by Rita Herron
Then Elsie had been even more lost. Even more confused and angry. And she’d gotten in trouble.
So much trouble that she’d blamed herself when her father had abandoned her to the horrors of Wildcat Manor.
DEKE HAD ALWAYS BEEN a sucker for a damsel in distress. And Elsie Timmons fit that picture perfectly. Instead of happy or excited, she appeared to be tormented by his news.
Of course, he understood her mixed reaction. He had been thrilled that his father was released, but the bitterness he felt from all the time he’d lost with him, for all the pain his family had endured, especially his mother, had lingered.
Elsie had obviously struggled. If her claims were true, her father had lied to her all her life. Where was he now?
She studied the pictures over and over again, then glanced back into the fire, dazed. Her eyes looked haunted, grief and sadness so embedded in the depths, that his gut clenched. She reminded him of the injured animals he and his brothers found in the wild. A butterfly maybe, or a wounded kitten.
“Your mother wants me to bring you back to see her,” he finally said.
Her gaze flew to his, questions and worry flashing.
“I’ll be glad to escort you.”
“No…I can’t go.”
His anger rose, defenses born from a lifetime of being looked at as a killer’s son surfacing. Was she still afraid of him?
“You can call her yourself.” Furious at himself for wanting to soothe her pain when she looked at him as a villain, he reached inside his wallet, removed his business card, then scribbled her mother’s name and number on it. “This is my P.I. firm, if you want to check it out, and there’s your mother’s number.”
Her chin quivered as she accepted the card. “She really wanted me all these years?”
The anguish in her voice overrode his anger, and he sat down beside her and gently touched her hand. A frisson of sexual awareness bolted through him, the sight of her eyes filled with tears nearly ripping him inside out. “Yes, Elsie. Call her. She’ll be thrilled to hear from you.”
She clamped her teeth over her trembling lip. “I…can’t right now. I need time, time to think, to take all this in.”
He stroked her hand with his fingers, aching to pull her into his arms. A possessive, foreign feeling he didn’t understandlled him. “Where is your father, Elsie?”
Fear and something else—shame? anger?—settled across her face. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him in years.”
“What happened after he took you from your mother?”
She glanced down at her hands, at his fingers as they moved slowly over hers, but she didn’t pull away. “We moved around a lot. Every town he took me to, we used another name.”
“Your mother hired another P.I. back then,” he said. “But your father managed to stay hidden.”
“He didn’t…couldn’t keep a job,” she said. “He blamed her for their failed marriage, for me.”
“What do you mean?”
She couldn’t explain the painful things he’d said to her. “I…I don’t think he wanted a child.”
“But he stole you from her,” Deke said in a low voice.
“To hurt her,” she said, raw pain tingeing her voice.
He muttered a curse, and she averted her gaze, rocking herself back and forth. “When was the last time you saw him?” Deke asked.
The shaking that had finally stopped racking her slender frame assaulted her again, and he ground his teeth to keep from putting his arms around her. He had to move slowly with Elsie, be gentle, approach her as he would a wounded hawk.
“When I was fourteen.”
He frowned. “What happened?”
She shook her heard, hunching her shoulders. “I…don’t want to talk about it.”
He gestured around the monstrous room. “He left you here at this orphanage, didn’t he?”
A slight nod of her head served as her reply. Then she stood and turned toward the fire, seemingly lost in the flames.
“I will take you back to your home,” he said. “When you see your mother, everything will be all right. Trust me, you’ll see.”
Elsie shook her head, tears spiking her long black lashes. “It’s too late,” she said in a haunted whisper. “I can’t go back now, Deke. Not ever.”
Raw anguish knifed through Elsie. In mere seconds, she’d memorized her mother’s features. Her smile. Her sad eyes. The changes in her face. The slight graying of her hair.
