But, Kate thought, you and Jack had each other. She didn’t say that though, since there was no reason to state the obvious. Instead, she equivocated until her cousin came up with an interesting suggestion.
“Why don’t you and Amanda fly down and stay with us for the holidays? Florida has to be more appealing than Denver right now.”
Kate laughed. “Well, it’s certainly warmer, and that appeals to me,” she admitted.
“Then come on down. Oh, maybe I’m intruding into your plans. Are your parents going to be in the States for the holidays?”
“No,” Kate said quickly. “Not this year. So I’d love to join you and Jack.” The invitation appealed to her, not only for the heat of the sun but for the warmth of a family. There was just one problem. During holidays, all Laura’s immediate family gathered at the Florida house. “Do you have enough room for me and Amanda?”
“Sure. We’ll make room. Our kids—though why I still call them kids when they’re in their mid-twenties, I don’t know—will be here, but we can double up. It’ll be downright homey. Come on, say yes.”
“Oh, Laura, you don’t know how much I want to join you for the holidays. I really need help—you know, advice about Amanda, and from someone whose judgment I trust.”
“Then it’s settled.” Laura sounded definite.
“Well, I don’t know…. Reservations will be hard to get this time of year—”
“Call me if there’s a problem, honey. Jack wasn’t an airline exec all those years for nothing. He may have taken early retirement, but he still has pull.”
Kate thought about Christmas. Ben would be in Mexico. She and Amanda would be—where? She wasn’t even sure her own apartment would be safe to return to by then.
“Yes,” she said decisively.
“All right!” Laura exclaimed. “I can’t wait to see the baby. Who does she look like—Libby or Derek?”
“Hmm. A little of both, I guess. She has Libby’s coloring but her—” Kate laughed. “I don’t know, Laura. She looks like…a baby.” Amanda crawled toward her and Kate scooped her up, cradling the phone under her ear and positioning the baby onto her shoulder. “I probably can’t talk much longer. Amanda’s on the move.”
“I remember what that means,” Laura said.
“But there’s one other thing, Laura—” Amanda grabbed Kate’s nose and then her cheek. Kate swiped at the baby’s plump hand. “I was just wondering if there’s anyone else in Derek’s family we need to call. I know so little about him.”
“I don’t believe so, darling. The authorities asked me that before, and all I could remember was that his parents were both dead. Years ago, I think. I thought maybe there was a sister, but Jack reminded me that there was only the one brother….”
“A brother?” Kate asked. “What was his name?”
“Let’s see…Harley, I think. Yes, that’s it. Harley Baldwin. I don’t think he and Derek were on very good terms.” There was a long pause on the line. “Why do you want to know all this, Kate?”
“Because—well, because I feel such a responsibility about this child, and I want her to know her relatives.” Kate felt guilty about the lie, but there was no reason to alarm Laura with facts.
“If the relatives are worth knowing,” Laura added. “In the meantime, make your reservations, and call me back as soon as you can about the flight. Don’t forget, you can stay as long as you want.”
Kate hung up the phone. “It’ll be fun to be with a family, Amanda. They’re such nice people. God knows they were great parents for their kids and would be great parents for any kid.” She sat back and gazed into Amanda’s face, wondering if that realization had been the reason behind her call to Laura.
Kate hugged her tightly. “A fine mother I am, baby, one who doesn’t know how to take care of you, doesn’t know what you need or want. What’s worse, I’ve put your life in danger.” She looked down at the baby, focusing on her unbelievably clear blue eyes. “Or is it the other way around? Are you the cause of all this furor? I wish I knew the answer, Amanda.”
Chapter Eight
Two hours later, Ben, Kate and Amanda were back in the car. “The coast is clear,” Ben said. “No one followed Tina and me to or from the office. Want to head home?”
“Not yet. I feel as though we ought to make use of the rest of the day while we’re in Denver.”
“Okay. We dealt with my favorite suspect, so what about yours? Brownley, I mean.”
