawyer’s knife to spread some butter.
“You’ll have to excuse my partner,” Sawyer said. “He often shows up on Saturday mornings to mooch breakfast.”
At that moment Helen came through the door carrying a plate of bacon and eggs and a cup of coffee. She placed them in front of Adam, who smiled up at her. “Ah, the lovely Helen. You light up my morning with your smile.”
She scowled at him. “And you are as full of it as you ever were.”
“You wound me,” Adam exclaimed.
She sniffed indignantly and left the room.
“Of all the household help you kept, I’ll never understand why you decided to keep that sour woman,” Adam observed.
“Because she’s the only help who was loyal to me, the only one who stayed after Erica’s death,” Sawyer replied. “Besides, she adores Melanie, and Melanie loves her.”
Amanda digested this information. It went a long way in explaining why there were no other people working in the house. Apparently, most of them had left when Erica had been murdered. She’d asked Sawyer about Melanie’s school friends earlier that morning, and he’d told her that he’d intentionally kept his daughter isolated since her mother’s death, afraid of the gossip she might hear if she went visiting at any of her friends’ homes.
Adam looked at Amanda. “I guess you know what’s happened with Erica and everything. Hell of a mess our boy here has found himself in.” He turned his attention back to Sawyer. “Just say the word. I’ll buy you out and you can leave the country.”
Sawyer raised one of his dark eyebrows. “And why would I want to do that? I’m innocent.”
“Lots of innocent men have spent a lifetime behind bars,” Adam replied.
“Thanks for reminding me,” Sawyer replied.
“I just want you to be prepared for anything the future might bring,” Adam said. He turned his attention to Amanda and for the next few minutes he asked her questions about where she’d come from and how she liked Louisiana.
When the talk turned to their latest building project, Amanda excused herself and went up to find Melanie. Amanda stood in the doorway between the two rooms and watched Melanie put her toys in the toy chest.
“You’re doing a terrific job,” she said. “Your daddy will be proud of how clean you’ve made your room.”
Melanie smiled and continued finishing up as Amanda got ready for her lunch date with Lillian. She was looking forward to some girl chat, something to keep her mind off the night ahead.
Tonight she and Sawyer were leaving the house at nine to explore Erica’s world. In the three days since they’d searched Erica’s room, they had fallen into the routine of spending the evenings together.
After Melanie fell asleep, Amanda would join him either at the kitchen table or on the patio for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. Once they’d walked out to the dock where Sawyer seemed to draw strength from the wildness of the surroundings.
During those late evenings, they’d talked about everything…except Erica’s murder and the reason Amanda had resigned from her previous job.
Each and every moment she spent in his presence heightened the simmering tension she felt inside, a tension she recognized as sexual. But more than that, she found herself drawn to him on levels that had nothing to do with desire.
She perceived a core sense of loneliness inside him, one that spoke to a similar emotion in her. She’d been lonely for most of her life and she had the feeling that, despite his marriage, he’d been lonely, as well.
She had to keep reminding herself that he was a man whose life was in turmoil and that there was no place for her in it other than as his daughter’s nanny. But there had been several times in the past week when it would have been easy to forget that fact, when his gaze had lingered on her longer than necessary, when she’d felt a need radiating from him that she wanted to fill.
Sawyer and Melanie left for their trip into town around eleven and at noon Lillian arrived to pick up Amanda. Within minutes the two were in her car heading for the downtown area of Conja Creek.
“I guess there’s been no change with Melanie? She still isn’t talking?” Lillian asked as she maneuvered the narrow road.
“No, no change.” Amanda fought a wave of depression, then reminded herself that time was the only thing that would heal Melanie. “She’s a sweetheart even if she isn’t talking. I put up a dry-erase board in her room so she’s communicating some by writing on it.”
“She’s a little doll. I’m not sure Erica realized just how lucky she was.”
“Sawyer told me he was going to divorce her,” Amanda said.
Lillian sighed. “I’m not surprised. If he had, Erica probably would have made his life a living hell.”
As they entered the quaint town of Conja Creek, Lillian began to point out various stores she liked and didn’t like. “There’s Linda’s Hair and Nails. Stay away from there. Linda likes to do things her way and she has an o
dd sense of style. Go to the Curl Boutique. It’s down the street.”
