Читать книгу The Black Widow - BEVERLY BARTON, Beverly Barton - Страница 12

Jordan grabbed hold of Rick by instinctively throwing her arm around his neck. Momentarily stunned by what had happened, she stared into his eyes. Their gazes connected and instantly locked. Knowing she had to remove herself from such intimate contact with this man, she inhaled and exhaled a deep, steadying breath before saying, “Please, put me down.”

Rick hesitated for a split second, then eased her onto her feet.

“Thank you,” she mouthed the words quietly.

He didn’t get a chance to say anything before the adoring Jordan Price tribe swarmed around her, each person professing their concern. But Devon Markham cut through the other groupies and all but pushed Rick aside.

“Are you okay?” Devon asked, genuine worry marring his handsome features.

“I’m fine.” She patted him on the arm and then turned to the others. “The show’s over. Everything is going to be fine. Please, all of you, go back inside.”

Tobias and Vadonna returned to the house immediately, while no one else hurried back inside; instead they began mumbling among themselves.

“Wait up, Wes,” Jordan called to her stepson. “We need to talk.” She looked from Wes to his sister. “You, too, Kendra. Both of you go sit down. I’ll be there in a minute.” She turned to Rick. “Please, go eat breakfast and get your day started. I have to do my job as their stepmother and sort things out with them before I send them both back to school.”

“I don’t mean to interfere, but shouldn’t you confront your stepbrother about making advances to a teenager first?”

Jordan grimaced. “No, the children first. I’ll deal with J.C. later.”

Rick nodded, then left her to handle the family situation on her own. She squared her shoulders and walked across the lawn, up the steps and onto the veranda. Wes sat in one of the big wicker chairs, his legs spread, his shoulders and head drooped, and his hands clutched together between his knees. Kendra paced back and forth. Pausing when Jordan approached, she looked at her in a wide-eyed, pleading manner.

“Wes overreacted to something that was none of his business in the first place,” Kendra said.

Pointing her index finger in Kendra’s face, Jordan gave her a stern, disapproving, maternal glare. “J.C. kissed you, right?”

“Yes.”

“Did anything else happen?”

“No.”

“Has he kissed you before?”

“Once.”

“Kendra Diane Brannon, you are eighteen years old. J.C. is thirty-six. Do the math. He’s twice your age and has had five times more experience. He is a sweet-talking womanizer who uses and discards women as if they were Kleenex.”

“But—”

“No buts,” Jordan said. “Whatever he’s said to you, whatever you think you feel for him, forget it.”

“You’re not being fair,” Kendra whined, reminding Jordan of just how immature her stepdaughter was.

Maybe it was her fault that Kendra still saw the world through rose-colored glasses, but she had so wanted to protect her from life’s harsh realities as long as possible. When Jordan had married Boyd, Kendra had been a shy, starved-for-motherly-affection little girl of ten, the same age Jordan had been when she’d lost her own mother. She had reached out to Kendra immediately, offering her the love and attention she had so desperately needed.

“I’m being sensible. I am protecting you because I love you. And in case you have any doubts, let me spell this out for you. This subject is closed. After breakfast, I want you to go upstairs and pack your bags. You’re going back to university today instead of this weekend.”

“Oh, Jordan, do I have to…” Kendra stopped mid-sentence, heaved a deep, overly dramatic sigh and said, “Okay, I’ll go.”

“You know I’m doing what I believe is best for you under the circumstances.”

“Yes, ma’am. I know.”

“Go on inside. I need to talk to Wes. Alone.”

As soon as Kendra left, Jordan turned to Wesley. He wouldn’t look at her. Instead, he stared at the floor. Even though he was now a young man of twenty, broad shouldered and six feet tall, she would always see him as he’d been when she first married Boyd, a hostile twelve-year-old who was determined to hate his new stepmother. It had taken her a year of hard work to win him over and make him realize that she didn’t expect to take his mother’s place, that she wanted her own place in his life and his heart.

“Look at me, Wes.”

He hazarded a quick glance up at her.

