Wild Midnight by Maggie; Davis Read Free Book Online Page A

that house and not letting it get sold for taxes. Her daddy raised her with one aim in life—to hold on to Belle Haven and pass it on to her heirs. To tell you the truth,” the lawyer said, smiling slightly, “I think it’s the only reason she had Beau. I don’t think anything else would have persuaded Clarissa to become a mother. A lot of people around here thought that boy would die of neglect before he could get to school. Clarissa didn’t seem to have much empathy with small animals of any kind, even her own.”  
    Rachel digested all this in silence. It still did nothing to solve the co-op’s problem with Belle Haven’s’ owner. “But that is a public road,” Rachel said determinedly. “Surely even Beaumont Tillson knows the law.”  
    The lawyer looked at her for a long moment. Then he frowned. “Property disputes cause a peck of trouble, Mrs. Brinton. I’ve seen people get more upset over a boundary line and more violent about it than they would being accused of, say, embezzling a bank.”  
    He sat back in his chair and regarded her unblinkingly. “I expect you don’t remember much about the Vietnam war, do you? You were probably too young at the time. Beau Tillson was in a special branch called Lurps—LRRP, Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol. They went behind enemy lines and lived there for weeks, months, giving reports of enemy troop movements deep within their—the enemy’s—territory. It wasn’t unusual for the Viet Cong to pass within touching distance of Lurps in the jungle without knowing they were there. My own boy,” he said, rearranging some papers on the desk, “grew up with Beau, and they both went to ‘Nam together. Poke wanted to go into the Lurps with him, but didn’t qualify. For a while there I thought it was going to break Poke’s heart, to have them separated like that, but he got over it.”  
    He cleared his throat. “You may remember there was a lot in the newspapers and on TV at the time about what an advantage the Cong had in the jungle. But what most people didn’t know was that we had men who could go into the jungle and live cut off from their bases, existing just as covertly as the Asians. It was about as dangerous duty as you could get. When the Cong captured Lurps they didn’t die easy. Regular troops didn’t cotton to Lurps, they had a reputation for being strange and liking the jungle too much.”  
    The lawyer leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head to stare up at the ceiling. “Beau Tillson was a Lurp for more than two years in Vietnam. He served two tours of duty and wanted a third, only he was wounded and put out of action. When he came back Beau had his problems settling down, but he wasn’t the only jungle vet who did, not by a long shot. If he drank a bit, it wasn’t anything to worry about.” He smiled wryly and took down his hands. “I’ve been drunk several times in my life when there was something I needed to forget pretty bad.”  
    A buzzer sounded in the mass of papers on the desk and the lawyer reached for it. To the secretary’s indistinct voice on the intercom he merely said, “All right.”  
    The next moment the door to the office opened and a lean, broad-shouldered man in an expensively tailored gray business suit strode in. His stunning good looks were as riveting as a flash of summer lightning. But the gold-flecked eyes in a hard, chiseled face reflected impatience and sulky bad temper.  
    With a shock that brought her to her feet, Rachel recognized this startlingly well-dressed man as the horseman in the woods.  
    “Hello, Beau,” the lawyer said calmly, getting to his feet. “Mrs. Brinton, I believe you’ve met Beau Tillson.”  
    The tall man did not extend his hand. Instead his furious look swept over Rachel quickly. “I’ll offer you a cash settlement to stay off my property,” he grated. “Three hundred dollars. Non-negotiable.”  
    “Now, Beau, sit down,” the lawyer said