Deadly Inheritance: A Romantic Suspense Page 22

  Gerhardt’s grin widened. Amusement sparkled in his eyes. “No doubt. And she’ll hear in good time.”

  “Come on. You can take the time.” His jaw ached from gritting his teeth. Why couldn’t Gerhardt stop acting like a hidebound asshole and for once be human? How hard would it be to put a few questions to Boxwood now?

  “It’s procedure, Mr. O’Brien. You should understand that.” Gerhardt nodded and gave Boxwood’s back a sharp prod.

  Scowling, Boxwood jolted forward. “I want a doctor. He assaulted me,” he jerked his head in Gabe’s direction. “I think he broke something.”

  “Then you should be pleased to know you can get medical attention when we reach the station,” Gerhardt said. He pushed Boxwood toward the door, grinning all the way.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Examined and inoculated, Nora made her way to the room where Sarah lay in bed, hooked up intravenously to a bag of fluids. “How are you?”

  “Where is Dizzy? Is she all right?” Sarah shot back, her gaze accusing.

  “She’s fine.” Nora prayed she was telling the truth. Gabe had assured her earlier that one of her assistants had picked up the animal, but she would have preferred to handle its care, herself. “They caught the man responsible—Don Bain. His real name is Dennis Boxwood.” She studied Sarah’s face for any sign of recognition, but there was no reaction to the name. “Did you know that?”

  “No. How would I know that?” Sarah plucked at the blanket covering her. “Are you sure Dizzy is all right?”

  “Yes. Don’t worry.” Nora placed her hand over Sarah’s nervous fingers. “Are you sure you don’t recognize the name, Dennis Boxwood?”

  “No. Why should I? It doesn’t mean nothing to me. None of this makes any sense. I told you that.” Beneath Nora’s palm, Sarah’s fingers moved restlessly. “Don’t you believe me?”

  “Yes, I just—” Nora broke off. How could she tell Sarah that there was a strong possibility that Dennis Boxwood was her son? How would she react? “We think he might be your son.”

  “My son?” Sarah stared at her as the color drained from her face. Her skin grew so pale, so haggard-looking that Nora moved to press the nurse call button. Sarah stopped her. “How—how did you know? How can you be sure?”

  “We’re not sure. I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have told you until we’re sure.”

  “No. I’m glad. I wanted to know, to find him. I’ve been searching for him.” Her growing agitation showed in her trembling lips and resumption of her plucking motions. Her gaze pleaded for understanding as she peered up at Nora, locking onto her face. “They took him away. I never even saw him after he was born. I thought he was dead, but I couldn’t stop looking.”

  “Was he Uncle Archie’s child?”

  “Mr. James?” Sarah’s sharp bark of a laugh sounded of deep pain. “Yes. His son and my punishment.” Her voice grew raw as she spoke haltingly, “He caught me on the cellar stairs. Once.” Tears rolled down the lines of her gray face. Her eyes were swollen and rimmed with red, and her gaze was filled with pain. “He raped me, hurt me bad. Said I deserved it, asked for it by ignoring the rules and leaving my room after supper. Said I was looking for trouble. But I wasn’t, I wasn’t.”

  “Is that why you had that extra bolt on your door?”

  Sarah nodded, unable to speak. Her throat convulsed as she swallowed repeatedly. “To keep him out. But it was too late. All it took was that one time. Even so,” her expression grew defiant, “I would’ve kept him, wanted to keep him. But when I woke up after he was born, they told me he was gone. There was nothing I could do. Nothing.”

  “I understand.” Nora leaned over the bed and squeezed Sarah’s shoulder as she pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. “You didn’t do anything wrong. No one blames you.”

  “I didn’t know about that cement pit. I never saw it before I went looking for Dizzy. I never went that far into the cellar. Are you sure she’s okay?”

  “Yes, I promise.”

  “He tried to kill me, didn’t he? His own mother. I guess he’s more his father’s child than mine, after all.” A desolate, agonized look entered Sarah’s eyes as her memories consumed her.

  “He didn’t do anything until I showed up,” Nora said, trying to soften the sense of betrayal Sarah must have felt. “I think I was the one, not you, that he intended to drown.”

  “Then why remove the ladder? I’d have died anyway, even if you hadn’t come.”

  “I think he was just trying to buy time. I ruined his plans when I showed up, searching for you.”

  “But he’s still no good, a killer. He killed Mr. Michael and Ms. Candace, and he murdered his own father.” She shook her head. “Like father, like son. They were both hateful.”

  “I’m sorry, Sarah. All I can say is you were not to blame in any way.” A soft sound made Nora glance over her shoulder. Gabe stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest and a concerned, thoughtful expression wrinkling his brow. Her heart lifted at the sight of him and emotion filled her chest until it ached. “How long have you been there?”

  “A few minutes.” He entered the room and halted at the foot of the bed. “How are you, Ms. Lennox?”

  “Sarah, please,” the housekeeper said. Her red-rimmed eyes looked curiously defenseless as she looked from Nora to Gabe and back to Nora. “I suppose you know, I suppose everyone knows about my son. I suppose it’ll be in the news—all about my rape—about what happened.”

