“I’m a real hero, I am.” Parker, as always, was faintly self-mocking. “I let her get away.”
“You were taking care of me.” Kate gave him a look that would have shown a blind man how she felt about him.
Well, good for them. They both deserved a little happiness. Unlike him.
He shook his head, trying to get a grip on the situation. “Did Penny admit the child was Josie’s?” Even articulating the words shook him.
“Not exactly.” Kate frowned. “But honestly, if you’d seen the photo, you couldn’t help but notice. Same heart-shaped face, same brown hair and brown eyes—”
“Lots of people have brown hair and brown eyes.” Steff Kessler’s voice was sharp, a reminder to everyone that Penny had been married briefly to her brother, Adam.
“Same wistful expression,” Kate finished. “You know how Josie would look sometimes. Like a little girl lost. That’s how this child looks.”
That shook him. He remembered that look all too well.
“Penny claimed her daughter was Adam’s child.” Steff’s voice tightened. Though it had been ten years, she still felt the loss of her brother, dead in an apparent boating accident soon after his elopement with Penny. “But she wouldn’t agree to a DNA test, and my parents never believed it.”
“You see?” Kate’s voice was triumphant. “She could hardly agree to a DNA test on the child if the baby was really Josie’s.”
“That poor child.” Jennifer’s thoughts went straight to the child, of course. “If this is true, I can’t imagine what it must be like for her. Where is she? Not with Penny, I hope.”
“In a private boarding school in Charleston,” Parker said. “I managed to hear one of the police officers say that, but then they clammed up. Anyway, officially the cops are after Penny for the attack on Kate, but I imagine they’re looking hard at her for Josie’s death.”
Penny, suspected of murder. She’d been wild enough, bragging about having been kicked out of more schools than she could count, driving her elderly Charleston parents to declare Magnolia College her last chance. But murder—
It seemed impossible, but hardly less so than any of the other things that had rocked Magnolia Falls and the college since the body was discovered.
Mason’s cell phone vibrated. He was tempted to ignore it, but he didn’t do that, ever. It could be some crisis at one of the branch stores. Worse, it could be his mother’s assisted-living facility.
He checked the number, found it was one he didn’t recognize and answered, turning slightly away from the table.
“Mason Grant.” He kept his voice low.
For a moment there was nothing. Then a voice, whispering. A child’s, he thought at first. Some kid making prank calls, happening upon his number by accident.
“You think no one knows, don’t you? You think no one knows what you did.”
“Who is this?” He snapped the words, more sharply than he intended, and realized the faces around the table were turning toward him.
He shrugged, mouthing the words. Wrong number.
Then the whisperer spoke again. “You think no one knows about you and Josie. You think no one knows what you did. You’re wrong. I know.”
The connection was broken before he could say a word.
He glanced up. Everyone watched him. For an instant he imagined they’d all heard, that they all knew the truth about him.
Impossible. They watched him with varying degrees of interest, Jennifer with concern.
That look seemed to pierce the chill that had settled into his soul at the whispered words. The best thing that had come out of the reunion had been getting to know Jennifer again, feeling the warmth and caring that was such an integral part of her.
Don’t kid yourself. Not even Jennifer would understand if she knew the truth.
The chill gripped again, harder. The truth—he’d struggled with it since the moment he’d learned that the body was Josie’s. Struggled with what to do, how much to tell.
He’d thought the secret belonged to him alone. The voice seemed to whisper again. He’d been wrong.
Penny Brighton Kessler tossed the cell phone into the motel room’s trash can, satisfied with the impression she’d made. She’d bought several phones this morning, inexpensive models that she could use and discard. No one would trace her that easily.
She crossed the worn carpeting to the window, peering around the edge of the drapery. Nothing suspicious in the ill-lit parking lot, but then, she’d been careful.
Were the police involved already? Probably—for the attack on Kate, at least. They couldn’t have figured anything else out this soon. Unless she’d told Kate…She frowned. What had she told Kate?
Well, that didn’t matter. She could deny everything Kate said. But it had all gone wrong. She’d thought her plan to lay the blame on Parker was perfect, but it had unraveled. And then Kate had taken one look at the photograph of Alexis and known she was Josie’s child.
Anger propelled Penny back across the narrow room. Fine place this was for a Brighton—holed up in a cheap hotel room, on the run from the police, instead of living the life of luxury that was hers by right.
There were so many people to blame that she didn’t know where to start. Her parents. The child she’d thought would guarantee her proper place in the world. All those self-righteous people from school. If they’d never gotten together again at that reunion, would any of this have happened?
Still, she’d known all along that things might turn sour. She’d taken what precautions she could. There was the car no one would trace to Penny Brighton Kessler, the change in her appearance. She ruffled her fingers through short curls. She’d always wondered what she’d look like as a redhead.
Cash was the problem. The amount she’d had hidden away wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t get her out of the country, or set her up properly in the way she ought to live.
The anger burned again—sharper, more focused now. Mason Grant had money. And Mason was as responsible as anyone. Ten years ago he’d ignored her and then had an affair with Josie, as stupid as she was naive.
Well, it was time Mason repaid her for taking care of his kid all these years. And if she could arrange for that, and hurt interfering Jennifer Pappas in the process, so much the better. If Jennifer hadn’t tipped Kate and Parker off to her—
If, if, if. She forced down the fury that threatened to choke her. She couldn’t let it get the better of her. No more acting on impulse. She’d plan this carefully, and this time she’d wind up set for life.
The child was the key. Her parents had cut her off without a cent, but they loved Alexis, and would love her even when they knew she wasn’t really their grandchild. She’d never get her hands on the trust fund they’d talked of setting up for Alexis, not when she was on the run, but if dear old Momma and Daddy thought Alexis was in danger, they’d come up with the cash.
And Mason? Well, she had to admit that he was the unknown factor in all of this. Would he go straight to the police? Or would he try to keep his secret?
If so, he should be willing enough to pay for the privilege. And if not, if he had some bizarre idea of being a father to the child he’d never known about, so much the better. If she controlled Alexis, they’d all dance to her tune.
She wanted to move. Act. Drive to that expensive boarding