Unnatural Relations (Lust and Lies Series, Book 1) (21 page)

Decker's eyes narrowed as he watched Matt enter the house. "You're being very foolish. The Hamiltons only want what's best for the boy." He saw Matt give his mother a thumbs-up sign in the front window and picked up the pace of his speech.

"My investigator was able to uncover the fact that you gave birth to your son six weeks prematurely, following Latham's assault. That brings the time of conception in line with your meeting Howard."

"Of course, there is also the possibility of proving Matthew's inheritance through DNA testing, but the Hamiltons would prefer not to exhume their son's body after all these years. Instead, they are prepared to pay you one million dollars, with all taxes paid, if you will—"

"You're all insane!" Barbara shouted. "They cannot buy my child! What would make you think it was only a matter of raising the amount?"

"Might I remind you that you accepted payment ten years ago in the form of certain valuable gifts, which you promptly sold for cash?"

"I had no choice! I was abandoned, pregnant, too sick to work. Anyway, that wasn't the same. They were just things and I had a baby to support."

"Nevertheless," he countered, maintaining his air of superiority, "you are still struggling to support that child. You've moved around like a nomad since he was born. You don't even own the house you live in. While the Hamiltons could provide him with every luxury available and a guaranteed future as a captain of industry. Think of the child."

Barbara straightened her shoulders and glared at the attorney. "That child is the only person I've been able to think of for a third of my life and I am absolutely positive that turning him over to you and your clients would be the most despicable crime I could commit."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. It will only make it that much harder on you when the transfer of custody occurs. You will end up with nothing. No child. No fortune. I would have thought that your earlier experience would have taught you that when the Hamiltons wish for something to happen, it does. You weren't able to fight them then and you won't be able to now."

He heard a car pull into the driveway behind him and was startled to see a police unit. Apparently, he had thought she was bluffing.

"You're going to regret this," he declared in a threatening tone that contradicted how quickly he started walking toward his car.

Dani stepped out of her car and held a black baton out in front of Decker. "Stop right there, sir," she said firmly. Keeping her gaze fixed on him, she addressed Barbara.

"Is this the man you had problems with in the past?"

"No. But this one has shown up here uninvited twice and he just threatened me."

"That's a blatant lie," Decker said. "I am an attorney, attempting to deliver an offer to settle a dispute between Miss, er,
Mrs.
Johnson and my clients. I merely warned her that she would regret her refusal to mediate the matter."

The officer looked at Barbara for her response.

"That's his interpretation. I took it as a threat. However, I won't file any charges if he promises to stay away from me and my son."

The officer lowered her baton but her attitude continued to hold him where he was. "All right, sir, you're free to go, as soon as you show me your identification."

"For what reason?" he asked warily.

Her mouth parted in a semblance of a smile, but no friendliness showed in her eyes. "I just want to make sure I spell your name correctly on my report."

Barbara could see him wanting to refuse, but he merely huffed his annoyance and showed the officer his driver's license. He wasted no time getting away as soon as she dismissed him.

"Do you have time to stop in for a few minutes?" Barbara asked Dani.

"Very few. We're backlogged tonight, for some reason. I was on my way to another call when I heard this one."

"Hi, Sergeant Pelusi," Matt said as they went inside.

"Hey, Matt. Dispatch said you did an excellent job with that call for assistance."

"No big deal," he said with an embarrassed smile. "I've done it before."

Barbara could see by Dani's expression that she thought that was a shame, but she said nothing.

"I was watching you from the window," Matt said to Dani. "I saw how you stopped that guy with your nightstick. Could I look at it?"

"Matt..." Barb warned.

"It's okay," Dani said, smiling, and drew the baton out of its holder. "In trained hands, it can be a lethal weapon, but it's no more dangerous than a stick to an amateur."

Matt took the baton by its handle, felt the weight of it, then imitated the action he'd seen Dani perform to stop Decker. "Sensei said he'd be teaching us to defend ourselves with sticks in a few months, but I don't think those are like this one. Have you ever had to use it on a bad guy?" His eyes were wide with fascination.

"Matthew..." Barbara warned again, and Dani shook her head in a manner that told her not to worry.

"Let's just say I could if I had to. In fact, I received a certificate for outstanding achievement with it in the police academy."

"Wow! Could you show me some moves?"

Dani ruffled his hair and retrieved her baton. "How about another time? I really need to visit with your mom before I go."

Matt looked a little disappointed, but took the hint to leave the grownups alone for the moment.

"Coffee?" Barb offered.

"Great." Dani took off her jacket and followed Barbara into the kitchen. "I don't have to know anything to file a report on this call, but I am curious."

It took Barbara less than a heartbeat to decide to confide in her new friend. As she fixed two cups of coffee, she gave Dani the missing pieces of her personal history.

"Geez! When it rains on you, it really pours, doesn't it?" Dani added more sugar to her coffee and slowly stirred while she digested Barbara's new information. "I'm not an attorney, of course, but from my experience dealing with them, I'd bet that he didn't really believe they had much of a chance in court. That's got to be why he's offering so much money and risking threats."

"I hope you're right. Plus, he admitted that they'd rather not exhume Howard's body. I don't know that much about DNA testing but I guess that might be necessary to prove it without a doubt. Anyway, I'd bet that's not their real concern. From what I remember about them, I can't imagine the Hamiltons wanting the publicity that kind of a court case would attract. I know I don't, for myself or Matt. But if they force me, I'll fight this time."

