“I believe it will be true in his case,” Drew said, shaking his head. “I mean, who would have known?”
“And Andy thought it was Joe,” Jennifer murmured, touching her throat.
Liam was studying her. “I was ready to believe him, too,” he said. “Well, Andy will be happy. He told me he’d been terrified to say anything about his suspicions. He was afraid for his life—and his livelihood.” He rose. “I think I’m going to have a late-night talk with Mr. Tanenbaum.”
Conar smiled, an arm tightening around Jennifer.”Can you check on Ricardo for us? He’s expecting a baby soon.”
Liam nodded. “I have no idea of how Tanenbaum managed to pull that off, but I’ll find out. Well, good night. Or good morning. It is the morning, isn’t it? Light out, even. Well, try to get some sleep. I’ll get back with you.”
With Liam gone, the four of them left in the house sat in the den and stared at one another.
Conar shook his head suddenly. “Jesus, Jennifer, how you managed to find that stinking laundry chute tonight …”
“Ripper must have known Hugh was down there,” Edgar said. “He was barking to protect Miss Jennifer.”
“Yeah, great protection,” Conar said.
“He meant to protect me.”
“And using Downy, Miss Jennifer! What ho, you are a fighter, my fair girl!” Edgar told her proudly.
“Well, you were most impressive with your frying pan,” she told him, smiling. “And you …”
She touched Conar’s chin. He had a five o’clock shadow, double-time. His cheek was smudged from the dirt. “You have a gun,” she reminded him. “But you came after him with nothing but your bare hands.”
“I heard you scream,” he said sheepishly.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “But next time, bring your gun.”
“Let’s pray there will be no next time,” Doug said, rising suddenly. “Excuse me, I’m going to bed.”
Drew rose quickly. “Me, too.”
“I’ll lock up,” Edgar said.
Conar stood, drawing Jennifer with him, and she followed Conar up the stairs. He started for his room, but she shook her head. “My room.”
He frowned. “But you just went down your back closet wall—”
“A laundry chute. Your room has hidden compartments.”
“So you’ll take your room, and I’ll take mine.”
She said, “Please, don’t leave me again. I told you I’m sorry. Stay with me. Please.”
He walked toward her slowly. He lifted her chin. “You do intend to apologize really nicely?”
She smiled. “Of course.”
He slipped an arm around her shoulders and walked with her toward her room. They entered together; he closed and locked the door automatically. He leaned against it and touched her cheek. “You’ve been rolling in the dirt. Did you want to take a shower?”
“No!” she said emphatically.
“Oh, right, of course,” he murmured ruefully. “Shall I draw you a bath?”
“Will you join me?”
“With the greatest pleasure.”
“I may never take a shower again,” she told him seriously. “Do you think you could live with that?”
“We’ll just thank God for the bathtub,” he told her.
She was smudged and scraped. They were both grass-stained and dirty. With water drawn and lots of bubbles, they started out with heads opposite, feet entangled. Flirting with toes became arousal, and they emerged wet and dripping and desperately in need. They trailed water across the bathroom and bedroom, wound up entangled on the bed, hot wet kisses, falling over steaming flesh, bodies pulsating. They made love quickly, rising, soaring, climaxing, and still entwined, gasping for breath. As she lay beside him, spent, Jennifer knew that she should be exhausted, but as she curled against him, her mind was far too alive.
His arm was warm and secure around her. She rested on his chest, her fingers curled on the mat of dark hair there. His fingers moved in her hair. “You’re really all right.”
“I’m fine.” She leaned up against him. “I can’t stop thinking. I mean, I suppose that Hugh being the killer makes sense. He had easy access to starlets, that’s for certain. And he had been involved with Brenda. There are just so many questions left open …”
“Like what?” he inquired.
“Andy. His behavior has been so bizarre.”
“He told Liam he found blood all over a hamper in Joe Penny’s bathroom. We should make him explain.”
“How?”
