Private Lives

by Karen Young

  A hint of a smile softened her face. “I know the feeling. It’s for Jesse’s sake that I do a lot of things that I probably wouldn’t otherwise do. Or make choices I wouldn’t otherwise choose.”

  “Such as—”

  “Since you’re still Austin’s lawyer, I think I’ve said enough.”

  They were approaching the restaurant now, which had half a dozen umbrella-covered tables set outside. She stopped and looked about, caught in full sunshine. Her hair was an incredible color, he thought, not red, but a dark auburn and shot through with rich fiery highlights. Thick and lustrous, it fell to her shoulders, wanting to curl in Houston’s humid air. He guessed that ordinarily she spent a lot of time trying to tame it, but after nearly eighteen hours without benefit of vanity products and mirror, it was going its own untamed way. He preferred her looking natural and feminine, as she did in the jeans and soft T-shirt. And those green eyes…A man could learn to love the look of a woman like Liz.

  “Liz—” He stopped her as she started inside. She turned, giving him a questioning look. “After this is over, would you have dinner with me? Could we get to know each other better without all the complications of Austin and…everything else?”

  “I…don’t know.” She frowned.

  “Are you seeing somebody?”

  “No. It’s just—” Shaking her head, she looked sort of frantically at the traffic. “I’m really not interested in…that.”

  He smiled, a half tilt of his mouth, knowing the risk he took teasing her. “Don’t tell me Austin’s tacky accusations were right after all?”

  “Austin’s—” She looked confused a second or two before she understood. “Oh, that Gina and I—” She stopped, giving a soft laugh. “No, his accusations were probably a fantasy in his own mind. He’s just that sick.”

  “And tacky.”

  “Your words, not mine.” She glanced at the door. “Are we having lunch or not?”

  She hadn’t promised to go out with him, but he hadn’t been completely shot down either, he thought. He felt hopeful. “Want to sit outside?”

  “I think so.” She allowed him to seat her and thanked the waiter with a smile as water in a tall glass was placed in front of her. Again, he caught himself staring. Her smile was enough to make him forget the history they shared.

  “You should do that more often,” he said, waving the waiter off after they’d ordered.

  “Do what?”

  “Smile.”

  Instantly, her smile faded. “I don’t have much to smile about today. I know it must seem as if I’m refusing to face reality about Gina, but I just can’t accept that the life of someone so vibrant and loving could end this way. I just can’t give up hope.” She toyed with the raffia string tied around her napkin. “There’s still Jesse to consider.”

  “There’s always hope, Liz.” He wanted to take her hand and bring her fingers to his lips to kiss, but he’d have to save that and other kisses for later. But it was going to happen. He was going to get to know Elizabeth Walker much better.

  She frowned as she opened the napkin, the motion unhurried as if her thoughts were focused back in time. “I never understood her obsession with Austin. I think now, looking back, that I wasn’t a very good friend.” She looked into Ryan’s eyes. “Gina knew Austin’s faults without being constantly reminded by me. If she’d been able, she would have ended their relationship earlier. She simply wasn’t able to put him out of her life and I never could accept that. I should have. I should have tried harder to understand.”

  Their food arrived, giving Ryan a chance to consider his reply. “You’ve been there for her during the times when she needed help. That’s a true friend. And you’ve been a steady and loving presence to Jesse. Beyond that, I don’t see what more you could do.” It was all Ryan could think of to say, but her pain made him recall a long-forgotten memory. “My mother had a friend,” he said, looking at the way she was shredding a roll into bird-size crumbs. “They knew each other in high school and all the way through college, but after they both married, they settled in different areas of Houston. In spite of the distance, they met for lunch occasionally and as friends they shared bits and pieces of their lives. Then one night my mother had a call and was told that the woman had been taken to a hospital. Seems she’d fallen down the stairs and was in a coma from which she never recovered. I must have been eight or ten, but I remember my mother’s shock and anger. I thought it was odd to see my mother enraged over an accident. Her friend couldn’t help falling down the stairs, could she? We went to the funeral and I remember hearing whispers and scraps of conversation that hinted at something other than an accidental fall down those stairs. Her husband was a well-respected businessman, and very successful. What were they hinting at? A man like that wouldn’t do something so unspeakable as pushing his wife down a flight of stairs, would he? It just couldn’t happen…could it? That kind of abuse happened in social circles different from ours. Didn’t it?”

