Girl in the Shadows (Shadows 2)

"She wants me out. She says she's going to take back custody of Echo and she's pretending to be a loving mother now. She and that man Skeeter want Mrs. Westington to give them money to buy old houses for him to fix up and sell."

"Oh, so that's their game. Might as well go over to the toilet, drop it in, and flush." he said.

"I think that's what Mrs, Westington thinks, too. but I'm worried Rhona and Skeeter will use Echo to blackmail her."

"No doubt." he said, nodding. "Rhona knows howto blackmail people real well."

"Oh?"

"She's probably going to tell you one day soon, so I might as well tell you myself," he said. "She wanted money to run off with and of course. Mrs. Westington wouldn't give her a penny, so she come to me."

"Why would you give her any money?"

"I wouldn't, but she sat right where you're sitting now and began to unbutton her blouse. She didn't wear a bra. Half the time, she didn't wear panties, neither. I don't know how many men she brought up here at night, but the list is probably a good half of the male population.

"Anyhow, she threatened to claim I tried to rape her. To make her point, she dug her own fingernails into her shoulder and tore down the skin right to her breast. She didn't wince. She sat there smiling and tearing her skin and her blouse. She said she wasn't going to run to her mother. either. She was going to get into her car and drive right to town and go to the police on me. I had no doubt she would do it.

"Anyway. I gave her all the money I had here, which was considerable because I didn't do much investing. She knew I had it. My guess was she spied on me through the windows and saw me counting it or something. She knew my hiding spots and she probably would have stolen it if she could get in. but I never forgot to lock the door and windows.

"The way I saw it, it was good riddance anyway. She was aggravating Mrs. Westington to death with her antics. I thought, of all the possible investments I could have made, this one was the best because it rid us of Rhona.

"Of course, I felt sorry for

Echo. She was a mite of a thing and didn't know how bad Rhona was. I justified it by telling myself the child was better off without her. But I know a child never can forget or disown her own mother and be happy about it. And then there was my guilt over making it possible for Rhona to leave Mrs. Westington like that.

"One day, she turned to me and with those eyes of hers burning into me the way she can make them burn, she asked me where I thought Rhona got the money to take off like she had. I had little chance of gettting away with any sort of a lie. so I upped and told her the whole story. Of course, she bawled me out for it, but she also admitted she understood why I would be afraid. 'My daughter's an expert when it comes to lying and cheating,' she said. 'She could make John the Baptist look like a serial rapist.'

"Still, I felt bad about keeping everything secret all that time. Grapes are sure a helluva lot easier to raise than children." he concluded.

"Well, what should I do now? Should I leave?"

"That's up to you, of course. but I think Mrs. Westington would rather you stayed on. She's quite a bit older than she was when Rhona ran off, but she's still got lots of Grit. I'll do whatever I can, too.

"I won't kid you about it,' he added. "Rhona's pretty resourceful. I don't know where you've been and what you've seen in your short life. April, but you're about to learn how low-down someone can get. When that girl gets buried, there'll be black weeds sprouting all around her grave and every animal in the world will steer clear. Birds won't even fly over the tombstone."

I nodded. "I'm not going to run away," I said. "I've done enough of that."

"Maybe so. Echo's sure found a friend in you." "Thanks. Trevor," I said. rising,

"Nothing to thank me for,"

"Yes there is. Thanks for trusting me with the painful truth." He smiled.

I walked to the door. "We're not getting pushed around anymore." I vowed.

"Yes. ma'am. If you say so," he told me, and I walked out.

Where did I get all the courage? I wondered. I looked at the motor home. The light was on. Had I left it on? I guess so. I thought. I'd better go turn it off. The batteries are weak enough as it is.

I hurried back, opened the door, and started up the short stairway only to stop dead in my tracks. My mouth hung open stupidly.

Sitting where I had been sitting, across from Destiny, was Tyler Monahan.

7 Kissing a Fool

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"What are you doing in here?" I asked. "When I drove up. I saw the light on and