"Why are you so driven, Kendall?"
"Who says I am?"
"Hey," he chided, "talk to me. What happened to your parents?"
"They died in a private-plane crash on their way to a ski vacation in Colorado."
"What were they like?"
"Vital. Energetic. Funny. Affectionate with each other and with me. I thought they were the most wonderful two people on the face of the earth. I loved them with all my heart."
"They were killed years ahead of their prime. So you feel that you must live life for them and get from it what they were denied. That's what drives you."
Her head popped up again. "What are you, a shrink?" She was teasing, but he remained unsmiling.
"What made you the determined, are, Kendall?"
"I told you'
"Dig deeper."
"All right, if you want to play doctor, I'll humor you."
Resigned, she took a deep breath. "The morning they left for Colorado, while we were saying our goodbyes and hugging all around, my dad said, "Before we come back, see if you can straighten up your room and make us proud." Well, they never came back. So I guess I'm still trying to make them proud."
"That's the condensed version, but it's very insightful."
"Thank you. Now, can we move on to something more recreational? There are more fun ways to play doctor, you know."
headstrong woman you
"You can't win the approval of someone who's dead, Kendall. You don't have to be the best at everything."
"So I've been told."
"By whom?"
"My husband."
He gave her a sharp look, and Kendall's heart almost stopped. Panic seized her, but she knew she had to keep talking, had to offer a hasty explanation. "I mean, you'r so different now, that I think of that husband, the one who betrayed me, as someone else."
"I am someone else. Aren't I?"
"Yes, you are," she replied huskily. "You've changed even since we've been here. And you don't even resemble the nan I married. He belongs in a bad dream that happened a bad time ago, in another place."
He held her gaze for a long time before resuming the discussion. "You began lying when your parents were killed, right?"
"I don't lie."
"That's not even a debatable point, Kendall. You're very good at it."
"If I were that good, you wouldn't suspect that everything I tell you is a lie."
"Not everything. But a lot. You must have had years of practice."
"I always wanted to make things better than they were.
When I was a child, I would . . . rearrange reality, make it more palatable. Rather than having parents who were dead, I invented two fascinating parents with fabulous careers that prevented them from living with me.
"One year they were film stars who wanted to protect me from Hollywood's corruption. One year, explorers to the berth Pole. Then they were missionaries to an Iron Curtain country who converted the lost on Sundays and ran dangerous errands for the CIA during the week."
"Quite an imagination."
Smiling reminiscently, she added, "My imagination didn't go over so well with school counselors and teachers. I stayed in trouble for what they called lying, but what I considered readjusting the facts to improve an otherwise intolerable situation."
"What about later, in adulthood? If an intolerable situation cropped up, did you readjust the facts?"
"For instance?" she asked cautiously.
"For instance, if your husband was stricken with amnesia, and couldn't remember you or anything about your relation ship, would you fake how you really felt about him?"
Tears formed in her eyes. She shook her head. "You're right, I've told too many lies to count. Usually to put a more positive spin on a situation. Sometimes, I admit, to get my way."
She touched his hair, his eyelashes, his lips. "But some things can't be faked. And one of them is love. If I didn't love you, I couldn't pretend to. Even with amnesia, you would know the truth, wouldn't you? You would feel it."
She guided his hand to her heart and held it pressed there.
"When you regain your memory, you might suffer another kind of amnesia that will block out everything that occurred after the accident. You will have forgotten this time we've spent together, here in this house."
She framed his face between her hands. "But if you don't remember anything else, remember that I loved you while we were here." She kissed him softly to seal the vow.
He kissed her in return. Soon their mouths melded. His hands began to explore the soft contours of her body. Her bent knee provocatively nudged his groin.
"Again," he whispered.
She lightly ground her knee against the firm fuzziness of his lap until his erection became distinct. She took it between her hands and massaged its hard, smooth length.
He kissed his way down her center, leaning into her until she was lying on her back. He nipped her tummy with his teeth and nuzzled her mound. He stroked her thighs, gradually separating them.
Then his mouth was intimate with her.
Kendall gave herself over to the breathtaking sensations.
Without shame or modesty she allowed them to undulate up through her belly and breasts. Delicately his tongue probed and flicked and stroked and raved until she shattered like a fine piece of crystal.
He rose above her, but not until he was kissing her mouth did he enter her. When she adjusted her hips to take in all of him,- he closed his eyes and swore softly.
Kendall sank her fingers in his hair and clasped his head.
"Open your eyes, John. Look at me," she said in a soft, urgent voice. "Look at my face. Remember me."
He did as she asked, but he didn't cease the firm, fluid thrusts that sent him deep inside her. When he came, he called her name in a hoarse, choppy voice, then surrendered to the spasms that rocked his body, his world.
When it was over, he gathered her beneath him, enfolding her, his face buried in her neck. Kendall held him for a long time, occasionally stroking his head and whispering, "Remember me, John. Remember me."
Chapter 35
A man slid into the booth across from Ricki Sue. "Hi."
"Fuck off."
"That ain't very neighborly. Don't you remember me? My brother and me asked you for directions today."
For the past half hour Ricki Sue had been sitting alone, drinking steadily, trying to dull the cutting edge of Pepper dyne's sharp warnings.
If something terrible happened to Mrs. Burnwood and her baby, it would be Ricki Sue's fault, he had said.
If she wanted to see her best friend alive, she had better play straight with him and tell him everything she knew.
If they died, she would forever after have their deaths on her conscience. Their lives were in her hands.
He had gone on and on, spouting so many dire predictions that she had felt the need to escape his voice. After he'd left, the house made her claustrophobic. It was still a mess.
