LITMIR.BIZ

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right in the head,” she said. “But after the girls’ mother died…” She bit off the rest.

      “You might as well tell me,” Paul said. “You know I don’t talk about anything I know.”

      She glanced up at him in the semidarkness, because it was dusk. “She fell and hit her head, he said. But Dr. Coltrain demanded an autopsy, because he didn’t believe her injuries were consistent with a fall.”

      “And…?” Paul was remembering with cold chills what Darwin had said about his wife selling him out to someone.

      “And he was called out of town to consult in a case with a former patient,” she continued. “While he was gone, Mr. Darwin called in a favor and had the autopsy rushed through. Accidental death was what they put on the death certificate. By the time Dr. Coltrain got back, she was buried, and Mr. Darwin threatened legal action if the doctor tried to interfere further.” She shook her head. “Dr. Coltrain has a really nasty temper, but Mr. Darwin is so rich that he could…well, there were strange things that started happening around Dr. Coltrain’s house, around his little boy. He realized what could happen, and he stepped back.” She looked up at Paul. “Mr. Darwin has done some things that I’d rather die than tell you about. He holds my brother over me like a sword. He’ll find something to hold over you, too, Mr. Paul, if he can. He likes having people who work for him over a barrel.”

      Paul smiled ruefully. “If there was anything in my past that could be used against me, it would have come out years ago, when I was…when I worked in another field.”

      Her old face softened. “You’re wasted here,” she said gently. “I mean it. You’re smart. You could be anything you wanted to be. Hired private security is, well, it’s…”

      “I keep you and the girls safe,” he interrupted with a grin. “Not to mention the racehorses. Imagine how the jockeys would mourn if one of the horses got an infected foot or something!”

      She laughed, as she was meant to.

      “He wanted cameras set up,” he added. “But he had me take out the one he’d put in the dining room, along with the bug he had in his office. I’ll tell the girls. I was afraid I’d have to watch every word I said. And the girls have been worried.” He sighed. “Merrie’s really afraid of him. Sari…not so much, but she doesn’t go against him.” He turned to her. “Why are they so afraid of him?”

      Mandy wanted to tell him, but she was too afraid for her brother. “He got physical with them when they were younger,” she compromised. “He believed in that ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ thing.”

      He scowled. “He didn’t abuse them?”

      “Not the way you’re thinking,” she said easily.

      He let out a breath. “Thank God.”

      “It would have been like living in jail, having cameras all over the house,” Mandy said quietly. “I didn’t even know where they were until you told me he’d only put one in the dining room and had his office bugged. We’d have had to watch every word we said.” She hesitated. “And you’d never have been able to let Sari come into your room anymore,” she added with an amused smile.

      He chuckled. “Don’t tell her, but I’d have missed that. I enjoy our chats. She’s a sweet child.”

      “It’s such a shame,” Mandy said. “Sari and Merrie are two of the sweetest kids I’ve ever known. I was hoping they’d meet someone, get married, have families. I should have realized that Mr. Darwin would fight against that to his last breath.”

      “Surely he wants an heir from them, to carry on the line, to inherit what he has.”

      She bit her lower lip, hard. “I asked him that, once. He said that he wasn’t sharing his fortune with anybody, and no men were going to trick his daughters into marriage so they could live like kings.”

      Paul felt his face tauten. “What if they fell in love?”

      “Fat chance,” she replied. “They aren’t allowed to go anywhere that they could meet men. Sari wasn’t even allowed to go to a graduation party. Neither was Merrie. He keeps them under lock and key. They’re only let out to go to school for the most part, although Sari has a little more freedom now. But whether you know it or not, they’re watched every second they’re away from here, even at school.”

      “What?”

      “I didn’t think you knew that,” she said, walking back toward the house. “He has a couple of men trail behind them when they’re not here. Supposedly it’s to make sure nobody tries to abduct them for ransom. But it’s really to make sure they don’t get involved with boys. Merrie tried to go on a date once…” She let that thought trail away. “It’s getting chilly out here!”

      “Wait.” He moved between her and the door. “Merrie tried to go on a date…?”

      She looked up at him with real fear. “I can’t say. You can’t ask. Please! You’ll cause problems that you can’t imagine. He’s not…normal.”

      “Why do you stay?” he asked.

      “Because I’m all they’ve got. It isn’t much, but sometimes I can head off trouble.”

      He drew in a long breath. “I thought it was a peach of a job when I first got it. More and more, I think I made a huge mistake.”

      “The girls don’t think so. They’re both very fond of you. So am I, but you know that.” She chuckled.

      “I know that.” He smiled gently.

      “Video cameras in the house,” she said, shaking her head. “I’d have been afraid to open my mouth.”

      “Oh, it wouldn’t have been so bad,” he said facetiously. “There’s a community college with a theatrical department,” he teased. “We could have asked somebody to write us a script, and we’d have performed it at every meal. He’d have gotten bored watching it all the time.”

      She burst out laughing. “Now, there’s a thought!”

      “Send Isabel out, could you? I need to talk to her.” He grimaced. “Just in case he put a bug in that I didn’t find, it’s safer out here. I’ll sweep the house again later.”

      “I’ll do it. Want Merrie, too?”

      “Just Isabel,” he said, smiling.

      “Okay.”

      * * *

      He paced between the light from the house and the distant fence and ranch gate that led to the stables. He was uneasy. He didn’t like being under surveillance, and he didn’t buy Darwin Grayling’s explanation of why it was necessary. He wondered if Darwin had learned about Sari’s visits to Paul’s room. He knew Mandy hadn’t sold him out, but what if there were other cameras and bugs that Paul didn’t know about? He was going to make a thorough search later.

      The back door opened. Sari came out, wearing a long blue-checked dress with a white blouse under it. The garment covered her from neck to ankles, but it fit in just the right places to give Paul an uncomfortable ache. She had pert little breasts and a narrow waist that led down to softly curving full hips and long legs. Her reddish-gold hair was piled on top of her head, curling wildly down from a ponytail clip, and her blue, blue eyes twinkled at him in the pale light from the house.

      “Mandy said you wanted to talk to me. Are we going to get bulletproof vests issued? Maybe a gun?” she teased.

      He shrugged. “Beats me. I feel like some of those guys used to on a show called Candid Camera. That’s before your time, tidbit,” he added with a grin.

      “It is not. I watch it on YouTube.”

      He shook his head.

      “Don’t knock it,” she chided. “All the best programming is on YouTube. I can watch shows

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