And with that, the memory of her voice had returned. The sound of her soft singing. Her spontaneous laughter. The smell of the gardenia lotion she used on her hands. The look of joy on her face when Elsie had drawn a picture for her or when she’d done something to please her mother.
“I’m so proud of you,” her mother would say. “You’re my little angel.”
But in the fire, Elsie saw Howard Hodges, his skin burning, his eyes screaming in pain, the flames eating his hair.
If her mother knew what Elsie had done, ’d survived, the fact that she had murdered a man, she couldn’t smile or be proud of her. And she would never call her an angel.
Shame would fill her eyes. Disappointment. Maybe fury.
She would send Elsie away for sure this time. Elsie wouldn’t blame her.
She wasn’t the innocent, sweet little girl she had been when she’d lived at home or when she’d played hopscotch and baby dolls with Hailey. But heaven help her, she wanted to go home. Wanted to feel her mother’s arms around her.
She angled her face and saw Deke studying her. She had been afraid of him when she’d first met him. Yet in the last few minutes, he had shown her a tenderness she’d never known existed. A tenderness between a man and a woman.
He had made her want to fall into his arms and let him hold her. Yet his raw masculinity frightened her at the same time. How did she know if she could trust him?
He was only here doing a job. And it was sympathy in his eyes, not real emotion or caring. Or even attraction.
No, if she confided about her past, he would never want to be seen with her. He might even turn her over to the police.
He placed his hand on her arm, turned her to face him. “Elsie, talk to me. Tell me what’s going through your head. I swear, I’ll help you.”
She pulled away, immediately missing the warmth of his touch. But she couldn’t share her horrid secrets with anyone.
“I need some time to think.”
“To think about what?” His voice sounded gruff, slightly agitated. “Deanna has called me almost every day the last two weeks to see if I’ve found you. She’ll want to know what you look like, when I’m bringing you back.” His dark brows furrowed. “I hate to lie to her. She’s a sweet lady, and she’s suffered for a long time.”
Guilt weighed on Elsie’s shoulders. She almost wavered. Deke Falcon had no idea how much she wanted to see her mother. But she couldn’t return until she made something of herself. Until she faced her past and rectified her sins by building this center for kids. If she didn’t, she would always look at herself as an evil person.
And as a murderer.
Chapter Five
Frustration filled Deke. He’d expected Elsie to hear him out, then let him drive her back to see her mother and a happy reunion to ensue. Then his job would be done.
It was obvious that Elsie wanted to see her mother. She was plainly devastated to learn that her father had lied to her. So why would she choose to stay in this mausoleum where her father had left her? What kind of hold did the town have on her?
He had to dig deeper. Find out what had caused her to be so skittish. Why she had come back here. What she was hiding.
“Elsie, tell me why you really don’t want to go back to Falcon Ridge.” He started to reach for her again to assure her that would be all right. But her shoulders tensed and she drew away, his touch unwelcome.
“I…just can’t,” she whispered in a faint voice.
“Why not? Do you have obligations here in town? A job or a man in
your life?”
“God, no,” she whispered.
“Then what?”
“My mother doesn’t know me now,” she rasped. “I’m…not the same little girl she once had.”
No. She was a stunning woman. Delicate and vulnerable with eyes that mesmerized him, and a soft pouty mouth that he desperately wanted to kiss. No, he wouldn’t do that.
But someone had attacked her, and he had to protect her for Deanna’s sake.
And for his own? He couldn’t deny that he’d instantly felt drawn to her. Maybe because he understood the pain of desertion.
Except that his father hadn’t deserted him of his own free will.
Still, at times, Deke had blamed his dad for not being around. For staying away so long. For not fighting harder to beat the conviction and get it overturned.
The silent realization shocked him. He shoved his hand through his hair, trying to make sense of his reaction. He’d never given voice to those irrational feelings before. And they were irrational—his father had been innocent. He’d tried his damnedest to free himself, but the truth hadn’t mattered.