“You should have come to me when you saw J.C. kiss Kendra and let me handle the problem. All you achieved by physically attacking J.C. was to bruise and bloody both of you and create a hullabaloo within the family.”

“Yeah, well, it did more than that,” Wes told her. “It made me feel damn good to hit him.”

Barely managing not to smile, Jordan laid her hand on Wes’s shoulder. “I suppose it did. There have been a few times when I’ve wanted to knock some sense into J.C.”

“I don’t see how you can stand having that sleazeball around. He’s worthless and everybody knows it. Even Devon, who likes just about everybody, has no use for J.C.”

“J.C. is my stepbrother. He’s family.”

“Have you considered the possibility that he killed Dan?”

The question genuinely startled Jordan. “No, I haven’t because despite all of J.C.’s faults, he’s not capable of murder.”

“Yeah, he is,” Wes said. “Everyone is. He kept hitting up Dan for money and when Dan didn’t come through the last time, J.C. got really pissed. What if he thought by killing Dan, you’d inherit and—”

“J.C. did not kill Dan. We don’t even know for sure that Dan was murdered.”

Wes shrugged. “Just don’t trust him, okay? You’re too smart for that, but at the same time, you’ve got a really soft spot when it comes to taking care of friends and family.” Wes rose to his feet. “Please, be careful around him.”

“I appreciate your concern.”

“I’ll go pack, too.” Wes grinned. “I figure you’ll want me to leave when Kendra does.”

Jordan slipped her arm around her stepson’s waist. “It’s for your own good. You two have missed more than enough school this semester and I know y’all stayed on because you’re concerned about me. Don’t be. I’m going to be all right. Devon’s here, as is Roselynne and Darlene, not to mention Rene.”

“Gee, that makes me feel a lot better,” he said sarcastically. “Devon’s a basket case since Dan died, and Roselynne and Darlene both need keepers, so Rene’s the only person left you can actually count on. Her and that Carson guy. I know you don’t like him, but I have a feeling he’s okay.”

“Yes, I have the same feeling. If I can ever convince him that I’m not some black widow who’s killed two husbands and a fiancé—”

“You’re joking? He can’t possibly think you whacked Dan or that you killed Dad or—”

“It’s his job to find out the truth,” Jordan said. “And that’s what I want, what we all want.”

Wes hugged her and kissed her cheek. “If you need me, I’ll just be a phone call away. I wish…”

“What do you wish, honey?”

“I wish you had someone to take care of you the way you take care of all of us. More than anyone I know, you deserve to be happy.”

A knot of emotion tightened Jordan’s throat, making it impossible for her to respond. She and Wes exchanged a tender mother-son moment that needed no words.

Tammy yanked open the front door to the home she shared with their mother and marched into the living room. J.C. took a puff on his cigarette, then blew out a spiral of smoke. His little sister looked spitting mad.

“What’s up, buttercup?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“How could you? Are you out of your mind?”

“Me? Nope. You’re the sibling with a few loose screws, not me.” He twirled his index finger beside his temple to indicate she was crazy.

Tammy bristled at his attempt to be funny. “Kendra is Jordan’s stepdaughter so that makes her off limits to you.”

“No woman is off limits to me if I want her and believe me I want Kendra. I’d like to pop her cherry if one of those college boys hasn’t already done it. And if they have, then I could show her the difference between being diddled by a boy and fucked by a man.”

“You’re disgusting. You know that, don’t you? Mama should have put you in a sack and drowned you in the river when you were born.”

J.C. chuckled, then took another draw on his cigarette. “Sugar, you’re the one who should have been put down like a rabid dog. You’re nothing but a burden on Mama and on Jordan.” He placed his cigarette in the ashtray on the side table. “Poor, pitiful, little Tammy.”

She came at him with teeth bared and claws out, lunging on top of him like the wild creature she was. She managed to rake his cheek with her fingernails before he manacled both of her wrists and forced her to her knees.

“You’re hurting me,” Tammy cried.

He increased the pressure, making her scream for mercy.

“Johnny Cash Harris, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Roselynne yelled as she came through the door. “For pity’s sake, let her go.”

