Thicker Than Water (23 page)

“Now, who is it you think I am?”

“You're Mordecai Young. A madman the world thinks is long dead.”

He lowered his head with a sigh. “What gave me away?”

“Your voice,” she told him. “When you were…channeling. The things you said. The accent. It was just as if I was back there again, listening to you.” She tipped her head to the side. “The way you just called me Jewel, instead of Julie.”

He pursed his lips. “Freudian slip, do you think? Maybe deep down I was hoping you'd figure it out.”

He wasn't denying it. It seemed so impossible, especially since he looked nothing like Mordecai. Except for the depth of his eyes and that smile. “How is it you look so different than before?”

“I was burned very badly in the fire, you know.” He didn't even try to conceal his Southern drawl, not anymore. “I've undergone numerous rounds of reconstructive surgery. The
hair on my head will never grow back. Most folks think it's a style choice—or a spiritual one. Humility or something like that.” He smiled gently. “I worked on my accent. But it still comes through when I'm in a deep state of trance.”

He got to his feet, and she took an instinctive step backward. He only stood there, looking at her. “You don't have to be afraid of me, Jewel. I have never hurt you.”

“What about Sirona? Did you hurt her? Or Tessa?”

He lifted his brows. “They survived the raid, as well?”

He was either genuinely surprised or he was a very good actor. “Up until recently, they did. They both died within the past two weeks.”

“And you naturally assume I'm responsible. Jewel—” He took a step toward her and she jerked back. “For God's sake, Jewel, will you relax? I'm not going to harm you.” He waved toward a sitting area, which held a miniature sofa, a chair and a table laden with dried fruits, muffins, carafes of juice and fresh flowers. Daisies and black-eyed Susans. “Sit, relax. We're completely surrounded by security people and staff. You're safe here.”

“I didn't come alone,” she said. “My partner knows where I am.”

“Even more reason to believe you're safe.” He licked his lips as if he might be nervous. “I've changed, Jewel—”

“Stop calling me that. It's Julie.”

He nodded. “Yes. Julie Jones, I understand. You've changed. You're completely different from the girl I knew. From Jewel Jordan. That's why you, of all people, should understand.
I'm
not the same person I was then, either. I've moved on with my life, Jewel—Julie. I'm trying to do some good with it. Please, sit down.”

Swallowing her fear, Julie moved across the room and perched on the edge of the chair.

“Help yourself to—”

“Look, this isn't a social call. I just needed to confirm you were who I thought you were.”

“And now that you have?”

She would be stupid to tell him she was going straight to the police. He would never let her out of there alive. “Now, I'm telling you to leave me and my family alone. I want you to get out of town. And don't ever,
ever,
come back.”

He seemed to ponder that for a moment. “And if I refuse?”

She held his steady gaze but said nothing.

“You'll go to the police, reveal my true identity. That's what you're thinking, isn't it, Jewel? But you won't do that. You can't do that, not without also telling them how you know.”

“I was one of your victims. I survived. There's no crime in that.”

“Perhaps not. All right, then, I suppose I'm forced to resort to blackmail. Kind of like our dear departed mutual friend, Harry.” Ignoring her gasp, he went on. “If you turn me in, Julie Jones, I'll turn something in, as well.”

“What are you talking about?”

He sank onto the sofa, helping himself to a dried apple slice, nibbling it slowly, licking his lips. “The knife that was used to cut Harry Blackwood's throat. It's got your fingerprints on it, Julie. Oh, it didn't have, originally, but it was easy enough to lift some from the door of your car and plant them on the hilt. Scotch tape, wonderful invention.” He took another bite. “The police already suspect you had something to do with it. The murder weapon would clinch it.”

She sat there, stone still. “You killed Harry.”

“Does it matter? Don't tell me you weren't glad to see him dead.” He shook his head slowly. “My plan was to plant the murder weapon at your home, let the police find it, arrest you and get you out of my way. You see, Jewel, you are standing between me and something I want.” He shrugged. “But that plan didn't work, and I knew that was a sign from the Almighty that I must proceed differently. Now that you know my little secret, I might as well give you the chance to give me what I want, rather than forcing me to take it from you.”

“I gave all my money to Harry. Everything I took from you, from the compound, is gone. I used it to get an education, a new identity, a home….”

“That's all right, Jewel. I have all the money I need.”

“What do you want, then?”

He smiled very slowly. “Oh, come on, don't tell me you haven't figured it out already. I want the girl,” he told her. “I want my daughter.”

Julie shot to her feet. My God, he knew about Dawn! “I don't know what you're talking about. She's not—”

“She is. She's my child. Mine and Lizzie's.”

“No!” She edged toward the door.

“It's all right, Jewel. I understand you'll need some time. Time to explain to her how you've lied to her all these years. How you stole her from her true father, left both her parents to die in that hell. How you've deceived her, her entire life. And that you need to make it right now.”

“You're as insane as you ever were if you think you'll ever lay a hand on my child!”

“I'll give you twenty-four hours. You bring her to me,
Jewel, or I will take her from you. And I will see to it you can never try to take her back.”

“You stay away from my daughter! I swear to God, Mordecai, if you try to touch her, I'll kill you. I'll
kill
you!”

* * *

Jones was a basket case when she came back outside and climbed into the waiting car. She was as white as if she'd just had a conversation with a dead man, so angry that tiny lines he'd never seen before bracketed her lips. She got in, slammed the door, stared straight ahead.

