Authors: Jennifer Ryan
“You and your questions. I didn’t want to have to convince you and waste time. I figured you loved your sister enough to investigate what I told you. I was right.”
“Thank God, you were right.” He held her hand and just stared into her bright blue eyes. It felt so good to touch her, to look at her. “You know, I’m going to have to kiss you again. I knew it.”
Her eyebrow shot up. “You knew what?”
“That once would never be enough.” His lips brushed hers softly and he sank into the kiss, thoroughly exploring her mouth. He could taste the iced tea, the salt from the chips, and something else uniquely her. A drug spreading through his system, she set fire to his nerves and inflamed his desire.
He’d never felt quite this way. The interruption from the waitress saved him from embarrassing both of them. Past time they shared a meal and some normal conversation. He wanted to take the time to get to know her on a personal level.
Time to discover all those million little things he didn’t know.
M
ORGAN COULDN’T REMEMBER
the last time she sat in a restaurant and had dinner with a handsome man. They talked. Well, she talked. He wanted to know everything about her. She explained about her website and how she provided answers to anyone she could help. She told him about how she educated herself and became a successful day trader. She surprised him with her knowledge of the stock market. At his puzzled frown, she knew she lost him a few times when trying to explain buying on margin and selling short. A complicated business, but she loved it, and if you studied and knew the rules, you could make a lot of money. She’d done well over the years and lived a comfortable life.
Side by side, they sat as they ate and talked to each other. For the first time in a long time she felt at ease, and they shared a true and equal give-and-take.
It all ended with the clatter of her fork hitting her plate. She looked at Tyler next to her and wished she could freeze time. “Here comes a freight train.”
Her words sent everything inside him to full alert. Her smile vanished, her eyes went from a crystal blue to a foggy gray, and her skin paled. He wanted to pull out his gun, push her behind him, and face whatever danger came her way. He needed to protect her, and knew if he had to, he’d lay down his life for her.
“What’s wrong? Did you have a vision?”
She didn’t answer. Couldn’t. Her sister barreled up to the table, planted her hands, and leaned into Morgan’s face.
“I told you to stay away from me and my family. I don’t want you anywhere near my children.”
Morgan sat back in her seat without realizing she scooted closer to Tyler.
“Hello, Jillian. This is my friend, Tyler.”
Tyler heard the slight tremor in Morgan’s voice and found it strange that in a matter of moments she’d gone from easygoing to completely on guard and hesitant to speak with her own sister.
Jillian stood steaming mad. “Freight train” was an apt description. She looked about ready to bowl Morgan down if she got in her way, and let out an earful of steam in the process.
“I’ll take friend for now. We’ll see how things progress,” he said into Morgan’s ear. He turned to Jillian. “It’s nice to meet you. Morgan and I were just enjoying a quiet dinner.”
“Sure you were. You just happen to pick the restaurant my family and I frequent.” She turned on Morgan and leaned in until they were less than half a foot apart. “I told you to stay away. I don’t want you spouting off around my kids and spreading your brand of psycho.” She turned her attention back to Tyler. “Has she told you that she sees things? She hears voices. She’s crazy.”
“He knows all about it, Jillian. Tyler is with the FBI. I’m not here to cause you any trouble.”
“So, it’s true. You’re the Morgan who’s working with the FBI. I knew it. You’re the reason that maniac is killing anyone claiming to be a psychic.”
Claiming to be a psychic
, Tyler thought. She doesn’t believe in her sister’s ability. She thinks her sister is crazy, literally.
“Just a minute, Jillian. Morgan works with me on some of my cases. She’s been one hundred percent accurate. She saved my sister’s life. A few nights ago, she saved my best friend’s son from being killed. She’s psychic all right. Crazy? Not a chance.”
“That’s what you think. She’s responsible for our mother’s death.”
People stared and all their curiosity disturbed Morgan. Their directed interest sapped her energy.