He loosened his tight hold, but didn’t release his sister. “She’s gone loco again. If I hadn’t grabbed her, she’d have done worse than scratch my face. She’s crazy and it’s time you put her away someplace where she can’t kill anybody else.”

Roselynne stomped toward them, hellfire and damnation in her eyes. J.C. jerked Tammy to her feet as he stood and then he shoved her toward their mother. Tammy went running into Roselynne’s open arms.

Soothing her child with comforting strokes, she murmured endearments. “Now, go to the bathroom and wash your face while I talk to J.C.”

“Yes, Mama,” Tammy said, meek as a lamb.

J.C. had never understood how their mother could so easily control Tammy with a few words and a tender touch. The only other person who came close to controlling his crazy little sister was Jordan. But Jordan had a way with people in general, not just Tammy.

As soon as Tammy disappeared into the bathroom, their mother turned on him. “Damn it, boy, what am I going to do with you? Manhandling your sister is not allowed. How many times do I have to tell you? And as for the other, about her killing somebody—I don’t want to hear you spouting off such nonsense ever again. You hear me?”

“It’s not nonsense and you know it. Don’t tell me that it hasn’t crossed your mind that Tammy might have killed Dan.”

“Shut your mouth! Nobody’s proved that Dan didn’t kill himself.”

“Ryan Price thinks Dan was murdered. And so does that Powell agent who’s snooping around.”

“Everybody’s got a right to their opinion. Just because Ryan can’t accept the fact that Dan committed suicide doesn’t mean he didn’t do it. And Rick Carson is being paid to be suspicious, to snoop around and find out what’s what.”

J.C. laughed. “I’d like to be a fly on the wall when he unearths the truth about Dan and Jordan’s marriage.”

“Whatever he finds out, he’ll keep to himself. It’s a rule of some kind that private eyes have.”

“Aren’t you the least bit curious about the baby?” J.C. asked. “It’s kind of difficult for a woman to get pregnant if her husband isn’t screwing her.”

“I don’t want to hear anymore talk like that either. The baby Jordan is carrying is Dan Price’s kid, Dan’s heir. You got that?”

J.C. winked at his mother. “Yeah, I got it. And if she gets more of Dan’s money for that kid, then it’ll mean more for all of us, right?”

“You’re a greedy, ungrateful—”

“I just tell it like I see it.” He narrowed his gaze and studied his mother for a couple of seconds. “You didn’t by any chance know, before Dan killed himself, that he had Alzheimer’s, did you, Ma?”

J.C. was creating problems they didn’t need. She’d probably have to deal with him sooner rather than later. The very thought of disposing of him was abhorrent to her since he was part of the family. She had put up with his bad behavior, excused his misdeeds, and refrained from killing him because he had not posed a real threat to them. Not until now. He had become a liability. Even before she’d killed Dan, she had known it was only a matter of time before J.C. would have to be eliminated. His actions were hurting them more and more all the time. She couldn’t allow him to continue upsetting them, not with a baby on the way. Nothing and no one was more important than their child.

She would simply have to wait for the right moment and then strike. And it had to look like an accident. If only she could have found a way to have made Dan’s death look accidental instead of like suicide, as she had some of the other deaths.

Killing J.C. immediately was out of the question. First of all, she never eliminated someone without reason and that required her to consider all sides of a situation. Once she had made her decision, as she had with J.C., she formulated a plan. That took time, days, even weeks. She couldn’t do anything to bring suspicion on herself, especially this soon after Dan’s death. And she certainly couldn’t take any undue chances with a private detective living here at Price Manor.

But when the time was right, she would remove J.C. from their lives, just as she had removed all the others who had betrayed them, either intentionally or simply by an act of fate.

Jordan waved goodbye to Kendra and Wes as they drove away. As much as she would have loved having them here until Sunday, sending them off today had been the right decision. She couldn’t risk what might happen if they stayed and Kendra disobeyed her and encouraged J.C.’s attention. Her stepbrother couldn’t be trusted around any woman who appealed to him, and young, inexperienced girls like Kendra appealed to him greatly. She remembered all too well how he’d come on to her more than once when she’d been in her teens. For years, she was able to fend him off without any real harm done, but eventually, she’d had to go to Roselynne. She never knew what her stepmother had said or done, but whatever it had been, Jordan had never had to fight off J.C. again.

“We’ll miss them, won’t we?” Darlene came up beside Jordan so quietly that Jordan jumped.

“Oh, dear, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m so sorry.”

She smiled at Darlene. “It’s okay. I guess I’m a little edgy this afternoon.” She draped her arm through Darlene’s and smiled. “Yes, we will miss them, but sending them back to school will save us from having any more problems for the time being.”

“You should send J.C. packing,” Darlene said. “That man…” She sighed. “I hate to speak ill of anyone, but J.C. is nothing but trouble.”

“I know, but we’ll give Roselynne a chance to deal with him first and if that doesn’t work, I’ll ask him to leave. He’s stayed longer than he usually does when he visits. I really didn’t expect him to stay this long.”

“He’s waiting for the will to be read, hoping when you come into your inheritance, you’ll be generous with him and Roselynne and Tammy.”

“I suppose you’re right about his reasons for staying. Maybe I should tell him that although I’ll take care of Roselynne and Tammy, I’ve washed my hands of him. He won’t have any more luck getting money from me than he did getting it from Dan.”

“I…uh…really shouldn’t say this, but…well, have you ever considered the possibility that J.C. killed Dan?”

“Let’s walk.” Jordan tugged gently on Darlene’s arm.

Darlene nodded agreement and the two women strolled down the long drive that led from the house to the county road half a mile away.

“Are you upset with me for—?” Darlene asked.

“No, of course not,” Jordan replied. “It had never entered my mind that J.C. might have killed Dan. But you’re the second person today who has suggested that J.C. could be a murderer.”

“Was Wesley the other person?”

“Yes.”

“Wesley is a very bright boy. I know that Roselynne and her children are family, but if it turns out that Dan was murdered, I think Mr. Carson and the sheriff should look to those three first. I’ve seen Tammy throw some hysterical hissy fits over the years. There’s no telling what she might do. And Roselynne…well, if there’s any money involved…”

“Mr. Carson suspects that I might have killed Dan,” Jordan said.

Darlene gasped. “That’s the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard.”

“No, it isn’t. Not really. When you look at the facts, that my fiancé, my first husband and now my second husband have all met untimely deaths—”

“Robby Joe’s death was an accident, a tragic accident that almost destroyed us. How could anyone think that you killed him when you loved him with all your heart?”

Jordan stopped, took both of Darlene’s hands into hers and smiled warmly at Robby Joe’s mother, a woman who was as dear to her as anyone on earth.

“Robby Joe was the love of my life.” Jordan kept her smile in place even though she wanted to cry. She had to stay strong, for Darlene’s sake as well as her own.

“If the baby is a boy, I wish you could name him Robby Joe, but I know that’s out of the question.” Darlene laid her open palm over Jordan’s flat belly.

“I haven’t thought about names. Besides, this may be a little girl.” She laid her hand over Darlene’s on her stomach.

“If it is, you should name her after your mother.”

“My mother and Dan’s mother—Elizabeth Helene.”

“And Daniel, Jr., if it’s a boy?”

A cold chill rippled through Jordan. No, she couldn’t name her son Daniel, Jr. “There’s plenty of time to decide on a name. I’m sure that in seven months, we’ll come up with something perfect for our baby.”

Darlene sighed as she removed her hand from Jordan’s stomach. “You are so generous to share your child with us, with me and Devon and the others. Your son or daughter will be the closest thing to a grandchild that I’ll ever have.”

“He will be a very lucky child to have so many people to love and care for him—or her. My family and friends and Dan’s family and friends.”

Jordan glanced toward the sky and noted the swirling dark clouds. “I believe it’s going to rain. Maybe we’d better head back to the house.”

Darlene gazed skyward. “You’re right. It looks like a springtime storm is brewing.”

They walked hurriedly up the drive, barely making it onto the veranda before the first raindrops hit the ground. By the time they were inside, the bottom fell out and distant flashes of lightning zigzagged through the sky.