After Dark (39 page)

    "May I come in?" Edith Ware
asked as she hovered outside the open door.

    "Will, do you want to see Miss
Edith?" Lane asked.

    "Sure." He glanced past
Lane and smiled at the Woman who had been his grandmother all his life.
"Come on in." He motioned to her with a welcoming wave.

    "How are you, Will?" Edith
walked past Lane and went straight to the side of the examining table.

    "They say I'll be fine. Comes
from having such a hard noggin." He pecked himself on the side of his
head. "I just need a few stitches."

    "He has a minor concussion,"
Lane said. "They're keeping him twenty-four hours for observation."

    "Was Mary Martha with you
when it happened?" Ethth asked.

    "She was outside the old carriage
house when I went inside," Will explained. "She was convinced
that Kent was in there waiting on us."

    Gasping, Edith clutched the strand
of pearls that rested atop her bosom. "Dear Lord. You don't dunk. I mean
it's not possible that she would have…" Tears glistened in Edith's
eyes.

    "Ah, Grandmother, don't
cry." Will slid off the table and onto his feet; then he patted Edith
on the back. "Aunt Mary Martha would never hurt me. She couldn't hurt
a fly. You know she's the most gentle person in the world."

    Edith's lips trembled. She swiped
away the teardrops as they escaped from the corners of her eyes.
"I'm so glad you're going to be all right. We were all so very worried
about you. Your mother and Johnny Mack. James and I. And Buddy, too. He was
determined to find you."

    "I'm sure glad Sheriff Carroll
brought in Old Man Farlan's hounds," Will said. "If he hadn't,
who knows how long I'd have stayed under that old rowboat."

    Until the killer came back for
you. The horrific thought flashed through Lane's mind. She barely stifled
a gasp as the realization of how close Will had come to dying hit her
full force.

    Dr. Lewis entered the room, followed
closely by Johnny Mack. The young resident frowned when he saw how many people
were crowded into the ER cubicle.

    "Would everyone step outside,
please," the doctor said.

    "Do you want me to stay?"
Lane asked Will.

    "Mama, your baby's a big boy
now," Dr. Lewis told her. "I don't think he needs you to hold his
hand while I put in a few stitches. Isn't that right, Will?"

    "Yeah, Mama, you go on outside.
I'll be fine."

    Lane hated to leave, wanted to
stay. But she forced her legs to move. It wasn't as if Will were in any danger
here in the emergency room. But a mother's fears could often be irrational.
Especially when her only child had recently come close to dying.

    Johnny Mack hadn't felt as powerless
as he did right now-not in many years. He didn't like not being in control.
In Houston, he had become one of the moneyed elite, the materialization
of his every whim only a snap of his fingers away. Anything his bank account
could pay for was his. Beautiful women pursued him. Businessmen either
called him friend or feared him. He was a man to be reckoned with, and he
liked the person he was today, who was a far cry from that white trash poor
boy who had fled from Noble's Crossing years ago.

    But despite his wealth, power
and sophisticated veneer, here in his hometown he would always be Faith
Cahill's bastard. In Noble's Crossing he wore his heritage like a badge
of dishonor and couldn't escape the past. Here he had come face-to-face
with that past. Here he had to pay for his sins. And it was here he had to make
atonement to the innocents he had wronged, no matter how inadvertent
his actions had been. The last two people on earth he would

    have harmed had been harmed the
most-the child he had never known existed and the woman he had never been
able to forget. But he could protect them now, keep them out of harm's
way. By suppertime today, three top-notch body guards, hand picked by
Wyatt Foster would arrive at the Noble home. Johnny Mack looked in the
mirror, then scooped up a handful of water from the sink and washed the
shave creme from his cheeks and chin. After towel drying his face, he reached
for his shirt hanging on the wooden peg on the door. Just as he finished
buttoning and started to stuff the shirt into the waistband of his jeans,
a soft rap sounded on the outer bedroom door.