Although when he’d been sentenced, his father had refused to see the boys. Deke had thought he didn’t love them anymore.
As an adult, he understood that his father had been trying to protect them. He hadn’t wanted his sons to see the meanness inside the prison. He’d thought the family would have a better chance of happiness without the turmoil of constant prison visits tainting their impressionable lives.
But Deke hadn’t understood at the time. He’d been devastated and hurt, had felt as if his father had abandoned them completely. And he’d hated hearing his mother cry at night, had felt so helpless….
But his parents love for each other had survived, and now the family had been reunited. Deanna and Elsie deserved the same.
“Elsie, your mother loves you,” he said gruffly. “Nothing that’s happened in the last twenty years can change that.”
Her gaze met his, and his gut clenched at the pure fear and pain darkening her eyes. She didn’t believe him.
“I…I have to do something here first,” she said in a raw whisper.
He stroked her arm, relieved when she didn’t pull away. “Then I’ll help you.”
She shook her head. “You can’t,” she said softly. “No one can.” Gathering the blanket tighter around her shoulders, she gestured toward the door. “Now please go, Mr. Falcon.”
“Deke.”
She sighed, a tired sound that yanked at his hear. “Deke. Please, I need to be alone.”
“What do you want me to tell your mother?” he asked.
The question appeared to shake her barely controlled equilibrium. “Tell her that you can’t find her little girl, that she’s still lost.”
“I won’t do that,” he said in a rigid tone. “Her little girl is right here, and she needs her mother as much as her mother needs her.”
Fire flashed in her eyes. “What are you, Deke, some kind of therapist?”
He barked a laugh at her display of anger. “No, just someone who knows what it’s like to lose a parent as a child. All those years my father was falsely imprisoned…” His voice cracked slightly. “I…needed him. Even as a man, I still do. I’m not ashamed to admit that.”
Emotions glittered in her eyes like raindrops, ready to fall in the prelude of a violent storm.
“Please,” she said quietly. “Let me be alone now.”
He stared at her for a long moment, but finally gave a clipped nod. An injured bird needed time to rest. Time to heal. To learn to trust. So did Elsie. “My cell phone number is on the card I gave you. Call me if you need anything.” He hesitated. “Especially if someone tries to hurt you again.”
She traced her finger over the edge of the card. “I’m sure I’ll be fine. Goodbye, Deke.”
Elsie had no idea who she was dealing with. Deke Falcon couldn’t be run off so easily. “I’m not leaving town, Elsie,” he said in a low voice. “Not until you’re ready to go with me.”
He didn’t wait for a reply. Instead, he strode to the door, a smile creasing his mouth at the surprise on her face. Elsie Timmons might be stubborn, but she needed protection and help. And he was a man of his word.
Wherever she went, he would be right behind her.
AS SOON AS Deke Falcon left, Elsie locked the door behind him. The well of emotion she’d tried to bottle overflowed, tears running down her cheeks like a river.
She let herself cry it out. All the loneliness she’d lived with for so long had been needless. Being spirited from town to town, changing names, never making friends, being shut up with her father while he drank himself into a stupor. All for nothing.
How many nights had she lain in bed, unable to sleep, wondering why her mother didn’t want her? Why her father didn’t love her.
Then he had deserted her, too.
Rage unlike anything she’d ever known exploded inside her. How could he have been so cruel?
She doubled over, pain rocking through her. Her father had hurt her mother, destroyed all their lives because he’d been a selfish bastard. And all this time she had blamed her mother when her mother was suffering. She might have even thought that Elsie’s father had hurt her.
Her poor mother. She traced her fingers over her feature in the photo. Age had made its voice known by the tiny wrinkles and lines around her mouth and eyes, and her hair had streaks of gray, but Elsie loved her as if they had never been apart.
Memories of the orphanage returned like macabre snapshots in a tattered memory book. All those horrible lonely nights. The evil Mr. Hodges. The other children. The babies….
