Borrowed Identity (12 page)

Knowing that fact made her choices clearer. Kelly didn’t want to take such a drastic step, but it was the only course left open to her.

“Okay.” She looked directly at Michael. “I’ll visit my mother with you.”

A stunned expression swept through his eyes, and was gone in a blink. She hadn’t truly grasped before what a good poker player he would make. He hid his emotions as easily as some people smiled.

He nodded. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning. Right now I want to search the bedroom again. I might have missed something important.”

He sounded like a cop, but she knew for a fact he wasn’t. He’d told her he used to be a stockbroker. After making a small fortune, he had decided to write a book on legendary
houses of the United States. That was what had brought him to her front door the first time.

“I’ll help you if you want,” she offered.

“Probably best if I do it alone.”

“What do I do then while you’re playing detective?” She scowled. “And don’t you dare tell me to lock myself in your room. I’m tired of being scared. Now that I know I’m dealing with a flesh-and-blood individual, I can deal with it. Really.”

“You’re amazing.” His dark eyes shone with a newfound respect for her. “At the risk of sounding flowery, I’ve got to tell you I’m in awe of you right now.”

“Why?” She blushed, lowering her face as her cheeks began to burn. “I didn’t do anything.”

“On the contrary,” Michael said. “You should be hiding under a blanket right now. No one would blame you. But instead you’re here with me, helping me look for your missing neighbor. You are one hell of a woman, Ms. Hall.”

You’re not a woman. You’re damaged goods. Who would want to marry something that looked like you?

Pain stabbed her from behind her eyelids. With a groan Kelly grabbed her head. What was the matter with her? Why did she keep hearing Michael’s voice in her head? She heard him saying the nastiest things to her, but it wasn’t real. Michael wouldn’t say such hurtful things to her. Besides, she would have remembered being berated like that.

“Are you okay?” She heard the concern in his voice now. He grasped her by the arms and held her steady. “Tell me, what’s wrong?”

A shocking revelation wrought a gasp from Kelly’s trembling lips. She was hearing voices. Just like her mother. She was hearing Michael’s voice in her head, hearing him yell awful words at her. It sounded as real as it did when he asked if she was okay.

Was this what it felt like to lose your mind?

“Kelly! Answer me, dammit!”

A lump rose to her throat. She didn’t want him to know the truth. The way he looked at her would change, and she couldn’t bear that. Of course, she knew she couldn’t marry him now. She would not do to him what her mother had done to her father, forcing him through the wringer time and again.

She straightened. The pain faded as quickly as it had come upon her. It left her feeling exhausted.

“I’m fine,” she said, barely audible.

“No, you’re not.” With two fingers he lifted her chin and stared deep into her eyes, searching for the truth. “Something’s wrong with you, and I want to know what it is so I can help you. You can trust me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me!” she insisted. “I have a headache. That’s all.”

“You need to see a doctor.”

“No!” She stumbled backward, almost losing her footing. “I saw enough doctors to last a lifetime after my mother burned me, thank you very much. I can handle a little headache. I’m not sick!”

She fled from the room, from the house, into the night. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, flying down the dark path at breakneck speed. In her mad dash it didn’t occur to her to take her truck. Images of her mother returned to her, as vivid as if they had happened yesterday. She’d watched her mother descend into hell. Now it was going to happen to her.

A hand came out of nowhere and stopped her, as abruptly as a train would stop a car crossing its path. Michael spun her around. Her hair flew in all directions, the tangled strands whipping in front of her eyes. She jerked her head in an effort to clear her obstructed view, since her hands weren’t free to accomplish the task.

Michael held her immobile in a tight embrace. She fought
him but he wouldn’t release her. Like a parent trying to comfort an angry, frightened child, he wrapped his arms around her like steel manacles, while whispering reassuring words into her ear.

“Let me go!” she screamed.

“No,” he said emphatically. “I’m not going to let you go. We’ll stand here all day like this if we have to. You need me.”

