Vulnerable (Morgans of Nashville 4)

“I don’t know. She should have gotten home by now.”

She stepped aside, allowing the woman to enter. Had she found out about Tim? “Come in. Would you like some coffee?”

“I’m fine. I’m exhausted.” A sigh shuddered through her. “I just needed a place to catch my breath. And to figure out my next move.”

“Next move?” Georgia closed the door. So why was she here? “Have a seat.”

Amber settled on the couch, leaning back and studying her for a moment. “Rachel was able to convince them to release me. She took me to see Mrs. Reed. I searched the whole house for her and when I couldn’t find her, I got a cab here.”

Nothing she said sounded wrong. But she always had a good explanation. “Are you sure you don’t want something to eat? Maybe a bagel?”

“That would be great. I’m starving.”

She moved to the refrigerator and pulled out a couple of bottled waters. She twisted off the top of one and handed it to Amber. From the freezer she removed frozen bagels and placed them in the microwave. “How’s Tim?”

“Detective Bishop said he was improving.” She sipped, drinking for several seconds. “I called the hospital on the way over here, but they won’t release any information. They can only give out information to family. His mother was always in Europe this time of year, so I’m guessing they’re trying to find her now.”

“That’s standard with hospitals. It’s against the law for them to release confidential patient information.”

Shaking her head, she closed her eyes for a moment. “I never thought that life would repeat itself and I’d be back in this damn town defending myself again. I only came back here to find answers.”

Georgia watched Amber twist a thread on the hem of her shirt around her finger and tighten it until the tip of her finger turned red. “You shot Tim in self-defense and the cops will piece it together. Jake and Rick are fair and smart and they’ll get to the bottom of this.”

She rubbed her fingers against the darkening bruise on her cheek. “Tim is crazy. He was obsessed with me in high school. Obsessed. I was with Mike and he hated it. Several times I caught him standing outside my bedroom window.”

“Was he always like that?”

“He always ran hot and cold. Very loving one minute and then furious the next. Mike wasn’t the best guy in the world, but I liked him a lot. And I wanted to be with him despite what his father had done to me.”

Did she know about her paternity? Georgia eased into the chair across from Amber. “Did Tim tell you what happened in the woods?”

“He said he found me with Mike and he shot him. Bethany heard the shot and came running. When she did, he shot at her, but the gun jammed so he hit her with a rock and then stabbed her. He said I freaked out and started running. I must have slipped on wet leaves as I was running down the trail. Fell and hit my head and broke my arm. He thought I was dead. He panicked and ran.”

“He just left you.”

“That’s what he said.”

“He went to a lot of trouble to hide Bethany and Mike’s bodies. Walled them up. Hung up Bethany’s pendant as a kind of grave marker.”

“I don’t pretend to understand the mind of a madman.”

“Did you tell Detective Bishop?”

“I told him, but he didn’t believe me. I don’t think any of them believe me.”

She smoothed her hand over the table. “He said that?”

“Yes.”

Jake hadn’t believed Amber from the very beginning. But he hadn’t tipped his hand to her. He was too smart to let Amber know his true thoughts.

“You need to make him believe I didn’t mean to shoot Tim,” she said. “You’re my only friend.”

“And Mrs. Reed.”

“She’s old. Fragile.”

“What about Rachel? She’s your attorney.”

“I don’t know her. Not like I know you.”

Fingers of fear crept around Georgia’s neck. She rose. “I need to call Detective Bishop. We need to talk to him together.”

Amber hurried after her, grabbing her arm. “Do you really think you can convince him?”

Georgia glanced down at her arm, tugging it from Amber’s embrace. “It couldn’t hurt to try.”

She reached for her cell and dialed. His phone went to voice mail and she left him a message, telling him he needed to come to her place. Amber was here. She needed his help.

“Maybe he will let me in to see Tim. If I can see Tim, I might be able to get him to confess.”

“I don’t think they’ll let you see Tim until he recovers from surgery.”

“I didn’t think so.” She shook her head. “If I can get to someone with authority in the hospital, I can make them understand.”

Georgia had no doubt that Amber could persuade just about anyone of anything. She had a look and a way about her that reached out and made you notice her. “I know about Mr. Marlowe.”

Amber shook her head. “What do you know? He forced me to have sex. Is that what you know?”

“He’s your father.”

She winced as if she’d been slapped. “He wasn’t a father to me! Not ever.”

“But he’s your biological father. We ran yours, Mike’s and Dalton’s DNA from five years ago. You all share the same markers.”

Amber flinched. “That’s not true!”

Georgia had the sense she was now playing poker with a master. She used words, facts, and injuries like playing cards; always careful to reveal only the cards she wanted seen. “It’s true. And you know it.”

Amber turned from her, dropping her head. For a moment her shoulders shook as if she were weeping. And then she turned, pointing the barrel of a gun at Georgia.

Her heart skittered and then stilled as she forced her mind to calm and think. “What’s that for?”

“You’re smart. How did you make that connection? My mom doesn’t even know that I know.”

“More importantly, how did you find out?”

“Letters stowed in the attic.

Letters from Dalton to Mom telling her they were done and the enclosed check was all she was going to receive from him.” Amber shook her head. “And the crazy part to me was that she accepted what he gave her and walked away. Walked away from all that money. She knew he would kill her if she leaked the truth or tried to blackmail him.”

“How long have you known?”

“The summer before my junior year. I went to him and scoped him out in a hotel bar. I could always make myself look a little older and with a fake ID and a slinky dress the bartenders looked the other way.”

“You were just a kid.”

“Like I said, I’m good.” She brushed a wisp of hair from her eyes. “And he had a thing for young girls. You know the first time I sat next to him at a bar he looked at me with such lean hungry eyes.”

“You seduced him.”

“I did. Three times. And I taped each hook-up. When I showed it to him at first he didn’t look that worried. He even laughed. Then I called him ‘Daddy.’ I thought he was going to stroke out. That was a real family moment.”

“Did you kill Bethany and Mike?”

“I did,” she said leaning forward as if she were sharing a great secret. “And I hid their beautiful damn bodies so well I knew they’d never be discovered if I didn’t give you a really big clue. Enter Elisa’s stinking dead body.”

“Why her?”

A sigh shuddered through her. “You could tell by looking at her that she thought she was smarter than everyone. So much better than the rest of us. But all it takes is a little attention and girls like that melt. I paid a good-looking guy to flirt with her in the coffee shop, but when it became clear he wasn’t doing it for her, I approached her.”

“You planted Elisa’s backpack in Scott Murphy’s motel room.”

She looked pleased. “Very smart. All I had to do was promise him more money and he came running. While he was getting his fix, I dropped off the backpack. Too easy. Coaxing Elisa into the woods was also so easy. See old Scott wasn’t getting the job done so I had to seduce her myself. She was ripe for the picking.”

“You were the one in the woods with her?”