'She's just the same,' Lacey said.
He said nothing, just walked to the bed and looked down at his wife.
He said, 'Did that old man tell you that I didn't try to kill your mother?'
'Yeah, he did. Look, Dad, you know I had to go talk to him, hear everything in his own words.'
'You're my kid. I can understand that. I called a new psychiatrist to come talk to your mother tomorrow. I told her what had happened, what you thought. We'll see. I'm glad you didn't think I was stupid enough to try something like that.'
'Oh no.'
'I've found myself wondering if I could have done it. Maybe, if it had been dark and we'd been in the Andes with no possible witnesses who spoke English.' 'You're joking.'
'Yes, I'm joking.' He looked at his watch. 'I've got to be in court early tomorrow. I'll see you at lunchtime, Lacey.' He paused in the doorway. 'You know, it's easy to fall into certain ways of thinking, of behaving. You know that your mother could irritate the hell out of a saint. We'll see.'
She spent the night in her mother's hospital room on a cot an orderly brought in for her. She lay there, listening to her mother breathing, thinking about Dillon, and wondering, always wondering where Marlin was.
She got a call from Dillon at nearly eleven o'clock, which made it two o'clock A.M. his time. She'd called him earlier and gotten his answering machine.
'I was going to leave you be, at least for tonight, but I couldn't. How's your mom?'
'She'll make it. I personally interviewed a witness who told me that my mother appeared to be hiding in some bushes, then dashed out when my father was backing out of the driveway. I had a good talk with my dad. He's bringing in a new psychiatrist to see her tomorrow. I mentioned that maybe she was trying to get his attention. Should I have opened my mouth? What do you think?'
'I still think it sounds like your mother really wants something she's not getting from your father. You're the daughter. Of course you should say what you think. You know, she might really be just mentally unstable.'
'As my dad said, 'we'll see.''
'You hanging in there?'
'Yes, don't worry about me. Any word on Marlin Jones?'
'No. It's driving everybody crazy. It's as though he's just disappeared off the face of the earth. Oh yeah, Hannah called me about an hour ago. She wanted to come over and talk. When I said no, she told me how you'd attacked her in the women's room this afternoon. She told me you'd accused her of blackmailing me so I wouldn't fire her. She said you were furious that we'd slept together.'
The last thing she needed in this crazy mix was Hannah. 'I don't think so, Dillon. But that's a thought. Let me consider it. I don't know, she's pretty strong. It's possible she could take me down.'
He grunted. 'Yeah, she probably could. Call me at the Bureau tomorrow with an update. Sherlock?'
'Yes?'
'I miss you really badly. I had to go to the gym by myself. It used to be just fine-in fact, I used to like going by myself-but now all I could do was one lat pulldown before I was looking around for you.'
At least she was smiling when she gently laid the phone in its cradle.
When a shaft of light from the hospital corridor flashed across her face, Lacey was awake in an instant, not moving, frozen, readying herself. It had to be a nurse, but she knew it wasn't. She smelled Douglas's distinctive cologne, a deep musky scent that was sexy as hell. She remembered that scent from the age of fifteen when he'd first come into their lives.
She lay very still. She watched him walk slowly to her mother's bed. He stood there for the longest time in the dim light sent in through the window, staring down at her mother.
She saw him lean down and kiss her mother. She heard him say quietly, 'Evelyn, why did you do this stupid thing? You know he's a bastard, you know, surely, that he'll always be a bastard. What did you expect to prove by running out like that behind his car?'
Her mother made no sound.
Douglas lightly caressed her face with his cupped palm. Then he straightened and turned. He froze in his tracks, staring down at Lacey.
'My God, Lacey. What are you doing here?' 'I wanted to stay with my mother,' she said, very slowly coming up onto her knees, her back against the wall. She was wearing one of her favorite Lanz flannel nightgowns that came up high on her neck and covered her feet. 'Didn't my father tell you I was staying with her? No, I guess not. What are you doing here, Douglas?'
He shrugged. 'I was naturally worried about her. I just wanted to make sure she was all right. I wanted to see her when I knew your father wouldn't be here.'
'Visiting hours were over a long time ago. How did you get in?'
'Not a problem. I know the nurse, Lorette. She let me in. Seeing you is a surprise. I didn't know you'd come. That Marlin Jones jerk is still free. I didn't think you'd ever leave the hunt.'
'Why were you kissing my mother?'
'I've known your mother for many years, Lacey. She's a good woman, almost like a mother to me.'
'That kiss didn't look at all filial.'
He ignored that, saying, 'I don't want anything to happen to her, anything more, that is.'
'That's hard to believe, Douglas. You were kissing her like she was a lover.'
'No, Lacey, you're way off base. Why are you looking toward the door?''
'I'm waiting for Candice to burst in here. She always seems to show up when you're with me.'
'I left her sleeping. She isn't coming here.' Then he laughed. 'But she'll hate herself that she missed such an opportunity. Here you are in your nightgown in the same room with me. Yeah, she'd go wild.'
'Well, I'm not up to anything wild tonight. Are you certain she's home asleep?'
'God, I hope so.'
Lacey stood up, her nightgown like a red-patterned tent around her. There was sweet lace around the wrists and the neck. 'I think you should leave now, Douglas. I don't want her disturbed. I need to get some sleep. Oh yes, my father would never hurt her. She ran out behind his car on purpose.'
'That makes no sense.'
She had to smile at that. It seemed to be everyone's litany recently.
She closed the door after Douglas had left. She took a deep breath once she was in the blessed darkness again. She heard her mother's even breathing. She burrowed under the three hospital blankets. It still took her a long time to get warm.
Why had Douglas spoken to her unconscious mother as if she were his lover? Or had she imagined it?
Her head began to pound. She wanted nothing more at the moment than to go home, to Dillon.
33
I DIDN'T RUN INTO THE driveway. Your father saw me pruning some oleander bushes. He called out to me, told me he wanted to talk to me about something. When I walked onto the driveway, he gunned his BMW and deliberately ran into me.'
Lacey said very quietly, 'Mother, there was a witness. He's an old man who lives just down the block from you. He claims you were hiding, then ran out so that Father could run into you.'
'Old man Murdock,' her mother said, her voice deep with anger. Then she winced at the pain. 'That old liar. He wanted me to have an affair with him, years ago, after his poor wife died of breast cancer. I told him where to shove it. So this is his revenge. The malicious old moron.'
'It's all right, Mom. Just relax. That's better. Breathe deeply. You can push that button if you want pain medication.'
'How do you know what to do?'
'When I was hurt, that's what they told me. It helped. Please, Mom, help me understand what this is all about. Why would Dad want to kill you?'
'To get my money, of course, so he can marry that bimbo lawyer clerk of his.'
'What money? What clerk? Danny Elbright is his law clerk.'
'I don't know her name. She's new, works with Danny. I don't really care.'
Judge Sherlock came into the room. 'Ah,' he said from
across the room, 'you're awake, Evelyn. How are you feeling?'