“I don’t,” she mumbled into his shirt. “I don’t need anyone. I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, I used to say things like that, too. But I was wrong. I needed people just like everyone else in this miserable world.”

There was a sad, lonely note in his voice that caught Kelly’s attention. It reflected perfectly how she’d felt before he’d appeared on her doorstep.

“The reason we don’t want to need people is because we’re afraid they’ll leave us or disappoint us,” he continued. “Am I right?”

The fight went out of Kelly. She sagged against Michael’s chest and put every ounce of remaining strength she had into not breaking down. She’d cried enough in front of him. If he thought she was unstable now, who could argue with him?

“I can’t remember what my life was like before you,” she said. “You’re right. I do need you, and I hate it. I don’t want to be weak.”

“You aren’t.” He shook his head and smiled. “I don’t want to need you, either, but I do. The question is where do we go from here?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I haven’t allowed anyone to get this close to me in a long time. I don’t know what comes next.”

“I guess we play it by ear.”

“Sounds good to me,” Kelly said, “But I’m not going
to the doctor. I’m fine. You’ll just have to take my word on that.”

“Fair enough. For now. But if you experience any more of these painful episodes, I want you to let me know immediately.” Michael’s eyes scanned the darkness surrounding them. “We have a lot of land to search. If Margo is dead—”

“She’s not.” Kelly cut him off. “Don’t say that again. Don’t even think it. We’ll find her. We have to.”

He nodded. “We need to check your house first, from top to bottom. If the intruder is in there, hiding out somewhere, we’ll find him.”

“I’m going to be with you every step of the way. Until we find out my house is safe, I’m sticking to you like glue. We can watch each other’s backs.”

A small smile spread across Michael’s mouth. He didn’t seem to mind having her around. The funny thing was that she was getting used to having him around, too. Actually, it was more sad than funny. Michael didn’t know it yet, but she was going to have to break their engagement. Regardless of whether she needed him or not. She was losing her mind, and Michael deserved better.

First they needed to find Margo.

The woman wasn’t dead. Kelly felt the truth in her gut. Her neighbor was alive somewhere, waiting to be found.

M
ICHAEL INSISTED
on driving her truck back to the house. He silently prayed that Paddy had moved his car. Their plans would come to a screeching halt if Kelly confronted the Irishman doing surveillance. The horizon was bathed in an orange glow welcoming a new day. Paddy’s car would be easy to spot now. When the time came for her to know the truth, Michael wanted to be the one to tell her.

He drove through the open, wrought-iron gates. Moore House loomed up before them like a living entity, a monster
that terrorized the present and swallowed the future. Michael wished the walls could talk—although he suspected they would reveal more mysteries than even he could handle.

He stopped the vehicle and turned to Kelly. Before he could say a word, she bolted from the truck, slamming the door behind her. Surprised, he watched her through the frosty windshield as she disappeared into the structure without a backward glance.

Michael remained where he was, staring up at the house with foreboding in his heart. There was something about the place, something beyond the obvious, something bad. Beyond the massive oak door lurked a secret, and Michael was determined to uncover it before Kelly could be hurt any more than she already had been.

With a rueful shake of his head, he pushed the driver’s door open. His feet hit the soggy ground. He pulled his jacket tighter and raced for the only shelter available to him—Moore House.

Once inside, with the door firmly shut behind him, he called out for Kelly. He hoped she wasn’t searching for clues on her own. Concern lit a fire under his feet. He ran from the foyer to the top of the stairs and called her name. There was no sign of her.

Michael went back downstairs, rushed into the parlor and found it empty. Fear claimed his common sense as stories filled his head. He remembered the woman Kelly told him about, in the 1920s. She’d vanished, never to be heard from again. What was the name? Barrington?

He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Kelly! Where are you?”

“I’m here,” she replied from behind him. “You don’t have to bellow. I was in the kitchen fixing us something hot to drink, something to warm us up.”