“You all right?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

She nodded. “Let's just go.”

He picked up a worried frown from Dawn, returned a “damned if I know” glance and drove the car. “You want to tell me what has you so upset, Jones?”

She shot him a look.

“Come on, Mom, it's not like I didn't notice. And you can trust Kayla. Her dad's a cop, for God's sake. What happened in there?”

Jones turned in her seat to look at her daughter. She had to make a real effort to ease the tension from her face. “Nothing's wrong, hon. I'm just a little stressed out. It's been a rough week.” She faced front again, and Sean saw that her eyes were growing moist.

Dammit.

She refused to talk. Sean felt something—something had changed. Desperation seemed to be wafting from her pores. It stirred an answering desperation in him. Why the hell wouldn't she talk to him?

“Ms. Jones, can Dawnie spend the night at my place?” Kayla asked.

“Yeah, can I, Mom? I know I'm supposed to be grounded and all that, but I promise I'll be good.”

She glanced into the back seat at the two girls, sitting so close to each other. Sean saw the stern look that was certain to turn into a “no” slowly change. “Actually, that might not be a bad idea. Kayla, your dad being a policeman and all, I'll bet you have really good security on your house, hmm?”

“You've seen the fence, Ms. Jones.”

“Yes, but I've never been inside.”

Kayla nodded. “It's like Fort Knox. And you've met Isis and Osiris, right?”

Julie nodded. “I'd forgotten about them.”

“Isis and Osiris?” Sean asked, needing clarification.

Kayla grinned. “They're our Rottweilers.”

“Ahhh. Remind me not to wander into your yard in the dark, kid.”

Jones said, “I need you back early, Dawnie. We need to talk—before school.”

“My dad can drop her on his way into work, if you want,” Kayla said. “He leaves at six, and he goes right by your place.”

Julie seemed to think that through. Then, finally, she nodded. “You're to stay right at Kayla's,” she warned her daughter. “Don't go anywhere else. Just hang inside the house and come home in the morning with her dad. Okay?”

“Sure, Mom.” Dawn squeezed Kayla's hand. Sean felt sorry for the kid. She looked a little scared by her mother's sudden step up on the paranoia ladder.

By the time he'd dropped the girls at Kayla's, watched them all the way inside, and then driven to Julie's place and pulled into her driveway, Sean was determined to get the truth out of her. He was already rehearsing the discussion they would
have in his mind. He got out to walk her inside, checking the darkness around the house and seeing no sign of any intruders. When Jones unlocked the front door, he went inside with her, though the looks she was sending him told him she would rather he didn't.

Still, she didn't throw him out, which he took as a positive sign. She turned on the lights, double-checked the security panel near the door to be sure no doors or windows had been opened since she'd left, then licked her lips, rubbed her arms.

“The house just seems so empty without her.”

“I know. But I think she's safe at Kayla's.”

Julie nodded. “Yeah. For tonight, at least.”

He pressed his lips together. “I think she, um—I think she knew I'd like some time alone with her mother.”

“You can't put much past her.” Julie sighed and walked to the sofa, sinking into it as if exhausted.

“So what happened?”

She bit her lower lips. “I can't—”

“Come on, Jones, don't tell me that.” He went to the sofa, sat down beside her and studied her face for a moment. Then he lowered his head, shook it slowly. “No, never mind. Don't tell me anything. Just come here.”

“Wha—?”

“Shhh. Come here.” He slid his arms around her and pulled her taut, trembling body closer. “Let it go, Julie. You're terrified, and so rigid you feel like you're going to break.”

She let him hold her but remained as stiff as a board.

“I'm here for you, Jones,” he said. “I don't know when it happened, or how, but you've managed to get to be my favorite pain in the ass.”

“Yeah?” She relaxed a little. He felt it.

“Yeah. If you can just bring yourself to believe that I'm on your side in this…trust me a little bit…”

“I do trust you.”

“Do you?”

She nodded. “I know you want to help, to clear your conscience about the way things happened at that compound sixteen years ago. But—”

“Yeah. I do. But it's more than that now, Jones.”

She met his eyes, searched them. “Your motives don't really matter. You can't fix this for me, Sean. No one can.”

“I'm not even sure what it is that needs fixing.”

She lifted her head, met his eyes. “I'll tell you this much. You're going to have a hell of a scoop tomorrow.”

“Am I?”

She nodded.

“You gonna tell me what it is?”

“Not tonight.”

He saw the tears pooling in her eyes, and he felt the urge to kiss her.

And this time, dammit, he wasn't going to second-guess himself. He lowered his head, pressed his lips very lightly to hers. She didn't pull away. It was the merest taste, a touch like a breath. He didn't close his eyes, the better to watch every nuance of her reaction. Hers fell closed; her mouth relaxed, and her lips parted slightly. Her breath escaped in a stuttering sigh.

He lifted his head, staring down at her.

Her arms twisted around his neck, and she pulled until he kissed her again. And this time he was a little bolder, partly just to test the limits of this new development, and partly because—well, hell, because he wanted to.

She pulled away suddenly, stared up at him with her eyes full of questions. “I didn't—”

“Neither did I.”

“What was—”

“I don't know, Jones.” He reached out to touch her hair, but she backed away, so he lowered his hand. “Should I apologize?”

She licked her lips, didn't quite meet his eyes. “No.”

“That's good, ‘cause I'm not sorry. Surprised. Confused as hell, but…not sorry.”