Breath of Dawn, The (37 page)

“How’s Livie?”

She laughed. “Three hours, Morgan? She’s fine. Loving time with Grammy and Gramps.”

“Naturally.” He hadn’t been worried, only interested. “Is Erin
close? She called earlier but didn’t leave a message, and she’s not answering her phone.”

“She’s probably on the plane by now.”

“The plane?”

“She flew to Denver to meet RaeAnne. I’m sure that’s why she called you.”

Adrenaline surged. Through clenched teeth he said, “In what world did that make sense?”

“Markham’s with her family, Morgan.”

“How do you know?”

“Her grandfather told her. He called this morning to say Markham’s marrying her sister. After everything.”

He drew a solid breath. “You’re saying Markham’s not in Juniper Falls?”

“He and Hannah are at her father’s house. Her grandfather saw them.”

If that was true, Erin hadn’t exaggerated her dad’s obstinacy. And it did give her the opportunity she’d been hoping for. His heart rate calmed, the panic subsiding.

“She took the chance to help RaeAnne meet her dad, Morgan. You know how much that means to her.”

“Yes, I know.” The worst layer of shock peeled away. “Do you know when she’s landing?”

“They’re meeting at DIA around one o’clock Mountain Time and driving to Juniper Falls.”

“Okay. Thanks, Noelle.” He might not have advocated it, but he knew how RaeAnne’s situation was weighing on his soft-hearted wife. As soon as he finished in New York, he could meet her out there. Pocketing the phone, he reminded himself Erin wasn’t Livie. She could make decisions on her own, and did. He settled in for the drive.

The last time he’d been to William’s Long Island estate he’d been reuniting Noelle with Rick after their heartrending split. Now William’s firm handshake drew him inside, where Ellen’s two-handed grasp was as familiar as she got. Decades as the watchdog assistant to William St. Claire, Esq., created a formality she’d never shed, even though she had been his wife for the last five years.

“Wonderful to see you, Ellen.” He squeezed her hands in return.

“How is your new and controversial wife?” William asked with a gleam in his eye.

For a moment he thought someone had exposed her legal woes, then realized Noelle must have filled him in on the family strife. “Words can’t come close.” He tried not to look like a lovesick goon. “And actually it’s Erin who brings me here. A legal matter.”

“Oh?” William paused at the library doors. “Would you like something hot, or will brandy do while we talk?”

“Coffee would be great,” he told Ellen. “Keep me from glazing over when William gets technical.”

“You mean boring,” William said.

Laughing, they entered the library. Over cups of Costa Rican wet-processed Arabica, Morgan laid out Erin’s situation as clearly as possible, then asked, “Is it serious?”

William answered gravely. “It’s not inconsiderable. In essence, she withheld information during trial and discovery and thwarted the recovery of funds she misappropriated.”

“She hasn’t used the money.”

“Then the better word is stole.”

Morgan frowned. “Will they push this accomplice angle?”

“Her blowing the whistle and testifying argues against collusion, though partners have been known to take the other down. I’ve seen it a few times myself.” He pulled a wry smile.

While seeing the humor, Morgan had to work at enjoying it. “All she wanted was an apology, for someone to admit she’d done the right thing. She was twenty-three and idealistic.”

“Not a legal defense.”

Morgan frowned. “Then what do we have?”

Every inch the top-tier criminal defense attorney, William said, “We have the money.”

RaeAnne squeezed her hard, laughing and crying when they met at the baggage claim. “This is it. This is really it.”

Erin squeezed her back. “Not Christmas Day, but close enough?”

“Oh, Quinn.” RaeAnne kissed her cheeks. “You are the best friend. But, oh, I forgot to ask. How are you feeling?”

“So far, so good.”

“That’s great. I know a gal who got sick the day she got pregnant and stayed that way until she pushed her baby out.”

“Delightful.” Erin shouldered her carryon. “Noelle’s still not doing all that great. But I felt her baby kick. It was . . .” She laughed. “I’m sorry. This isn’t about me, RaeAnne. It’s about you and your dad. What’s the plan?”

“You’re asking me?”

“Ye-es.”

“Well, I have an address. So I . . .” She fanned herself with her hand. “Do I just go?”

Erin smiled. “First, we’ll get to the car rentals.”

“Oh good. Baby steps.”

“Hold on.” Erin fished her phone out. “It’s Morgan.”

RaeAnne took three steps backward and raised her fingers in a wave.

Drawing a deep breath, she answered. “Morgan, I tried to call, several times. I left you a message when I landed, and—”

“Erin.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t need excuses or explanations. You assessed the situation and used your judgment. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Warmth filled her. “Really?”

“You’re bright, decisive, and you care. Good combination.”

Her eyes burned. “I have a feeling this is going to be a tearful pregnancy.”

He laughed softly. “One thing, okay? I don’t want you anywhere near your old place.”

“We’re planning to stay at the ranch, in your cabin.”

“Okay. But he knows that connection.”

“He’s not there.” Everything Pops told her poured out. “I’m sure they’re making wedding plans, and God only knows what. He’ll have the whole church believing I’m Jezebel and he’s weeping Jeremiah in the well.” She was mixing prophetic stories, but whatever.

A team of teen girls and four adults in matching warm-ups went noisily past.

“I know that hurts.”

“I should be used to it.”

“Well, as you said, it gives you this chance. I trust your judgment, but if anything seems off, pay attention.”

“I will.”

“Now, listen to me, and I don’t want you to argue.” His tone grew so serious it slowed her heart. “There’s a gun in the Maserati glove box.”