Morgan took a calming breath and tried to remember this was her sister, her blood. Morgan had a suspicion that her mother had known what was to come and done the only thing she could to save her eldest daughter. Jillian wasn’t objective, she was angry. Buried under all that anger was a hurt little girl sent away by her parents.
“Jillian. I did not kill our mother. James killed her all by himself.”
“James. You call our father James.”
“I may have lived in that house, and thank God you didn’t, but he was never a father to me, or you. Always out for himself, he wanted to make money fast and easy and spend it even quicker. He didn’t care how he treated our mother, or me. He didn’t care what he had to do to get that money. Blackmail, fraud. Mom refused to make me help, and he killed her to get her out of the way. He thought without her between us, he could control me.”
“Even you admit it’s your fault. He told me how you hypnotized him or something. You were in his head. You forced him to kill her.”
“Why would I do that? I loved her.”
“Because you probably had some crazy delusional episode. It’s because of you they sent me away. Because of you, I barely got to see her as a child. Now, I’ll never have a chance to know her.”
“Mom sent you away to keep you safe and away from James.”
Morgan didn’t want to do it. She didn’t want to give voice to the unspeakable things her father had done to make her give him information. She didn’t want to validate Jillian’s belief that it was her fault her mother died. She could have cooperated and given him the information. She didn’t want to see other people get hurt. She hadn’t wanted her mother to get hurt. She would have suffered at her father’s hands a thousand more times if it meant her mother would still be alive.
“I’ll tell you why. Because our father didn’t care if he had to beat me to a bloody pulp to get the information he wanted. Sometimes, he’d lock me in a closet for days. He didn’t care if I was hurt, or hungry, or scared. All the better to get what he wanted. Then, he figured out the best way to get me to talk. If beating me and the closet and starvation didn’t work, hell, let’s beat her mother to get her to talk. It worked every time. He hit her once, a slap across the face that sent her thudding to the kitchen floor. He never had to do it again. From that moment on, if he went for her, he knew he’d get me to cooperate.”
Jillian went completely still and stared hard at Morgan. Tyler sat stunned, his hands balled into fists on the table beside her.
“He wouldn’t have hurt me? I’m not like you.”
“And you think that would have saved you. Do you really think he would have believed you can’t do what I can do? Do you think he wouldn’t have beaten you to be sure you couldn’t help him get what he wanted? If you believe that, then you’re stupid on top of being angry about something Mom did to protect you.”
Morgan took a deep breath and tried to keep her carefully constructed walls in place. But they were crumbling. Fast.
“I’m glad you weren’t there. I’d take your anger and hatred any day over knowing he hurt you because of me. I wouldn’t wish one single day of my life with that man on you. I’m glad you had a good childhood. You have a great life. Be happy, Jillian. It’s all I want for you and from you.”
“It should have been you, not her. Why didn’t he just kill you?”
“Because he wants to use me to get what he wants. He’ll stop at nothing to make that happen.”
Tyler broke free from his stunned reaction to Morgan’s admissions. He couldn’t believe everything she’d said. It was all so cruel and sad.
“Jillian, you said your father told you Morgan made him kill your mother. When did you talk to him? Has he been in contact with you?”
“He’s written me off and on over the years from prison. Since his release, I’ve spoken to him a few times. He wants to build a relationship with me,” Jillian said to Morgan. “He understands the injustice of my being taken away from him.”
Morgan closed her dropped jaw, flabbergasted. “Do you really believe the man who killed our mother in cold blood deserves a second chance at being a father? Do you really think that’s what he wants?”
Morgan didn’t believe it for a second. James wanted something from Jillian. She meant to find out what that something was before her father ruined the life Jillian had made for herself. She didn’t want her sister to get hurt. She didn’t want James using her niece and nephew to get what he wanted either. The thought of those children suffering at her father’s hands turned her stomach.
“Jillian, you can’t let that man into your life or near the children. He only wants to use you.”
“He’s my father.”
“He killed our mother.”
“You killed her,” she snapped. “It’s your fault.”
