Murphy's Law (30 page)

As if he'd read her thoughts, Elton laughed. “Then again, if you won't cooperate, maybe I'll just go straight to the children and explode a similar bomb that I have planted there.”

An odd calm came over Ashley, obliterating the mind-scrambling panic and making it easier for her to rationalize.

“I don't think so,” she said slowly, thinking things through. She had to trust in Quinton and his awesome capacity for caring. “You don't have a bomb planted there, because Quinton would never leave the children unprotected. You're lying through your teeth.”

Elton's temper snapped. “You're right, you fucking bitch. He has an army protecting that place.”

Ashley closed her eyes in relief. She wasn't safe, not by a long shot, and Stuart looked like he might have wet himself at Elton's outburst. But they were both adults, not innocent children.

She should have known sooner that Quinton wouldn't leave the boys unprotected. He had money and he enjoyed it. But most of all he enjoyed using it to care for and shelter others.

“So what do you want, Elton?” She hoped to distract him enough to keep him from going farther from her apartment. “I don't have all day.”

Her bluster, even while delivered with a shaking voice, enraged him further. “You're worth a lot now, girlie.”

She snorted. “Yeah, right. Whoever told you that misled you big-time.”

“Your lover is loaded,” he snapped.

“Right. He is. But that's got nothing to do with me.”

“You're going to contact him for me.” Elton eased closer, rabid in his planning. “You're going to get enough money from him that I can get away from here. You're going to—”

“Dream on,” Ashley interrupted. “I've never asked for a handout and I won't start now, especially not for the likes of you.”

“You'll do it, all right.” Using the pipe, Elton gouged Stuart in the small of the back, and Stuart staggered forward with a grimace. “You'll do it, or I'll cave in his skull right now.”

Resolutely keeping her eyes off that bomb, Ashley hesitated.

But this time Elton wasn't fooled. “Act as ballsy as you like, little girl. Pretend you don't care. Pretend that having a daddy doesn't matter to you.” He grinned, showing teeth that hadn't experienced the touch of a toothbrush in weeks. “I know better.”

Shock rippled through Ashley. Elton spoke as if he knew…but that was impossible. No one knew. She stared at Stuart, at the man who should have been her father, but who had always treated her as an outsider. And she laughed. “You're joking, right?”

“For God's sake, Ashley,” Stuart cried out. “Just do what he—”

The panicked words dropped like stones from a cliff when Elton swung the pipe and cracked Stuart in the back of the head. With a dull grunt, he collapsed to the ground.

“No.”
Ignoring Elton's cackling laugh, Ashley ran to Stuart, dropped to one knee at his side, and clasped his shoulder with her uninjured hand. “Stuart?” She jarred him the best she could. “Answer me, Stuart.”

His groan proved he was breathing. Thank God. May would be so upset if anything happened to him.

And damn it, Elton was right.

Stuart had never claimed her. She owed him nothing, less than nothing. But…she didn't want him injured. She cared about him. Such an idiot.

“Come on, Stuart.” She slapped his cleanly shaven jaw, trying to rouse him. “You don't get to take the easy way out. Open your damned eyes.”

Heavy lids fluttered open, showing eyes the same color as hers, and identical in shape.

In a voice weak with confusion, he rasped, “I'm sorry, Ash. I should have…should have told you…” He swallowed hard, his glazed eyes pleading with her. “Please don't let me die.”

Keeping Elton in her peripheral vision, Ashley sat back on her heels. She had to stall Elton, to buy herself some time. Quinton would come. Somehow, it'd all work out. She had to believe that.

Shaking her head, Ashley said, “Told me what? That you're my father?” She looked up at Elton. “That's old news.”

Glaring, Elton took an aggressive step toward her. “You knew?”

“Why does everyone keep insisting I'm an idiot? I have eyes, don't I? I can see the resemblance, and knowing Stuart's…proclivity for catting around, along with my mother's less than conservative lifestyle, it didn't take a genius to figure it out.”

And someone said, “You sure hid it well, brat.”

Both she and Elton jumped at the intrusion of Denny's voice. He'd come up behind her, but Ashley had been so intent on Elton, she hadn't heard him.

Raising the pipe, Elton started toward Denny.

Ashley quickly came to her feet, and from behind Elton, Tim snarled, “I wouldn't.”

Ashley blinked at him.
“Tim?”

“Hush, Ashley,” he said. “It's all right now.”

No friggin' way. But she couldn't deny her own eyes: that was Tim with a man's voice, a man's conviction.

A damn parade had come through and she hadn't heard a thing. Tim didn't look particularly shocked by the news that she was his half sister. No, if anything, he looked very determined to take Elton apart.

Ashley prayed he'd leave that to Denny, because although Tim had been training hard, she didn't want her fate in his hands.

Eyes wild with fear and insanity, Elton turned on him. That damn pipe gleamed in the moonlight. “Are you going to stop me, boy?”

“No.” Quinton spoke from the side of Elton. “I am.” And before Elton could even acknowledge him, Quinton's left hand clamped onto Elton's wrist, squeezing hard to keep him from detonating the bomb. With his right fist, he landed one solid jab to Elton's chin, and the lunatic slumped in his hold.

Quinton relieved him of the bomb, handed it to Denny, and hauled Elton back up again. “Bastard.” Elevating Elton by the front of his ragged, dirty shirt, Quinton struck him again and again. Denny and Tim stood there, arms crossed, just watching. Stuart groaned and crawled into a sitting position, and then he, too, watched.

Approaching sirens shook Ashley out of her stupor. “Quinton?” He struck Elton again, even though Elton had long since passed out. She ran to him. “Quinton, stop it.”