He crooked an elbow behind his head, looking up at her. “We’ll have a pool party and clear the air. How does that sound?”
“You mean just …”
“Party isn’t a good word for now. We’ll invite the folks over for lunch on the patio, and naturally the discussion will be about the way Hugh nearly killed you and how the police nabbed him, and we’ll all admit how easy it is to be suspicious of one another and we’ll get Andy to tell Joe point-blank what he saw, and ask him what was going on.”
She stared at him for a moment and nodded slowly. “Sounds good.”
“We’ll see Abby first, assure her everything is all right. Then we’ll have an evening get-together. Think I should give the girls a call to come in and help Edgar?”
“We’ll let him decide himself. He likes to make decisions, and he enjoys company in the house, so he won’t mind, I’m certain.” She leaned against him again. “I’m very lucky. That’s what I’ve been thinking since … since you pulled Hugh off me. You saved my life. And then we came up here, and the bath felt so good and then …” Her voice softened to a whisper. “Then there was you.”
He rolled her beneath him, staring into her eyes. He smiled. “Well, I knew I was in lust with you. But I’ve got to admit, you’ve become pretty damned important to me. You know we’re going to fight again. Fighting shouldn’t mean locking someone out.”
“I was scared, for me and my mother. And you point-blank turned me down the other night.”
“All you wanted was my body,” he said gravely.
She had to smile. But he was still serious.
“Life is precious, Jennifer, always. But like you said, yours is rich with quality. You move without thought, breathe naturally. You can make love, feel bliss because of the way something touches your life … Abby needs quality. Can’t you understand that?”
She trembled. “I’m afraid for her. I’m afraid for me, for life without her.”
“I’m afraid, too. But we have to let her take a chance on the quality she craves.”
His eyes studied her anxiously. “I’m not going to have a choice anyway, she said softly. My mother has made her decision. She’s only hoping for my blessing.”
“Give it to her. She loves you more than anything on earth.”
“I know.”
“More than me,” he teased.
“I know. But she does love you very much.”
“She needs your support.”
She nodded. He kissed her. It was meant to be a gentle kiss, caring, compassionate, tender. It was all that. It was more …
It was quality of life.
She reached for him, intensely feeling every nuance of his flesh, muscle, movement. The pulse of his sex, rough texture of his legs. He touched her back. Slowly. Fingers, lips, tongue, taste—she had never felt such a sensual and leisurely progress, never anticipated how it could bring on a thunder at the very end, a climax as shattering as any she might have dreamed, stretched out and out and out until she thought she would die, having touched such a pinnacle of pleasure.
They lay in silence for a long time.
Then there was a scratching sound at the door that made Jennifer jump. They both sat up tensely. Conar eased. “Ripper,” he said softly. “Shall I let him in?”
She laughed. “Of course.”
Conar rose and opened the door. Ripper raced in jubilantly, came to Jennifer’s side of the bed, and ran in circles. She picked him up, kisse
d his cold nose, and set him at the foot of the bed. He curled up happily, as if he had belonged to the two of them forever.
“He’s no problem.”
“Hm,” Jennifer murmured. “But you wait.”
“For what?”
“Well, at my apartment, Lady sleeps in the bed as well.”
“I guess we’ll need a king,” Conar said.
She didn’t argue. There would be time to discuss the future later.
Chapter 19
JENNIFER AWOKE LATE, CLOSE to noon. She was alone. She started to take a quick shower, changed her mind, and took a very quick bath. In jeans and a tank top she left her room, ready for coffee.
When Jennifer got downstairs the next morning, she found that Edgar had already called people for the party that night. “I’ve yet to contact Mr. Penny,” he told her. “And the senior Mr. Valentine, Mr. Newton,” he added.
“Edgar, you’ve called everyone already?” Jennifer said. “And you don’t mind a houseful here tonight after all the excitement?”
“I think it will be lovely. A great relief,” Edgar said.
“Thanks,” Jennifer said, smiling at him. “You can call the caterers and bring in whatever extra help you want.”
