Twin Targets. Marta Perry

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СКАЧАТЬ that her cozy home no longer felt like her own. The living room, the upstairs, even the front yard thronged with various people in uniform, doing goodness knew what. Strangers had taken over her house, beginning the moment Micah McGraw came to her door, bringing with him that aura of menace and danger. If he’d never come near her…

      Well, that was a stupid thought. They’d had to tell her that Ruby was dead. They’d had to admit they’d failed to protect her.

      And now they’d brought Ruby’s killers to her door. Another shiver went through her.

      Ellen, probably seeing the involuntary movement, patted her hand. “It’s an awful thing, those men breaking in, just awful. I never heard of the like in the whole time I’ve lived in this county. Things like that don’t happen here.”

      That was what she’d thought, too. Apparently they’d both been wrong.

      “What do you suppose they wanted?” Ellen fixed an inquiring gaze on Jade’s face.

      She didn’t know what to say. Anything but the truth, she supposed. “I don’t know.”

      She had to struggle to get the words out. Probably someone like Micah lied easily in his job, constantly dealing with people who weren’t who they said they were. Falsehood didn’t come so readily to her.

      Ruby had lied all the time when they were younger. The unpleasant memory seemed disloyal, but it was true. Ruby had always said you might as well tell people what they wanted to hear. She hadn’t seemed to realize that people had eventually come to distrust her.

      Maybe because of that, Jade had tried always to tell the exact truth, no matter how much it hurt. But she couldn’t tell Ellen, or anyone else, about Ruby.

      Fortunately Ellen was off on a string of speculations of her own, coming up with one reason after another for the peculiar happenings. Jade could stop paying attention as long as she nodded once in a while. She could let her thoughts worry at the events of the past hour, trying to make sense of it all.

      “Lucky for you that marshal happened to come along when he did.”

      “Yes, it was.” Jerked back to attention, she tried to sound noncommittal. McGraw had saved her life. She couldn’t deny that. On the other hand, he might have been the one to lead those men right to her.

      The back door rattled. She jumped, tea sloshing onto the tabletop. Herb came in, with Micah McGraw looming behind him.

      “We better get along home, Ellen.” Herb always looked somewhat like an elderly bloodhound, and at the moment, the lines of his face had deepened. “The marshal here needs to talk to Jade.”

      Ellen’s feathers ruffled instantly. “Not if Jade wants me to stay, marshal or no marshal.”

      Ellen’s friendship warmed her. But she couldn’t tell Ellen the truth, and obviously neither she nor McGraw wanted to talk in front of her.

      “That’s kind of you, but I’m fine. I can’t thank you enough for coming.” Her voice wobbled a little on the last word.

      Ellen rose and swept her into a hug. “You call us anytime, day or night. Better yet, come stay with us tonight. Or at least come over for supper.”

      “I’ll…I’ll let you know.”

      She must be more shattered than she’d thought when such simple kindness brought her close to tears. She tried to stiffen her spine. Right now she needed time to collect herself, to mourn her sister, to restore order to her life. And to get rid of the authorities, in the form of the man who stood like a rock in her kitchen.

      When the door closed behind Ellen and Herb, she slumped back into the chair. McGraw still stood, hands braced on the back of the chair opposite her, his gaze focused on her face.

      “Are you okay?” He said the words as if he actually cared.

      “I think so.” She took a breath, weighing what to say. “I guess I owe you thanks for saving my life.”

      That didn’t sound very gracious, but it was the best she could do right now. She didn’t trust the man. How could she? He’d let her sister down. He’d brought danger to her home.

      The chair scraped against the floor. He sat down across from her, planting his elbow on the table, making the pine surface instantly smaller. Obviously he wasn’t just going to go away. That would be too simple.

      “I’m sorry.”

      She looked up, startled, to meet his gaze. “Sorry?”

      “For your sister’s death. For your trouble.” He made a small, seemingly involuntary gesture with his hands, and his brown eyes darkened with what looked like genuine sorrow.

      Her throat tightened. She wouldn’t cry in front of him. She wouldn’t. But it took all her strength to hold the tears back. “Thank you.” Her voice was husky.

      He let the silence stretch between them for a moment. Then…“You knew Ruby was in Montana.”

      For a moment his persistence angered her. But what was the point in keeping it secret? She couldn’t protect Ruby now.

      “I knew. She wasn’t supposed to tell me, but she did.”

      “How? Did she call you? Write to you?” He leaned toward her, face intent.

      She shook her head. “She let me know near the end of the trial. The FBI agents brought her to the library where I was working to say goodbye.”

      “They’d have stayed with her the whole time.” His tone showed he doubted her.

      “Ruby was an old hand at fooling people.” She almost smiled at the thought. “She fiddled with one of the reference books on my desk while we talked. I didn’t think anything of it. I’m sure the agents didn’t, either. But afterward I found the slip of paper she’d stuck in it. Montana, it said. That’s all.”

      “She was in touch again.”

      She looked at him, startled. “No. I told you. I never heard anything more from her.”

      Level brows lifted above stony brown eyes. “You expect me to believe that you quit your job and moved across the country on the basis of that one word.” Flat with doubt, his voice challenged her.

      Anger flared. “I don’t know what to expect of you, Deputy Marshal McGraw, but that happens to be the truth.”

      He leaned back in the chair, putting a few more inches between them. Stared at her, his eyes dark and intense. Waited.

      She waited, too. If he thought he was going to trick her into explaining an act she didn’t quite understand herself, he’d wait a long time.

      Finally he lifted an eyebrow again. “So. That’s it? You just moved out here on a whim. You figured fate would bring you back in touch with your sister if you were in the same state?”

      Pain twisted inside her. That was exactly what she’d thought. But it hadn’t.

      “If I thought that, then I was wrong, wasn’t I? I didn’t СКАЧАТЬ