“But the children,” Morgan pleaded, hoping her sister would see beyond her father’s manipulation that he believed she’d been cheated and abandoned. Her father would feed Jillian’s anger, bring her around to sympathize with him, and take everything from her without regret.
“You stay away from my children. They aren’t any of your concern.”
Morgan didn’t know what else to say. She couldn’t get Jillian to set aside her anger and hurt to see what their father really wanted. Jillian didn’t want to believe he could be evil enough to do those terrible things. Much easier to believe her insane sister was to blame for everything.
She simply nodded her agreement to stay away.
Jillian may not want Morgan in her life, but she did want something from her. It broke Morgan’s heart when her sister’s misguided anger turned to selfish greed.
“You’ll continue with the account.”
Not a question. A demand, and one her sister expected Morgan to follow. Irritated her sister could be so consumed with hatred toward her and in the next breath demand she give the children money.
“The children will have their college funds. It’s my gift to them.”
“Yeah, you’ve made sure of that, since you’re the only signer on the account. How do I know you won’t change your mind?”
“You don’t, and since my word doesn’t mean anything to you, I guess you won’t know. When the time comes for them to go to school, I’ll make sure they have the money they need. It’s the best I can do.”
“You could put the account in my name.”
“Why?”
“Then, you don’t have to be involved.”
Maybe Jillian was more like their father than she’d previously thought. “I could, but what difference does it make who signs on the account, so long as the children get their money.”
“You just don’t trust David and me to take care of the money and investments for them.”
Before tonight, she might have considered changing the signing authority on the account. Now a strange undercurrent rippled in the air.
“You know, you’re right. I don’t trust you. There’s a reason you want access to that money, and it isn’t so you can manage the account. I have a lot of experience with stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. I made all that money. Why do you want access to it? Are you and David having financial trouble?” As a teacher, her sister made an okay salary along with David. They lived a comfortable life, but extras were an indulgence they probably had to forego to meet their monthly bills, especially with two growing children.
No, she and David had a good, solid life. Jillian’s request came from something else. Or, more likely, someone else. “Does this have something to do with your recent calls from James?”
“He said you’d refuse. The money belongs to us.”
“It does? You didn’t work for it, I did. The money is mine, until I pay the college of the kids’ choice. You won’t see a dime. It’s for them.”
She made sure Jillian understood the money would go to the school, not to her or the children directly. Encouragement for the kids to go to college. If she simply gave them the money, they may not go. She wanted them to have every opportunity. Money would come later if they had a good education behind them.
“Why would you tell him about the money?” Tyler asked, his mind working overtime, trying to figure out what angle her father was working this time.
“He wanted to know what you’ve been doing all these years. I told him about you playing the stock market and doing really well. He wanted to know how I knew that, and I told him about the money and investments you made for the kids. That’s all,” she swore, biting her bottom lip and glancing away.
“That’s all? Hardly. You’re hiding something. And it has everything to do with James.”
Jillian looked around the room, nervous about something. Tyler had seen enough liars to read all the signs. She never met his or Morgan’s gaze. She fidgeted with her purse strap. Her voice went high and she spoke too fast, the words tumbling from her mouth. “I have to go. My family is waiting for me. We’ll talk about this another time.”
“S
HE’S A REAL
piece of work,” Tyler couldn’t help pointing out, angry Jillian would confront Morgan in public and in such a nasty way. “She hates your guts and demands money all in the same breath.” Pissed off, his anger seeped out in his words, though he tried to hold it back for Morgan’s sake.
She’d been sitting there quietly for the last ten minutes. He’d given her the time she needed to settle down. In that time, she slowly transformed again before his eyes. Her sister sapped all the light out of her. When she left, the glow and vitality in Morgan slowly returned. Her eyes brightened, her skin returned to the warm, sun-kissed glow she’d had before, and her hair went from flat to bouncy once again.
Sam was right: people’s anger physically harmed her. He imagined she reacted to anyone with a strong emotion. He wondered what she’d be like in the heat of passion. Just the thought sent a shaft of white-hot lust through his system, and he shifted uncomfortably.