Read Online After Dark by Beverly Barton - Free Book Online Page A

glanced at the newspaper clipping and recognized it as being the front-page story about Kent’s murder that had run in the local paper. The Herald, which she co-owned with Miss Edith. Lane turned her attention to the last item in her hand. A sheet of lined notebook paper on which two succinct sentences had been written. Come home. Your son needs you.
    Bile rose into her throat. Her knees weakened. She closed her eyes, momentarily shutting out the truth. Johnny Mack knew that Will was his son!
    â€œWe can’t talk here,” she told him, then neatly folded the items and handed them back to him. “We need to talk privately, where there’s no chance of our being overheard.”
    Johnny Mack glanced past her toward the hallway leading to the kitchen. “All right. Where and when? The sooner the better.”
    â€œYes, I agree. The sooner the better.” Lane’s mind splintered into fragments, each flying off in a different direction. Without even thinking she blurted out, “Tomorrow. I’ll meet you, wherever you say.”
    â€œI’m staying at the Four Way,” he told her. “What time?”
    Only people who couldn’t afford better stayed at the Four Way. It was one step above a rat hole. Clean, but shabby. Lane supposed that Johnny Mack’s finances hadn’t improved much over the years.
    â€œTen o’clock in the morning,” she said.
    He nodded agreement, but his gaze remained riveted to her face. She sensed that he wanted to say more, that he wanted to touch her. To shake her hand. To squeeze her shoulder. Something. Anything. To make a personal contact. She couldn’t let that happen. She didn’t dare.
    Lane took an uncertain step backward, away from him. Johnny Mack had been the most dangerous young man she had ever known, and her instincts told her that he was far more dangerous now. There was something about him, an air of confidence that had been lacking fifteen years ago. What had given him the aura of self-assurance that had replaced the mask of cocky bravado he had worn as a youth?
    â€œTen o’clock tomorrow at the Four Way. Room seventeen,” he said. “And don’t be afraid of me, Lane. You’re the last person on earth I’d ever hurt.”
    Before she could respond, he turned away. She caught up with him just after he opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch. She hung back, hesitant to move too close. Lingering in the doorway, she called his name.
    â€œJohnny Mack?”
    His body stiffened. But when he glanced back over his shoulder, his seductive smile was in place. “Yeah?”
    â€œI didn’t send the note.” She swallowed hard. “I had no idea where—” She stopped abruptly when she heard footsteps behind her. She eased back inside and slammed the door in Johnny Mack’s face.
    She knew before she turned around that Will had come out of the kitchen. He stood in front of her, his eyes filled with questions.
    â€œIs he gone?”
    â€œYes, he’s gone,” she said.
    â€œHe’s Johnny Mack Cahill, isn’t he?”
    â€œYes.” Heaven help us all, yes, he’s Johnny Mack Cahill. Your father. And my destroyer.
    â€œI’m glad you made him leave. I don’t want to ever see him again!”
    Will rushed past her, his long legs taking him quickly up the spiral staircase to the second level of the house. Lane hurried after him, but halted halfway up the stairs.
    â€œWill!”
    The sound of his door slamming reverberated in her ears. She sank down on the steps, a feeling of hopelessness encompassing her. How much more could her son endure? What was his final breaking point? She had to keep him safe from anything and anyone who might harm him. And that included Johnny Mack.
    â€œHas Johnny Mack gone?” Lillie Mae stood at the bottom of the staircase.
    Lane glanced at the rail-thin old woman who had been her only confidante and dearest