Hearts On Fire (7 page)

Chapter 13

         
Conflicted, JD
placed
his face in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. What, if
anything, should he tell Matt about his sister’s attempted suicide? The lawyer,
who believed in the law, knew he needed to tell Matt everything he knew. The
big brother in him needed to protect his sister. She’d been having an affair.
She’d been blackmailed. And now her blackmailer lay somewhere in this same
hospital fighting for her own life. It was not a coincidence and he could not
let himself believe it was. But how involved was Julie in what had happened to
Katy? And would the police jump right to the conclusion that Julie had harmed
her? Probably, given the circumstances. Her attempt at suicide was as good as a
confession, or would be, to some.

     “JD, your mother says you
were the last one who talked to Julie this morning.”

     He looked back to Matt,
who was seated next to him on a loveseat in the hallway waiting room. So far
his sister was stable. His mother and Josh were with her now. “Yeah, I talked
to her this morning. She’d been looking for me.”

     “Did she seem… upset?”

     “She seemed off,” JD told
him, sealing his fate then and there. For now he would keep what Julie had told
him to himself.

     “Did you ask her what was
up?”

     “Of course I did. But you
know how she is. She just told me it was because of Ken’s death.”

     “And you believed her?”

     JD stood suddenly and
glared at his friend through narrowed eyes. “Of course I fucking believed her.
Ken died ten days ago. She’s not over it yet, Matt.”

     Matt didn’t even flinch. “I’m
just trying to get a feel for why she might have done this.”

     “This is not a police
matter, Matthew. This is a private matter.”

     Matt looked up to Arlene,
who had come out of Julie’s room. “I just have to file a report Mrs.
MacGreggor. It’s standard procedure. And it’s personal for me too. I feel like
Julie is family. She used to chase after JD and I all the time.”

     Arlene scowled,
remembering a daughter who wanted nothing to do with being a lady. She’d wanted
to be one of the boys. It had taken an iron will to break her of that. But
break her she had. “Be that as it may, I don’t want what has happened splashed
all over the morning news. A scandal is the last thing this family needs.” She
looked pointedly to JD.

    
A scandal is what
you’re going to get before this is over,
JD thought. “I think you’re
getting ahead of yourself, mother. Julie’s health and welfare come first. We’ll
worry about publicity later.”

     Her scowl deepened as she
turned on her oldest son. “I suppose you blame this on me.”

     Her accusation was out of
the blue but it didn’t surprise him. Of course she would try to make this about
herself. “I don’t blame anyone. My only concern is Julie.”

     “I agree,” Matt told
them. “Something must have happened to drive her to try and kill herself.”

     JD’s jaw tightened.

     “We thank you for your
concern, Matthew, but we’d like to handle this ourselves for the time being.”

     Arlene was dismissing
him. Matt was used to it. He’d grown up as JD’s best friend but Arlene had
always treated him as an outsider. With a tip of his hat he gave her a smile
before turning his attention to JD. “You call me if you think of anything. Or
if you need anything.”

     Watching Matt walk away,
JD took in a long, deep breath, trying to calm his frayed nerves. “He’s only
trying to help, mother. Along with doing the job he was elected to do.”

     “He’s trying to pry into
our business,” she countered firmly. “Which you must agree with to some level,
since you didn’t tell him the entire truth. You didn’t tell him about your
sister’s reaction to the news story.”

     He needed to come clean
with her on that score. “We need to talk about that.” He looked up and down the
hall. They were alone.

     An elegant, plucked brow
rose.

     “Julie confided something
to me this morning. You’re not going to like it.”

     “I didn’t think I would.
Go on. Out with it. What has she done? Please just don’t tell me she was
involved in some sort of scheme with that Waring woman. I don’t think my heart
could take it.”

     “In a manner of speaking
you could say she was. Katy was blackmailing her.”

     “Blackmailing her?”
Arlene’s eyes narrowed. “How on earth could that woman be blackmailing Julie?”