"I know you said you don't want to press charges, but if anything happens that changes your mind, just call."

"Thank you. I will."

"I assume you haven't heard any more from your stalker."

"Nothing," Barbara said with a frown. "It's got me really baffled."

"Unfortunately, the lab wasn't able to pick up any clear fingerprints off the roses to confirm it was from him, so I contacted every florist in the area. No one had a special order for eighteen Oceania roses, with or without thorns. I don't mean to question your story, but is there any chance it was a coincidence?"

Barbara rubbed her forehead. It was impossible to dismiss her certainty that if he was anywhere around, Russ would have contacted her. It was completely out of character for him to send the roses and not show up in person immediately afterward. "I suppose there's a slim chance, and believe me, I
wish
it were a coincidence, but I can't assume that. I keep getting the strangest feeling that I'm being watched and followed, even though I never see anyone suspicious."

Dani's radio had been emitting scratchy noise since she arrived, but suddenly she heard something that made her shoot up from her chair. "Gotta go. I'll come back when I can."

As she grabbed her jacket, Barbara said, "Wait, one second, please. Would you mind telling me whatever happened to your sister's stalker?"

Dani paused for a heartbeat then finished donning her jacket. "He was beaten to death. Found naked in an alley behind a gay bar... with every bone in his body broken." On her way out the door she added, "He deserved worse."

Barbara thought the same thing.

Remembering Kyle's promise to call, she stayed up later than usual, but the phone never rang. It occurred to her that he may have given up on her in spite of his insistence that he wouldn't. She thought that should have given her a sense of relief, but that was no longer the case. She hadn't realized how much she had looked forward to hearing his voice until he didn't call.

She recalled her answer to Dani's question about marriage the first time she and the policewoman talked. Perhaps she hadn't fallen in love all these years for another reason—the right man, one strong enough to deal with the complications in her life, hadn't come along. Now it looked as though he may have appeared, and she had pushed him away by being too afraid to take a chance.

If she were a teenager, this would be the time when she'd call her best friend and talk about it until she felt better. But she hadn't allowed herself to get that close to anyone in years. Dani was the first person she'd encountered who might have filled the position, but she was too busy for girl-talk. She knew she could call Tammy but Tammy was too young to understand her reasons for putting Kyle off. The only thing she might say is "I told you so," and that was certainly not what Barbara needed at the moment.

She and Matt were walking out the door the next morning when the telephone finally rang. She hurried back to answer it just in case it was Kyle. "Hello?"

"You sound out of breath," Kyle observed.

"I was on my way out the door."

"Then I won't keep you. I just wanted to apologize for not calling last night. It was so late when I got back to my room, I was afraid I'd wake you and Matt up if I called then. But I didn't want this to wait until I got a break later today. I'm sorry I pushed you yesterday. I told you I would wait, then—"

"It's okay. I'm sorry I've been so... I don't know, uncertain, I guess. But I'm not anymore. I want to see you Friday night." She paused a moment, then decided to let him know just how certain she was. "Matt will be spending the night at his friend's house." Though he didn't say anything, she got the impression he was smiling.

"Maw!" Matt complained. "We're going to be late."

"I have to go," she told Kyle.

"I know." There was laughter in his voice. "I'll call later if I can, but today and tomorrow are packed with appointments and after what you just said, I'm going to want to get through them as fast as possible. Just please don't change your mind. I don't think my heart could stand it, to say nothing for other parts of my body."

She was still smiling when she arrived in the cafeteria for her coffee and doughnut, and her friends immediately commented on it. She didn't feel comfortable announcing her secret to an audience, but at lunch she gave in to Tammy's nudging. The girl had been teasing her ever since she heard about Kyle, yet when she learned of Barbara's decision to give the relationship a chance to develop, she seemed disturbed.

"What's wrong?" Barbara asked. "I thought you'd be happy about that."

Tammy smoothed the frown lines out of her forehead. "Of course I'm happy. It's just that when I said you should get out more, I meant with different men, not just the first one who came along. I mean, Kyle's nice enough, but I don't think Matt likes him very much and you really should consider his feelings before you start getting serious about a man."

"Whoa!" Barbara protested. "Who said anything about getting serious? It's just... well, it's just a strong chemical attraction. I may be ready to do something about that, but I'm certainly not ready for a permanent commitment."

Tammy raised a brow at her. "Maybe you don't think
you
are, but Kyle certainly sounds like he's looking for a wife. You know I'd be the last one to stop you from having some fun, but I'd hate to see you rushing into another bad situation."

"Don't worry," Barbara replied with a shake of her head. "No man will ever rush me into anything again."

That brought a satisfied smile to Tammy's face. "Good. So, what time do you need me to sit with Matt?"

"Thanks, but he's going to his friend Kenny's house after school."

Disappointment erased Tammy's smile again. "Oh. Well, give me a call if that falls through or if there's any other time I can help with him. You know how much I enjoy his company."

Barbara smiled her appreciation, but her mind was replaying the statement she'd made about not being rushed into anything. Despite her confident words, she began to worry that she had already given in to a bit of rushing. The question was, was it coming from Kyle or was her own libido doing it? Either way, she wondered if she really was strong enough to slow it down before she got in over her head.

Chapter 10