    Lane entered the room, but halted
a few steps over the threshold. "She's here, and Will is already
down-1 stairs talking to her, while Lillie Mae serves coffee." Wringing
her hands together, Lane walked toward Johnny Mack. "I don't understand
why Will is insisting on doing this now, so soon. We just brought I him home
from the hospital."

    Leaving his shirt half in and half
out of his jeans, Johnny Mack came forward and clasped Lane's nervous
hands in his steady ones. "We have to let Will do this, honey. It's
what he wants."

    "I know." Lane clenched
her teeth together and frowned.

    Johnny Mack hugged her, encompassing
her with all the strength he had to give. He had never realized how much a
man could care for a woman, how vital her existence could become to
him. He couldn't 1 explain it, could hardly believe it, but somehow,
some- 1 way, Lane had become as essential to him as the air 1 he breathed.

    "Let me finish dressing and
we'll go downstairs." He hugged her again, then cupped her face
with his hands and looked deeply into her beautiful blue eyes. "Whatever
Will remembers… if he remembers anything else… we'll face it together.
You and me and Will. A family."

    Lane drew in a deep breath and released
it slowly. "Thank God Lillie Mae sent for you." Tears misted her
eyes. "I thought I had become a strong woman who didn't need anyone
to lean on, least of all some man. But I realize that I do need someone.
I need you, Johnny Mack." A lone tear trickled down her cheek.

    Johnny Mack kissed her. Half comfort
and half passion. Part love and part lust. A combination of all the varied
emotions Lane brought to life within him. She sighed when he ended the
kiss.

    He pulled away and hurriedly shoved
his shirttail inside his jeans, then buttoned them and snapped his
belt buckle. "Let's go."

    They found Will with Dr. Agee in
the den, the two talking quietly. The minute he saw his parents, Will stood
and went to Lane.

    "Mama, stop worrying,"
Will said. "I can tell by the look on your face that you're scared
for me. Don't be. I'll be okay. I promise."

    "But what if…"

    Standing directly behind her,
Johnny Mack clutched her shoulders and gave her an encouraging squeeze.
"We'll be here with him the entire time. And Dr. Agee isn't going to
do anything she thinks is bad for Will."

    Nola Agee came forward and smiled
cordially at Lane. "Will and I have been talking, and I believe
that he's ready for another session. I think his not knowing what happened
that day is far more harmful to him than whatever he'll have to face
when he remembers everything."

    Lane and Johnny Mack took their seats,
while Dr. Agee prepared first the room and then Will. Slowly, progressively,
she led him into a state of relaxation, in a similar manner to the other
times that she had helped him reach a deep level of meditation. She began
by asking him simple questions, ones designed not to upset him; then
when Will was fully prepared, she led him back to the fatal day-the last day
of Kent Graham's life.

    "You helped Lillie Mae to her
room; then you went back outside," Dr. Agee said, mentally returning
him to the moment he had encountered Kent's body. "What thd you see
when you walked back into the garden?"

    "Kent was there. On his knees.
He was moaning. And holding up his hands. God, no. Don't! Stop! Please,
stop!"

    "Will, calm down and tell me
what's happening."

    "Don't hit him again. Please.
You're killing him."

    "Who is hitting Kent?"

    Lane gripped Johnny Mack's hand, leaned
toward him and whispered, "He's never remembered this before.
He's always remembered finding Kent's body. Oh, dear Lord, could he have
actually seen Kent being murdered?"

    "Will, who is hitting
Kent?" Dr. Agee repeated.

    "I grabbed my baseball bat
away from her, and when I did, she ran away, crying. I saw her. Standing there
near the shrubbery. I bent over to check on Kent. He was dead. And she just
kept crying and crying."

    Johnny Mack held his breath. So close,
he thought Come on, Will. Tell us who you saw. Who killed Kent?

    "Will, who was crying? Who did
you see standing near the shrubbery?" The doctor's voice remained
steady and confident.