  Gabe shook his head. “No one is going to say anything, Sarah.”

  “There’ll be a trial. It’s bound to come out.” Tears filled her eyes again and spilled over the swollen rims. “Everyone will know.”

  Nora wiped her splotchy cheeks and then pressed the tissue into one of Sarah’s restless hands. “There’s no reason for it to come out. We’ll speak to the detective. You just rest, and we’ll pick you up in the morning.” Nora moved toward the door, feeling depressed.

  Could they really convince the police, lawyers, and the judge to keep Sarah’s relationship to Dennis Boxwood a secret? She could only hope they would be willing to keep the mother’s name unknown. It was Boxwood’s relationship to Archie James that was the important one.

  In this day and age, it seemed odd to use the label “illegitimate child,” but that’s what Boxwood was. And it might have been his motivation for his bizarre crime spree.

  After Nora kissed Sarah’s damp cheek and said goodbye, Gabe drove her back to Autumn Hill.

  Hard to believe that she had spent less than a week there and still had another week to complete before she could inherit.

  When they arrived, they found Kirsty and Drew in the den, kneeling next to two blue plastic bins. Drew was slowing removing the contents, stacking an odd assortment of gold coins and small, one-ounce bars on the floor between them. Kirsty clutched a tablet and noted each piece as Drew removed it from the container.

  With a fatalistic shrug, Nora joined them and started to work on the second bin while Gabe took a chair nearby. An hour later, they had an astounding inventory, and Nora was feeling almost giddy with exhaustion and relief.

  Her share was more than enough to start the shelter and set up a trust for operational expenses. She stretched and yawned, for the first time feeling content to be at Autumn Hill.

  They put the gold back into the containers and said goodnight, trying not to grin at each other like idiots. While there was cause for celebration, now, there was also the long string of tragedies to remember.

  “Had enough?” Gabe asked as he rose from his chair and hid a wide yawn behind his fist.

  Einstein eyed him, wagging his tail slightly.

  “Yes.” Nora flushed for no reason at all, suddenly having a hard time meeting his blue gaze. Her body tingled as she watched Kirsty and Drew wander out and disappear down the hallway.

  “Bed?”

  “What about your dog?”

  Gabe laughed. “He’ll be okay. I’ll put a blanket on the floor for h
im.”

  A sudden thought stopped her. “Dizzy! I should check on the cat.”

  “Already done. Your assistant, Michelle, said the cat was doing fine. She can bring it back at any time.”

  “When did you—” She broke off when he laid his warm fingers against her mouth.

  “Bedtime,” he reminded her.

  When she looked at him, the intensity of his gaze made her pulse thunder. Her mouth felt dry with the desire to lean against him and run her hand over his arms and thick slabs of chest muscles.

  She nodded shyly and slipped her fingers into his hand. As she let him pull her up the stairs, part of her felt a numbing sense of loss.

  They’d caught Dennis Boxwood.

  There was nothing to keep Gabe at Autumn Hill any longer. Come morning, he’d be gone.

  But tonight, she couldn’t resist the need to lie in his arms and feel his lips against hers.

  Just one night. Who needed more?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Grainy sunbeams framed the edges of the curtains when Gabe awoke. Nora was curled up next to him, fast asleep. He pressed a kiss against her forehead, filled with contentment as he cradled her warm body.

  Instead of the emptiness he usually felt in the morning, he felt…whole. As if some part of him that had been missing had returned.

  Unperceptively, the hollow inside him had been filled to the brim.

  He didn’t want to leave, to say goodbye. How could he watch her walk away? Yes, they were busy adults, but not that busy.

  His arm tightened. Her brows scrunched, and she let out a long breath before moving into a more comfortable position. Her movement awakened a need that even a long night of lovemaking had failed to slake.

  He was about to awaken her when someone rapped on the door. Einstein leapt up from his blanket nest and let out a low growl.

  “Who is it?” He scowled and glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven.

  “Detective Gerhardt is here,” Drew called through the door. “We’re meeting in the den.”

  Gabe cursed. When he looked down, Nora was drowsily smiling up at him. “Time to get up, lazy bones.”

  Her grin grew. “Five minutes?”

  “A quickie?” His heart hammered. Oh, yeah. Five minutes wasn’t much, but it would have to do.

  Five minutes turned into twenty, but finally Nora laughed and pushed him away. Einstein, returned to his blanket in a corner of the bedroom and wagged his tail, beating it against the baseboard. Gabe watched her get up, his eyes roving over her slim waist and the flare of her hips as she grabbed some clothes and disappeared into the bathroom with Einstein at her heels.

  Einstein couldn’t resist water. For one insane moment, Gabe considered joining her. He sat up and flung the covers off, chuckling when he heard his dog’s excited barking and the sound of his toenails clicking and scraping as he joined Nora in the shower. Her laughter rose above the noise of running water. Apparently, she didn’t mind the dog’s eccentricities.

  She was so perfect. A dim memory of thinking her merely pretty teased him. As he had come to know her, his perceptions had changed almost without his being aware. When he looked at her now, she was so beautiful that the sight of her brought an ache to his throat.

  Was this just a fling, an expression of relief over the arrest of the killer? Once upon a time, that concept hadn’t bothered him in the least. In fact, during the years following college, he’d had relationships that some might consider too short to even qualify for that designation.

  Nora was independent and focused on a single goal. And although he believed that she felt something for him, she might not welcome the distractions of another commitment at this point in her life.

  Too bad. He swung his legs out of bed and gathered his clothes as the shower taps squealed off in the bathroom. She might not like it, but he’d bring her around.

  The words echoed through his mind. He winced and rubbed his face, his whiskers rasping against the palm of his hand. This wasn’t about control any longer. This was about love.

  So just see if she’s willing to take a chance and move in his direction. Preferably, straight into his arms.

  §

  Laughing, Nora threw her towel over the wet poodle when he jumped out of the tub and started to shake water from his black fur. For the first time in days, she felt carefree and happy. Really happy. The creepiness had left Autumn Hill, and now, the house just felt neglected, old, and a little sad. The sense of an inimical force watching them was gone.

  And Gabe was in the next room. Her breath caught in her throat as her smile deepened.

  Suddenly, the glow left her. Her damp skin felt icy as she hurriedly entered her bedroom and dressed. She’d let herself fall for him, opened herself up—her old fears arose.

  Remember what happened when you trusted your mother? But Gabe wasn’t her mother, and without him, her life stretched out in front of her, empty and lonely.

  Just like Uncle Archie’s miserable existence. It had twisted him into a terrible man who preyed on those weaker than himself.

  But now that Gabe’s job was over, he had no reason to stay at Autumn Hill. He would just walk away while she had to stay for at least another week.

  A week wasn’t much time. They could see each other when this was all over.

  If he wanted to. She rubbed her damp palms against her jeans. Einstein propped his front paws up on her leg and pushed his nose under her hand, demanding attention. She petted him absently.

  Somehow, trapping herself at Autumn Hill while Gabe returned to his normal life seemed like a terrible mistake. One she would regret for the rest of her life.

  “You dressed?” Gabe rapped on the door.

  Einstein deserted her in favor of sniffing, pawing, and barking at the door.

  “Yes.” Nora opened the door, feeling suddenly shy.

  “There’s no one to cook breakfast, but maybe we can scrounge up something.” Gabe took her hand in his and gave her a searching glance before turning toward the staircase.

  “I can scramble a few eggs,” Nora said. When the dog ran in front of her and whined, she added, “And find something for Einstein.” She looked at Gabe as he stepped aside to let her descend the stairs in front of him. “I guess you’re anxious to go home, now that everything is settled.”

  Gabe chuckled. The sound had the peculiar effect of both lightening her heart and filling her with pain. “It’s probably more accurate to say that Moira is anxious for me to return home and take my mutts off her hands.”

  You could bring them here. Her lips parted and she almost said the words before her hand tightened briefly on the handrail. She went down the staircase with firm steps and waited for him at the bottom.

  “Well, I’ve got to stay another week.” She whirled around, her chest tight. “Or I could go with you.” Her gaze caught the surprise in his face, and she could hardly breathe.

  “Go with me? Why?”

  “I—I don’t want to lose you,” she whispered between numb lips. A lump filled her throat. She swallowed convulsively.

  He smiled, his blue eyes glinting. “Don’t give up your dreams, Nora. You’ve come this far, and it’s only one more week.”

  “But—”

  He cut her words off with a warm kiss. When he raised his head, his smiling blue eyes caught her gaze with an intensity that aroused an answering flutter inside her. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do.” His glance encompassed the hallway around them. “But you have a real reason, a good reason, to stay.” He tilted his head as he gave her shoulder a squeeze.

  “Then… would you stay, too? You could tell your sister to bring your dogs here. I don’t mind, and I don’t think the others would mind, either. We can leave Dizzy with Michelle until Sarah is released.”

  “You can trust me, Nora. I’ll be there when you finally leave Autumn Hill.” He studied her as if trying to stare into her heart.

  “I trust you,” she said in a miserable voice. Her fingers
played with one of the buttons of his shirt as she tried to think things through, to put her feelings into words. “It’s just that I don’t want you to go—I mean—I,” she took a deep breath and looked directly into his eyes, “I love you. I want time to get to know you without people shooting at us.”

  His expression lightened. “Nora James, I love you, too. And I wasn’t planning on riding off into the sunset.” His grin made her stomach flutter with joy. “I guess I can take another week off,” he wrapped his arms around her, filling her with warmth, “although you may regret giving me permission to bring the other mongrels to Autumn Hill. My family won’t ever win any deportment prizes.”

  “I don’t care.” Nora threw her arms around his neck. “I trust you to keep them—and me—out of trouble.”

  “That may be an impossible task, but I’ll do my best.” He laughed and pulled her closer for a kiss. “You can depend on me.”

  And her heart believed him, finally letting go of the pain she’d felt for so many years, standing alone at the curb, waiting for someone who would never show up.

  Gabe had come for her and would always be there when she needed him.

  She pulled him closer and deepened their kiss, relaxing in his arms. Home, at last.

  THE END

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