By the time they reached the Bayou Kitchen, the restaurant where they would be having lunch, Amanda knew where to buy her clothes, the best places to eat and where to go to purchase the latest fashions in shoes.
“It’s not New York, but there’s enough old money here that the shops are higher quality than most Southern small towns.” Lillian pulled into the parking space in front of the restaurant and shut off the engine. “This is my favorite place to eat around here. Most of the items on the menu are so not on my diet, but I indulge at least once a week.”
Amanda smiled. There wasn’t a spare ounce of flesh on Lillian’s body. However, Amanda always had ten pounds she was trying to take off. But once they were seated at the table inside, she decided to throw caution to the wind and ordered a platter of deep-fried shrimp and fries. Lillian ordered shrimp scampi, and as they ate she talked about the people of Conja Creek.
“Old money, that’s what built Conja Creek. There were a dozen families who were the founders, each one wealthier than the other. Sawyer and his high-school buddies all came from those families, but you’d never know it. From what Erica told me, in college those guys all agreed to work at giving back to society or some such nonsense.”
“I find that admirable,” Amanda replied.
Lillian smiled. “Well, of course it is, but it sure aggravated Erica. She used to complain that, other than the house where they lived, Sawyer didn’t act like he was wealthy. I think she married him with visions of trips to Europe and shopping sprees in Paris.”
“From what I’ve seen in her bedroom, Sawyer was very generous.” Amanda picked up one of the last of her shrimp. When she looked at Lillian once again the woman was staring at her with a look of speculation. “What? What’s wrong.”
“Amanda, you seem like a nice woman. I’d hate to see you get involved on any kind of personal level with Sawyer. He’s a man who has just lost his wife, a man on the rebound, and you’re a pretty little convenience.”
The warmth of a blush swept over Amanda’s face. “I have no intention of getting involved with Sawyer. I’m his daughter’s nanny, nothing more.”
Lillian stabbed a shrimp with her fork. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt. As far as I’m concerned the only thing worse than death is falling in love with the wrong man.”
“Been there, done that,” Amanda replied, her thoughts drifting back in time to the man she’d thought had loved her, but who had run at the first sign of trouble. It didn’t hurt anymore to think about Scott, and that made her wonder just how deep her love for him had been.
“What’s this I hear about you and Sawyer going out tonight to try to find out something about Erica? He’s bringing Melanie to my house at eight to spend the night and told me you and he were going to go hunting for her lover.”
“That’s the plan,” Amanda said, and her heart quickened slightly. She told herself it had nothing to do with the thought of spending the evening alone in Sawyer’s company. Surely her racing heart had to do with the fact that they were seeking a murderer.
Chapter Five
As Sawyer drove away from James and Lillian’s place where he’d just left Melanie for the night, his thoughts turned to the night ahead.
With every hour that passed he was aware of a clock ticking off the minutes of his freedom. Lucas would only be able to stall so long and unless Sawyer found another reasonable suspect, he was going to be arrested.
He frowned and tightened his hands on the steering wheel. When Erica had insisted they name James and Lillian as godparents to Melanie, Sawyer had never imagined there being a time when they would be raising his daughter.
But there was no other choice. Both his parents and Erica’s were dead. There were no aunts or uncles, no other family members to take in Melanie. He’d certainly rather see her with James and Lillian than in the foster care system. Of course the best-case scenario would be that the guilty party was identified and Sawyer and his daughter picked up the pieces of their lives and remained together.
He pulled up in front of his house, and his thoughts turned to Amanda. Other than Melanie, Amanda had become a point of light in the darkness that had become his life.
He’d found comfort in the mundane conversations they shared over meals, in the easy relationship she was building with Melanie. He enjoyed her company and the fact that, despite all the evidence to the contrary, she seemed to believe in his innocence. He needed somebody on his side in this mess.
There were moments in the evenings when he felt Amanda’s gaze lingering on him, when he became aware of a tension between them, a tension that wasn’t altogether unpleasant.
He cut the engine but remained in the car, staring at the house where he’d once thought he’d build his family, share happiness and fulfill dreams.
The dreams had shattered and there had never been much happiness within those walls. Maybe it was time to call Jackson Burdeaux, his old college buddy and fellow member of the Brotherhood. Maybe he should have been in touch with the defense attorney all along.