Pepperdyne had promised to send over a cleaning crew tomorrow to help with the black dusting powder, but she couldn't stand looking at the damage a moment longer.
The constant reminder that someone had invaded her privacy and handled her personal things had left her with a rare sense of vulnerability. Besides and she would never admit this to Pepperdyne she was frightened to be there alone.
She'd had to get out. So she had come to this bar. It wasn't a place she visited often. Not wanting company tonight, she had avoided the clubs where she was well known and likely to run into friends wanting to party.
She wanted to get stinko tonight. Alone. Already a few men had regarded her speculatively, but she'd shot down their come-ons with hostile glares. No one had dared approach her until now.
When she raised her head and looked more closely at the man who had joined her, she recognized him instantly. Her heart gave a little skip. Her standard, scathing brush-off died on her lips. Her scowl reversed into a smile.
"Did you find Sunset Street?"
"Yeah, thanks to you. But the friend we were looking for had moved. Somewhere out of town." Henry Crook shrugged indifferently. "Don't matter none. We were just knocking around and thought we'd look him up."
"Where's your brother?"
"Luther's his name. Mine's Henry."
"I'm Ricki Sue. Ricki Sue Robb."
"Fancy running into you twice in one day. Must be destiny or something."
"Must be," Ricki Sue simpered.
His eyes were an exceptional color of blue. Nice blond hair, too. No mental giant, but so what? Pepperdyne was smart, and he was a royal pain in the ass.
Besides, supersmart men made her feel inferior. She preferred men who were her intellectual equals. Ordinarily she was turned off by bad grammar, but Henry and his twin had a tough, rawboned appeal that aroused her.
She fluttered her eyelashes. "I'm almost finished with my drink."
"Can I buy you another one?"
"That would be lovely. Whiskey and soda, please."
He went to the bar and ordered. Looking back at her, he smiled in a boyishly shy way that caused a catch in her throat.
Shy men never failed to turn her on. There was so much she could teach them!
He returned with their drinks. After the first few sips, she asked, "Where're y'all from?"
"Uh, West Virginia."
"Hmm. You sound more southern than that."
"We were raised in South Carolina, but the family moved when me and Luther were in high school."
"What do you do?"
"We're in the automotive business."
"How interesting!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "I'm fascinated with cars and engines and stuff."
She wasn't in the least, but her phony fascination gave her an opportunity to lean forward and provide Henry a stunning view of her deep cleavage. She was wearing a black, open weave top over a black bra, which was meant to reveal.
Transfixed by the display, Henry sloshed his draft beer as he raised the mug to his mouth. "My brother and me came back to see you, you know."
"You did? When?"
"After we found out our friend didn't live here no more.
Looked to us like cops were all over your place."
Ricki Sue frowned. "They were. Somebody had broken in to my house."
"No shit? What'd he steal?"
She leaned farther forward. "Henry, honey, do you mind if we don't talk about it? I just get so upset."
She reached for his hand and he clasped it tightly. "Ain't surprising. Me and Luther figured something was awful wrong when we spotted those private clicks watching your house from down the block."
Her reactions were somewhat dulled by the alcohol she had consumed, but Ricki Sue was instantly brought to attention.
She jerked her hand free of his. "What private clicks? What are you talking about?" i;
"Whoa. I didn't mean to get you all worked up. Me and Luther figured your ex probably put them on you."
"I don't have an ex."
"Oh." He frowned with perplexity. "Well, whoever wants you watched is doing it up right. They followed you here."
The Burnwoods! They were here! They had her in their sights! The back of her head was in the crosshairs of one of their ghastly hunting rifles that Kendall had told her about!
"Where?" she croaked.
"Right over yonder by the cigarette machine." He nodded toward a spot behind her. "You can turn around. They ain't looking right now."
She gave the vending machine a quick glance. One of the men belonged to Pepperdyne. The second was new to her, but she was sure that he, too, was an FBI agent. They looked ridiculous in the clean, new dozer caps that were meant to make them blend in with the locals.
"That asshole!" she hissed. "I can't believe him. He's having me tailed, like I was the criminal."
"Who? What's the matter? What's this asshole's name?
Want me and Luther to hurt him for you?"
"No, no. It's nothing, really, just"
"Listen, if you're in some kind of trouble"
"I'm not, but a friend of mine is. Those guys are from the FBI. They think I know something that I'm not telling."
"Do you?"
"If I did, I wouldn't tell."
It was risky to let a potential date know that she was involved in something serious enough to include the feds. But instead of appearing wary, Henry seemed impressed.
"Whew! You lead an exciting life, lady."
Ricki Sue hid her relief and flashed him a naughty smile.
"You don't know the half of it, honey."
Stan
"But I'd sure like to."
"Then let's get out of here," she said, making a spontaneous decision. If ever she'd been in need of some R&R, tonight was the night. "I know some places that are much more suited for private conversation."
She finished her drink in one swallow and was about to leave the booth when she remembered Pepperdyne's surveil lance team.
"Damn! I don't want them tagging along."
Henry pondered the problem for a moment. "I have an idea.
My brother's in the back room playing pool. What say me and you walk back there. I'll stay awhile, then come back in here, making out like we hadn't got on, you know? Luther and you can sneak out the back. Eventually I'll leave by the front door. By the time they get curious and go into the back room looking for you, you'll be long gone."
"Brilliant!" She swayed when she tried to stand. "Oops.
Already on my way to wasted." She giggled.
Henry placed an arm around her waist to steady her. "Hell, you ain't wasted. You just know how to have a good time, is all."