Scarlet Nights (Edilean 3)

Sara refused to let him know how the sight of him naked had affected her; she stared right back at him. “My car or yours?”

Mike snorted at the question, and they walked together to his car where he opened the door for her. “I like that thing you have on.”

She slid onto a cream-colored leather seat. “I like your clothes too.”

“Just so I have on something, right?”

“Either way, it makes no difference to me.” She looked out the window to conceal her red face. Were lies told on a Sunday worse than other fibs?

When they got to Edilean Baptist Church, they were overwhelmed by people. The few in town who hadn’t met Mike were clamoring to talk to him. When Sara was nearly pulled away, Mike reached out and took her hand, and she heard about five women draw in their breaths. In a short time Sara was to be married in this very church, but not to the man whose fingers were entwined with hers.

Sara knew she should let go, but she didn’t. Mike’s skin was warm and it made her feel safe. And, besides, his hand was attached to that body. Again, the images of him nude on the bed, the sunlight on his skin, flooded her mind.

As though he could read her thoughts, Mike looked away from her uncle James for a moment and their eyes held. Sara felt such a rush of lust run through her that she made a silent prayer for forgiveness. She should not be thinking such thoughts while in church.

She and Mike sat next to each other, and she was pleased to see that he knew all the words to the songs. As the sermon started, she looked at him in question.

“Never missed a service when I was a kid,” he whispered. “Gramps saw to that.”

Smiling, she turned her attention to the pastor.

18

AFTER A LAZY afternoon with Sara, it seemed like a perfect ending to the day when Mike’s cell rang at four and he saw that it was Tess. He went outside to the big tree to take the call, hoping she’d found out something about Brian Tolworthy.

“Hey, little sis,” Mike said. “Told the old man about the baby yet?”

“No, she hasn’t.” It was Ramsey, and his voice sounded as though something horrible had happened.

Instantly, Mike was so full of fear that his knees gave way under him and he collapsed onto the little iron chair. “How bad is it? Is she still alive?”

“Tess is fine. She’s under sedation, but she’s all right.”

“The baby?”

“It’s doing well. She hasn’t told me about it yet, but I’ve spent too much time near my ever-pregnant sister not to know why Tess has been so tired. That isn’t the problem. It’s Sara.”

“But she’s here with me. And how would you know if—?”

“I wouldn’t,” Rams said in dismissal. “Tess remembered that she had Brian’s number in her phone, so she called him at home in England.”

“Yeah? So how’s the bastard doing?”

“He’s dead—but his parents are alive and well.”

Mike felt his fear for the safety of the two women in his life leave him and he became professional again. “Tell me all of it.”

“It looks like the call Brian received saying his parents had been killed was a lie. When he got back to England, the rental car he was driving from the airport was hit by a train. It was stalled on the track with no lights on. Tolworthy died instantly. His parents say they called Sara several times to tell her what happened, but there was no answer. They assumed Brian was coming home unexpectedly because he and Sara’d broken up and she didn’t want to hear anything about him. They’ve always blamed her for his agitated state that probably caused the wreck.”

When Ramsey stopped, there wasn’t a sound from Mike. “Are you still there?”

“Yes. Tess took the news hard?”

“Very hard. She’s scared for Sara and for you. Whoever’s doing this means business, and it’s obviously been a long time in planning.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Can you get Sara away from this?”