     Again he looked around
before saying, “Julie was having an affair, mother.”

     “An affair,” she
whispered tapping a manicured fingernail to her upper lip.

     “You don’t look too
surprised by the news.”

     “I’m not. I’m just
surprised she wasn’t more discrete. With whom was she having this affair?”

     “That much I don’t know.
She wouldn’t tell me. She wants to protect him.”

     “
Protect
him
,”
Arlene spat.

     “She claims to love him.”

     “I’m sure she does. Her
marriage to Kenneth was what she had to do, not what she wanted to do. The girl
has always let her heart have its way.” Reaching out, she touched his cheek.
“JD, please, tell me you’ll look into this mess before confiding in Matthew. If,
and only if, it looks like you need to tell him, then do so.”

     “Mother, we should
probably tell him now. I just didn’t want to drop that bomb on you until we were
in private.”

     “JD.
Jameson
.
Please, hold onto this information just a little bit longer. Just until your
sister is stronger. Until we can prepare her for what will come.”

     He didn’t like it. But he
understood it just the same.

     “We must protect Julie. We
must think of her first. Everyone will know. They will judge her. Shame her. It
might break her the rest of the way, son.”

     She was working on his
protective instinct, he knew this. Yet he couldn’t help being led along. Julie
was his first priority and the thought of her being humiliated broke his heart.

     “This is going to be a
scandal.”

     “Is that all you can—”

     A movement at the corner
near them grabbed his attention. And when he looked up and met Lizzie’s shocked
gaze the words caught in his throat. So did his heart.

     She’d been coming around
the corner, headed for the cafeteria with her head down when she’d heard the
familiar voice. She’d meant to stop and turn around but had been too late.

     “Lizzie?” Her hair was
shorter. That was the first thing he noticed since she didn’t have a stocking
cap and coat on. And her face was thinner. More refined. God, was it possible
she was even more beautiful now than she’d been at twenty?

     Arlene turned too, and
when her gaze landed on Lizzie it hardened.

     She didn’t miss the look
or the meaning behind it. Swallowing hard, she backed a step.
You’re a grown
up now,
she reminded herself.
You’re not a scared girl with a baby on
the way.
But Arlene still intimidated her. And with good reason. Aside from
her sister and Brian, Arlene MacGreggor was the only other living soul who knew
who Sean’s biological father was.

     He could see she was
going to run. He could read it clearly in her large blue eyes. He had every
intention of stopping her but his mother reached out and sank her fingernails
into his elbow as Lizzie turned on a heel and headed back the way she’d come.

     “Let her go,” Arlene told
him.

     Fury, old and knew
overcame him. Jerking his arm free of her grip, JD started after Lizzie,
telling his mother, “Like hell I will.” Not this time. “Lizzie,” he called
after her, loudly enough to earn him the wrath of several nurses. He didn’t
care. “Lizzie. Damnit! Stop!”

     He was going to get them
both in trouble. And he would chase her down anyway. She knew he would.
Stopping, she tried to gain control of her galloping pulse. But seeing him
standing there in the hallway with his mother… it had been devastating. All the
things she thought she felt for him had been tossed into the air at that
second. She meant to hate him. Always hate him for what he’d done to her. And
yet… Turning, she met his gaze. Those sharp blue eyes penetrated, as always.
“JD. I didn’t… I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

     Of course she hadn’t. He
figured she’d been keeping her distance intentionally. And he’d allowed it. But
couldn’t now, not with her right here. “Julie is here.”

     “Julie? I just saw her
yesterday at your brother’s house. Was she in an accident?” She watched his jaw
work, saw the muscles flex. And like it or not, she noticed him. All of him. The
wide shoulders. The muscled arms. The trim waist. The rear end she’d always
loved so much. Long, long legs.

     His jaw relaxed somewhat.
God, was it possible to want her even more now than he had thirteen years ago?
Was it? “It wasn’t an accident. She… she tried to kill herself tonight.”

     Lizzie gasped. “My God.
Why?”