“Mr. Conar will barbecue, we’ll have plenty of chips and salads, and Mary and I will serve, if that will suffice, Miss Jennifer.”
“Lovely,” she said. Then she glanced down at the newspaper on the table, and her stomach pitched slightly.
“It’s not in there,” Doug informed her, looking up from his seat. “It happened too late to make the paper. It did make the morning news, though.”
“What does it matter?” Drew said, seated across from him. “The police have their man.”
“This is America,” Doug reminded him. “You’re innocent until proven guilty. Then we blame it all on your childhood, put you into prison with cable television and conjugal rights—and let you go so you can kill someone else.”
“Doug, it’s not all that bad,” Jennifer protested.
“Well, our friend Hugh is denying everything, and he has his lawyers working to get him out on bail,” Doug said.
“Hugh is denying everything?” Jennifer asked.
“Well, of course he is. Who would admit to such awful crimes?” Drew said with a shudder. “Can you imagine? We all sat with that man, broke bread with him …”
“Hm,” Conar put in, “and Abby has heard all about it. She’s already had me on the phone. Jen, we need to get down to see your mom.”
“Right. I’m ready whenever you are.”
Only she and Conar went. Doug was going to get groceries for Edgar, and Drew was going to man the front, fend off phone calls from reporters, and be the general all-around person at the house.
When they reached the hospital, Conar urged Jennifer on in ahead of him. “She’s going to want to see you’re safe and sound,” he said. “I’ll get some coffee.”
“You don’t need to leave us alone.”
“I’ll be back.”
Abby looked great. She’d put on lipstick, brushed out her hair, and was propped up on her pillow. She saw Jennifer, reached out her arms—and started to cry. Jennifer settled into her mother’s embrace. “Thank God you’re safe, baby. That horrible, horrible man. To think I had befriended him …”
“To think I doubted you,” Jennifer told her mother.
They clung together. “It’s all right now. He’s behind bars. If only we had known, if we had guessed …”
“God knows how many people he did kill, Mother. They’re going to have to look into it. He hasn’t talked at all yet… What’s important, Mom, is that it’s over.”
“Yes, it’s over,” Abby said softly.
Jennifer looked at her mother’s hands clutching her own, trying not to break down. “I’m still afraid. Very afraid. But if the doctors think it’s safe enough for you to go for it, I’ll support you in the surgery.”
Abby stared at her a long time and then smiled, tears stinging her eyes. “You mean it, baby?”
“I do.”
From the doorway, Conar cleared his throat. He walked into the room. Abby bit her lower lip and looked at Jennifer. “I did make him come, of course. And take the job with Valentine Valley.”
“Of course. No one was ever fooled, Mother.”
“And I guess, if you wanted to move on, Conar, I would have to thank you with all my heart and give my blessing,” Abby said.
Conar shrugged. “I’ve taken the job. I have to stick with it. I don’t want a reputation in the business for being flighty.”
“Oh, well, good,” Abby said softly. Her eyes filled with tears again. “You two have made me very, very happy.”
“Hey,” Conar said. He took a seat on the opposite side of the bed from Jennifer. “Frankly, it’s good to be home,” he said. Then he told Abby about having a barbecue that night to clear the air with everyone on the set. Abby thought it was a great idea.
Finally, they decided to leave. Jennifer kissed Abby and started out. Conar followed her. When they were at the door, Abby called them back.
“You know, he is denying it,” she said.
Frowning at Conar, Jennifer paused. “What, Mom?” Abby had seemed so good in the hospital. She hadn’t talked to the people in the walls at all.
“Committing the murders. He does have a drinking problem, you know.”
Jennifer walked back and kissed her again. “Mom—”
“I’m all right. Don’t go looking all worried on me again. I’m just telling you not to relax just yet.”
“According to the news, he did get his lawyer, and he’s being arraigned, and he will go to trial for murder. It’s all over, Mom.”
