brushed her hair back from her face. “Where is Seth?” he asked, certain that was the information she possessed.
She treated him to a slight smile that warmed him straight to his toes.
“I don’t know where Seth is.”
He remained silent, hoping she’d tell him on her own.
“Seth killed Paul Markham. Jessie said it was an accident, but when the hearing got moved up, he panicked and must have run away.” Her words came out in a rush, as if she’d change her mind if she said it slowly.
Hunter didn’t need time to process the news. He took it in all at once. “Jesus. The kid killed his own father?”
Molly nodded, her expression a mixture of sadness, concern and devastation over what she had to view as her betrayal of Jessie’s trust.
He tightened his grip on her hand. “You had no choice but to tell me.”
“Tell that to Jessie.”
“Don’t bother. I heard it myself,” Jessie said from the doorway.
Molly shook her head. Her dejected, stricken look said everything she must be feeling. “Jessie, I had no choice.”
“But I did. I had a choice and I confided in you. I’m an idiot for trusting you,” Jessie said. “You’re such a liar.”
“Hey, that’s uncalled for.” Hunter stepped up to Molly’s defense. “This is a complicated situation-”
“Don’t bother defending me. Jessie has every right to be hurt and angry.” Molly rose to her feet.
Hunter wished he could take away her pain, but he knew she had no choice but to face Jessie’s hurt and anger, and deal with it. With a sharp incline of his head, he resigned himself to staying silent. For now.
“So that whole story about you regretting not telling Hunter something was bull, right? You just wanted to get me to tell you my secrets.” Jessie folded her arms over her chest and glared at Molly.
“No, that story was true. Every last word. You had to tell me the truth. You couldn’t possibly mean to let Dad go to jail for a murder he didn’t commit,” Molly said softly.
The teenager shook her head. “But Seth can’t go to jail, either.” Her voice breaking, she lowered herself to the floor, her back against the wall.
Hunter decided this was his time to step in. “He won’t. Not if I have anything to do with it, but in order for me to protect him, I need to know where he is. I have to hear the story from him and decide how to proceed.”
He stepped closer to Jessie and knelt down beside her. “You’re too young to carry such a huge secret. You know it. That’s why you confided in Molly, because you had to tell someone you trusted. And she couldn’t keep such a huge secret to herself either because she loves you and Seth and your father. Can you understand what I’m saying without being insulted?” he asked.
Jessie nodded without meeting his gaze. “That doesn’t mean I’m not still upset.”
Hunter tried not to laugh, understanding the kid’s need to have the last word over her sister. “Now do you think you can tell me where Seth went?”
“The church near Dad’s office,” Jessie mumbled into her knees, but Hunter heard her anyway.
“Thank you.” He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Telling us everything was very brave.”
He glanced over at Molly, who watched him with big eyes. He slowly rose from his crouched position and winked at her, trying to convey without words that everything would be okay.
He only hoped he could follow through on his unspoken promise.
THEY TOLD FRANK and Sonya that they knew where Seth had gone, but Hunter insisted on going alone to speak to Seth and bring him home. Molly figured he wanted to approach Seth as both a friend and as an attorney who could help him, so he would no longer be living in a state of guilt and panic. Nobody mentioned Seth’s role in Paul’s murder yet. It was his story to tell.
Molly was antsy, but agreed to stay behind. After all, if Sonya could wait for her son to be brought home, Molly could do no less.
She was determined to be a good girl and stay with her family right up until the moment Hunter opened the front door, Molly’s car keys in hand. Her mother strode into the house uninvited, dressed like a soap opera diva in a red dress and red high-heeled shoes with diamond earrings dangling from beneath her big hair.
“Does anyone in this family have any manners?” Francie asked the group gathered in the family room. “I’ve called and left messages on the answering machine. I’ve even spoken to Frank’s mother, and asked her to have Molly call me back. And have I heard from any of you?” She waved her arm in the air and a stack of gold bracelets clicked together.
Frank walked around to where Francie stood. “I’d venture a guess that everyone here is preoccupied with more important things at the moment.”
“Molly, please tell me you never got my messages.” Francie turned her back on Molly’s father, ignoring his comment.
Molly was not ready to cope with her mother’s senseless emotional outbursts in light of the serious events happening within the family. “I got them. I just haven’t had time to deal with you.”
Francie stepped toward her, undeterred. “Well, it’s a good thing I decided to come here and talk to you or who knows when you’d have gotten back to me.”
From the corner of her gaze, Molly caught sight of Hunter inching through the front door. “Actually, now’s not a good time. I was just on my way out with Hunter.” She slipped behind her mother and came up beside him.
“Hey, how come she gets to go?” Jessie asked, obviously feeling left out since Seth was her best friend.
Molly shot her sister an apologetic glance and gestured behind her mother’s back as an explanation. Jessie might be furious with Molly at the moment, but even she had to understand that Molly couldn’t possibly deal with the pampered princess right now.
“You. Owe. Me.” Jessie spoke through clenched teeth.
Molly blew her half sister a kiss and darted out the door before Francie could come up with an excuse to keep Molly behind.
HUNTER DROVE to the church, following Molly’s directions. Though he wished she’d deal with her mother, he was actually glad she’d come along. The sudden revelation of Seth’s guilt caused all sorts of complicated emotions to rise to the surface and he could use a sounding board.
He wrapped an arm around the back of the passenger seat. “Mind if we talk?” he asked.
She shook her head. “As long as it’s not about how I avoided my mother, I’d appreciate the distraction.”
“It’s about me.”
“Then you have my undivided attention.”
Keeping his gaze on the road, he pulled his thoughts together. “When I agreed to take this case, I wasn’t emotionally involved. I mean, I was emotionally involved with you no matter how much I tried to deny it, but for the rest of the family, I was just the lawyer trying to free the general.”
Molly shifted in her seat. “Okay…” She was obviously confused.
“But the longer I stayed in your father’s house, the more I came to like and care about everyone. Including you.”
He cast a sidelong glance and caught Molly running her tongue over her glossy bottom lip. He couldn’t help but linger on her damp mouth before forcing his gaze back to the road.
He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I’m no longer the dispassionate lawyer representing a client. It’s not affecting my judgment or my ability to do my best, but it has become a disturbing fact.”
“Hunter, I’m glad you’re opening up to me, but I’m really lost,” Molly said softly. “I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make or what’s bothering you-and something obviously is.”
He smiled grimly. “Yeah, something’s bothering me.” And it wasn’t being in love with her, although that still hadn’t been dealt with at all. “Finding out that Seth killed his father was…is…a huge thing for me. The kid