“Still can’t reach him on the phone. Maybe we should stake out his office or his house. Wait for him to make a move.”
“And waste a lot of time doing nothing.”
“Okay, how about trying the spa again, seeing what I can find out about Paige Norcross—maybe her real name.” Then she glanced into the back seat. “Cancel that. Amanda’s had a long day, and I bet I’d get hung up at the spa again.” She heaved a sigh. “I’m out of ideas—except…” She dug in her handbag for her address book. “We could check out Coral’s condo. Since no one at the spa seems to have any information, maybe some of her neighbors will know where she is.” She looked over at Ben. “You probably think I’m crazy, but I’m really worried about her.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy, and I certainly don’t want you to worry unnecessarily. You have enough problems without adding that woman to them. I guarantee, her cruise ship hasn’t been lost at sea—”
“I don’t think she’s on a cruise,” Kate said adamantly.
“Then let’s find out.” He started the engine and smiled reassuringly at her.
Kate was glad that the early-morning tension between them seemed to have eased. As long as they concentrated on taking care of business, everything was fine.
Ten minutes later, Ben swung through the main gate of Coral’s complex, past a guardhouse without a guard. “Which building?” he asked, studying the gray clapboard structures. “They all look the same.”
“D-9. It’s over there.”
Ben parked the van, but as Kate reached for the door handle, he stopped her. “You and Mandy wait here.” He grinned at her as he stepped down from the van. “Didn’t I tell you that I like to play detective?”
When he closed the door, Amanda woke up from her ride-induced nap and started to whimper.
“He’ll be right back,” Kate assured her, turning to retrieve the precious lamb that had fallen onto the car floor and put it in the baby’s lap. But Amanda continued to pout as she watched Ben walk away.
Kate followed her gaze and saw him striding toward Coral’s condo. Striding was a word she didn’t often use, but it suited Ben perfectly. Oh, the fantasies she had about him. “Forget the dreamy stuff, Kate,” she ordered.
“Da-da,” Amanda called out.
“Don’t even think it,” Kate said. Then she sighed and added, “It was only a kiss. It’s not going to lead to anything more. In fact, it probably won’t ever happen again.” But that thought didn’t keep her from following the baby’s gaze, looking at one of the sights she liked the best, the sight of Ben striding.
He was back quickly.
“Only one of Coral’s neighbors was at home,” he said as he climbed back into the van. “A Mrs. Andrews, a nice elderly woman. She knows Coral but only to say hello. Yes, she noticed that Coral hasn’t been around lately. No, Coral didn’t say where she was going or even mention a trip—”
“See? I knew it!”
“Hear me out, Kate. Mrs. Andrews said that wasn’t unusual because Coral keeps to herself and wouldn’t be inclined to tell the neighbors her plans. She doesn’t have any pets to be watched and doesn’t seem to have any friends among the condo residents. She leaves early, comes home late, doesn’t mix with the others.”
“Oh.” Kate was deflated.
“But the mail has been picked up. There’re no magazines or newspapers lying around. So apparently she told someone her plans and made arrangements ahead of time. Doesn’t that make you feel better about your friend?”
“I suppose so, but I’d fe
el even better if we could find a way to get into her apartment—”
Ben started the engine. “No way, Kate. I’m not going to add breaking and entering to my list of sins.”
“I guess you’re right….”
“You know I’m right,” Ben corrected, with a sideways glance that momentarily threw her off track and caused her to forget about Coral and everyone else in this strange mystery—except Ben, her guide through the maze.
She looked away quickly and got back to business. “I guess the next step is to pick up my car—which is ready at last.”
Ben turned off the engine. “And then what?”
“Look for an apartment?” It was more a question than an answer.
“A drab, cold, furnished place for you and Mandy at Christmastime?”
“You make it sound so inviting,” she said wryly, but he was echoing her own thoughts.
“Well?” he challenged.
“As long as we think someone is watching my apartment, I don’t know what else—”
“You could come back to my place.”
