Part 19 (2/2)

For a reason Cade couldn't name, he felt suddenly protective of a woman he'd sworn to abhor. ”Long story. Long time ago. Long over.”

Zed's eyes thinned and he took a look out the window, but Anne-Marie's car had disappeared. ”Okay,” he said as if he didn't quite believe Cade, but was willing to move on. ”I was just at the funeral home. Everything's a go for the service.”

Cade grunted. He didn't want to think about Anne-Marie, true enough, but he also didn't want to dwell on the fact that the brother he'd looked up to was gone. ”Can you handle the night's feeding?” he asked Zed.

”S'pose. Where you goin'?”

”Into town to have dinner with Hattie and the girls.” The darkness in his soul dissolved a little when he thought of Mallory and McKenzie, the twins he'd recently found out were not sired by his brother Bart, but by Cade himself. Had it changed how he felt about them? Not much. Since Bart's death he'd thought of the girls as his, anyway. The new biological information had been a shock, but not an unpleasant one. Truth be known, it was a possibility he'd considered a couple times but had tossed aside while his brother had been alive.

”Hattie.” Zed snorted again. ”She's no good, y'know. I don't know what your deal is, or was, with the waitress from the diner, but it sure as h.e.l.l has to be a lot less complicated than the thing you've got going with Bart's wife.”

”Ex-wife.”

”Or maybe even an excuse. The reason she was his ex might well be because of you.”

Every muscle in Cade's body clenched. He was super-sensitive in that area. h.e.l.l, maybe they both were. ”Let's not go there, Zed. We've already lost two brothers. Now it's just you and me.”

”And Hattie.”

And your wh.o.r.es, the one-night stands that don't enc.u.mber you. ”And Hattie,” Cade said, thinking of the woman he loved. Theirs was a complicated relations.h.i.+p and always had been.

”So why the f.u.c.k don't you just up and marry her? That's where this is all heading, isn't it? To make it legal? That little thing you had going with your brother's wife.”

Cade grabbed a piece of Zed's work s.h.i.+rt in his fist and yanked. ”I never touched Hattie while she was married and you know it.”

”I don't know a d.a.m.n thing,” Zed said, his eyes blazing, his lips barely moving.

”That's the first thing you said that's right.”

Zed punched him. Hard. In the ribs.

”Jesus!” Cade's fingers released and he fell backward, barely catching himself.

Zed, his face red, warned, ”Don't you ever put your hands on me again.”

”Then stop all this s.h.i.+t-talking about Hattie, you got that? She's the mother of my kids.”

”That's the G.o.dd.a.m.n problem,” Zed growled. His hands balled into fists and he looked as if he were about to launch at Cade as they had when they were young bucks, always fighting. Kicking, punching, knocking holes in the walls, the four boys had all possessed hot tempers and become the h.e.l.lions of town, much to their mother's dismay. Though they'd grown out of their testosterone-charged teen years, that sibling rivalry always simmered just beneath the surface. They'd fight like h.e.l.l for each other in public, then turn brother against brother when they were home, either fueled by alcohol or spurred by jealousy over a woman.

”You don't want to take me on, Zed,” Cade warned.

”Don't I?”

”You're bigger, but I'm smarter.”

”f.u.c.k you!” Zed lunged and Cade rolled deftly away as the big man landed face-first into their mother's couch in the very spot Anne-Marie had so recently vacated. The sofa skidded into the wall with the window, panes rattling, a lamp teetering on an end table, to fall and crash, its bulb shattering, the shade ripping. Shad, who had been on a nearby chair, let out a startled yip, then began barking and hopping around on his three legs.

”Told ya.”

”You got lucky.”

”Luck had nothing to do with it,” Cade said but felt little satisfaction in the statement. Zed was a pain, yeah, but he was the only d.a.m.n brother he had left. ”Just be sure to feed the d.a.m.n cattle and horses, would ya? And Shad, too.”

As Zed struggled to his feet, Cade walked into the kitchen to the anteroom near the back door where his boots sat under a bench and his jacket hung on a peg. There was no use arguing with Zed when he was in one of his dark moods, which seemed to be all the time. Not that Cade could blame him much. Ever since a sniper had taken shots at Dan, Cade too had been tough to live with.

Gingerly, he shrugged into his jacket, his ribs aching. Jesus, were they cracked? That would be a h.e.l.luva thing. The fights with Zed had been increasing lately though it was the first time they'd gotten physical.

Not a good sign.

Maybe it would be best for everyone concerned if he moved out, found a place, tried living with Hattie and the girls. It wouldn't be so bad. Hattie had admitted her mother, who'd been diagnosed with cancer, was losing that hard-fought battle. Hattie could use a little help with the girls. Yeah, that part would be more than all right. But, he wasn't ready for marriage yet. They had too many things to iron out, but there was a chance, someday in the not too distant future, he might be ready to finally settle down.

Then again, maybe not.

The darkness was complete.

Whichever way she looked, she saw no one, heard nothing. But he was here. She sensed his presence.

Creeaak!

A door opened and she whipped around, her gaze scouring the blackness. No shaft of light appeared. There was no indication from which direction the sound had come.

Think, Jessica, think. You know this place. You know him! You can escape.

She started moving, inching backward, afraid that at any second she might stumble and fall, and he would pounce on her.

Her throat was dry as dust in fear. The night, so black and cold, seemed to wrap around her, its talons piercing her skin, an icy fear infusing her blood.

There was no way out. No walls, no windows, no doorway that she could sense. Backward, step by step, bracing herself for the inevitable- Bam!

The gun went off though no flash of light burst from its muzzle. Anne-Marie stumbled backward, farther into the darkness.

Bang! Another hit! She felt no pain, but when she clutched her stomach, then lifted her hand, she saw the blood. Dark red stains running down her palm.

Why? she mouthed, staring at her attacker. Why?

”Because you deserve it,” he sneered, his voice deep and accusing. ”Because of what you did.”

”I'm sorry!” she cried, staring into the void.

”I loved you, Stacey. That's what you go by now, isn't it? Stacey Donahue.”

”Y-yes, I'm Stacey,” she admitted, though that didn't sound right. No, wait! ”You've got the wrong person,” she said desperately. ”I'm Jessica. Jessica Williams. Yes, Jessica Williams!”

”Are you?” he said, toying with her. ”Last I heard you were Stacey Donahue.”

”No! You're wrong.”

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