Silent Witness by Rebecca Forster Read Free Book Online Page A

young boy two years ago. His wife's son from a previous marriage. I had to help him and there were things that need to be done right away and I forgot you.''
    Josie couldn't be plainer than that. Still Hannah didn't speak.
    ''You know I didn't intentionally forget about you. I've never had a kid. This is new to me and I'm doing my best.''
    Josie's jaw set as the silence continued. She was angry, not just at herself any longer, but also at the girl who was demanding a perfection Josie couldn't give her.
    ''Do you understand the magnitude of what I just told you?'' Josie insisted, her patience wearing thin.
    ''Yes. The man comes first,'' Hannah shot back viciously. ''So, I guess you're no different than my mother after all.''
    Before she even knew what had happened Josie was on her knees grabbing for Hannah's shoulders. Their faces came together: the woman and the girl. One square jawed and handsome, the other exotic, dark and delicate.
    ''I am not like your mother at all,'' Josie said through clenched teeth, ''and we should get that straight right now, Hannah. I was helping someone I love. The same way Billy Zuni tried to help you because he cares about me. Everyone in Hermosa Beach will come to Archer's defense when they find out about this and that's the way it's supposed to be. I don't have to choose one person over the other, I just have to make sure I don't throw one away for the other. Get it?''
    Hannah pulled back and Josie let her go. She sank back on her heels, hardly believing Hannah had riled her like this or that she felt the need to explain herself. She had answered to no one for so long that Josie resented the position Hannah was putting her in. She resented it like any parent who. . .Josie stopped that train of thought. She would not go there fearing, perhaps, she had been like Hannah all those years ago and sent her own mother packing because of her attitude.
    ''These are the people I love, Hannah and I will help any of them whenever they need me. You can either be a part of this family, or not. Your choice.''
    Josie got up, gave Hannah one last chance to speak and, when she didn't, Josie walked out of Hannah's room and into her own. She felt drained, a shell of a person, and there seemed to be nothing in the room to comfort her: not the giant bed with the down comforter, not the leather chair in the corner where she could sit and look at the small garden dug into the patio, not the books on architecture. Slowly she unbuttoned her shirt and tossed it on the bed before she dropped her trousers and left them on the floor. The morning hearing had been missed. The new client blown off. The day was lost. Josie sat down on the bed, using the toe of one shoe to dislodge the heel of the other. She planted her bare feet on the floor, leaned over and closed her eyes. Suddenly she felt exhausted. When she finally opened her eyes, Josie found herself staring at a rough spot on the hardwood floor missed during the renovation. Funny she hadn't noticed it before. But, then, there hadn't been too much amiss in her house or her life before this.
    Josie closed her eyes again but not because she was tired. She only wanted to soak up the tears that were coming. Crying never did any good. Not when her father died, not when her mother took off, not when she had seen Hannah lying near death in that hospital room. Tears wouldn't make Archer's problems go away and they sure as hell wouldn't make Josie stronger.
    Startled by the sound of a door, Josie's eyes flew open. Her shoulders pulled back, her hands were on the mattress, her senses alert. It was a reflex learned after Linda Rayburn, Hannah's mother, had attacked Josie here in her own home. But there was no danger; it was only Hannah coming out of her room. She stalked by Josie's room without a second glance. She carried the plate and the knife and the half eaten apple. From where she sat Josie couldn't see Hannah once she turned from the hall, but the sounds of Hannah's deliberate