  Ryan’s smile wasn’t quite straight. He picked up his fork and speared a shrimp, but held it untasted. Instead, he looked into Elizabeth’s green eyes. “Afterward, my mother was filled with remorse. She felt guilty, even somewhat responsible, if you can believe that. I remember her telling my father that she should have done something. Intervened somehow. And I remember my father dismissing her feelings as the usual female tendency to overreact. Like many, he was blind to the truth. He didn’t see anything but the man’s public persona.”

  Elizabeth sipped water and toyed with her salad. “It happens.”

  “Yeah, it does. I’m wondering if I’m more like my old man than my mother. If Austin is as abusive as you believe him to be, then I might have been more helpful in keeping him away from her if I hadn’t been assuming a man with Austin’s background wouldn’t behave like a common criminal.” That was part of it. He hoped Liz would never know the other—how his objectivity had disappeared once he learned who her father was. Had he helped put Gina in jeopardy because he was blinded by Elizabeth’s connection to his father? “So, if you’re going to beat yourself up over the tragedy of Gina and her dysfunctional relationship with Austin, I’d have to get in line way ahead of you, Liz.”

  Elizabeth was shaking her head, now pushing lettuce around on her plate. “Nobody could have prevented them seeing each other one more time,” she said. “I don’t know this for sure—I mean, Gina didn’t confide in me—but I think she called Austin and set up the date. She was surely horrified to find herself pregnant. I think she knew he’d be unhappy to say the least and that’s why she took Jesse. He wouldn’t attack her in front of Jesse.” She pushed her plate away. “At least I don’t think he would. Since Jesse hasn’t said a word since, we haven’t heard her account of the accident.”

  “Wait, wait. Go back a minute. Who’s pregnant? Gina?”

  She frowned. “Didn’t you know?”

  He put his fork down carefully. “No, I didn’t. My client hasn’t shared that particular bit of information.”

  She rested her hands on the edge of the table. “Should we be having this conversation, Ryan?”

  He swore softly and signaled to the waiter. “Probably not.” When the waiter appeared, he told him to remove their plates, then looked at Elizabeth. “Would you like dessert? Coffee?”

  “No, thanks,” she replied with a faint smile. “I didn’t do justice to my salad and I’ve had enough caffeine in the last twenty-four hours to keep me wired for a week.”

  Ryan waited until the waiter moved away. “About Gina’s pregnancy. She couldn’t have been very far along, right?”

  “It happened the day they left together after the hearing.”

  He stared at her. “You’re kidding.”

  “Don’t I wish.”

  “How do you know?”

  “That she was pregnant? Megan gave me the good news.”

  “No, how do you know when it happened.”

  Another near-smile. “I know.” She paused while the check w
as placed in front of him. “I think that’s the reason she made the date. She had to tell him and I think the last thing he wanted from Gina was another child. I have no proof of any of this, of course.”

  No, but he could see how she’d worked it out in her mind. It sounded very likely to him, too. He pulled his wallet out and removed his credit card. How would Austin react to learning he was going to have to deal with yet another kid? The mental picture that produced was not pretty. But would he do more than just pitch a fit like a spoiled kid?

  “Ryan…”

  He looked up into her eyes, green as glass, clear and compelling. “What?”

  “He mustn’t be allowed to get his hands on Jesse.”

  They were entering the hospital foyer half an hour later when Elizabeth’s cell phone rang. Her hands shook as she fumbled for it in her purse. One look at the read-out told her that it was Lindsay calling. With her heart pounding, she put the phone to her ear. “What is it, Lindsay?”

  “Where are you?”

