Best Kept Secrets(87)

God is angry because I haven't locked all of you away. He

accused me of fraternizing with the devil, meaning you."

She refrained from telling him the sexual parallels Plummet

had drawn.

Reede parked in front of her motel room. The door was

still in shambles and standing ajar. "I thought you said you'd

take care of that."

"Prop a chair under the doorknob till morning. You'll be

all right."

He didn't turn off the Blazer's engine, but let it idle. The

police radio crackled with its monotonous static, but there were no transmissions now. The noise was grating on her

nerves.

"I'm sorry about Double Time, Reede. I know how attached

to him you were."

His leather jacket made a squeaking sound against the

upholstery when he shrugged indifferently. "He was insured."

Alex uttered a small cry of anguish and anger. He wouldn't

let her apologize. He wouldn't let her feel sad or sorry because

he wouldn't allow himself those emotions. She had witnessed

the heartache he had suffered seconds before he put a bullet

through the horse's brain. She had heard it when he talked

about his father's pathetic funeral.

And that's what Reede couldn't forgive. More than once

he had let down his guard and revealed to her that he was a

feeling human being after all.

She balled her fists, pressed her wrists together, and thrust

them across the console toward him. He looked at her with

a dark, questioning frown. "What does that signify?"



"Handcuff me," she said. "Haul me in. Arrest me. Charge

me with the crime. You said I was responsible."

"You are," he ground out, his previous rage returning.

"Angus was right. If you hadn't come here and started snooping

around, none of this would have happened."

"I refuse to take the blame for what happened tonight,

Reede. It was the act of an unbalanced man and his misled

followers. If my investigation hadn't been their catalyst,

something else would have been. I've apologized for the

horse. What more do you want from me?"

He gave her a sharp look. She withdrew her hands, snatching

them back as though they'd been placed too close to the

maws of some terrible beast, and she had realized it in the

nick of time.

Inside her mouth was the taste of his kiss--whiskey-and tobacco-flavored. As though it were happening again, she felt

the swirling search of his tongue, the possessive pressure of

his fingers on her scalp, the solid presence of his thighs against

hers.

"You'd better go inside, Counselor." His voice was quiet

and husky.

He dropped the truck's transmission into reverse. Alex took

his advice and got out.



Twenty-four



Alex groped for the ringing telephone. She answered it on

the fifth ring and said groggily, "Hello?"

"Miss Gaither? I didn't wake you, did I? If so, I'm terribly

sorry."



Alex shoved hair out of her eyes, licked her dry lips,

blinked puffy eyes into focus, and struggled into a sitting

position. "No, I was just, uh, doing some, uh, stuff." The

nightstand clock said ten o'clock. She'd had no idea she was

sleeping that late, but then, it had been almost dawn before

she'd gone to bed. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure--"

; "Sarah Jo Minton."

She couldn't hold back her exclamation of surprise. She could name at least a hundred people who might call her

before Sarah Jo Minton would. "Are you ... is everything

all right?"

"I'm feeling well, but terribly ashamed for the horrible

things I said to you last night."

The confession, spoken so contritely, shocked Alex. "You

were understandably upset."

"Would you care to have tea with me this afternoon?"

Maybe she was still asleep, after all, and this was a dream.

Nowadays, people said, "Let's do lunch," or "How 'bout

a beer?" or "Let's get together for a drink." No one ever

said, "Would you care to have tea?"

"That . . . that sounds nice."

"Good. Three o'clock."

"Where?"

"Why, here at the ranch, of course. I'll look forward to

seeing you then, Miss Gaither. Goodbye."

Alex stared at the receiver for several seconds before slowly

hanging it up. What in the world had prompted Sarah Jo

Minton to invite her to tea?



Dr. Ely Collins's office was probably the most cluttered

room Alex had ever been in. It was clean but disorganized,

and as unpretentious as the veterinarian.

"Thank you for agreeing to see me, Dr. Collins.' I "No trouble. I was free this afternoon. Come on in. Sit

down." He removed a stack of trade journals from the seat