After Dark by Beverly Barton Read Free Book Online Page A

him,"
Buddy suggested. "He's stayed away for fifteen years. Why would he
return now?"
        "Wes Stevens said that this
man-whoever the hell he is-called his office and inquired about Kent's
murder and about Lane and Will. It's possible that he's found out the
truth about Will."
        "How the hell would he have
found out?" Buddy removed his tie, undid the top button on his shirt
and loosened the collar. "Unless he's kept in touch with someone here
in Noble's Crossing all these years."
        "The same someone who might
have helped him fifteen years ago," James said. "Someone who
knows what we did to him."
        "Don't jump to conclusions.
We don't know anything for sure. We don't even know if this man really is
Johnny Mack Cahill."
        "Sure we do." James downed
the remainder of his Scotch, set the glass aside and wiped the perspiration
from his forehead with the back of his hand. "He was the kind of guy
you couldn't kill. We should have known he wasn't dead. If he made it to
shore, just about any woman in this town would have helped him."
        '’I know one woman who wouldn't have
helped him," a distinctly feminine voice said.
        Both men turned toward the door
which had just opened. Edith Ware's red lips curved into a closemouthed
smile as she walked into the room. Thin and petite, with her cinnamon
hair cut in a stylish chin length bob, Edith did not look like a woman nearly
sixty.
        ‘’How much did you overhear?"
James asked.
        "Oh, don't fret, my love. I've
known your dirty little secret for quite some time. You men were all too
adamant about Johnny Mack being dead. I finally confronted Kent with
my suspicions one night when he'd had a little too much bourbon."
        "Why didn't you say-"James
glared at his wife.
        "Miss Edith, I promise that
whoever this man is- Johnny Mack Cahill or somebody just using his name-he's
not going to cause any problems for this family as long as I'm police chief."
        Edith clasped Buddy's shoulder,
her perfect, sculptured red nails biting into the material of his
jacks "I know I can count on you to keep things under control. But if
this man is Johnny Mack returned from the dead, then I suggest we bide our
time and see exactly what he's up to. Could be he's come back for revenge."
        When James groaned and Buddy slapped
his right fist against the open palm of his left hand, Edith narrowed her gaze
on the portrait hanging over the ornate Jacobean desk. John Graham posed
with his arm around his son. Their son. John Kent Graham. "Or perhaps
Johnny Mack has come back for Will.’’ Edith speculated.
        "Or to help Lane," Buddy
said. "If he knows about Will, he might know what Lane did for that
boy.'’
        Edith slid her hand down Buddy's arm
and ran her fingertips over the bulge in his jacket created by the shoulder
holster he always wore. "Someone in this town has known all along
where Johnny Mack was and that person is the one who summoned him back to
Noble's Crossing. We want to make sure he doesn’t stay long enough to make
waves. It shouldn't be too difficult for you to find a way to make him disappear
again. Give him fair warning that he isn't wanted in Noble's Crossing
now any more than he was wanted fifteen years ago."
        "And if he doesn't heed the
warning?" Buddy asked.
        "Let's take this one step at a
time," Edith said. "First let's find out who this man is and proceed
from there."
        "It's going to rain."
Lillie Mae cleared the dishes from the kitchen table. "I feel it in
my bones."
        "I wish it would rain,"
Lane said. "It's so hot and humid I can hardly breathe when I go outside."
        "I don't see how you two can
discuss the weather as if everything's all right!'' Will shoved back his
chair, shot straight up and stomped out of the room.
        "Go see about him." Lillie
Mae nodded toward the den. "God only knows why Sharon wrote that letter
to Kent. If she'd had any idea