Don't Cry by Beverly Barton Read Free Book Online

these years.”
    Audrey gave her friend a squeezing hug and then glanced at the dance floor where Geraldine swayed dreamily in Willie’s big, strong arms. “Your parents are proof that there really is such a thing as happily-ever-after.”
    â€œYour dad’s here,” Tam said. “He and your uncle Garth. And Hart.”
    â€œHart’s here?”
    Tam nodded.
    â€œHow is he?” Audrey asked.
    â€œClean and sober, at least for tonight. He looks nice. I think he’s wearing that new suit you bought him for his last job interview.”
    Audrey forced a smile. She loved her stepbrother. After Blake’s disappearance twenty-five years ago, they had bonded as siblings. They had both known that they were the expendable kids, the ones who would never be as important to her father and his mother as Blake had been. And each of them had dealt with their family’s tragedies in different ways. Audrey had focused all her energy on a profession where she could help other people deal with their own tragedy, with grief, with suffering of any kind. Hart had sought solace in drugs and alcohol. He’d been in and out of rehab half a dozen times during the past two decades, and he’d never held down a job for more than six months at a time.
    â€œI wish I could do more to help him than just buying him a new suit.”
    â€œMy God, you’ve done all you can. And you’ve done it over and over again. What more could you do? I’m not saying Hart’s a lost cause, but…” Tam grimaced. “Hart’s got problems that you can’t fix, problems that maybe nobody can fix.”
    â€œI know. In here”—Audrey tapped her head—“I know. But in here”—she patted her chest—“I want to believe that somehow, some way, someday…”
    â€œFairy Godmother Audrey.” Tam smiled. “Always wishing you could wave a magic wand and make everything all right for everyone.”
    Audrey snorted, the sound quite unladylike. “Yeah, all the good that wishing does me when my damn magic wand is broken.”
    Tam laughed.
    â€œIt’s good to hear you laugh,” Audrey said. “Neither of us has done much of that recently, have we. You know, in a way, it seems strange to be enjoying such a happy occasion tonight when only a few hours ago I was at Jill Scott’s funeral.”
    â€œI try to keep my professional life and my personal life separate,” Tam said. “Most of the time, I can, but sometimes…He’s still out there, the guy who kidnapped and murdered Jill Scott. We’re no closer now to catching him than we were nine days ago. And unless all the experts are wrong, there’s a good chance that the same man abducted Debra Gregory and will kill her, too.”
    â€œI shouldn’t have mentioned Jill tonight,” Audrey said. “I’m afraid I’m seldom able to separate myself from my client’s problems. What does that say about my professionalism?”
    â€œScrew your professionalism. Caring too damn much about everyone else is what makes you you, and I wouldn’t change that or anything else about you.”
    â€œOnly because you love me like a sister.”
    â€œGot that damn straight.” Tam’s gaze fixed on something or someone behind Audrey. Her eyes widened and a quirky smile played at the corners of her mouth. “Don’t look now, but tall, dark, and could-eat-him-with-a-spoon is here, right behind us and coming this way.”
    â€œWho are you talking about?”
    When Audrey started to turn around, Tam grabbed her by the forearms. “Don’t turn around. Not yet,” Tam said under her breath. “Damn, he’s not alone.”
    â€œFor goodness sakes, who are you—?”
    â€œWell, hello there,” Tam said to the person standing behind Audrey. “How are you tonight?”
    Why was Tam acting so odd? Audrey turned and,