Ten minutes later, driving back to the house, Jennifer looked at Conar. “What did you think about what my mother said?”
His eyes were steady on the road. “If she says so, I think we might still want to be cautious.”
“Conar—what if Hugh isn’t guilty?”
He answered slowly and carefully. “Jennifer, I feel badly that Hugh has proven to be … what he is. He was a good director, and seemed to be a decent man—he gave a lot of people a start in the business, he’s been at it a long time. But God knows what else he’s been at.”
“Yes, I guess …,” she murmured. Then she turned on Conar. “I think my mother’s right. I’m not sure that I believe it. It just feels as if … some pieces don’t fit together.”
He glanced at her, briefly taking his eyes from the road. “Don’t you go trying to pin down Joe Penny or Jim … not on your own, anyway, do you understand?”
“You said that we would clear the air,” she protested.
“Yes, we! With everyone around you, all right?”
“All right!”
“I mean it.”
“So do I!”
“Hm,” he murmured, casting her a doubtful glance.
“If Hugh is guilty, which he must be, then there are rational explanations for everything else, right?”
He didn’t answer. They had reached the house, and he turned into the driveway. “I hope that Edgar remembered to call Liam,” he said.
“I’m sure he did.”
“I’ll just double-check,” Conar said, exiting the car. Jennifer did the same. When she stepped into the foyer, Drew came up to her. He had just shaved, and his steel gray hair was combed back. He was handsomely but casually dressed in tan Dockers and a sports jacket. “Hey, you two. Hurry it up. We invited our company for five—they’ll be arriving soon.”
Jennifer let out a quick expletive and hurried for the stairs. Conar followed behind her. In the hall, she paused.
“What?”
“I still don’t think I can take a shower.”
He grinned. “We’ll shower together.”
“That could make us even later.”
“Ah, but at least it will be for a good cause.”
She did manage to get into a shower with him.
He did m
ake them later, but it didn’t matter much. When they came downstairs, Doug was manning the bar, Mary had come in, and with her, Kelly and Serena were busy bringing food out to the den and patio. The doors were open wide to the beautiful night.
“Jennifer!” Serena exclaimed, the first to see that she and Conar had arrived downstairs. She kissed and hugged her friend warmly. “Thank God you’re all right.”
She found herself surrounded by the cast and crew, all her friends, people who had heard the story of last night’s events and who seemed greatly relieved that she had survived it. Conar, too, was congratulated, and as questions and answers flew back and forth, Drew, Doug, and Edgar were all applauded as well.
“Naturally, naturally, it was really Conar who saved the day,” Kelly said. “I did tell you from the beginning that he was an absolutely studly hunk.”
“Thanks, Kelly. Hey, we guys try, you know.”
“Oh, yeah,” Andy said softly.
It seemed like the right opening. Everyone had a drink. They all seemed relieved, eager to move on.
“Speaking of studly hunks,” Jennifer said lightly. “Joe Penny, a little bird told me that there’s a new woman in your life.”
Joe stared at her, startled. “I … I …”
“Oh, come on, Joe. The bird told me that she was sleeping in your bed when you were supposed to meet to discuss the suspense twist in the plot line.”
Joe stared at Andy, frowning. “You told everyone?”
“Actually,” Conar said lightly, “I think poor Andy was afraid that there was a body in your bed—that you might be doing away with Hollywood starlets.”
“Andy!” Joe gasped, spinning around. “Andy, how could you?”
Andy stared at Jennifer and Conar, appalled. “How could I?” he whispered. “Well, I …” He spun around to look at Joe. “There were bloody sheet things in your laundry. And I went into your room—”
“I told you that I had a girl with me, sleeping,” Joe exclaimed. He was shaking. He set his drink down. “You thought that I—Oh, God! You thought that I could have been the killer.”
“Who the hell could have ever thought that Hugh could be the killer?” Jim Novac said miserably. He tossed back his head, draining half a martini with a shiver.