He hovered over Elton, heaving in anger, rage pulsing off him.

Denny patted her on the shoulder, and she moved to the side. He caught Quinton's arm, saying, “I got this, son. Go take care of Ashley.”

Eyes on Quinton, Ashley muttered, “I can take care of myself.” And she could, damn it, but…She needed him. She wanted him.

Quinton relinquished his hold on Elton, but he didn't reach for Ashley. He took a step back.

Her heart almost broke.

Until he said, “I love you, Ashley.”

Because he still sounded furious, the declaration was odd indeed. She started shaking all over, and tears welled up in her eyes.

“All right.” Gulping down her tears, Ashley nodded and opened her arms to him.

He took one gigantic step toward her, enraged, larger than life, and everything she ever wanted.

He crushed her close, saying into her hair, “No, it's not all right.
You're mine.
The baby is mine.”

Cars pulled up, people swarmed around them, but Ashley barely paid any attention to them.

Quinton inhaled a deep breath, let it out, then did it again. He tipped her chin up, and though he didn't smile, he didn't look as fierce, either.

“Children of my own…They were never in my plans, but then, you weren't in my plans, either.” He turned his hand to brush his knuckles over her bruised cheek. “I'm finding plans have a way of changing pretty quickly.”

She choked on a laugh. “Tell me about it.”

“I love you. I want you in my life, with kids of our own, and kids that we sponsor and care for, and…I want everything.”

She nodded. “I want that, too.”

Hands shaking, he cupped her face. “God, honey, you almost scared me to death. Right after you left, I decided to hell with Warren and his mess and anything else that was on the agenda for the day. I wanted to see you. Then the guards called and said you'd gone to your apartment. At first, I thought you were still mad, then I saw you rushing across the back lot and you disappeared out of sight before I could stop you—”

“I knew you'd come.”

His eyes closed and he sucked more air before continuing. “I told the guards to call Denny and the cops, but I swear, I died a dozen deaths, praying and hoping and more frantic than any man should ever have to be.”

Ashley smiled at him. “I didn't know what to do. I was afraid he'd kill Stuart—”

“
I love you
.” He held her back the length of his arms, staring down at her, breathing hard. “Admit that you love me too, tell me that you'll marry me, and let me have some peace.”

She couldn't help it. She started to laugh, but because she was still crying, too, the sound was beyond pathetic.

Quinton looked appalled and scared all over again before she blurted, “I love you, too, and as to marriage, sure, Murphy, whatever you want. Now console me, damn it. I've been through hell.”

And with a bomb squad, an ambulance, and various police and ATF agents surrounding them, Quinton did just that.

 

Quinton came into the kitchen and found Ashley seated at the table, books spread out around her, papers everywhere. “Hey, babe.” He smiled, bent and kissed her on top of the head, and said, “How's the studying?”

“Slow.” She finished writing something, laid aside a pencil, and pushed out of her chair to waddle toward him.

She'd rounded out with the pregnancy, and she still had nearly two months to go. She raised her arms, put them around his neck, and planted a long warm smooch on him.

Quinton automatically filled his hands with her newly voluptuous rump and lifted her up into him. “Mmmmm.”

Ashley laughed. “Letch. I'm as big as a house and here you are, copping a feel.”

“You're beautiful, so I can't help myself.” He kissed her again, lingering, lazy, loving her more with each day. “I suspect when we're ninety-five I'll still totter over with my walker and get a handful every now and then.”

Ashley nestled her breasts against him. “Well, at least with the pregnancy I have some boob for you to grab.”

Quinton shook his head. He started to laugh—and something jabbed him in the ribs. Overcome with emotions, he spread his hand out on her abdomen and felt their child squirming around. “How are you feeling?”

“Fat and content. How about you?”

“I love you.”

“I know.” She squeezed him tight. “I got some news today.”

“About?”

She waved him into a seat while she went to the fridge and got out a juice. “You want coffee?”

“Thank you.” Quinton removed his suit coat and sprawled in a chair. “The news?”

After pouring his coffee, Ashley reseated herself, too. “The detective called to tell me that they have pretty solid proof that Elton committed another murder to steal some poor woman's car.” She shuddered. “I am so glad he's out of our lives.”

Quinton reached for her, and pulled her from her seat and into his lap. “I don't want you worrying about him.”

“I'm not. It's just that too many innocent people were hurt by him.”

“I know.” To give her something better to think about, Quinton told her, “The new hearing aid we got for Oliver? He loves it. It's so small that the other kids can't even see it, and he says it's more comfortable.”

“Wonderful! And that reminds me, Rupert's birthday is coming around. He wants to have a party at the pizza place.”

“All right.” Quinton smoothed back her hair. Now that she no longer insisted on working while attending school, she'd dedicated extra time to the boys. And they all loved her, almost as much as did Quinton.

She took a sip of her juice, then turned her face up to his. “May, Jude, Denny, and Tim are coming to dinner tonight.”

“Should be fun.”

Ashley tried not to laugh.

“What's so funny?”

“I never suspected that anyone who leg-shackled himself to me would also be chained to such a big family.”

“I adore May, and Jude's a great guy. Denny's funny at the worst of times, even when he doesn't mean to be. And even Tim is growing on me.”

May had accepted Ashley as her sister with tearful glee. She'd told Ashley that to her heart, she'd always been her sister. The two women didn't treat each other any differently, except that Quinton had noticed how they'd sometimes lock gazes, then burst out laughing. He credited that to an excess of happiness for both of them, which made him feel damn good.