If she had lived with her mother all these years, she would have never known that world existed. She would have been loved. Would have attended a normal school, enjoyed girlfriends. Maybe a boyfriend….
And she wouldn’t have turned to the streets for survival. For any crumb of affection a boy or man had to offer. She might have even been happy. Fallen in love. Gotten married and had a family of her own.
If it hadn’t been for the Williamsons, the last family who’d taken her in, there was no telling what would have happened. But the woman had encouraged her to finish school, to get an education. And, thankfully, she had listened.
An image of Deke Falcon’s face replaced the bitter memories, but she quickly banished it. What man would want her when they learned the truth about the woman she’d become?
No. Her chance for love and a family ended long ago.
But she could make amends to the other girls and right the wrongs being done to children by opening the teen center.
Her heart hammering in her chest, she hurried to the bedroom and removed the silk embroidered handkerchief her mother had made for her when she was little. She had cross-stitched Elsie’s name on it in yellow and added a small butterfly in the corner. Elsie had almost thrown it away when she’d thought her mother had died, but it was the only thing she had left of her. She sniffed the handkerchief, remembering the sweet scent of her mother’s hand soap.
Determination and strength filled Elsie. She would not let anyone run her off until she turned this place into the safe haven it should have been, until she had something to be proud of.
Then she would return to Falcon Ridge, see her mother and pray that she’d forgive her.
FROM THE RANGE ROVER, Deke’s gaze tracked the broken bits of stone, the decay and rot around the scarred basement, the dead leaves and twigs swirling along the overgrown yard of the manor. The frosted windowpanes held layers of grime, ice and fog that hid the dirty secrets within the walls.
His stomach knotted at the thought of Elsie inside the monstrosity alone. What if the person who’d attacked her returned? And who had the intruder been? A homeless person seeking shelter? Someone from her past who’d followed Elsie here? Or someone who didn’t want Elsie in Wildcat Manor?
He had to persuade Elsie to confide in him. But how?
Maybe if he discov
ered the real reason she’d returned to the manor, he would understand Elsie’s compulsion to stay here. More detective work was in order.
He glanced at his watch, the dark sky growing more ominous, the shadow of the sun trying to burst through the clouds, but unable to, as if light never shone on Wildcat Manor.
Duty called. He had to report back to Deanna with an update on his progress. She’d be on pins and needles waiting.
Sweat beaded on his forehead, the truth too cruel to tell her. I found her, Deanna, but she refuses to come and see you.
No, he could not relay that harsh reality. And he didn’t understand Elsie’s motivations enough to lie. Another concern teased the edges of his mind, spiking worry. At this point, taking Elsie back to Colorado might endanger Deanna.
His head throbbing, he phoned Rex instead.
His brother answered on the second ring. “What’s up, Deke?”
That was Rex, always to the point. No chitchat or beating around the bush with small talk. “You might tell me how the family is before you give me the third degree.”
“Everyone here is fine. Anxiously awaiting your return.” Rex chuckled. “Now, do you feel better?”
Deke laughed. Rex had changed since he’d married. Solving their father’s case and meeting Hailey had freed his brother of his rage. Before, Deke couldn’t have imagined Rex cracking a joke. “Yeah. I want to make sure you guys are missing me.”
“We’re falling apart without you.”
“Yeah, right.” Deke chuckled again, then heard Hailey’s voice as if she’d come up next to his brother. Damn, they were mushy.
“So, spill it,” Rex said, more serious. “What’s going on?”
Deke exhaled. “I found Elsie.”
“Jesus.” Relief tinged Rex’s voice. “Hailey and Deanna are going to be thrilled.”
“You can’t tell Deanna yet, Rex.”
A tense second lapsed, punctuated by a heavy sigh from his brother. “Why not? She is alive, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, she’s alive.” Deke silently cursed. But her soul had been shattered. “It’s a long story, but the bottom line is that Elsie isn’t ready to come home.”