  “In the lobby…at the elevators.” She turned her back on a uniformed guard heading her way, no doubt to remind her that cell phones were not to be used in the hospital. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

  “It’s Gina. I don’t know for sure, but everyone is crowded around her bed in the ICU. I’ve paged Megan.” Lindsay’s voice broke. “Hurry, Liz. They’ve called a Code Blue.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Gina’s heart stopped during a convulsion brought on by excessive swelling in her brain. It was Megan who told Elizabeth that she was pronounced dead after seventeen minutes of desperate effort by the ER team. Elizabeth listened numbly to the details, white-faced and frozen. This time, when Ryan slipped an arm around her, she didn’t resist. She turned her face into his chest and gave way to unspeakable grief.

  Eighteen

  Elizabeth stood with her arms wrapped around herself, staring out the window in a private room off the ICU. She was dry-eyed and filled with a dark pain. She’d been given a few moments to say a final goodbye to Gina, but she still felt as if some terrible mistake had been made. It was like one of those moments in her teenage years when she was told that she was going to yet another foster home, except that this was so much worse. With her eyes fixed on the trees in the park across from the hospital, she recalled wondering then whether she would be able to survive. And, of course, she had survived and she would survive now.

  There had been no sign of Austin, but she knew better than to assume he was no longer a threat. Since Jesse did not know yet, Louie had been told to take the girls, Jesse and Jennifer, to his house just to be on the safe side. Now, down the corridor, Ryan paced, his frown as dark as a Texas sky before a storm as he spoke out of earshot into his cell phone. Hospital rules go to hell. She suspected he was trying to locate Austin.

  Hovering just outside, but within sight of Elizabeth, Lindsay waited. Clearly she was anxious. That, too, felt unreal. Inside, Elizabeth’s heart literally ached. She’d heard that phrase all her life, but had never known what it really meant. Now she knew. It was a physical pain, as real as if something was actually piercing her chest. She heard a sound at the door and then someone coughed quietly, but she didn’t look around. Whatever it was, it could wait. Whoever could wait.

  “Ms. Walker. Elizabeth Walker?”

  She closed her eyes, dropping her head. Closing him out.

  “I’m sorry for your loss, ma’am. I’m with the Houston Police Department. Homicide division.”

  She turned at that and saw that he had a badge in a leather holder, opened to show a picture ID. Just like in a movie, she thought, utterly unable to read it.

  “Detective Shepherd Steele, ma’am. I hate intruding on your grief this way, but it’s my job.”

  She looked at his face then. Thirtysomething, tall and regulation-neat. Black hair. Brown eyes. On closer look, shrewd, but kind eyes. “Is that really your name?” It was a name she might have made up in one of her books.

  “Since birth,” he said with a smile that was slow, unthreatening. She thought it probably charmed the panty hose off any female under seventy and fooled murderers. “I need to ask you a few questions, ma’am. I’ll be brief, I promise. But it’s necessary.”

  “Why? Questions about what?”

  “About your friend, Ms. D’Angelo.”

  “Gina?” She felt tears rising and with a hand to her throat, swallowed, hard. “What kind of questions?”

  “What’s going on here?” With a fierce look at the detective, Lindsay went to stand beside Liz.

  “Police business, ma’am,” he said, flashing his badge. The move was much quicker and without as much politeness as he’d shown Elizabeth. “If you’ll just step outside—”

  “I don’t think so,” Lindsay said, now joined at the hip with Elizabeth. “This woman has just experienced a tragedy. She’s been at her friend’s bedside since midnight last night. That’s—” she glanced at her watch “—nearly fourteen hours of hell. Now, if you have police business, it can wait. Her lawyer will make an appointment to meet with you downtown.” She frowned. “What’s this all about anyway?”

  “Lindsay—” Elizabeth put out a hand to say it was all right.

  “I didn’t get your name,” Detective Steele said, his handsome jaw set as stubbornly as Lindsay’s.

  “That’s because I didn’t give it,” she said, her blue eyes flashing.