Just when she was trying to stick with business, he threw that at her! She didn’t know how to handle it.
“What’s the matter, Kate?”
“After last night, I thought—I mean—”
“Yeah, we were both a little awkward this morning because of that. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“You weren’t the only one involved,” she said. When he smiled, she looked away again quickly. “But we’re both mature….”
“Yes, we are,” he said.
She wasn’t able to read anything in that statement, if there was anything.
“We know nothing serious is going to develop between us.” She paused, but he had no comment this time so she managed a little laugh. “Maybe it’s just as well we got the kiss out of the way. Now we don’t have to wonder—” She stopped and shut up. It was possible, if she kept babbling, she could talk herself and Amanda out of everything, including a place to stay. “I appreciate what you’ve done for Amanda and me,” she said, taking a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn from the subject of their kiss.
He picked up on the serious vein. “We still have no idea who’s after you. I wouldn’t feel right cutting you loose or putting you up in a strange place.” He turned on the engine again and this time pulled out of the parking slot. “I’m taking off for Mexico next week and there’s no reason why you and Mandy can’t stay at my place until I get back. You’re safe there.” He drove past the gate and onto the street.
Then she remembered her phone call. “We may not be here for the holidays either,” she told him. “My cousin in Florida invited us to visit them for Christmas.”
“That sounds like a good plan.”
Kate tried not to wonder if she’d heard relief in his voice as she continued, “My cousin gave me another bit of information. Amanda has an uncle, her father’s brother. I guess we ought to check him out, too, just in case.”
“Will do,” Ben said, “but if he wanted the baby, it seems likely he would have contacted you, rather than shooting first.”
“Same goes for Daniel Hedrick,” Kate commented.
“Which, in your mind, leaves Brownley.”
She nodded. “Unless you have a better idea.”
KATE WAS STILL thinking about Coral during dinner but had little chance to share her concerns with Ben. The Chinese food they’d picked up fascinated Amanda, and she fidgeted and fussed to get both hands into the Moo Shu Pork, and Beef and Broccoli. Finally, leaving Ben to clear the table, Kate took Amanda upstairs for her bath.
With the baby settled in the tub, playing with her rubber duck, Kate’s thoughts again turned to Coral. She was worried about her despite Ben’s assurances that Coral was simply on a well-deserved vacation. She couldn’t get her friend out of her mind, partly due to their friendship, partly to their parallel lives.
It was true that her life mirrored Coral’s. Coral lived alone in a condo; she barely knew her neighbors. Coral vacationed by herself and was totally involved in her work at the exclusion of a personal life.
Wasn’t that what her own life had been like? Until Amanda. And Ben.
“Da-da,” Amanda chortled, looking up with a smile.
“Why do you do that at the exact moment I’m thinking about him?” Kate asked the baby.
“No?”
“No!” Kate laughed. “You’re some baby.” She squeezed the sponge over Amanda’s round little body and watched her giggle with glee as the water cascaded over her. Adding a little soap, Kate washed the soft skin, in and out of the fat crevices while the baby beat the water, splashing all over her bather.
“Enough! You’re going to drown me,” Kate said, laughing as she picked up the wet squirming child, wrapped her in a towel and held her close to her heart, feeling a great surge of love sweep through her. Amanda could make a huge difference in her life; she already was making a difference.
But what could she do for the baby? What kind of life could she give her?
Amanda pulled and tugged Kate’s ear with pudgy fingers and cuddled against her neck. Her warm squirming body felt so natural against Kate, who held her tightly, wishing she knew the answers to everything that was happening in her life.
She felt tears prickle her eyes and hastily wiped them away with her free hand. “Answers?” she murmured. “Right now I don’t even know the questions. But I do know I love you, little girl, and I hope I can protect you and care for you.” She kissed the baby’s fat cheek, but Amanda’s attention was already drawn elsewhere. Her eyes had fastened on the light fixture over the sink. She raised her hand and pointed.
“See the light?” Kate asked. “Light.”
“Yight,” Amanda repeated. “Yight!”