     “Lizzie, I was going to
come talk to you tomorrow morning.”

     She tilted her head and
felt a fresh pang of fear. “Why? We have nothing to say to each other. To tell
you the truth I was hoping to make it in and out of town without seeing you.”

     The words were like an
arrow to his heart. “Lizzie, your sister was blackmailing my sister.”

     She felt as though all
the breath had been knocked out of her. “
What
?”

     He frowned. “Don’t act
surprised.”

     “But I am. I mean, I knew
she was up to something. But not that. I never would have thought that.” Not in
a million years. She wished for a place to sit. Her knees felt weak. “Are you
sure?”

     “Positive. Julie
confessed to me this morning.”

     “But what could Katy
possibly have been holding over Julie’s head?”

     Now he winced and looked
around. This wasn’t the best place to be having this particular conversation
but he knew it had to be here and now. Because it was plain to see Lizzie
didn’t want to be within ten feet of him. “Apparently Julie was having an
affair and somehow your sister found out about it.”

     “An affair?” Her eyes
narrowed on him as old memories came back to haunt. “This is really starting to
sound all too familiar.”

     He knew what she was
thinking. “Don’t go there. Not now.”

     She’d let him off the
hook. For now because of the pain he felt for his sister. “Have you told Matt
any of this?”

     “No.”

     “Why on earth not?” she
asked.

     “Because I wanted to talk
to you first. To see what you know about it.”

     “I knew nothing of it.”
She shook her head at him. “You’re wasting your time. Go to the police with
what you know.”

     He took a step toward
her. Felt old wants stir. It was all he could do not to take hold of her and
drag her to him. See if she still smelled the same. Tasted the same. “Not yet.”

     “Why the hell not?”

     “Because I promised my
mother I’d check into it first.”

     The light dawned. “Of
course. She wouldn’t want a scandal to mar her precious family name.”

     “There is that,” he admitted
grimly. “There’s also the fact that someone tried to kill your sister. And I
think that someone is the man my sister was having an affair with.”

     “All the more reason to
go to the police!” He was standing much too close now. She wanted to back away
but would run into the wall if she did. “Matt’s a good man, he’ll do his best
to retain your family’s integrity, I’m sure.”

     “He is a good man. But
I’m not going to tell anyone else about this just yet. I’m not sure my sister
would be able to stand up to the attention right now. She was so distraught she
tried to kill herself. One more shove and she might succeed.”

     “An attempted murderer is
running around out there, senator.”

     He tilted his head and
smiled a little. So she knew where his law degree had landed him. “I know. Help
me figure out who he is.”

     “You’re insane.” And
still too damn close. She could feel the heat of him and it was enough to drive
her senses over the edge. She had no business wanting a man like him. And yet
she wanted him. It was as though the years meant nothing. As though what he’d
done to her meant nothing.
God, have you no damn shame?

     “I need to make sure
Julie is going to be okay.” And he knew another way to get to Lizzie. Though he
hated himself for using it, he said, “Besides, maybe Katy can come out of this
without going to prison.”

     “Prison?” she asked,
astonished.

     “You don’t think a judge
will just let her walk away from this, do you? With her record she’ll go to
prison, Lizzie. Maybe, maybe, we can work this out privately.”

     She huffed out a breath.
Then another. He was still a manipulative bastard. But he had a point. “What,
exactly, is it you’re proposing?”

     “We find out who Julie
was having the affair with. We find him and we find out who tried to kill your
sister.”

     “Why don’t you just ask her
who he is when she wakes up?”

     “I will. But I don’t
think she’s going to tell me. She wouldn’t before.” Because he couldn’t help
it, he reached out to her, taking strands of her hair between his fingers. “You
cut your hair.”

     His knuckle brushed the
underside of her jaw and she thought she would die of it. Unable to speak, she
nodded.

     “I like it.” And he liked
the look in her eyes. Liked the effect he knew his touch was having on her.
“Dr. Waring.” He whispered the words to her. “I’ve missed you.”