“Some, once I stopped, well, you know.” She didn’t really want to talk about how much she’d thrown up. The drug Melvin had used made her sick. Between her first bout with it after the fire and now, she’d thrown up more in the last six weeks than she had in the past eleven years.
“Yeah. What—” her question was aborted as Tibbet knocked and came in.
“Good morning. Looks like you’ve drawn a crowd again,” he said with a smile.
“Yeah, but it’s my crowd, so I’m okay with it.”
“I can see that. I’ll make this brief and get out of your way. The warrant on Melvin Pratt Jr.’s home was served, and we were able to find enough evidence to link him not only to Todd Peterson’s death, but to the fire at your house, Ms. Hagen. He kept journals in a funky shorthand, but it only took our guy a few minutes to figure it out. Had ’em in a safe, too, but that was easy. Evidently, he’s also partially responsible for the computer crash at your office.” He directed the last bit to Paul.
“He was,” Torie said. “I was in and out in the car, but he planned the thing at the frat house. The one we discussed? He wanted to marry me.”
“Ah.” Tibbet flicked a glance at Pam and Dev. “You said something last night about the lottery as well?” The ubiquitous notebook was out, and Tibbet was jotting things down.
“Yes, he had been the one to buy all the tickets that day for everyone in the office. He said that Todd stole the money from him, since he had been the one to actually purchase the winning ticket. He believed Todd got me to marry him as a slap, in addition to the money.”
“Ah, okay. That makes more sense when you put it that way.”
“I guess I wasn’t all that coherent last night.”
“You did fine,” Tibbet praised. “I’ve just got a couple of other questions. Do you have any idea what he might have given his father?”
“No.” She paused, trying to remember exactly what Melvin had said. “But I’m sure it was him. Melvin said that he’d kill me and get back to the hotel in time to ride with the old man to the hospital.”
“Hmmm. Very good.” He closed his book, looked over at Dev. “What about you, Mister Chance?”
“Me? I’m living life, Detective.”
“Uh huh.” Tibbet didn’t look convinced. “You now think the attack on you was unrelated, you said.”
“Oh, yes,” he drawled. “Totally unrelated. Nasty coincidence you might say. Worried my poor cher cousine half to death, though. I scolded the people responsible quite harshly.”
“You did, eh? You know you shouldn’t tell me that.”
“No, I reckon not. But you’re okay, for a damn Yankee Philly boy,” he fired back. “You come down south to the Big Easy, I fix you up with the best meal and the best time you ever had. Payback for taking care of my girl, here.”
“I may take you up on that.” Tibbet grinned. “I had family down there, once upon a time.”
“You ever had roots there, they still there, you know?”
“Detective?” Torie asked. “Do you think you could find out about Mister Pratt for us? They won’t tell us anything.”
“I think I can make that happen,” Tibbet said. “Why don’t you two walk over to the nurse’s station with me,” he said, pointing to Dev and Pam. “We’ll find out and you can relay. Ms. Hagen, I can’t say it’s been a pleasure, but I appreciate all the help you’ve given me. I’m sorry for all the trouble you’ve had.”
“Thank you, Detective. I appreciate you as well.”
“A regular lovefest,” Dev drawled, getting to his feet. Torie could tell he was sore; he was moving more slowly than usual. Pam rose as well, and shot her a smile.
“We’ll be back.”
They trooped out en masse, and Paul rolled his eyes in mock relief. “I thought they’d never leave.”
“Oh, stop.”
“Never.” He bent down and kissed her. “I need to tell you something. I don’t want it to change anything between us, but we’ve had too many unspoken issues, over so many years, that I can’t not say it.”
“What?” Torie frowned, worried now that things would turn upside down yet again.
“With Pratt in the hospital, the meeting on Monday may be postponed.”
She rolled her eyes. “I thought it was something serious.”
“It is. You’re Todd’s sole heir.”
The words registered, and Torie’s mouth dropped open. “I’m what?”
“Other than a few charitable gifts, you inherit everything,” Paul said.
“Ah.”
“I don’t want it to make a difference between us. And I don’t want you to think that, like Melvin, I want you for—”
“Shhh.” She rested a finger on his lips, stopping the flow of words. “You’re nothing like him and never have been. In fact, you’re the opposite in so many ways. If it will make you feel better, I’ll give it all away.”
“I could help you start a foundation.”
“How about we do it together?” She waited, hoping to see the truth in his eyes. He gave it to her in the gleam in his eye and the smile that blossomed on his face.
He bent to capture her mouth in a searing kiss. “How ’bout we do that? How about we do a few other things together, too.”
“Like what?” she asked, not really caring what he said, as long as he kept looking at her that way—and kept kissing her. It made her feel so alive.
“Like buy a house, get married, play with the dogs, go on vacation. Stuff like that.”
“Wait.” She tuned in to his words between kisses. “What did you say?”
“I said—” he began.
“The middle part.”
“Ah, I, uh, well. What would you say to getting married?”
“I’d say yes.”
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2009 by Jeanne Adams
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 1-4201-1068-3
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue