“Yes. Yes! I waited on her. It wasn’t this weekend, but the, umm…Thursday or Friday before,” the girl volunteered excitedly. She was young, petite, no more than five-foot-one, with a headful of bouncing blond curls.

“What’s your name, miss?” Kyle asked her.

“Bitsy. Bitsy Larkin.”

“Well, Bitsy, thanks for remembering, and for being so helpful. It’s incredibly important. She must have eaten here on Friday,” Kyle said.

“You’re right! It had to be Friday, because she ordered the Friday special, the shrimp étouffée.”

“Right,” Kyle breathed, inhaling raggedly. He felt shaky inside. That was what police work was like. Weeks and weeks of work without a clue panning out, then some little step opened up the gates.

Please, God, he prayed in silence, let this be the step that gives us this lunatic!

“Can you remember who Holly was with?”

“Yeah, sure I can.”

“Think you could identify him?”

“Absolutely!” Bitsy vowed solemnly. “Oh, absolutely.”

17

Madison was just zipping her jeans when she heard her father’s voice, and she quickly threw on a shirt, then hurried out to greet him.

Jordan looked a lot better than he had the last time she saw him, when he was so worried about her. His color was good, his long gray hair in a neat queue—he looked like the handsome, mature, sexy celebrity he was.

He smiled when he saw her, shaking his head. “Mrs. Montgomery.”

“Dad!” she said, hurrying to him, accepting his warm hug.

“Breakfast is on the counter in the kitchen. I’ll leave you to it,” Peggy said, exiting to go about her work in some far corner of the house.

Madison looked anxiously at her father. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all. I’m delighted for you. You two did make a pretty quick decision there.”

“I think he married me just to keep me safe.”

Jordan caught her hands and leaned back, studying her. “I think he married you because you’re a stunning woman with a wonderful mind and a warm heart.”

“Dad, thanks! What a beautiful thing to say.”

“I’m very proud of you, Madison. I’m proud of all my children. And I’m glad Kyle is my son-in-law.”

“How about some breakfast?” she suggested, suddenly embarrassed. “I’m starving.”

“Busy night, huh?” her father teased.

“Dad!” she protested.

They ate in silence at the kitchen table for a minute; then he cleared his throat. “Did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“Harry Nore managed to hang himself in his jail cell. He had smuggled in some ultrathin wire and…”

Madison set her fork down. “God. I don’t know whether to be sorry or not.”

“He killed your mother, and he tried to kill you. I can’t feel much remorse.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know why, I know the murder weapon was found on him and all, but…I just never thought he really did kill my mother.”

“Madison! I’ll never forget the terror in my heart when I heard him saying those things to you on Sunday! Then, seeing him lunge at you…The man was definitely homicidal.”

Madison nodded, wondering why she was so upset. Then she realized that Kyle had probably read about Nore’s death in the paper and decided not to tell her while they were on the island. Now he couldn’t talk to Nore, couldn’t learn from Nore. It was hard to clear a dead man. And it was hard to hunt for a killer if people believed the killer was already dead.

She shivered.

“Kyle didn’t tell me.”

“He is trying to protect you.”

“Maybe he’s trying too hard. Oh, Dad! I’m just not sure about this at all….”

Jordan Adair shook his head ruefully, staring out the window. “Honey, I’ll be sure for you. I always liked Kyle. From the first time I met him. Even when he was really young, he had a way of looking at the world…wisdom, I guess. I don’t know exactly what it was about him. But there was some chemistry between the two of you from beginning. At first you just adored him like a big brother. I’m not sure when that changed. Maybe he kept away from you purposely when you started getting older. He wanted to give you a chance to grow up, I think. And then, of course, he met Fallon….”

“He met Fallon, and I married Darryl. Well…I’m glad you’re happy, Dad,” Madison murmured.

He nodded again, as if there were more he wanted to say. Then he rose, slowly pacing the kitchen. “You know, he never accused me of murder, even though he was there when your mother and I had one of our worst fights ever.”

“Dad…” she said uncomfortably.

“No, hear me out. I guess I’ve wanted to tell you this for a long time. The day Lainie was killed, she’d called me over. Roger had refused to cancel a personal appearance in Toronto to stay home to see her do a play in Miami Beach. She was furious—she really expected us all to jump every time she snapped her fingers. She wanted me to hang around so she could convince Roger it would be dangerous to leave the two of us in the city alone.” Jordan shrugged thoughtfully. “I did still love her. I always loved her. I’ll love her until the day I die myself. But I knew she was using me, and I refused her, so she started throwing things. I grabbed her…and then I released her and walked out.

“She—she liked a physical fight. She’d been sure that if she could just get me to touch her, she could seduce me. But I managed to remember that Roger was a friend, and that Lainie had used me too often already. I left. Kyle was in his room, pretending not to hear us fight. But when it got violent, he came out—as if he could stop it if something really bad were about to happen. Lainie was furious—she hadn’t known he was home. But he just turned away from her and walked me out. He was as smooth as a mature man that day, and the kid was just getting out of high school. Anyway…” He turned and stared at Madison, so much pain in his dark eyes that she found herself rushing to him.

“Oh, Dad! You can’t keep punishing yourself over Lainie. We all loved her, and she hurt us all. But she loved us, too, in her way. I think she loved you very much. And I love you, Kaila loves you, Trent loves you, Jassy loves you—even Kyle and Rafe love you! You’ve been a great dad.”

“In my way,” he said softly, holding her. “In my weird way. I do love you, Madison. And you know, you’re not like her. Not in the least. You and Kyle are going to stay married. Your vows mean something to you both. And I mean it—I couldn’t be happier for you.” He sighed then. “I guess I’ve got to go. I’m heading home. Roger’s show is a success, and I’ve got to start on my new book.”

“What’s it about this time, Dad?”

“Pirates, sunken treasure. My macho hero is going to discover modern-day piracy, save the girl and discover hidden treasure. Thank God I’m old and have been at it a long time, so I don’t have to be politically correct.”

“Sounds like a great adventure, Dad.”

He kissed her cheek, holding her close again. “Life is the adventure, baby. I’m glad you’re living it. I wish you and your new husband the very best. Tell him I said so. And somewhere along the line, we’ll have to celebrate. I thought Jassy was about to run off and marry some guy, and instead it’s you.”

“Oh, well…” Madison teased.

“Who is he?”

“Who is who?”

“The guy Jassy is dating.”

Madison laughed. “I don’t know. In fact, if she doesn’t tell me, I’m not inviting her to my wedding reception. When I get around to having one.” She made a mental note to herself—it was time to tell Kyle they had to find out exactly who Jassy was seeing.

Her father grinned and kissed her cheek one more time. “You be careful!”

She nodded. “I will be,” she promised him. She saw him to the door, kissed him again, waved and carefully locked the door behind him. She’d barely started picking up the breakfast dishes when the bell rang.