He’d been functioning in a fog since Erica’s murder, and it was only in the past week or two that the fog had lifted and the reality of his situation had struck him. He couldn’t depend on Lucas to fix things. And he had to be prepared for the worst.
As he climbed out of the car he made a mental note to call Jackson first thing Monday morning. He’d been a fool not to have done it the moment Erica’s body had been found. He’d been a fool about a lot of things.
And tonight he and Amanda would delve into Erica’s world and see if they could discover who might have had a motive to kill her.
He entered the house and went directly to his office to wait for Amanda. He’d told her they would leave around nine. Erica’s world had never started early in the evening.
He’d just sat behind his desk when Helen appeared in the doorway. “I’m leaving now,” she said. “There’s a roast in the refrigerator for tomorrow. All you’ll need to do is warm it up.” Sundays were Helen’s day off and she usually prepared something that could easily be reheated for that day.
“Thanks, Helen,” he replied. She nodded and turned to leave but stopped as he called her name once again. “Helen, I don’t think I’ve ever told you how much I appreciate you sticking with us.”
She offered him a tight smile. “You don’t have to thank me. You should know I’d do anything for Melanie,” she replied. “Good night.” After she’d left the office, Sawyer leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and rubbed a hand wearily across his forehead.
“You don’t look like a man who’s ready to kick up your heels in town.”
He opened his eyes to see Amanda standing in the doorway, and his breath half caught in his throat. He’d seen her every day for the past week, but he’d never seen her looking like she did at that moment.
Black jeans hugged her legs, and a turquoise knit blouse emphasized the thrust of her breasts and the blue of her eyes. Black-and-turquoise earrings dangled from her ears and her makeup wasn’t as subtle as usual.
As far as he was concerned she’d looked like a nanny before, but now she looked like a hot young woman ready to go out on the town. His gaze lingered on her lips, sweetly curved and glossed with a soft pink.
Her fingers curled against the sides of her jeans and she frowned. “Am I underdressed?” she asked, obviously self-conscious beneath his intent gaze.
“No, not at all. You’re perfect.” His pulse had accelerated at the sight of her and it seemed to have no intention of returning to normal. “Are we ready?”
Minutes later they were in his car and headed into town. “Will Melanie be okay with Lillian and James for the night?” she asked.
“Yeah, she’ll be fine. Even when Erica was alive, Melanie would occasionally spend the night with them.”
“They don’t have children of their own?”
“No. They never had any children. They’re nice p
eople, but they’ve become accustomed to living their lives without kids. Lillian adores Melanie, but I can’t imagine her being a full-time mother.”
He could smell Amanda, a soft, evocative scent that didn’t scream into a man’s senses, but rather whispered through them. It was at that moment that he recognized he wanted her. It was a desire that had been building with each day that passed, with each moment he spent in her company. And it was one he had no intention of following through on.
Only a selfish man would begin an affair with a woman knowing that at any moment he might go to prison for the rest of his life. And Sawyer didn’t see himself as a selfish man. At the moment he was simply a desperate one, desperate to find out who his wife had been sleeping with, who might have had a motive for murdering her.
“Our first stop is Cajun Country,” he said. “It’s kind of a rough bar on the edge of town. George told me it was one of Erica’s favorite places.”
“I don’t understand why a woman who had all the things Erica had would want to go out and take the kind of chances she did. I mean, she had you and Melanie and a beautiful home. She had everything most women dream of having.”
He remained silent for a few minutes, thoughts of his wife flitting through his head. “According to Lillian, Erica had a difficult childhood. Erica refused to talk about her past when we got married, so I don’t know too much about her family life. All I know is that she seemed to have a hole inside her that she was constantly trying to fill. I couldn’t fill it. Melanie couldn’t. I’m not sure that anything or anyone could have.”
“That’s tragic,” Amanda said softly.
“I asked her dozens of times to get some counseling. You know that one of my college buddies, Clay Jefferson, is a psychiatrist. But she refused.”
“Then, there was nothing more you could have done,” she replied.
“I just wish now I had been more persuasive about her getting help.” He cleared his throat. “How’s Melanie? Do you see any cracks in her, any hint that she might be getting better?” he asked. “Any hint that she might talk?”
His New Nanny Page 5