Carolina Moon

could see the boy, and I could see the woman. She was going to let him go. It was only money to her, and petty revenge against the Mansfields for firing her. I told them he was being treated well. He was scared, but he was all right. I told them to pay the ransom, to do what she said and get their son back safe. Really, no more or less than what the police wanted them to do. But what I didn’t see, what I didn’t see because I was so devastated by Jack, was that the men working with her weren’t as coolheaded as she.”
    Her voice cracked. Oh yes, she thought. It still breaks the heart. “I told Jack there were two men, but the investigation indicated there was only one. The woman, and one accomplice. I was muddying the waters, getting in the way. When the money was paid, they did what they’d planned to do, what I hadn’t seen, all along. They killed Jonah, and the woman.”
    She took a deep breath. “I didn’t know about it till I heard it on the news, until the reporters started calling me. I’d pulled back, curled up in my own little ball of misery because Jack had turned away from me.
    “I don’t know how they expected to get away. They had a van, and it seemed they planned to just drive off. But they hadn’t really planned anything. It was the woman who’d laid it all out, who’d calculated the steps. But in the end, they didn’t want to share the money with her. They figured they’d just drive west, but the police had trailed the money and were waiting for them.
    “Two police officers were shot, and one of the kidnappers was fatally wounded. I hadn’t seen any of that. What I’d persuaded the parents to do resulted in the death of their child.”
    “No, the kidnapping resulted in the death of their child. Circumstances, greed, fear.”
    “I couldn’t have saved him. I’ve learned to live with that. The same way I’ve learned to live with not saving Hope. But it left me broken. I spent weeks in the hospital, years in therapy, but I never really got it all back. Not all. Some of the blame was mine, Cade, because I was so distracted, so distraught about Jack that I didn’t focus, I didn’t pay enough attention. My life was falling apart and I was desperate to keep him part of it. Part of me. Even when he denounced me, helped smear me in the press, I didn’t blame him. For a long, long time, I didn’t blame him. Part of me still doesn’t.”
    “He was more concerned about his ego than you. More concerned about his ego than that child.”
    “I don’t know that. It was a difficult time. He was unhappy in our relationship and wary of me.”
    “So he left you twisting in the wind on a rope he helped make. Is that what you expect from me, Tory?”
    “It’s what I expected,” she said calmly. “At this point, I don’t know what to expect from you. I just want you to know I understand what it’s like for you.”
    “No, I don’t think you understand anything. He wasn’t in love with you. I am.”
    She made a sound, part gasp, part sob, but stayed exactly where she was.
    “So.” He got to his feet. “What are you going to do about it?”
    “I—” Her throat closed. Not fear, she realized as she stared at him. It wasn’t fear filling her. It was hope. Flying on it, she leaped into his arms.

23
    A s horrible as murder was, it was still interesting. A night’s distance from it made it more like a movie than real life. Faith wasn’t about to stay cooped up at Beaux Reves, when she could poke around in town and be in the center of the reel.
    Lilah had seen through her, of course, and loaded her down with errands. If she was going to gossip, Lilah told her when she’d handed over her list, she might as well be productive, too.
    And she shouldn’t forget to report all the details when she got home again.
    There was plenty of gossip to be found.
    At the drugstore, odds were in favor of an old boyfriend who’d come to town to convince Sherry to mend things and then had gone crazy when she’d refused. After all, she’d only been in town a few weeks. A young, pretty girl like that was bound to have left a boyfriend or two back home.
    At the post office there was little doubt the killer had been Sherry’s secret lover, and the sex had gotten out of hand. No one named any likely candidates for the secret lover position, but it was a consensus over the stamp buying and certified-letter sending that she’d had one. A woman who looked like that was bound to have a lover. And it