doing. Now, congratulate us.'
Silence reigned on the line for a long moment. “I'll be damned if I'll do that.” The sound of a fist slamming against wood filtered through the phone. “I stepped into it again, didn't I? When will I learn about women?'
The line went dead.
“You want me to go beat the shit out of Paul?” Carl asked.
“No,” Jared muttered.
The second he'd hung up on Katherine, Jared had called his detective friend and he'd come over immediately. Jared grabbed a paper towel and sopped up the coffee trail on the kitchen floor. He had repeated every bit of his conversation with Katherine, including his suspicions that Paul had heard the tail end of it. Jared had to play a role, or risk Paul finding out Jared hadn't believed Katherine. Whatever trouble she was in, he hadn't wanted to compound it by making Paul suspicious.
“What you gonna do?” Carl topped Jared's cup again and sat down beside him.
Jared raised his head, turned and lobbed the dripping paper into the trash basket. “Wait for Katherine.'
Carl scratched his beard. “Didn't you tell me she said she's remarrying that son-of-a-bitch? Paul won, you lost.'
“No, I haven't, not yet anyway.'
Carl shook his head. “Last time you got dumped, you stayed stinking drunk for a week. This time, you've gone plumb wacky. Want me to call you a doctor?'
Jared sipped his coffee and grabbed a napkin. “I don't need one. I need you to find out what scheme Paul's pulled that would force her to marry him.” He folded the napkin in half, and later into quarters as his mind raced. “I don't think it involves Matt. No attorney could get the custody order changed to Paul. That leaves Grace. It's a threat to her mother in some way, probably financial.'
“Any more ideas?'
He shredded the napkin into tiny pieces and looked up, feeling the first spark of hope since his call from Katherine. “Paul's all about money, and I know Grace's husband was sick for several years. He wasn't old enough for Medicare. He owned a small business, but it declined and later failed. I bet we'll find he didn't have much insurance, or he maxed the benefits and racked up a lot of medical bills.'
Carl sipped the last of his coffee and stood up, shrugging on his coat. “And a lot of debt. I'll get right on it.” He paused at the door and looked back. “You know Christmas is in a few days. You wanna come-'
“And call Sergeant Sinclair off,” Jared snapped, ignoring Carl's hesitant invitation before it was out. Good God, the last thing he needed was to spend Christmas with a gruff private detective and his wife drinking rum-and-sodas and thinking of Katherine. He forced a faint smile past the taut frustration that had been jamming up his blood for hours now. Carl wasn't to blame, and he was a good friend. Perhaps too good. “Okay? No more police escorts. I'm a big boy now.'
“You sure?” Carl asked, looking embarrassed, whether by the broken-off invitation or by being found out. “It makes the old man feel important-kind of like playing spy games.'
Carl didn't fool him. “I'll be fine. No one's going to hurt me.'
“You're gonna go over there and help her, aren't you?'
Jared shook his head. He drank the last of his coffee and tightened the grip on the cup. “I can't. If I took any actions that caused her family harm, I don't think Katherine would forgive me. She wants to solve it herself, remember? No Superman routine.'
His eyes narrowed. “That's what she meant?'
Jared nodded. “She was warning me not to try and help.'
“What tipped you off she doesn't intend to marry Paul?'
“Her ‘trust me'. I asked her once how I knew she wouldn't go back to Paul. She said ‘trust me'. That's what I'm doing.'
Carl chuckled. “Yeah? Why you got me chasing my tail around finding out what her ex is up to?'
Jared frowned. “I trust Katherine to the moon and back, but not that weasel. Paul's dangerous. If she needs me, I want the ammunition to step in fast and help her.'
Carl pushed away from the table and stood. “You're placing a lot of faith in a few vague phrases. What if you're wrong? What if Katherine's remarrying her ex?'
Jared slammed the cup down so hard it shattered.
Chapter Thirteen
Katherine had three days to accomplish the impossible. According to the banks she'd called, obtaining a loan for three hundred and fifty thousand dollars would take her weeks, and the holidays wouldn't speed up the process either. She was on her own.
“Are you sure about this, Katherine? You love your house. Every time I asked to buy it, you turned me down flat,” Deborah reminded her.
Katherine twisted the cord to the phone. She studied the painting of her mother and father that hung in the bedroom of her mother's home. His arms enfolded her in a gentle embrace. The light in her eyes radiated warmth even through the canvas as their hands touched lightly. “I'm positive.'
“Is anything wrong?” her childhood friend asked with concern. “I'll miss having you live next door, but where ever you move we'll keep in touch like always.” She paused. “You're determined to go through with this, aren't you?'
She hated lying to her friend. “No, nothing's wrong. Yes, I'm selling my house, whether you buy it or not. Mom needs me here after her hip surgery. I don't want mother and Matt to know about this until I tell them.'
Deborah giggled. “You're going to surprise them at Christmas. Matt's always wanted to live nearer to his grandma. That's so like you. You're always so sweet.'
“Stop buttering me up. I won't come down on the price,” she kidded and crossed her fingers. “Trouble is, I need to sell it fast. Like yesterday.'
“You got it. I don't want to give you time to change your mind.'
“I won't,” Katherine promised and uncrossed her fingers.
“I'm sorry. That probably sounded like I'm not grateful for our friendship. I truly am.” Deborah sniffed several times.
“Don't start blubbering, or you'll have me doing it too. It's not like we won't ever see each other again.'
“Of course not. My delivery date is March fourth. So expect a call about that time.'
Deborah was expecting twin boys again and ecstatic. Katherine remembered her own innocent dreams of having more babies. Those dreams had died. She envied Deborah's hopefulness about the future. “I will.'
Deborah laughed. “I'm so excited. We've always rented, so this will be the first home we'll own. Yours will give us the extra space we need, too. I can't wait to tell John. We've tried to find a larger house in this neighborhood for so long.'
Katherine turned to the computer and attached a file to her e-mail. “I'm sending you information so we can handle all the transactions by Thursday through the mortgage company, title company, local banks, and fax. I'll come to Sugar Land January second and move my belongings. Is that date okay? If not, I'll get my stuff out right after Christmas.'
“Don't be a silly goose. Of course, January second is okay. Take a couple of weeks more, if you need them.'
“Thanks. I may do that.” She'd have to find an apartment after Christmas in Houston and hunt another house.
“John always takes care of everything for me, so we'll wire the money to your bank right away. Isn't he a doll?'
Another pang of jealousy hit Katherine. John pampered Deborah, especially when she was pregnant. “Yes, he