She pressed a hand to her chest. “I don’t—”

“Just have it in the cabin in case. The car’s in Rick’s barn.” He told her where to find the spare key he hadn’t grabbed when they left and gave her the alarm code. “I didn’t lock the glove box in case I needed quick access.”

She listened half disbelieving. “I had no idea it was there.”

“I didn’t want to scare you.” His voice thickened. “But I want you to have it ready.”

“Then I will.”

Okay,” he said. “Good luck to RaeAnne. Hope it goes well.”

She smiled. “I love you.”

“Love you more.” She heard the sincerity in his graveled voice.

Holding the phone to her chest for a moment, she sighed, then she and RaeAnne joined others getting the ground-transportation shuttle.

RaeAnne studied her as they rode to the lot, and then as she got behind the steering wheel. “You all right, honey?”

She told her what Morgan said. RaeAnne brushed off the part about the gun and focused on the heart of it. “I’m glad he wasn’t angry about not knowing.”

She was still riding that wave. “It’s the first time anyone’s trusted my judgment.”

“Well, it’s about time. You’re like a catalyst for all sorts of good things.”

And yet Morgan was in New York trying to keep her out of jail. She hadn’t even asked if he’d met with William. Her concern notched up. They shouldn’t waste any time. “Let’s go directly there, RaeAnne. Let’s meet your dad.”

She drew a shaky breath. “All right. It’s only been forty years. Why wait?”

His address was in one of the two small condominium complexes in Juniper Falls. While not a specified retirement community, it apparently catered to seniors. The walkways were ramped and the outer doors equipped with automatic switches at handicapped level. The lodge-style buildings were surrounded by spruce and Douglas fir trees, snow cleared from the walkways but lying unmelted on the shaded lawns.

They entered the building and walked to his unit. At the door, Erin turned to RaeAnne. “Are you ready?”

“I think so.” She squeezed the hand Erin rested on her arm. “Thanks for being here.”

Erin rang the bell, a little anxious, though nothing like what RaeAnne had to be feeling.

The man who answered had aged from the locket photo, but his features still had good lines in spite of puffy bags under his eyes. His hair was graying in the way that made blond seem faded. He looked from her to RaeAnne and said, “Can I help you?”

She had prepared to make introductions if necessary, but RaeAnne said, “Raymond Hartley?”

“Ray, yeah.”

“I think you’re my father.”

A furrow the width of an earthworm formed between his brows. The slack skin of his neck pulled with the rise and fall of his Adam’s apple. “I’m not sure why you’d think that, but you may as well come in.”

He ushered them into a small room, sparsely furnished with a pale green couch, holding several days of newspapers, an ivory coffee table with an unfolded pile of laundry, and a flat-screen TV that had to be sixty inches. No mystery how Ray spent his time, although there were shelves of books as well.

He indicated they should sit on the couch, then pulled the table back and perched beside the clothes. “You’re Vera’s girl.”

RaeAnne’s mouth fell open. “How’d you know?”

He smiled wryly. “You look just like her.”

Erin felt RaeAnne’s excitement but also the control she exerted.

“You knew she had me?”

“Sure. She talked about you.”

Hurt and surprise found her eyes. “When?”

“When we started talking again. When she came up here.”

With an effort RaeAnne held the reins of rejection, since her mother hadn’t mentioned him to her. “R-Ray. Why don’t you think I’m your daughter?”

“I don’t have kids. I . . .” He brushed his hand through his hair. “I have some mental health issues, so I got a vasectomy.”

“When?” RaeAnne all but whispered.

“At twenty-one. So you see . . .” He spread his hand.

“My mother was pregnant when you left. I have the locket you gave her. We could have the hair tested if you don’t believe me.”

His hand slowly lowered to his thigh. He searched her face, putting it together. “But . . . she never said. I-I mean all these years.”

“Well . . . join the club.” RaeAnne’s own face twisted.

Shaking, Markham tried to get through to her again. “You had Christmas with your family, Hannah. As you wanted. And once again Quinn couldn’t be here.”

“It doesn’t matter. She’s married. She’s having a baby. That’s her family now.”

“My mission hasn’t changed.”

Hannah’s hands writhed like puppies in her lap. “Why do you care? She doesn’t.”

He paced back toward her in the tiny study of her parents’ home. “Hannah. You’re going to be my wife. I’m telling you we need to go. That’s all there is.” He had thought Quinn headstrong. Hannah took passive-aggressive to new lows.

“Mama and I need to plan my wedding. There are so many things to do. Why are you thinking of Quinn? Why can’t you think of me?”

“Hannah.” The jaw pain reached inside his ear and shot into his temple. “I thought you were ready to leave your parents and cleave to me. I see I was wrong.”

She looked up, wary and tearful.

“Of course I won’t take you from your mother.” He rested his hand on her head like a child’s, letting her see his distress. “But I have to go.” He turned toward the closed door.

“Markham, please. Wait. I want to be with you. I don’t know why it has to be today, but . . . if you say so.”

He looked over his shoulder. “I’m no cradle robber.”

“I’m thirty-eight. That’s a grown woman.”

“You haven’t behaved like one. I think I was mistaken.” He might still need her, but there was no time to argue. He had to get out before the old man was discovered. The deed clung to him like tar. He couldn’t clear his head. He needed the drug that helped him see so clearly, that made him invincible. “We’ve wasted too much time. As it is, we won’t arrive until dark.”

“We could wait until tomorrow.”

“No, Hannah, we can’t.”

“Then I’ll come with you. Please don’t leave me behind.”