LITMIR.BIZ

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into a fountain.

      This wasn’t the way she’d wanted things to be between them. She didn’t want him to know this side of her. Not the woman with all this baggage. How could he even stand to look at her?

      “Arlene,” he said.

      She turned to find him directly behind her.

      He cupped her cheek. His thumb pad brushed the corner of her mouth. “Try not to worry,” he said softly. “I’ll see you tonight.”

      She looked into his eyes. He still wanted to go out with her tonight? She nodded numbly.

      He smiled. “Leave it to me.”

      She watched him walk to his vehicle, still stunned not only that he’d come into her life, but also that he was still there.

       Won’t be for long.

      Her mother’s voice. But Arlene didn’t argue with the sentiment. Wait until Hank learned about her daughter Violet.

      VIOLET EVANS PEERED out the hospital window, past the pathetic array of patients, to the fence that had become her prison.

      Just a few more weeks.

      It had been her mantra for months, and lately it hadn’t been working—and that worried her more than she wanted to admit.

      She’d been doing so well, pretending for months to be catatonic before miraculously coming out of it with no apparent memory of the bad things she’d done in the past. How many people could pull something like that off? Very few if any, she would wager.

      She’d always known she was smart, but lately she’d come to realize she might be a genius.

      Of course, she had to hide that fact from the doctors. Clearly they weren’t half as intelligent as she was, since they had no idea what she was up to.

      Just a few more weeks.

      And she would be free.

      So why couldn’t she relax and just do what they were asking of her? Why did she feel as if her insides were starting to show through her skin?

      The doctors had insisted she do an in-patient work program to prepare her for when she got out. Which meant she filed for hours at the nurses’ station. She thought she would go crazy for sure if she had to do it much longer.

      And then there were the nightmares. She’d never told anyone about them. These doctors would have a field day with even one of her dreams. She shuddered to think of what they would make of them. What she herself made of them if she let herself delve too deeply.

      Just a few more weeks.

      But it was getting harder and harder to remember that, and just the thought of never getting out of here—

      She shoved that thought away and concentrated on revenge. But even the revenge she’d planned against her mother had lost some of its power.

      Maybe worse than the nightmares was the voice she kept hearing in her head. She’d thought it was her mother’s but lately she couldn’t be sure it wasn’t her grandmother’s.

      It was distracting and confusing, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep this up. The place was literally driving her crazy, making her question things.

      Like her mother’s culpability in all this.

      She shook her head, trying to banish the confusion. Of course it was her mother’s fault. Everything was always the mother’s fault.

       Chapter Four

      Bo Evans disliked Hank Monroe even before he’d met the man. He would have disliked any man his mother dated. Not that he felt any loyalty to his father. Floyd Evans was a spineless bastard who’d abandoned them the moment there was trouble. Hell, Floyd Evans had abandoned them long before that.

      “What did I tell you?”

      He looked up to find his mother standing in front of him. She had the remote in her hand. He swore as she muted his show. “Tell me about what?”

      “Getting a job.”

      He shook his head. It had just been a threat. At least he hoped that’s all it had been. “If I got a job, I’d have to be in town all day. Maybe even have to work nights. You’d be here by yourself. You don’t want that. You need me around.”

      His mother laughed and he realized this was a new reaction. “Nice try. I want you to find a job. And then I want you to find a place to live.”

      He stared at her as if he’d never seen her before. He suspected he hadn’t. This was Hank Monroe’s doing, the bastard. He’d put this into her head.

      “This is about Hank, isn’t it? You think he’s going to always be around?” Bo scoffed at that. “Once he gets what he’s after, he’ll be gone. The guy’s playing you. He’s going to break your heart.”

      “Well, I’ve been played before and certainly had my heart broken by those closest to me, haven’t I?” she said, shutting off the television. “You have until the end of the week.”

      “And then what?” he demanded. “You’re not going to put me out on the street. Not your favorite son.”

      To his surprise, she said nothing. Instead she walked over to the garbage can and dropped the remote into it.

      Bo told himself she was bluffing, that she was just upset about Charlotte. Once Charlotte was back here and the baby was born, things would get back to normal. Well, as normal as life here had ever been.

      “What’s the point of throwing away the remote?” he called after her as she headed for her bedroom down the hall.

      “Don’t worry, you won’t need it,” she said, stopping to look back at him. “You’ll be at work. Anyway, I’ve had the cable service canceled. Out here we might be able to get one of the local stations clear enough for you to watch. So you won’t need the remote, because what would be the point of changing the station?” Without another word, she turned and continued to her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

      Bo swore and kicked the coffee table over. The one thing he didn’t want was anything to change. He was happy with his life. He slept till noon most days, hung out either watching television or listening to music until it was time to go out with his friends.

      He’d had jobs before, but his mother had always been all right when he’d quit them and offered to help her. The only thing that had changed that he could see was Hank. Who was this guy anyway?

      The good news was that Hank wouldn’t be around long, Bo told himself. Not once he got to know Arlene. But Bo feared he couldn’t wait that long. He was going to have to take matters into his own hands.

      Either he had to find Charlotte and get her butt back here, or he was going to have to sabotage this little romance between his mother and Hank Monroe.

      He called his friend Cody, since his car was in the shop and his mother had refused to let him drive hers. “Pick me up tonight. My mom has a date and there’s something we need to do. Bring a crowbar. And if you have a ski mask, bring that, too.”

      ARLENE WAS GETTING ready for her date with Hank when the phone rang. She hurriedly reached for it, praying it was Charlotte.

      The voice on the other end of the line was authoritative, and she knew from experience whoever was calling was going to give her bad news.

      “Is it Charlotte?” she cried, just wanting to get the worst over with.

      “I beg your pardon? This is Dr. Ray Hamilton calling from the state hospital in regard to your daughter Violet.”

      Violet? Had she been released? Was she on her way here? Arlene glanced toward the dark windows and thought Bo was right. She didn’t want to be here alone.

      “Is she…?” Arlene couldn’t

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