“That’s it!” Kate said proudly. “Wait until I tell Ben what a smart girl you are.” She smiled at the image of herself and the baby in the misty bathroom mirror. “That’s how real families react, Amanda. Real mommies and daddies.”
She tried to visualize a real family, not her own, certainly; maybe her cousins. “Jack and Laura,” she told Amanda, “they’re real parents.” She stopped herself, steadfastly trying to push away the thought that popped into her head: maybe they would be a more suitable family for Amanda.
No! Families came in all sorts and sizes, and this was a family, too, she and Amanda. “For better or worse, babe,” she said to the child’s reflection, “mostly, on my part, for worse so far. But that’ll change.”
Amanda reached toward the two reflections in the foggy mirror and laughed.
OUR OF THE CORNER of his eye, Ben had watched Kate climb the stairs as he settled at the computer. Then he’d gotten back to work. Only his mind was still with her, going up those stairs, taking the baby into the bedroom. What next? Giving Amanda a bath, putting her on the bed with her lamb while Kate stripped off her clothes and changed into—what, a nightgown? He wondered if she’d bought one at the mall, but even if she had, it was wishful thinking to imagine he’d see her in it.
She would definitely keep on her clothes, and when she came downstairs after Amanda went to sleep, she’d be fully dressed, ready to discuss the next part of their plan. Of course, his agenda was the same. At least, that was what he told himself.
Just hours ago, he’d thought he was on to something. He’d been sure he’d be able to prove Hedrick was after Amanda. Then the police would take over, and Kate and Amanda would go back to their lives. But it hadn’t happened. He still had no idea who had attacked Kate.
Besides, that wasn’t what was on his mind, Ben realized.
He tried to concentrate on the screen, but he couldn’t focus because he was listening to the sounds from the loft. Amanda laughing and giggling, Kate talking softly. Feminine sounds.
Family sounds.
What was it about those two that tugged at his heart? What was it about Kate that kept him from focusing on work? Usually, his relationships with women were uncomplicated affairs tha
t lasted until he—or she—was ready to move on. If a woman was too demanding of his time, he gently extricated himself, and the woman understood—or said she did.
Kate wasn’t demanding. She was incredibly independent and determined to take care of herself. But somehow she and the kid were occupying an extraordinarily large part of his life, which was all his doing. Because he liked more than the excitement of the mystery; he liked the excitement of her.
He went back in his memory to the day they met. Kate had been businesslike and harried. But that Kate was also the one who tried on the blond wig in the boutique, the sexy short-skirted, flirty, funny Kate. And then there was the Kate he’d held in his arms.
So many Kates.
He heard her footsteps on the stairs and called out. “I found out a little about Mandy’s uncle, and it’s not good.”
“Uh-oh.” She stood behind him. He could feel her warmth and smell her sweet clean scent.
He forced himself to keep his eyes on the screen. “Yeah, a bad-check artist with a few arrests here and there. Misdemeanors.”
“Where is he now?”
“Don’t know that yet, but I will soon.”
Kate walked over to the fireplace, a look of concern on her face. “I don’t like the sound of it. Petty criminal…” Her voice trailed off.
Ben turned off the computer and got up, stretching his arms above his head. “Don’t worry. A guy like that wouldn’t want a baby.”
“Except maybe to kidnap and hold for ransom,” she offered.
“Then why the attacks on you? With you out of the way, where would he get the money? It doesn’t compute, Kate.”
She sighed, dropped into a chair and leaned forward, trying to work the tension out of her neck. “Maybe he’s into the baby-selling business, too, or maybe he works for some kind of syndicate….” She shook her head. “These guessing games are fruitless.”
“We’re going to find the answer,” he assured her.
She looked over at him, and he read the doubt in her eyes. With one stride he closed the space between them and put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry.” He could tell she was trying to be optimistic, but her eyes gave her away. He rubbed her shoulder, pressing his thumb against her upper back. “Everything will be okay—unless you cop out on me—”
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