  “Look,” Steele said, slipping his badge back in his pocket, “I appreciate your concern for Ms. Walker and I understand this is awkward, but I’m also not going to ask you again to step outside until I’ve finished in here. This is, I repeat, police business and—”

  Lindsay took two steps to the door. “Ryan, come in here!” She turned back, missing Ryan’s quick frown. “Lucky for us, our lawyer is on the premises. Any questions you have can be directed to him.”

  “Lindsay, it’s okay,” Elizabeth said, almost seeing humor in the situation. The two of them were squared off like boxers waiting for the bell.

  “What’s going on?” Ryan joined the group in the now crowded room. He gave Detective Steele a hard look, then his face relaxed. “Hey, Steele, what’s up?”

  “You know him?” Lindsay asked as Steele and Ryan shook hands. Both ignored Lindsay.

  “How’s it goin’, Ryan?” the detective asked.

  “It’s been better.” Ryan glanced at Liz’s pale face and took a step toward her. “Is there a problem?”

  Steele tapped his notebook against his leg. “I’ve asked Ms. Walker if she’d mind answering a few questions. She’s consented and we—”

  “Homicide’s got an interest here?” Ryan’s frown was back. “You want to explain that?”

  The detective grimaced. “Not to you, Ryan, unless you represent this lady. But I can tell you she doesn’t need a lawyer for what I’m asking. It’s routine.”

  “Routine or not, it’s not gonna happen today,” Lindsay said. “I’ve told him Elizabeth has just suffered a tragic loss, Ryan. I’ve also told him you’re our lawyer. If he wants to talk to her, you can accompany her to the police station whenever.”

  Shaking her head, Elizabeth rubbed a spot between her eyes. “He can’t be my lawyer, Lindsay. He’s Austin’s lawyer.”

  Steele’s gaze narrowed on Ryan. “You represent Austin Leggett?”

  “Yeah. Why is that relevant?”

  “Wait outside,” Steele said to Ryan in a tone that was suddenly devoid of the good-ol’-boy connection. “I have a few questions for you, too.”

  Lindsay made a choked sound. “Don’t you get it, Detective? We’ve had a family tragedy here. It borders on cruelty for you to intrude on this moment. I’ve said Elizabeth will be happy to talk with you downtown, but after she’s had a chance to take all this in. Come on, be reasonable.”

  “Ms. Walker consented,” Steele said, then turned to Elizabeth. “That’s right, isn’t it, ma’am?”

  “Yes, I consented. Although I’m thinking that afte
r all this time, we could probably have been finished,” she remarked dryly.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He turned to Ryan and Lindsay. “If you’ll excuse us…”

  Ryan looked at Elizabeth. “Liz?”

  “If I think I need help, I’ll call Maude Kennedy,” she said. Then with a questioning look at the detective, she asked, “Don’t I have that right?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She nodded. “Then let’s get started.” She moved toward Ryan and Lindsay, shooing them toward the door. “If Austin shows up, will one of you please let me know?” With that, she turned back to Detective Steele, who was smiling. Almost.

  “You’ve got some good friends there looking out for you.” He closed the door while she took a seat, but kept his eyes on her. “I wonder why they think you need protecting.”

  She considered that. She hadn’t even known Lindsay’s and Ryan’s names a month ago and yes, they did seem…protective. No other word described their attitude. It was a new experience. Today it gave her a warm feeling, adding some small comfort to the hole in her heart left by Gina’s passing. She wasn’t sure how she’d tolerate that kind of attention under other circumstances. She’d been on her own too long and prized her independence. Not that it would become a problem. She didn’t expect Lindsay or Ryan to continue to spend so much time with her after the crisis was past. If they went the way of most people in her life—with the exception of Gina and Louie—they would have forgotten she existed in a few weeks.

  The detective’s next words brought her thoughts back to the moment. “Ms. Walker, do you have reason to believe Gina D’Angelo was murdered?”

  “Murdered? Why would you think that?”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “I didn’t say Gina was murdered!”

  He flipped a page back in his notebook. “We had a call from someone in the ICU here at Hermann. You were overheard saying you didn’t believe Austin Leggett’s version of the accident that injured Ms. D’Angelo and her daughter.”

  “Oh. That.”