    "She came through the shrubbery.
I heard her voice. She said, 'What have you done?' But I couldn't say anything.
I wanted to scream, 'You know I didn't kill him. You know I didn't do it.'
"

    "Who was there with you, Will?
Who did you see? Who spoke to you?"

    "You know it wasn't me!"
Will cried as tears poured down his cheeks. "Oh, Grandmother, you
know I didn't do it."

    "Ma'am, there's a phone call
for Chief Lawler." Mrs. Russell, ever the humble servant, stood outside
the double French doors that opened up into the living room. "It's
Sergeant Bedlow."

    "Take it in here," Edith
told Buddy, then dismissed the housekeeper with a wave of her hand.

    Buddy rose from the chair in which
he had been reclining while he reassured Miss Edith that he'd had absolutely
nothing to do with the near tragedy that had befallen Will Graham. He
didn't think she believed him, and he simply couldn't understand her reasoning.
She knew Will wasn't her grandson, knew he was the offspring of two trailer
trash lowlifes, and yet she seemed to still love the boy. She shouldn't care
what happened to Johnny Mack's kid, but she did. Was her affection for
Will somehow connected to the fact that he was John Graham's grandson?
Buddy suspected that despite their turbulent marriage, Edith had probably
never loved any other man.

    Buddy lifted the receiver of the
fancy crystal and gold telephone resting on the cherry commode. "Chief
Lawler here."

    "Buddy, this here's T. C. I
thought you should know that I just got the oddest call from Lane Graham."

    "What kind of odd call?"

    When Edith widened her eyes and
stared straight at him, Buddy shook his head, indicating to her that he
didn't have all the information yet.

    "Well, she asked to speak to
me and no one else," T. C. explained. "Then she told me that since
you were so close to Kent's family, it would be better if I handled the
situation. She seemed real concerned about sparing you the ordeal.
But I figured since you were already there at the Graham place, there
wasn't no need for me to come over and take care of something I know
you're going to want to handle yourself.''

    "What situation? Hell, man,
get to the point." When Buddy experienced a sudden choking sensation,
he slipped two fingers beneath his collar to loosen it.

    "You're not going to like
this if it turns out to be true. It's going to be damn hard on you if you have
to arrest Miss Edith."

    Buddy's heartbeat accelerated
at an alarming rate. "What the hell are you talking about? What did Lane
tell you?"

    Edith sprang off the sofa, her eyes
wild with concern. Buddy pumped his hand up and down, warning her to sit
down and keep quiet.

    "Well, it seems that Will's
got his memory back," T. C. said. "At least he remembers seeing
Kent murdered. He told his therapist that he saw his grandmother hiding
in the shrubbery, after she had beaten Kent to death with Will's baseball
bat."

    "This is ridiculous,"
Buddy said. "The boy's been duped into believing some cockamamie
story Lane and Johnny Mack have cooked up to try to place the blame on someone
other than Lane."

    "Could be, but you sure got yourself
an open can of worms here, Chief. Can you imagine what's going to happen
when everybody in town hears about this new development? It'll be the
boy's word against his grandmother's.''

    "No one who knows Miss Edith would
believe that she'd kill her own son. She adored Kent. She's been devastated
by his-"

    "I know all the arguments,"
T. C. said. "But right now, you've got an immediate problem. Miss Lane
asked me to meet her and Johnny Mack over at the Graham house. They're on
their way there now."

    "Damn!"

    "And there's one other thing
you should know- they've already called Wes Stevens and told him exactly
what they told me. So, you'd better get Miss Edith ready for some tough questioning."

    Buddy gripped the receiver which
quivered in his shaky hand. "I appreciate your letting me
know."

    "Do you want me to come on
over there? If somebody has to arrest Miss Edith-"

    "No, I can take care of
things here. And please, call Wes and tell him that I'm conducting an investigation
and will report to him as soon as we sort through this mess." Buddy replaced
the receiver and turned to Edith. "Will's memory is returning. He remembers
seeing you hiding behind the shrubbery the day Kent was killed. He's told
his therapist that you beat Kent to death."