He took the tray from her hands. He hated to admit it after she’d scared him half to death, but the drink smelled
delicious. Hot cocoa. A vague memory stirred up warmth inside him. His mother had made him and his brother hot cocoa every time it snowed. She’d greeted them at the door with a smile when they came home from school. The sweet aroma filled the house now, evoking poignant memories. Michael mentally wiped them away.

Kelly ripped the sheet from the coffee table as if she were a magician attempting a trick. She smiled and motioned for him to set the tray down. The table was obviously an antique.

Michael placed the silver tray on it with extreme caution. A small splash of the hot liquid could mar the table’s elegant beauty.

Kelly sat next to him on the sofa without uncovering it and gracefully poured the cocoa into two fragile china cups. She could have been a lady from the past offering her guests tea in the parlor on a lazy Sunday afternoon. She handed him one cup with a shy smile.

Michael squirmed a bit, feeling as if he was on a first date. So many times his job forced him to blend into awkward situations, live his disguise whether it was that of a drunken wino or a wealthy eccentric. Kelly Hall threw him off his game. Somehow she was interfering with his concentration.

He liked her.

He genuinely liked her.

He had broken the number-one rule by allowing her to get close.
Don’t get personally involved.

Of course this was different, had been different from the very beginning. This was personal. How was he supposed to hold on to his objectivity?

On top of that, a woman of contradictions was added to the mix. He couldn’t figure her out. She was a frightened girl one second and a determined woman the next. She ran into his arms for safety, then stared through him with those
extraordinary eyes as if she could see the real man behind the mask he wore.

“Cookie?”

Michael shook his head, reminding himself to focus on the current situation and not get lost in his thoughts.

Kelly nibbled on the chocolate chip cookie she’d offered him. She was so incredibly beautiful. How was he supposed to think straight around her?

She lifted the cookie to her delicate lips again. He took it from her and bit into the soft treat. He watched her face, labeling her expression as surprise. Did she feel it, too? Was she imagining what it would be like to kiss him?

He tossed the cookie onto the tray and leaned forward slowly, giving her time to escape.

She stared at him with wide eyes, but didn’t look frightened. More like curious. Maybe even excited.

His lips brushed hers, a feathery touch like the wings of a butterfly. He kissed the corner of her mouth. Not wanting the other side to get jealous, he placed a kiss there, too. A sigh parted her lips.

It was the only invitation he needed.

He covered her mouth with his own and his tongue slipped inside, desperate to explore uncharted territory. Desire ignited a fire and it burned out of control, fueling their passion.

Their hands were everywhere, begging for tactile contact. Fingers lost themselves in hair, delving deep into silky strands. Palms smoothed down firm limbs and slipped around to the back, molding soft flesh and lean muscle. Hands pulled at clothing, nearly ripping the material.

Michael wasn’t certain which of them pushed the other away first, but it felt like a draw to him. They both seemed to come to their senses at the same time, retiring to their separate corners of the couch, gasping for breath.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“That was…” She looked away as if searching for the word she wanted in the air around them.

“Intense,” he suggested. “Incredible? Wonderful? Better than chocolate chips?”

A reluctant smile touched her lips, barely curving them.

The light over their heads flickered.

“Great,” she said. “I hope the power doesn’t go off tonight. It can take days for the electric company to fix it. Being so far from town, we’re low priority. Most of the time I don’t mind a power outage. I use candles and go to bed early. But considering that we have a crazy person running around loose, I’d just as soon be able to see.”

“I think we should catch up on our sleep so we’ll be on our guard tonight.”

Kelly nodded in agreement. She reached for the tray, prepared to lift it, but Michael stopped her with a gentle touch.

“Get it later. I’m beat. Let’s go to bed.”

They went to his bedroom, Kelly leading the way. She turned on a dim light as they entered. Once inside, she walked to the other side of the bed, her back to Michael, and stood motionless. He assumed she was nervous about sharing a bed with him. Boomer settled down at the foot of the bed.

Well, she could join the club. He wasn’t going to get any sleep. But it wouldn’t be thoughts of a killer on the loose keeping him awake. It would be the disturbing feel of the woman next to him. Every breath she took would pound nails into his good intentions.